Neukam, a chiropractor, was a longtime Lions Club member.

He was the one who chaired the annual White Cane drive for most of those years and served as that club's president from 1973-74. Longtime friend Larry Rugani gave the eulogy, and daughters Amy and Lisa also spoke about their father. Very active in civic affairs and a sweet, generous man, he will be sorely missed.

Touch My heART will be held at the Opera House at 6 p.m. Decorated cats, transformed by Los Gatos artists, will be auctioned off. A heart lurks in each sculpture, don't forget. Also on the block will be a London scene by Thomas Kinkade.

And still more: a chance for a trip for two to London. For tickets at $75 per, the contact is Sandy Decker at 408.354.1547.

PARKER RANCH REVISITED: Here's more on the Parker Ranch and its connection to Los Gatos, brought on by Mardi Bennett Brick finding her book, Images of Long Ago, at the famed Hawaiian ranch on a recent visit. Jan Villemaire says she and her husband Gerald visited the ranch in 1990 and again last February.

And the docents at that time knew the Parker Ranch's last owner, Richard Smart, had lived in Los Gatos. The story also appeared in John Baggerly's column in late 1992 after Smart died.

The widow of John Parker III, the great-grandson of the original owner, John Palmer Parker, brought her grandson Richard Smart to Los Gatos in the 1920s to get an education--proof that the reputation of LGHS sails across the Pacific.

The Hawaiian transplants lived on Reservoir Road, later the home of Yehudi Menuhin. Smart went to LGHS and was active in theater there and elsewhere. He was a philanthropist in Hawaii, and the Parker Ranch is now in trust to be preserved.

"We were told Richard offered a college education for all of the children of the paniolos (cowboys) who worked on the Parker Ranch," Jan reports.

AND AGAIN: And here's a more personal reminiscence. When Dianne Root Rhudy graduated from high school in San Mateo in 1957, her aunt gifted her with a dream trip to Hawaii aboard the Matsonia. It was like a movie for the 17-year-old. And one of the ways that made it so special was the presence of Richard Smart's son.

Those were the days of nightly formal dining on ship, and there were a group of teenagers aboard. The boys selected dates for the different evenings of the cruise and "One evening Tony Smart picked me! It was a very romantic evening of dancing, a walk on the deck and at least one kiss," relates Rhudy.

"He was incredibly handsome. I still have a picture. He told me he was on his way to work on the family ranch for the summer and that his father was Dick Smart, a New York nightclub singer. Further, Johnny Smart was my insurance agent for many years, but I never thought to ask him if there was any relation.

"Darn! Johnny was such a good man and we had many wonderful talks over the years. He would have gotten a kick out of that story," Rhudy adds. "I had another wonderful evening the next night with Rudy Goldwyn. He actually called me for a date later that year.

"He went on to produce One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He also was movie-star handsome."

LIGHTS ON: Will the lights stay on in California is the question the League of Women Voters poses with a series of three successive programs in February starting at 9 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 15980 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos.

Topics on Feb. 8 are the naked truth about your electric bill; how the industry has changed since '96; are resources adequate; who's in charge and can they deliver? On Feb. 15 subjects are: is there any choice; is it free; is there an incestuous relationship between power and water?

Other topics are: climate change; where does the California Legislature fit in; is FERC a dirty word; and gas--natural and unnatural. The day of reckoning is Feb. 22 as the league participates in a statewide consensus on what it will take to keep the lights on in California. Breakfast snacks offered; the contact is 408.867.3401.

THE SOUVENIR: Louise Steinman, author of The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father's War, will speak at a Friday Forum Feb. 10 starting at 7 p.m. in town council chambers.

The book attempts to understand her father's lifetime of emotional closure.

VALENTINE: Love's Not Time's Fool, a Valentine revel of wine, poetry and music with Nils Peterson, will be held at Le Petite Trianon Feb. 14, 5:30 p.m. Admission is $10.

Got a tip for Main Street? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.