IN celebration of his 48th birthday Sept. 23, Pat O'Laughlin was guest at a party in his honor Sept. 26 in the gardens of La Estancia, the home of David Stonesifer and Larry Arzie. O'Laughlin, who decided not to run for reelection, was thanked for his eight years of service to the town as a planning commissioner and Town Council member, including one year as mayor. He has given up most of his law practice since being diagnosed with a rare medical condition called spinal arachnoiditis.
Among the guests at the party were many attorneys and judges, including classmates from O'Laughlin's 1973 Santa Clara Law School class. There was also a contingent of town staff. Host committee co-chairs, in addition to Stonesifer and Arzie, were District Attorney George Kennedy and his wife Janet, and Peter and Dennise Carter. Among host committee members were Sara La Berg, Mayor Randy Attaway, Bob Christensen, Michael Ezgar, Brian Madden, Jim McManus, Dennis and Cathy Varni, Elaine White, Jim Zuur, Superior Court judges Jim Emerson and Mary Jo Levinger and Peggy O'Laughlin, a local attorney who is O'Laughlin's sister.
AT another notable party, the Los Gatos Community Foundation had a highly successful fundraiser Sept. 28 at the mountain estate of Mark and Barbara Beck, with some 250 guests attending the Foundation's "coming out party." As the invitation advised, many wore tuxes and tennis shoes suitable for an evening of strolling among the redwoods. A fashion show in a natural grotto preceded dinner and dancing in the party barn.
Foundation president Don Callahan presented $500 grants to A Place for Teens and The Health Place. Callahan also introduced Vic Collord, 50-year resident of Los Gatos and longtime contributor to local youth groups and environmental causes, who gave the Foundation a big boost with his contribution to the endowment fund of an estate estimated at nearly $1 million.
Collord also presented a $2,500 check to principal Ted Simonson for the LGHS band trip to London at the end of the year to play in a New Year's Day parade. MarLyn Rasmussen was chairwoman, and Adu Bagley had charge of the fashion show.
"IT won't work," Janee McKinney was told by toy makers when she had the idea of opening the world's first teddy bear store. On Oct. 5, Bears in the Wood, 59 N. Santa Cruz Ave., celebrated 20 years in the business with an open house featuring games, prizes and several bear artists. Muffy, a teddy bear mascot favored by collectors, was there with her Traveling Trunk, and she wore costumes she's had on in the past.
"I got into the business when I had a collection of five teddy bears I loved," McKinney said. "There never had been a store selling only teddy bears." Janee and husband, Howard McKinney, who is in the travel business, take a trip to Africa every year. They opened a Safari Room in the store and give a portion of their proceeds to wildlife funds, such as one to save the cheetah.
DID you know the Los Gatos History Club was responsible for planting the Christmas tree in the Town Plaza that is lighted each Yuletide? That's only one of many contributions to the town being recalled as the club prepares for its 1997 Centennial Year. The club began in 1897, a few years after the town incorporated, with 20 members. Now there are 100. President Jo Ann Stacey welcomed visitors to Centennial Guest Night Sept. 25. The club continues its philanthropies; in 1995-96 it gave $3,600 to local organizations, including a $1,000 senior scholarship for LGHS.
"Reminiscing about the Gem of the Foothills" is the title of a History Club panel lunch Oct. 16 when Bill Balch, John Baggerly, Mardi Bennett, Roberta Blake, Betty McClendon and yours truly recall the changes in our town.
LOS GATOS Rotary Club gave more than $30,000 to 40 local charitable organizations last year. Carrying on that big-hearted tradition will be the club's 1996-97 officers: Al Blood, president; Steve Rice, president-elect; Lloyd Grant, vice-president; Rosemary Pierce, secretary; Gordon Aumack, assistant secretary; Don Kuehn, treasurer; George Kingston, assistant treasurer; Mannie Rice, immediate past president. Named on the board of directors are Kent Cooper, Jim Gifford, Ray Power, Mary Ruebsamen and Mike Spanier. Founded in 1924, local Rotary has a current membership of 106 and is one of over 15,000 Rotary clubs in 184 countries.
ONE of California's controversial historical figures, Commodore Robert Field Stockton (1795-1866), was the subject of a talk at Forbes Mill Museum Oct. 6 by a descendant, Martha Stockton Alderson of Los Gatos, who has completed two novels about her ancestor. She speaks Oct. 9 for the History Club's history section. Alderson's so-far-unpublished novels won prizes in writers contests; they are part of a planned series. Stockton appointed himself first governor of the California Territory.
GETTING his kicks from karate, 12-year-old Ryan Gray earned his black belt in Tae Kwan Do Sept.15. Ryan put in four years of training at Studio Kicks in Saratoga and Los Gatos. Ryan, in seventh grade at C. T. English, plans to work for a second-degree black belt. His hobbies include cooking, mountain biking and cross-country runs.
FANS of Glendale artist Susan Rios can meet her at Galleria Los Gatos, 291 E. Main St., Oct. 13, from 1 to 4 p.m. Phone 399-6616. Her lithographs picture flowers. Donna Cahill Johnson invites you to her 10th annual Skysong Studios show Oct. 19-20 at 16177 Skyline Blvd. The phone is 354-1513.
THE atmosphere, if not quite the same adult beverages of a German beer fest, prevailed at the annual Octoberfest Luncheon Oct. 7 at the Neighborhood Center. Family Service and the Live Oak Senior Nutrition Center sponsored the luncheon.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 9, 1996.
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