PaloAlto’smostlovableass

DreamWorks Animation —then headquartered in Redwood City— visited Barron Park to sketchand shoot video.

“Niner didn’thave a good rapport with one of the artists. He kepttrying to eathis very expensive boots,” shesays.“SoPerry gotthe role, mostlybecause he behaved himselfand Niner didn’t.”

Therest isshowbiz history. “Shrek” wenton to winthe first AcademyAward for bestanimatedfeature and grossed close to $500 million inworldwide box-officereceipts beforespawning three sequels.

Perry?Well,his handlers were paid a measly $75by DreamWorks for two lengthymodelingsessions. That, andnoroyaltiesto speakof. Apparently, hedidn’thave agreat agent. Not thatPerryis bitter.

Harding-Barlow describes himas a“little sweetie” who adores being petted and loves kids, dogs and posing for photos.“He treats his public very well,”shesays.

Inreturn, heand Ninerare treatedprettywell bytheBarron Parkvolunteers who feed them —mainlyalfalfa pellets — twice aday,walk them andtakecare of their veterinarian bills and insurance.The groupreliesontax-deductible donations that generally cover what theyneed.Butasthe donkeysgetolder, their health bills andotherassociatedcosts arerising,and Harding-Barlow worries thatthevolunteers may not be ableto keep up.

“Alot of people thinkthe city takes care ofthem, but that’snot the case,”shesays.“Wereally work hardto maintainthetradition because it drawsthe neighborhoodtogether, andit’safocal point forthe kids.”

Fansof PerryandNinercan support their care and welfareby making PayPal donations atwww. barronparkdonkeys.org.

At left: Volunteer AngelicaMartin feeds Perry, who servedas the modelfor the Donkey —voiced by Eddie Murphy —inthe “Shrek” films. Visitors can leave items for thecaretakers in a mailbox by the pen. At right:Perry,left, andNinerare themost recent in a longline of donkeys who have livedinPalo Alto’sBarron Parksince the early 1930s.

Stuart Roosa spent morethan 33 solitary hoursorbiting themoon in the winter of 1971 butbelievedhispioneering journey andtheawesomesights he witnesseddidnot alter him —not physically,spiritually or otherwise.

“Space changes nobody,”the Apollo 14astronaut toldauthor Andrew Chaikin in1990.“You bring back from spacewhat you bring into space.”

Histheorywas tested not just on himself, but on the embryo “moon trees” hecarried thereand back. Hundreds of seeds filled ametal canister inhispersonal travel kit forNASA’sthird mission to landonthemoon.

Twoofthemgrewinto coast redwoods thatnow tower atop the Berkeleyhills.Mostly forgotten, except by parkrangersandthe occasional space-buff tourist, they standon opposite endsofTilden Regional Park.

Roosa’s treestuntwas meant to promote theU.S. ForestService, whichonce employed him as a firefightingsmokejumper. Healso hoped to findout howthe seeds would survive zero gravity,radiation and otherperilsoftraveling beyondEarth.

Mission accomplished.

“Yep, theygerminated,”says Bart O’Brien, manager ofthe Regional Parks BotanicGarden in Tilden, whereoneofthetrees is located.“Clearly,bylookingat the tree,therewas noeffect,which doesn’t surprise meatall.”

Farmore challengedby California’s drought than by its lunar voyagenearly45 yearsago,the treeis nestleddeepinside the garden, maintained by theEast Bay RegionalParkDistrict.

“Theseed fromwhichthistree sprang was taken to the moon,” says asign nearthe base of its trunk.