Main Street
LGHS alumna carries on her good work
By Mary Ann Cook
PEACE CORPS WORKER: Elisa Bosque-Oliva has won a promotion while serving her second year in Niger, Africa, with the Peace Corps. Now she will oversee the work of other Peace Corps workers, helping others in the work she did last year.
That work was teaching improved well construction, agricultural technique, animal husbandry, reforestation and combating polio. She helped created an AIDS prevention program and took that message throughout the country, going from village to village with a colleague.
Their work was praised by the president of Niger, who furnished escorts for them during the months of their educational campaign. Last year Bosque-Oliva was assigned to a small village of 200 people where she lived in a mud hut. Temperatures there reach 120 degrees.
Other projects in Niger included literacy programs and helping bush women start small businesses. At Los Gatos High she was an honor student, crewed in the Junior National rowing team, was president of the 4H, and won a Lions Club scholarship.
A Brown University grad, Bosque-Oliva carried a double major in French civilization and international relations. She is the daughter of Sandra and Jean Paul Bosque-Oliva.
CAMEL WALK: Some of us live in more interesting parts of town than others. Patti and Bill Hughes, for example, who live in the Summit area, can look out from their property from time to time and catch sight of a man walking a camel in their neighborhood.
The camel owner is a retired camel jockey who lives in San Jose, and who took one spill too many and changed professions. But when he spotted a camel for sale in the paper, he decided he missed the critters and bought it. The Hughes' neighbor answered the problem of where to keep it.
The neighbors raise pygmy goats and thought it would fit in with the rest of the menagerie. And that's why some parts of town have a camel walk. "I'd walk a mile for a camel" was a slogan rampant during World War II. The LG version is "I'd walk a mile with a camel." Decidedly healthier than smoking, especially if you keep your distance from the camel's teeth. Bill says this camel is a communicative one: it talks to them over the fence.
HEART MOUNTAIN: The current exhibit at the Forbes Mill Museum tells the grim Heart Mountain story. Guest curator is Mamoru Inouye, whose family was one of 12 Japanese-American families from Los Gatos who were interned at Heart Mountain, Wyoming during WW II.
Photographs are by Hansel Mieth and Otto Hagel. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
RETIRED? Judy Bingman, former music director from LGHS, spent a year successfully battling cancer. Here's what she's up to now: athletic director of C.T. English Middle School, musical director of the current West Valley Light Opera offering High Society, and teaching archery for the Santa Cruz Rec Department. This is retired?
THANKSGIVING: Thanksgiving dinner for seniors drew a record number of diners--180--and a record number of raffle prizes--58. Let's hope it also toted up a record number of canned food donations for St. Luke's kitchen, which was the price of admission to the yearly event.
Sponsors are the town of Los Gatos and volunteers who staff the drop-in service at the Neighborhood Center. Core workers to be thanked are Sue Hamilton and her husband John Krepick, Claire Dudley and Chris Benson of C.B. Hannegan's. All performed yeoman duty.
A Holiday Boutique, sponsored by the Crafters Connection, a newly formed group of seniors, offered crafty wares before and after the dinner and cleared a tidy $380.
CHRISTMAS AT OUR HOUSE: The fundraiser for St. Francis Women's Club includes a tour of four Los Altos Hills homes all decked out for the holidays, complimentary tea and a Christmas Gift Shoppe. The event is slated for Dec. 1 and 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Viewers should allow a minimum of three hours for the house tours. Tickets are $30 in advance. Lunch is an additional $20, and reservations are required. For more, call 650.969.3508. Celia Maglione of Saratoga is the publicity chairwoman.
More than 2,500 people are expected for the tour and between $120,000 and 150,000 is usually raised. Claudia Gilbert of Saratoga is president of the woman's club. Some 105 of St. Francis' students come from Los Gatos/Saratoga.
PETS AS THERAPY: The organization known as Furry Friends takes animals to adult day-care centers, retirement homes, rehab and detention centers, to perk up lagging spirits and bring cuddly cheer, not just for the holidays, but all year. Most of the traveling pets are dogs.
However, some visitors include cats or rabbits. Furry Friends is a volunteer organization with 400 plus members from San Mateo to Morgan Hill. If interested in joining or using the pet-assisted therapy service, call 408.280.6171.
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