SEVEN OH: Louise Webb brings her every pore to every project, and the recent party her daughter Patti Webb Rupprecht threw for her 70th birthday was no exception. The guests outnumbered the years being celebrated and included Louise's twin from Southern California.
Since the peripatetic Webb is active in at least a dozen clubs, the gathering had reps from a wide swath of interests. At the senior center, Louise leads the memoir class, helps out at adult day care, kicks up her heels in aerobics and wields a brush in the painting class.
Add to that Assistance League, Pen Women, Sister City, Book-Go-Round and book group. Travel is another constant on the Webb page. But all those pursuits are as nothing when lined up against the main obsession--shopping.
Cohorts and relatives related anecdote after anecdote involving shopping. Even Carol Greene's puppet dog yapped about shopping in Mexico with Webb, reaping bargain after bargain. Thus the event turned into something of a roast.
But Webb also received a standing ovation from the assembled. She was lauded for her "generosity of spirit and for keeping us all young," as her daughter put it. Patti's gifts included seven things starting with the letter "O," and the ovation was the culmination.
Twin sister Sue Gaede didn't get as much press on the occasion because she's much younger. Sue is five minutes younger, but the twosome didn't know that growing up, since their mother had it mixed up. Hence, Louise was assigned the follower's role through the years, and she's been trying to rectify that ever since the error was revealed--when she was 27. Alas, by then it was too late for a role reversal.
RETRO BRIDAL SHOWER: Here's a bridal shower where guests are expected to go retro--dress in vintage bridesmaid or mother-of-the-bride outfits. So consignment shops and Goodwill are doing a land-office business for those headed for the shower for Tracy Gingerich July 17 at Kuleto's.
Tracy, daughter of Judi and John Gingerich (former Saratogans, now living in Los Gatos), graduated from Saratoga High in '82. So did her groom, Mike Gruber. The two were high school sweethearts, but parted for 20 years. Neither one married. Then Tracy went to her 20th high school reunion.
Gruber didn't go, so she called him to find out why. That call jump-started the romance, so now we've got a retro romance, you might say. The couple will live in Auburn, where Tracy teaches high school math.
Gruber is an electrician. His parents, Barbara and Walt Gruber, now live in Healdsburg. They settled in a vineyard called Healdsburg County Gardens, where they grow grapes for Rodney Strong wines. Their setting is also continually booked for weddings, and the Gingerich/Gruber nuptials will be held there Aug. 14. Walt taught at Foothill Elementary in Saratoga before retiring.
NO, GEORGE, NO : Kathy Eder, who created Operation Hidden Agenda playing cards last year as an alternate point of view to Iraq's Most Wanted playing cards, has a new vehicle. This time it's a book called No, George, No! The Re-Parenting of George W. Bush.
In hardback, and illustrated by Clay Butler, it looks like a children's book, but it's a far cry from that. "I was walking through Yosemite in October, and the title came to me: the story of a young boy named George who is taught important lessons in life by a Truth Fairy," says the author.
Half the profits from the self-published book will be donated to peace organizations. The price is $15.95, available through Tower Video in Campbell or at www.nogeorgeno.com. Eder teaches social justice and morality at Bellarmine during the school year and devotes herself to peace causes during the summer.
She sold 23,000 decks of Hidden Agenda and gave 50 percent of the profits to peace agencies and veterans dealing with the effects of the Gulf War. "I had a hard time finding the truth about the war. Without truth or access to truth, we are in truly terrifying danger," she says.
SMILE: A new volunteer program, SMILE (Students Making Illness a Little Easier), started this month at Good Sam. Teens work in pairs with patients--chatting, playing games, helping with meals and offering fresh liquids, grooming items, blankets or pillows.
These bedside services will be offered in shifts 47 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m.7 p.m. weekends. Some 77 volunteers will staff the program. Mary McCall is program director at 408.559.2344.
SIERRA CLUB: Mike Painter, of Californians for Western Wilderness, will talk about Utah's Redrock Wilderness and the effort to grant it wilderness-status protection when the Sierra Club meets at Saratoga Library June 28 at 7:30 p.m.
SENIORS & COMPUTERS: Saratoga Senior Center offers computer classes year-round for beginner to intermediate users. Classes include intro to computers, email, surfing the Internet, maintaining the computer, Excel and keyboarding/mouse techniques. The phone is 408.868.1257.
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By Mary Ann Cook