Saratoga Sampler

Service clubs join forces on health-screening unit

By Mary Ann Cook

SERVICE GROUPS BOND: Two Saratoga service groups have banded together to benefit the health of four county communities. When Frank Lemmon was president of the Saratoga Lions Club, he met with Russell Perry, then president of the Saratoga Rotary Club, to see if there was some project the two groups could accomplish jointly.

The idea had been broached at an international conference and Lemmon found it appealing and followed up on it. Thus it was that he submitted a grant proposal to Saratoga Rotary to refurbish the Lions' health-screening unit. And Saratoga Rotary answered the call.

Each club contributed $5,375 for the renovation of the mobile health screening unit and for new equipment. The unit checks hearing, eyes and glucose levels to identify diabetes and goes to elementary schools, senior centers, county fairs and festivals, all without cost and all courtesy of the Lions. (And now the Rotary too.)

The A.J. Robinson health-screening unit is staffed by professionals and volunteers within the four counties that make up the Lions Clubs of District 4-C6. The unit will be at the Saratoga Senior Center on Oct. 16 for flu shots. A super garage sale will also be held that day at the center.

Saratoga Rotarian representatives Tom Soiber, John Tauchi and Pete Hanson posed with the unit and accepted thanks from Lemmon at the Home Town Celebration at West Valley College in July. "I'm rather proud of it," says Lemmon about this example of service clubs cooperating rather than competing--a stellar example he initiated.

FRENCH LEGION OF HONOR: Only two American women have ever received the French Legion of Honor medal and Laura Frost Smith is one of them. The medal was awarded for extraordinary service to France for her wartime work as a nurse in World War I.

Smith's daughter, Mary Lou Kissel of Saratoga, accepted the award on Smith's behalf. The veteran nurse, who lived in Los Gatos for the past few years of her life, died last November. The application for the award had gotten under way while Smith was still alive, however, and was approved by French President Jacques Chirac shortly before Smith's death.

One requirement the French levy is that the recipient must be alive at the time of the application. Andre Parant, consul general of France, hosted a reception for Smith's family and friends at his San Francisco home after the presentation.

The French government gives the National Order of the Legion of Honor medal for valor and as an expression of gratitude for help during that devastating war. It is the highest national award given by that country. A search for survivors of WWI has been undertaken to help commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.

Smith's granddaughter, Carol Smith, a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, wrote an award-nominated story, "Witness to War," about her grandmother's experiences during the war, based on letters the elder Smith had written home.

The story produced a phenomenal response, including more than 4,000 requests for reprints, some from teachers who wanted to use the war nurse's story to teach women's history courses. Reporter Smith also wrote a follow-up story about her grandmother receiving the Legion of Honor award posthumously.

HIGHEST AWARD: LeRoy J. Neider was named Outstanding Rotarian of the Year for Los Gatos Rotary Club at ceremonies held this summer at the Mountain Winery. Neider has been a Rotarian for 29 years, is a past president and is a Paul Harris Fellow, an award honoring a recipient's time, talent and money.

Neider is a Los Gatos attorney and lives in Saratoga. He wrote a history of the Los Gatos Rotary Club, and created the basis for the club's Charity Foundation, by establishing the pro bono legal operation.

TALENTED FINGERS: Michiko Tashiro, 10, and Timothy Lin, 6, were winners at the fourth annual Chopin Competition held at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in July. Michiko won first prize in the competition for her piano artistry and will play with the Palo Alto Symphony Orchestra in February.

Timothy won a third-place award in piano playing in his age category. Both are students of Viktor Polonsky of the Polonsky Piano School in Saratoga. Polonsky students will present an all-Tchaikovsky concert at Appreciation Hall at Foothill College on Sept. 12 at 4 p.m.

Viktor's wife, Anna Polonsky, also a piano teacher at the school, gave three concerts and taught international master classes at the Piano Festival in Urbino, Italy, recently.

HIKING JAUNTS: Jon and Sherry Menard run Nature Outings, which consist of one-day or multi-day hikes. The next multi-day hike takes place Aug. 26 through 30 and covers the Crater Lake-Mount Shasta-Wizard Island-Castle Crags area. The group will be housed at Crater Lake Lodge.

A trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park will be held Sept. 4 through 7. Hikers will stay at Childs Meadow Resort.

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