All three women are longtime 4H leaders and Lonnie was a co-founder of the Rolling Hills branch. As a parks activist, she was instrumental in establishing parks in San Jose and Cupertino, as well as ensuring that McClellan Ranch Park in Cupertino be designated a nature preserve.

Rolling Hills 4H meets there and has since it was founded 25 years ago, and Lonnie has served in a myriad of capacities there, chiefly as adult leader. She has overseen scores of 4H projects during her tenure--from raising animals to sewing pajamas for children under protective custody.

Her seamstresses recently won five awards for sewing projects in county competition. Whenever she was unfamiliar with a category, she would immerse herself in it, her husband Hans attests.

"Lonnie has impacted scores of youngsters over her decades of volunteering and I want to celebrate her with a special evening," organizer Lang says. Participants are urged to wear pink and to come prepared to share stories about the honoree during the gathering.

The Toensfeldts have three daughters, one grandchild and live in Monte Sereno. Lang and Tina Liu will be walking in the Avon breast cancer walk to honor Lonnie this July. The website is www.avonwalk.org and donors can click on San Francisco and then click "donate for a walker" and enter either Lang or Liu's name.

For the potluck social, Lang requests an RSVP at 408.374.1711 or through her email at mauilang@comcast.net.

VIOLIN SOLOIST WANG: Violinist Daphne Wang was the featured guest soloist at the El Camino Youth Symphony's Bon Voyage concerts recently. The concerts are a prelude to the group's tour through central Europe this summer, with performances scheduled in Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Brno and Leipzig. And Wang will be featured soloist in those destinations, too.

The violinist has earned graduate performance, master's and bachelor's degrees from Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins U., and is pursuing a doctoral degree at USC on scholarship. But this is an unusual doctorate: violin performance with a minor in entertainment law. It was tailored for the award-winning musician because she was drawn to law school, along with studying music. Law will be her fallback position, though one assumes she will not need a fallback. She has won perhaps two dozen competitions.

For example, she won the FeBland Scholarship Award and was a first-place winner of the California String Teachers Association competition. Speed seems to be her metier: she went through Monta Vista High in three years and earned her undergrad degree in three years.

Another speed contest to her credit was an ice-cream-eating contest in which she downed a triple-scoop banana split in 44 seconds. A brain freeze that lasted half an hour followed that feat.

The Saratogan has been invited to be a Fellow in the new Singapore Conservatory of Music, where she played recently, giving concerts with the symphony and in both solo and chamber performances. She'll perform and teach at that conservatory while pursuing her doctorate.

She is the daughter of Jinye, a piano teacher, and Yun, who works for IBM.

PRO BONO: Real estate attorney Ron Rossi won a commemorative award from the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District for his 15 years of pro bono work. Rossi was instrumental in carving out a compromise between three diverse groups so that El Sereno Preserve could be more conveniently reached. Rossi led negotiations between MROSD, the Committee for Open Space Access and El Sereno homeowners. The access road had been off limits to the public for 15 years.

Passionate opinions were brought to the table--environmentalists wanted public access, cyclists and hikers wanted their sports and homeowners wanted peace on their private road leading to the open space. "It was quite an accomplishment to bring these divergent groups to an agreement, " said Gibson Anderson of the Committee for Open Space Access.

Rossi was hired in 1988 under a paid agreement, but soon refused to accept payment. Thanks to Ron, the spectacular panoramic views of St. Joseph's Hill, Sierra Azul and the South Bay are much more accessible, the district's Craig Britton said.

HEALTHY FAIR: Some 300 people attended the first Health Fair sponsored by the Saratoga Senior Center--a rousing success, reports Jo Trimble, chairwoman of the event. A beautiful day and the nearby farmers market were two draws she credited for the healthy response.

There were 33 vendors--from chiropractors to retirement centers--all free. People at the Lions van checked blood sugar levels, etc. A similar event in Campbell had so impressed director Genie Dee that she urged one for Saratoga.

Got a tip for Saratoga Sampler? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.