NINE WOMEN CELEBS HONORED: Judy Bingman and Maralyn Miller, both of Los Gatos, will be honored at the Celebrity Luncheon Feb. 7 given by Santa Clara Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women. Bingman and Miller are both honorees in the art category. The luncheon will start at 11 a.m. at the San Jose Elks Club, 444 Alma Ave.
Bingman, former LGHS band director, is an accomplished photographer who travels with camera, seeking wildlife as she goes. Miller is an award-winning acrylic painter. Oversized vegetables moving off the canvas are one of her signature series.
Performing are club members Edie Mathews and Susan Zerwek, and the Los Lupenos dancers, with original Latin music by Nancy Deussen. A silent auction and a raffle are part of the action. Cost is $30.
Reservations can be made through ShaRon Haugen, 4156 Snowbank Court, San Jose, 95135. The phone is 408.238.2340. She's the group's president.
NOW WE'RE BLOWING HIS HORN: Joe Kim, a senior at Saratoga High, won the soloist competition sponsored by SC County Band Director's Association and thus will be the featured soloist at a concert sponsored by that group on Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. at Gunn High School in Palo Alto.
Kim is the principal trumpeter in the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra at SHS. This is his third year in the county's Honor Band, two years as principal trumpet. He was also principal trumpet in the California Youth Symphony for three years.
He now plays with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. Kim has played with the California All-State Honor Band for two years, as well as the CODA All-State Orchestra for one. And he's performed with the orchestra at the World Mission Baptist Church for five years.
He's also part of the CYS brass quintet. Kim was 9 when he began studying trumpet in Seoul, Korea. Today he studies with James Dooley, former principal trumpet of the San Jose Symphony. Kim hopes to attend Northwestern U., pursuing his studies in jazz and classical performance.
SAFETY VOLUNTEER OF YEAR: Brigitte Ballingall was recently honored as Saratoga Volunteer of the Year by the Santa Clara County Emergency Managers Association. She was cited as the individual making the greatest contribution to public safety for the past year.
Ballingall is chairman of the city's public safety commission and has been a member of the commission for several years. She made major contributions to school transportation when heading up a consortium on that issue. This latest honor is for her work on emergency preparedness for Saratoga.
Brigitte is a homemaker married to Jim Ballingall. They have three sons—James and Cam, students at SHS, and Connor at Valley Christian.
FLYING HIGH: Former Saratogan Zeke (Perrin) Smith has just finished a second book devoted to his flying hobby. Both books are in the how-to genre, with a decidedly narrow and focused audience—how to build your own airplane.
Smith, a retired IBM engineer, and his wife, Jean, who taught at Redwood Middle School, now live in Napa. Zeke's first book is titled Understanding Aircraft Composite Construction. It covers composite technology for the aircraft homebuilder and explains how to tackle such a project.
The second book is Advanced Composite Technology. Smith says the undertaking is "an old man's game," presumably because of the patience demanded. The books are published under his own Aeronaut Press label.
Self-publishing is the way to go, he enthuses. Find a niche and fulfill it—an airborne niche in his case.
ARTS: HEARTBEAT OF VALLEY: Silicon Valley Arts Coalition will hold a fundraising gala, Arts Panorama, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Le Petit Trianon, 72 N. Fifth St., SJ. Entertainment, appetizers, auction—all part of the evening. Tickets are $15; Leigh Weimers is emcee.
Performances include a harp duo, cello and flute duo, woodwind quintet, Chinese hammered dulcimers, dancers and vocalists. Coalition members include the American Harp Society, SJ Music Study Club, SJ Symphonic Choir, Nova Vista Symphony, SJ Wind Symphony and Woodwind Quintet.
The coalition was formed in 2001 to represent the ethnic diversity of the valley and to increase awareness and expand audiences for small-budget arts organizations. For tickets call 408.251.8440 or visit www.svarts.org.
IN THE AIR: The Wright Brothers are distant cousins of Monte Sereno Councilman Curtis Wright, so he has a vested interest in the anniversary of flight. In addition, his father was a P-40 fighter pilot with Chenault and the Flying Tigers. And he was the sole air defender of California between Los Angeles and SF on Pearl Harbor Day.
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By Mary Ann Cook