Ned Mansfield leads life of volunteerism

When Ned Mansfield speaks of his work as a volunteer, his 85-year-old voice reflects an unassuming and humble tone.

“I guess I get back something (from volunteering), but I just enjoy doing it,” said Mansfield, a Los Altos resident. “I don’t read that much, and I don’t go to many movies, and I don’t watch the television very often, so I try to find something I can do that will help somebody else.”

Local musician mourns Ray Charles

For most people, Ray Charles was the king of soul. For Los Altos resident Steve Elliott, Charles was much more.

Elliott toured with Charles for eight years as part of the Ray Charles Orchestra. He played his first gig with Charles in 1986. When his friend quit the 17-piece jazz orchestra in 1991, Elliott joined the orchestra as lead alto saxophone.

Los Altos Hills sees end of historic term

When Councilwoman Emily Cheng passed the mayor’s gavel to Mike O’Malley June 16, it marked the end of an historic term for Los Altos Hills. Cheng was the first person of Asian descent to serve as mayor in Los Altos Hills.

Her term expired this month. The council voted unanimously to appoint O’Malley to the one-year, rotating position.

Arson leaves Los Altos High’s sports field permanently damaged

The athletic field at Los Altos High School may be permanently damaged despite an estimated $10,000 of repair work planned to fix a 15-by-30-foot area that vandals allegedly charred over graduation weekend June 14.

The artificial grass, installed at Tom Burt field at the end of football season last fall, is one continuous piece of turf. Repairing the field will require cutting out the charred section and replacing it with new turf, school officials said.

Letters to the Editor

Council shouldn’t have gone there
Tom Freed
Los Altos

Tolerance Day and Gay Pride Day have come and gone and the sun still came up the next day. What’s next? How does the city council react to those who now want an Abortion Pride Day, Anti-Abortion Pride Day, or a mid-peninsula Satanic Worship […]

Looking forward in June

June is a wrap-up month. Kids wrap up the school year with final exams and commencement exercises. My nephew wrapped up his bachelorhood with a blowout wedding. My son will wrap up the year’s piano lessons with an annual recital that we almost don’t need to attend because we have heard his chosen piece practiced in the house five or six hundred times already.

For me, June has the feeling of winding down into something new - like a new school come fall - by finishing off old business with ceremony and flourish. June is often a busy month, filled with obligations, which is something I normally don’t enjoy. However, I love the idea of completing a phase, and beginning anew. I love life when it feels fresh and ever-evolving.

How the encyclopedia got its name

• The term encyclopedia is derived from the Greek, ‘Enkuklios Paideia’ meaning general education.

• It can take a deep-sea clam up to 100 years to reach 0.3 inches (8 millimeters). This clam is among the slowest growing yet longest living species on the planet.

Editorials

Pinewood’s Winbigler purchase
The recent Pinewood School purchase of the tormented Winbigler property gives hope to the idea that the property that once held the classic home of a Stanford University professor will again be used toward high-minded means.
Of course, such a prospect is at least three years away and the […]

Obituaries

MARGARET A. O’BRIEN
Margaret A. O’Brien was born June 24, 1944 in Dublin, Ireland. She died on June 12, 2004 in Los Altos, CA of ovarian cancer. She is survived by her husband David Dolfi and her daughter Bridget.
Funeral Mass was held at St. Nicholas Church on June 19.
Margaret […]

Wedding

Erica Yeend and Michael G. Ward
Erica Yeend and Michael G. Ward were married Nov. 22 in Chicago, Ill. Their reception was held at Cafe Brauer in Lincoln Park along Lake Michigan in Chicago. They spent their honeymoon in the Caribbean.
The bride is the daughter of Nancy Yeend of Palo Alto […]

Scouting News

Boy Scout Troop 222
Forrest Scott, Brandon Wiebe and Stefan Hermannsson of Boy Scout Troop 222 were named Eagle Scouts during a ceremony Saturday at the First Baptist Church of Menlo Park.
Forrest is the son of Andrew Scott and Carolyn Brown. Brandon is the son of Michael and Rebecca Wiebe, and […]

Packard Foundation opens doors to community

Having the neighbors in for an open house to celebrate a 40th anniversary is fitting for a foundation that began around a kitchen table. The 400 or so neighbors and grantees of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation who dropped by Thursday for a piece of cake and a chat with its board and staff evidently thought so, too.

Mayor John Moss was there to proclaim June 16 David and Lucile Packard Foundation Day.

Community Briefs

Arts & Wine volunteers needed July 10-11
The Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival committee needs additional volunteers for various booths, including beverages, during the festival, July 10 and 11.
Shift hours are 9:30 a.m. to
12:45 p.m.; 12:30-3:45 p.m. or
3:30-6:30 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, call the Los Altos […]

LASD, Hills discuss reopening Bullis School

The Los Altos School District board has unofficially approached Los Altos Hills about reopening Bullis-Purissima Elementary School as a district school.

On May 6, trustee Duane Roberts had a “very preliminary” meeting with then-Mayor Emily Cheng and City Manager Maureen Cassingham on behalf of several individuals on the school board but not the board itself.

Noteworthies

Three local teachers were among seven in the Bay Area honored for excellence in Jewish education earlier this mont Scott Evan Guggenheim, for his innovative use of drama as a teaching tool at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos; Tsilla Brafman of Mountain View, for instilling in pre-schoolers at Sinai Nursery School in San Jose a sense of self-empowerment; and Eti Steiner of Mountain View, for her work with students, their families and other teachers at the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto. Each received a $10,000 cash prize from the Helen Diller Family Educator Awards. An additional $2,500 was awarded to each educator’s institution.

The awards were presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties on June 10.

Banking on Bruins

The list of St. Francis High football players who have earned scholarships after walking on at the college level is an impressive one. Recent additions include quarterback Pat Dillingham at the University of Notre Dame and John Abramo at the University of Arizona.

Travis Martin and Justin Sieber hope they’re next. Both Los Altos residents head to the University of California at Los Angeles in the fall, with no guarantees other than a spot on the 105-man roster. Martin plays defensive end; Sieber is a halfback/safety.

Lancers rule NorCal final

The St. Francis High boys golf team has never been one to shy away from a challenge. The bigger the tournament, the better.

So when the California Interscholastic Federation announced it was bringing back the state tournament this season after a 23-year absence, the Lancers competitive juices started to flow. And that was before the season even began.

Heritage Commerce Corp. integrates its branch banks

Bank of Los Altos, the small community bank founded on the premise that a company should know every customer’s name, will become Heritage Bank of Commerce in upcoming weeks, according to an announcement from parent

company Heritage Commerce

Job hunters best look outside of Santa Clara County, survey says

Job hunters would fare better in almost any other California county than here, according to a recent survey. Santa Clara County’s employment outlook is one of the weakest in the nation, a job market survey released by Manpower revealed last week.

Only 15 percent of companies surveyed in Santa Clara said they planned to hire more employees, while 13 percent said they planned to decrease their workforce and 50 percent planned to remain status quo until the end of this business quarter in September. The remaining employers were uncertain of the future of their workforce. Statewide, 33 percent of employers said they plan to expand their workforce; only 7 percent said they planned to decrease their number of employees.

Business Briefs

LA resident joins Maven’s management
Maven Networks recently named Los Altos resident Susan Bratton as senior vice president of sales and marketing. She has 22 years of experience. Bratton will open Maven’s Silicon Valley office.
Prior to joining Maven, Bratton worked for @Home Network, where she launched the company’s broadband advertising […]

Diego’s dietary journey

The Town Crier is running a diabolical experiment on its current intern. Diego Abeloos, 27, looked reasonably fit and healthy when he arrived in our offices freshly graduated from San Jose State University. How he will look when he leaves is the question to which we seek the answer.

I love food, perhaps more than most people, but it’s becoming a problem for me. You see, my recent graduation from college has left me with not only a degree in journalism, but also a few extra pounds to shed.

Diet-craze confusion

Feeling a little confused about today’s diet craze? Low-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-calorie … which one really works?

Low-carb plans such as the Atkins and South Beach diets, which have gained popularity in recent years, require a strict reduction in the consumption of carbohydrates.

Pace yourself for fitness

With fitness clubs for women popping up everywhere these days, the trend appears not only to be booming but here to stay. Last November, Debbie Brown and Regina Rutledge jumped on the bandwagon and opened their own women’s fitness club called Pace Yourself.

Pace Yourself is a gym and boutique rolled into one. Women can work out and shop at the same time.

Baby aspirin reduces adult risk of heart attacks

The adage, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” may not be true, but there is mounting evidence for the value of aspirin in doses as low as 75 mg daily in the prevention of cardiovascular complications.

The genesis for this recommendation was the Physician’s Health Study, a trial conducted from 1982 to 1988 and published in 1989. It was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled 22,071 apparently healthy male physicians aged 40-84. The men were randomly assigned to take either a 325 mg aspirin or a placebo every other day.

Guide to diabetes prevention stresses diet, exercise, recognizing early signs

Recognized as two of the seven deadly sins before sinning became unfashionable and incompatible with psychotherapeutic theory, gluttony and sloth now are the triggers of a medical condition known as Metabolic Syndrome.

Local physicians Mariam Manoukian and Jerry Manoukian detail the condition in their book “Metabolic Syndrome Survival Guide” (Westchester Publishing Company, 2004).

LA resident writes from France

To reach Divonne-les-Bains, it was necessary to travel a few miles across the corner of Switzerland. It cost $36 to cross the border. We passed beautiful fields of dandelions that we later learned are harvested for salads and wines.

We reached Divonne, a sleepy border village at the foot of Juras - 10 miles from Switzerland and 15 miles from Lake Geneva. We immediately spotted Chateau de Divonne, an elegant 19th-century residence, on the side of the hill just up the road from the top money-making casino of France. Our $375 luxurious suites have exceptional panoramas of the village, Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva.

Postcards from abroad

The Town Crier wants to hear from you about your travel experiences. Send Travel Editor Lauren McSherry an e-mail “postcard” with travel advice, funny stories about misadventures or off-the-beaten-path suggestions. Postcards should be 200 words, please, and accompanied by a photograph if possible. Postcards can be sent to laurenm@latc.com.

Datebook

Datebook items are run on a space- available basis for entertainment, non-profit events, low-cost classes and groups of wide interest in our circulation area. Deadline is noon, Tuesday, for the next week’s paper. We do not guarantee items will appear. Notices must be typed and include a contact name and number. Mail to Datebook, Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos, CA 94022; fax 948-6647; or e-mail peteb@latc.com (no attachments).

DANCE