The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by George Sakkestad

If Gustine Castle can't get you there in a hurry, at least she'll get you there in a furry.

'Pillar of the Earth

Wacky limousine service is fur on wheels

By Sarah Stanek

All Gustine Castle was planning to do was paint her house in a bright, sunny orange.

"I looked at the can of paint, and it said 'cantaloupe' and I saw the word can't in there, and I didn't want to paint my house with a negative color."

So she dropped the 't' and Canaloupe Castle was born.

That was 17 years ago, and today Canaloupe Castle has moved to Sunnyvale. The "cancept" is still going strong, most visibly on the streets of Cupertino and Silicon Valley in the form of Calliope the Canaloupe Canerpillar, the world's hairiest limo.

A 1977 Checker limo covered in canaloupe orange fur, with long fluttering eyelashes and lips the envy of any supermodel, Calliope has been turning heads for several years. Castle and her "canimal" friend have picked up kids, kids-at-heart and a number of surprised customers for weddings, birthdays or just plain fun.

"Some people kind of forget," Castle said. "When they get in the car they feel like a kid, but you're still that kid." They have a blast playing with crazy glasses, noisemakers and stuffed gorillas while surrounded by still more orange fur on the walls and ceiling.

Calliope and her passengers are the center of attention wherever they go. Castle said it's especially fun to go where the streets are crowded. "People like to lean out the windows and talk to other cars. Everyone is really friendly and curious," she added.

Sometimes that can be a problem--when Castle takes Calliope into San Francisco, for instance. "You pull up at an intersection in Chinatown, stop at a stoplight and all of a sudden you're surrounded. The light turns green, and you can't go," she said.

Her husband, Jamil Satti, said people have offered him $100 for a ride down the block.

"No one looks at a regular limo," said Satti, who drives an ordinary "bald" limo. "You drive this limo, people stop."

The You-Can Toucan, a 1983 Fleetwood Cadillac with bright orange feathers, attracts just as much attention. Passengers often use parrot hand puppets to talk with people out the window.

Singing Canagrams

After the can of house paint, everything for Castle turned into a "type-C" lifestyle, emphasizing "canfident, creative, can-do thinking." She began writing songs for Singing "Can-a-grams" and eventually recorded an album with the help of her daughter Tahoe.

"We worked together for a long time on it," said Tahoe, who arranged the music and played the accompaniment for the album, Sing It in the Key of Canaloupe.

The actual "Canaloupe Castle" is a 1957 house trailer in Alviso, which Castle uses for art shows, small parties or her own Can-Do Care-E-Okie.

Castle's daughter and her mother, Irma Patterson, have been very supportive of her endeavors and often help her brainstorm ideas.

"She sees those kinds of things in her mind," Patterson said, like her apartment. It's just a two-bedroom apartment, but nothing else looks like it."

A few years ago, the Canaloupe Castle Croakers recorded another album called The Fat City Jailbreak. Through the songs and the story, Castle wanted to encourage people to think well of themselves.

In the story, Ms. Polly Wog, a plain old tadpole, undergoes a mental metamorphasis to see herself as Polly the Cute Croaker. The Fat City Jail is holding our minds captive with negative self-images, Castle said.

"People are not second-class citizens because they don't look like some TV model," she said.

Castle is beginning work on a "croaker" van, also to be named Polly. When it is finished, she intends to use it too for can-do seminars.

"I think people will pick up more of a can-do message from the van," she said.

Tahoe, a youth minister for the Four Square Church in Fortuna, said her mother's positive attitude is a blessing for her and others.

"It's awesome to be able to share that fun with other people," Tahoe said.

"It's not just the car; it's the whole concept," Patterson added.

Inside Calliope

The "cancept" is very important to Castle. Most of her wardrobe is canaloupe-colored, as are her fingernails, toenails, sandals and hair. When she drives Calliope, she wears an even brighter orange wig.

Because part of a positive lifestyle is helping others, Castle collects canned food for the needy through her Can Club, where other "type-C" personalities can meet.

The experiences people have in Calliope are not easily forgotten.

A Sunnyvale couple who hired Castle for their daughter's wedding were so impressed by the experience that they gave her a new gorilla for Calliope's menagerie.

A typical reaction to a Canaloupe Castle pick-up is mixed--part shock, part embarrassment and part hearty laughter.

"All right, glasses, check it out!" exclaimed Yvonne Greeley as she climbed into Calliope. She promptly put on a pair of flourescent green glasses and began playing with one of the gorillas.

Castle enjoys watching her passengers have a good time and leave with smiles on their faces.

"It's so easy to think positively about things. This is just a reminder to think positive," she said.

Contact Canaloupe Castle at 773-8288.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, July 16, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.