Look, spirit of holidays alive in Los Altos

The holiday season seems to be bringing out the best in Los Altos, whether one talks about its beautifully decorated downtown streets or its residents who have contributed time and money to help the less fortunate during this season of giving.

Walking downtown is like a jingle bell tour through Santa’s workshop. With three days to Christmas, merchants are pulling out all the stops to attract last-minute holiday shoppers.

Soldier with Los Altos ties killed in Iraq

Army Spc. Edwin W. Roodhouse, a former Silicon Valley high-tech worker, died Dec. 5 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in Iraq. He was 36.

Roodhouse, a San Jose resident, leaves behind his mother and stepfather, Joy and Dinesh Desai of Los Altos; and his father and stepmother, Alan and Donna Roodhouse, who reside in McMinnville, Ore.

Rosita pool complex gets go-ahead

The wait to find out the status of a community pool in Los Altos is over. The Los Altos City Council unanimously added an aquatic center slated for Rosita Park to the city’s 2004-05 Capital Improvement Projects budget last week following more than a year of setbacks due to a neighborhood lawsuit. Whether the project will include one or two pools at the site remains undecided.

Councilmembers agreed that the community should have a pool center. They agreed that the pool center should be appropriate for the neighborhood as well as the community at large. They could not, however, decide how to reach such a compromise.

LA community mourns death of Gerry, the police K-9 with the ‘big heart’

There are few Los Altos residents who didn’t know Gerry. The police K-9 with the big heart quickly became more than a tool to catch the bad guys after the city recruited him from Germany to serve on the police force in 1998. Gerry, a familiar and beloved figure downtown and on school campuses, died Nov. 26 from kidney failure.

The many ways he touched the community were evident last week as the line of people who came to pay tribute to him extended out the doors at the Los Altos Community Center. Former and current city employees, schoolchildren and residents from as far as Fremont spoke about how Gerry had affected their lives. Police wore black ribbons on their badges in honor of the K-9 officer.

Holiday campaign against drunk driving gets under way

As part of the holiday season’s anti-drinking and driving campaign, which kicked off Friday, some of Santa Clara County’s top law enforcement officials took swigs of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of their vehicles last week to demonstrate the effect even one or two drinks can have on a driver’s ability. The sobriety challenge took place in a controlled setting at Infineon Raceway in San Jose.

All 125 police agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area plan to participate in 82 enforcement operations to target drunk drivers from now through Jan. 2 as part of the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Avoid effort. There will be multiple DUI checkpoints in all nine Bay Area counties as well as roving DUI enforcement.

Busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style

“Silver bells, silver bells

It’s Christmas time in the city

Letters to the Editor

Rosita neighbors prefer area enhanced, no pool
Debbie Torok

Ten years ago, my husband and I were looking for a larger house in a quiet and safe neighborhood with good schools to raise our young children. We were assured by the 1994 city council that the land had been sold to a developer […]

Happy holidays

One bleak afternoon, I flicked on our outdoor Christmas lights early, thinking they would make a cheery welcome for my kids when they arrived home from school.

My daughter noticed them immediately, and when I explained that I had flipped them on for her benefit, she replied, “Oh, I thought for sure you turned them on by accident or something.” Such is my reputation in the family for being very Grinch-like during the holidays.

Noteworthies

Nov. 20, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts from Los Altos, Mountain View and Palo Alto participated in their annual “Scouting for Food” event, a benefit for Second Harvest Food Bank.

This year’s collection, one of the largest ever, brought in more than 20 tons of food.

Weddings and Engagements

Natalie Shukov and Gavin Holles
Natalie Shukov and Gavin Holles were married Aug. 14 at Anderson Estate in Kenwood.
The bride is the daughter of Barbara and George Shukov of Los Altos Hills. She is a graduate of St. Francis High School and graduated summa cum laude from Stanford University with a bachelor’s […]

Local artist works to improve youth exposure to art

Energetic doesn’t even begin to describe Adriana Ippati-Torrens of Los Altos. The artist is a whirlwind of activity.

“Look at this,” she said, showing one of the many watercolors populating her studio. “Oh, here’s one.”

Community Briefs

‘Chopshticks’ comedy back for 3 nights
Due to popular demand, Los Altos resident Gloria Goldblatt has scheduled three nights of “Chopshticks” comedy, Dec. 24-26, at Ming’s restaurant, 1700 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto.
A no-host “schmooze” hour begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and the show at 7:30 p.m.
Featured this year are […]

Guide dog graduates

Los Altos Hills resident Bonnie Finsthwait and her husband, Donald, recently presented Trident, a black-and-tan German shepherd guide dog, to Aldo Alvarado of Dearborn Heights, Mich., at the campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc., Boring, Ore. For more about Guide Dogs for the Blind, call (800) 295-4050.

Christmas traditions from England and Germany

“Happy Christmas!” as they say in England. Terry Jordan, owner of Something Special, is English. She is also a trained florist who has accumulated 30 years of experience in different countries, and this time of year is precious to her.

“Christmas in England is a lot like Christmas in the United States. We send cards and give presents to friends and family. We decorate our homes and churches with flowers, green leaves, paper decorations and colorful electric lights just like here,” Jordan said. “But there are a few differences. As you walk down the street and wave ‘Happy Christmas’ you can go into a store and find treats like mince pies or cookies, and the merchants invite you in.”

Community

Los Altos Senior Center
Services offered at the Los Altos Senior Center include:
• Counsel on Aging, HICAP: Insurance counseling the third Tuesday of every month with Roy Ito. Make appointments through the senior center,
• In-home repair service: For minor home repairs. Reserved for Los Altos and Los Altos Hills residents […]

Town Crier Holiday Fund over $100,000 in donations

The Los Altos Town Crier Holiday Fund marks its fifth year by setting a challenging goal to raise $120,000 for area non-profit organizations whose work directly benefits the needy.

So far, approximately $105,000 has been raised. This is an $18,000 jump over last week and well ahead of last year’s pace. Last year’s fund raised approximately $108,000.

Another effort to save the Griffin House faces trustees

The Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees last week decided to wait for the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on proposed demolition of the historic Griffin House before spending money to explore possible restoration.

In October, trustees discussed plans for a community center to occupy the Griffin House site. But opposition to the old home’s demolition persists.

World-renowned physicist and author to speak in Los Altos

The Main Street Forum at Main Street Cafe & Books in downtown Los Altos has scheduled a talk by Dr. Michio Kaku, a world-renowned physicist and author of the international best seller “Hyperspace,” at 7 p.m., Jan. 10.

Kaku reviews recent developments in cosmology and their impact on scientific, philosophical and religious beliefs about the meaning of the universe in his book, “Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos” (Doubleday; scheduled for release Dec. 28; $27.95).

Talon goes out on limb with ‘the f-word’

The Talon, the student newspaper of Los Altos High School, is “in a holding pattern” after publishing the four-letter word cut from a school play in a front-page story last month, Principal Wynne Satterwhite said last week.

The comprehensive article, “Latest Broken Box play censored: Satterwhite makes controversial cut to upcoming ‘Laramie Project,’” led off the Nov. 24 issue. The offending word appeared only once, in the first sentence.

New middle school named for longtime Cupertino district educator Sam H. Lawson

Trustees of the Cupertino Union School District last Tuesday named the new middle school on the old Collins Elementary School site in honor of Sam H. Lawson, a longtime teacher who became the first principal of the district’s first junior high school. Among his other projects, Lawson started the after-school program at the Cupertino Parks and Recreation Department.

“He was very involved in the school district and was a leader during the growth period when the district hit its peak of 44 schools and 25,000 students,” spokesman Jeremy Nishihara said by phone last Wednesday. The district now operates 24 schools for more than 16,000 students.

‘Super-popular’ MVHS teacher Denny Devine to retire after 38 years

Mr. Devine rocks. His students love him and continue to go surfing with him long after they graduate. His boss respects him and goes to him for advice. One cannot help but admire Denny Devine, the dynamic Mountain View High School history teacher.

After 38 years of delighting and educating his students, Devine is set to retire.

Foothill, De Anza faculty receive 2.41 percent salary increase

With both board approval and faculty ratification, all faculty salary schedules at Foothill and De Anza colleges will be adjusted with a 2.41 percent increase because of the state-provided cost of living adjustment. The salary adjustment will be retroactive to July 1.

The Foothill-De Anza Community College District Faculty Association ratified the settlement with a unanimous vote.

Noteworthy

Ashley Schoettle of Los Altos is one of two students from the United States chosen to attend the Student Leadership Conference in Melbourne, Australia, in January. The conference is sponsored by the Alliance of Girls Schools (Australia), an international association partner of the National Coalition of Girls Schools.

Ashley is a junior at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, where she co-captains the cross-country team and is a member of the varsity swim team. She tutors at Elizabeth Seton School.

Loyola makes a joyful noise

Students in the Los Altos School District celebrated the approach of the holidays by giving concerts last week. Right, Loyola Elementary School sixth-grade band clarinetist Danielle Smith, 11, performs to an appreciative audience in the multipurpose room. Superintendent Marge Gratiot, who stopped by to catch some of the performance, and Principal Linda Eckols agreed that the new stage on the long wall is just the thing to showcase student performances. Thanks to a grant from the Los Altos Educational Foundation, the school district employs four music teachers specializing in different orchestral areas to instruct band and orchestra students in fifth and sixth grades. The teachers are John Beeman, Vincent Lewis, Wendy Littman and Roberta Robertson.

Schools Briefs

National AD/HD expert scheduled to speak
Sam Goldstein, a nationally known expert on attention deficit disorders, is scheduled to speak 7-9 p.m., Jan. 4, at Spangenberg Theatre, Gunn High School, 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, and 7-9 p.m., Jan. 5, in the student center at Fremont High School, 1279 Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, Sunnyvale. […]

Fremont district honors Friends of Education

Eleven volunteers who worked for passage of Measure L, Fremont Union High School District’s parcel tax initiative this fall, received the district’s highest honor for community members Dec. 7.

District trustees presented Friends of Education awards to Tom Avvakumovits, president of the district’s teacher union; Harry Bettencourt, retired district administrator and Measure L treasurer; Leslie Francavilla, Fremont High School parent and volunteer coordinator for both the Measures O and L and Measures L and P campaigns; Virginia Jian, Lynbrook High School parent and Measures O and L campaign co-chairwoman; Linda Kilian, Sunnyvale School District trustee and Measures L and P campaign co-chairwoman; Holly Lofgren, Fremont High School parent and Measures L and P campaign co-chairwoman; Cindy McArthur, the district’s communication manager; Gary McCue, Cupertino Union School District trustee, Lynbrook High School parent and Measures O and L campaign co-chairman; Barbara Nunes, trustee and coordinating chairwoman of the Measures L and P and Measures O and L campaigns; Roberta Pabst, Measure L fund-raising chairwoman; and Bernard Vargas, president of the district’s classified union, CSEA Chapter 237.

Taking steps toward a title

Vava Marques preached patience throughout last season when his Los Altos High boys soccer team finished at the bottom of the league. The Eagles were in a rebuilding mode, and the coach needed time to develop a largely young and inexperienced roster.

This season, that patience is paying off.

Getting our priorities straight after President Bush’s economic conference

If you were listening to President Bush’s economic conference this week, I hope you weren’t disappointed. The President invited a group of economists and business people to the White House to console Europeans upset about the falling U. S. dollar.

The dollar has sunk because of the federal budget deficit, which investors around the world fear will persist as far into the future as anyone can see. Bush said he will do everything he can to deal with our deficit and hopefully Europeans will continue to buy dollars.

Los Altos resident George Scalise continues as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., renamed George Scalise of Los Altos chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for a second term to begin in January.

Scalise is president of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), a trade association that includes more than 85 percent of the member companies in the U.S. microchip industry.

Business

Anyone doubting 2004 was a good year for Realtors should have attended the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR) achievement awards and holiday breakfast for the Los Altos-Mountain View district.

“This is an all-time high for SILVAR, because 62 Realtors are receiving an achievement award this morning,” said Josie Cambera, moderator. “Each Realtor receiving an achievement award has closed 13 or more transactions for the year.”

Museum showcases Rockwell’s Main Street Christmas

The name Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) evokes Americana. The artist’s works include touching portraits of small-town doctors, a family saying grace, boys fishing, swimming or running away from home.

Rockwell’s 323 covers for The Saturday Evening Post gave him an unparalleled canvas as an American image-maker and storyteller.

Datebook

MUSIC

Music in the Cellar. Musicians perform in the cellar of Beausejour restaurant. 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., Thursdays. Doors open at 7 p.m. 170 State St., Los Altos. 948-8667.

Obituary Notices

DOROTHY CUMMINGS
Dorothy Cummings, a Los Altos resident for the past 40 years, died December 9, 2004 at age 86. Born Dorothy Jeanette Shaw in Omaha, Nebraska on March 11, 1918, she moved with her parents and older brother to Tacoma, Washington in the early 1930’s. After graduating from high school in Tacoma, […]