1995 GRADUATE of Los Gatos High School Erich Pichler lay in a coma in a Phoenix hospital last week after suffering a severe brain injury in an auto accident. The young Marine was stable but on life support. The accident occurred near Yuma, where Erich is stationed with the Marine Corps. Apparently, the driver of the car he was riding in lost control as Erich and his two companions were returning to their base.
His parents, Art and Josette Pichler of Redwood Estates, reported from Phoenix that Erich's physical signs were excellent. But the family is in need of financial help. A trust fund to assist in Erich's recovery has been set up. Donations can be sent to: Friends of Erich's Trust Fund, Great Western Bank, 449 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos, 95030, Attn.: Heidi Hoefler. Erich attended Lexington School and Fisher Middle School before entering LGHS.
THERE'S A newcomer at the home of Brent and Sandra Ventura. Joseph Lucas Ventura weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces when he was born Sept. 18 at Good Samaritan Hospital. He joins his older brother, Benjamin Nicholas, who is 3 1/2. Dad, a former Los Gatos Town Council member, now a member of the Santa Clara County Planning Commission, said he's happy to be out of local politics. "I'm just enjoying my family and my law practice," he said.
WHY I never became a sports reporter: Last week, I was told by an authoritative source that Los Gatos Rotary Club beat Los Gatos Lions Club 15-12 at Balzer Field in their annual softball game. This week, the Lions announced the game was called and declared a tie after they ran out of softballs (some dropped on Highway 17). The Rotary newsletter says Rotary led 14-11 "as we went to press." Suffice it to say, a game was played and a good time was enjoyed by all.
WHITE CANE Days, when Los Gatos Lions Club asks us to drop anything from coins to a few bucks to benefit the blind and visually impaired, will be held this weekend, Oct. 24-25. Lions Paul Mahoney, Clyde Laird and Ted Simonson triple-chair the street-corners event.
FOR CHILLS and thrills, you'll hardly beat the second annual Haunted Forest at Oak Meadow Park, presented Oct. 25 through Halloween Night, Oct. 31, by Los Gatos Police Department volunteer organizations. Climb aboard the Phantom Express (otherwise known as the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad) for a ride designed to make the hair rise on the back of your neck. There will be 12 train rides each night, starting at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale now at the Los Gatos Council Chambers, 110 E. Main St., weekdays from 1 to 6 p.m. Weekend ticket sales are at the Oak Meadow Carousel, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Prices for the Phantom Express are $7 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Admission for Spooky Hollow and carousel is $3 (or two for $5 or five for $10). There'll be a special "midnight run" of the train Halloween night. Proceeds benefit LGPD organizations, crime prevention and the Billy Jones railroad.
HOGAN Stained Glass used to be located on Monterey Avenue before moving to San Jose a few years ago. Wes Hogan visited fellow Lions at a recent Los Gatos club luncheon and showed some of his stained-glass work. A sixth-generation craftsman, Hogan has stained glass in St. Mary's Catholic Church on Bean Avenue, as well as St. Mary's in San Francisco and other churches.
SOUTHERN California artist Susan Rios, whose limited-edition lithographs are on view at Galleria Los Gatos, 291 E. Main St., met some of her fans there Oct. 13. Her paintings of nature are in the collections of celebrities including tennis star Andre Agassi and performers Bruce Dern, Patti Duke, Walter Matthau, Priscilla Presley and others.
FOR THEIR November meeting, Los Gatos Yacht Club members will visit Santa Cruz Sails to learn about sail-making and then attend a Santa Cruz Yacht Club cioppino feed. On Oct. 8 the club's visiting speaker at Los Gatos Lodge was Paul Cayard, skipper of the St. Francis Yacht Club's America's Cup entry, America One.
MONTE SERENO residents Paul and Rose Arnaudo and their children, Stefan and Anna Marie, were recipients of an annual Kiwanis Cal-Nev-Ha Foundation award to a non-Kiwanis family for "involvement, activity and [family] love."
LUNCH WAS provided by Jim Zanardi as Los Gatos Rotary Club members held a meeting at Green Valley Disposal Recycling Center in Santa Clara, followed by a tour of the facility. In operation since 1918, the company serves 35,000 residences and 2,000 places of business, with assistance from an average 80 employees. Glass, plastics and other recyclable items are processed at the center.
HISTORY CLUB of Los Gatos, celebrating its 100th year in 1997, is reviving its original purpose, the study of community and area history. A new history section has been formed, and archivists Fran Alfson and Gwen Davis are burrowing through neglected old books and club minutes to recover details of the club's own past.
Thelma Springer Rhinelander, a member of the History Club since 1940, was born May 27, 1899, on Almendra Avenue, across the street from the building that now houses the Los Gatos Weekly-Times; the house where she was born no longer exists. She recently celebrated her 98th birthday. Her parents owned Roberts & Springer Meat Market on Santa Cruz Avenue. With two sisters and a brother, she attended University Avenue School and Los Gatos High School. Louise Van Meter, one of the History Club's early members, was her first-grade teacher. She still lives in the Pennsylvania Avenue home she and her husband, Andrew Rhinelander, a pharmacist with the Corner Drug Store, bought in 1937. One of Rhinelander's memories is of attending garden parties at the Alpine Avenue home of Rosalie Lincoln, who was another club member.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 23, 1996.
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