Los Gatan 11-30-2022

MANY SCHOOLS UNPREPARED FOR EMERGENCY TEEN OVERDOSES

Gatos

Hana Beach, Bay City News

Los Gatos High School Prin cipal Kevin Buchanan felt help less on the third day of the 2021 school year. It wasn't the typical first-week-back chaos. Instead, Buchanan was sitting on the ground, cradling the body of a student—watching their face turn white, their body clammy, and their breaths become more and more shallow.

The student was experiencing an opioid-induced overdose.

“There was nothing I could do other than try to keep them awake until the paramedics ar rived,” Buchanan said.

Although this Los Gatos High School student survived the crisis, many students do not. In 2021 alone, 36 teen agers died from opioid-relat ed overdoses in the Bay Area, and according to the California Department of Public Health, 224 teenagers statewide have overdosed fatally in the past two years.

Today, Los Gatos High School has naloxone hydrochloride in its health center. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a nasal spray that can block opioid ab ➝ Overdoses, 8

PARADE’S GRAND MARSHALS ARE COMMUNITY ICONS

Henry Reyes, George Shannon to lead off Dec. 3 celebration

Judy Peterson, Reporter

Wearing his trademark Stet son hat, George Shannon grabs a doughnut in the Billy Jones “Wildcat” Railroad workroom, jawing with the many volun teers who keep the Oak Meadow Park attraction safe for children.

Shannon says he’s been a railroad volunteer for 20 years but people who know him well say it’s way more than that. No matter—the 85-year-old Shan non is a railroad regular who says, “We’re just a bunch of guys who are interested in trains. We re-built all the trucks that are under each rail car, which took several years, and we built the No. 6 car from scratch.”

A Los Gatos resident since

Marshals, 14

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PEAKING Los Gatos High sophomore Aydon Stefanopoulos crosses the finish line in fifth place with a PR of 15 minutes, 14.17 seconds in the CIF State Championship Division II race on Nov. 26 at Woodward Park in Fresno. For the full story, turn to page 10.

Raul Ebio

Los

High School provides naloxone for treatment

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PLANNING COMMISSION SIDES WITH HOME OWNER IN DISPUTE WITH COUNTY FIRE

New state rule about dead-end roads was major sticking point

Drew Penner, Reporter

A homeowner who sought an ex ception to new fire-safe rules recently rolled out by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection won over Planning Commissioners and was granted development approval.

Despite Santa Clara County Fire De partment representatives appearing in the special Zoom meeting on Nov. 21 to argue against allowing the Wade family to move forward with their project at 17121 Crescent Drive, in Los Gatos’ hills, the town officials went with the staff rec ommendation for an exception.

“It’s been a long, stressful 17 months of uncertainty,” applicant Eric Wade said.

“As a resident of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno for almost 50 years, and remod eling homes here for almost 30, my wife Lee Ann and I would choose no other town to raise our family.”

He’d been trying to get the paperwork in order for a new single-family residence and site improvements requiring a grad ing permit in the HR-1 zone, he explained.

They’ve been attempting to demolish half of the existing residence—which they characterized as outdated, and more of a fire hazard than their new de signs—and to move more than 50 cubic yards of material.

Their proposal for their 41,207-squarefoot property had been found to comply with the Hillside Specific Plan and fit in with the Town’s objective standards.

But the Wade family were blocked by

County fire officials’ interpretation of an updated State law.

The major sticking point was with the dead-end road rules.

Commissioner Kathryn Janoff asked County officials about this aspect of socalled “4290” law—referring to a set of “Hazardous Fire Areas” guidelines.

“The question that remains for me has to do with the dead-end requirement,” she said. “I understand the importance of 4290—and appreciate the detail that it’s asking for, for purposes of access and ingress and egress...obviously we’re not asking people to run for their lives on foot…and I understand how it makes sense to apply these standards to exist ing as well as new roads. But I’m having trouble understanding how the length of the dead-end road could be applied fairly, when it’s an existing road.”

Janoff said she can point to many deadend roads in Los Gatos—including her own—that are longer than the length Coun ty officials had outlined as a minimum.

“Help me understand how a homeown er could possibly overcome the issue of the dead-end road,” she said. “I understand all the others, but how could the dead-end road be the final sticking point that fire can’t get past in this circumstance?”

Santa Clara County Assistant Fire Marshall Brad Fox admitted it was a challenging subject.

“I wish I had a straightforward answer for you,” he said. “The reality is, in many cases it can’t be overcome, due to the conditions of the existing road and its location—and if there is a possibility for secondary access.”

The purpose of the regulation is to prevent residents from getting trapped

on a long, windy dead-end route during a wildfire, Fox explained.

“If the fire was coming up the road they have no other way to escape,” he said. “So that’s why the State makes that regulation—to limit the distance that you have a dead-end road in these Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.”

Janoff said that would make sense if a new road was being proposed.

“I’m having a really hard time under standing what a homeowner does when the road is longer than this 4290 prescribes for various acreages,” she said. “It seems to me that it’s what I call an overly-constrained problem. There is no solution. And no solution in this kind of circumstance doesn’t seem to be where we want to go.”

Santa Clara County Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention Hector Estrada noted the County’s been working with the homeowner for quite some time to re solve this issue.

“This is an example of one of those situations where the 4290 standard says something very explicit,” he said.

“If we’re talking about entrapment and we’re talking about the topography, the key feature here is the Very High Fire Severity Zone rating that pulls us into this 4290 standard. So, with that, there are fewer options that we have.”

Estrada said he went over the Wade project three or four times.

“We visited the site, and we even tried walking the hill,” he said, noting they looked at another possible access—but it turned out to be even worse. “We really do try to exhaust every opportunity. We try to use whatever we’ve seen in the past, the creativi ty that we muster. And we do try to partner.”

In fact, they’d successfully worked through all the other issues that had emerged (besides the dead-end road), he added.

Public commenters spoke both for and against the project.

Commissioner Kylie Clark said the new home—built to current codes—would be more fire-safe, but agreed this doesn’t necessarily improve things if people had to escape in the event of a wildfire.

“What I don’t understand is, there’s already a single-family home there, and there will just be a different single-family home there,” she said. “It feels like, be cause they’re doing this, it’s kind of come up as a problem. But, as far as I can tell, it’s not actually changing the need for evacuation or anything.”

Commissioner Emily Thomas made a motion to approve the exception (along with some late-breaking proposed con ditions for approval). It was seconded by Commissioner Kylie Clark and approved unanimously.

DEVELOPMENT The Wade family has been seeking to partially demolish an existing house and put in a modern single-family home in Los Gatos’ hills.

Town of Los Gatos/Zoom

NATIONAL TURKEY BOWL LEAGUE IS A COMMUNITY AFFAIR

Drew Penner, Reporter

Town of Los Gatos officials got the ball spinning by arriving at Creekside Sports Park early on Thanksgiving Day to allow organizers to start pre paring for the day’s big event—the annual Turkey Bowl.

Matt Ober, the National Turkey Bowl League commissioner, entered the as troturf-covered grounds around 7am to set out flags, unpack jerseys and put pylons in the end zones.

“People started getting there around 8 o’clock,” he said. “Throughout the day, friends and neighbors, people who played in the past came and showed up.”

The one-day flag football tournament is a decades-old Los Gatos tradition, pitting wisdom against youth, veterans against newbies, and the lucky against the skilled.

Younger players who show up are distributed evenly amongst the teams, so matches are as fair as possible.

This year’s event got significant sup port from the business community, says Ober.

People like Steve Angelo of the Purple Onion Cafe, Pete Jillo of Gar dino's Ristorante Italiano, Dean and Darin Devincenzi of Double D’s Sports Grille, and Adam Chick and Josh

Allen of Sidecar all pitched in to help bring the unique supporting ritual into 2022.

And who could forget the turducken courtesy of Brian, John and the rest of the Chiala family behind Los Gatos Meats?

“It’s a big bird,” Ober said of the chicken stuck in a duck—which is then connected to a turkey and wrapped with wild boar sausage. “All the players want to get some.”

Ober had cooked the creative mashup of tasty animals for 15 hours at home.

He brought it out to the sidelines first thing, then cut into it after the opening game.

“People all got to get a little piece of it,” he said. “There was a little leftover so I gave it to somebody who didn’t re ally have family for thanksgiving.”

The contributions from Larry Walker of the Alarm Company, Joey Cope of Cole & Riese Real Estate Group Cold well Banker, Tony Loeffler of Palms Restaurant of Los Gatos, Alex Hult of Charley’s Bar of Los Gatos, Monica Santa of WFG World Financial Group, Jessica Christian of Monte and Kristina Shrader of F45 Training Branham Park were used for the silent auction and to cover insurance costs and other fees.

“It was a perfect day,” Ober said. “Very cold in the morning, so the coffee was appreciated.”

Before the action began, Jonathan Flowers, a former LA Raiders player, spoke to the participants to share a re membrance of his son who used to play in the National Turkey Bowl League.

This elicited a round of clapping from this year’s players.

Referees Ober and Ron Zuccaro explained the rules, with a particular emphasis on sportsmanship.

To make his point, Zuccaro took an official NFL rule book and threw it over his shoulder.

“He says, ‘I’m the head ref and you don’t go by that rulebook,’” Ober remembers him saying. “‘If you have attitude, you will do 25 push-ups.’”

However, even the nicest players were in for a whack of the calisthenics.

Because the way the rules go, when one team makes a touchdown, the other team is required to do a round of 25 pushups.

The message seems to have gotten through, because the players really did look out for each other, Ober says.

Even though tackling is prohibited, the sheer amount of energy presents inherent physical risks.

One of the most dangerous parts can

be when trying to rip off an opposing player’s flag.

“Sometimes going in that motion you do, you can’t slow down,” Ober ex plained. “What goes in motion stays in motion right?”

Thankfully, there were no serious injuries.

“It looked like the older folks really protected the youngsters,” he said. “If they got the ball and they’re running it, it seemed like the adults really helped them be careful.”

However, there was at least one star player that did get a big dinged up.

Mark Kibort, the former American Gladiator, did have one particular scary collision, however, it proved to be relatively minor.

“He got a little banged-up,” Ober said. “But he went back out.”

Because fewer people attended this year, they decided not to use the yellow jerseys.

But they still were able to hold three action-packed games showcas ing strategy, adrenaline and agility.

“It’s one big family out there on Tur key Bowl field,” Ober said. “And that excites me.”

While the black team and the red team made it to the final match, in the end, the “Red Riders” emerged victorious.

“It seemed like everyone was having fun,” Ober said. “It was just a welltuned machine.”

2022 CHAMPS Turkey Bowl winners Red Riders took home the Bob Brandyberry Trophy.

GRILLING IT UP The turducken, donated by Los Gatos Meats, is grilled on the sidelines after being cooked for 15 hours by NTBL commissioner Matt Ober.

Photos courtesy of Matt Ober

Photos courtesy of Matt Ober

NARCAN A naloxone kit contains the emergency treatment medication used to counteract the effects of a known or suspected opioid overdose. While several Bay Area school districts have begun to make such kits available for emergency use on campus, adoption is voluntary and there is no statewide policy requiring their use.

OVERDOSE DEATH RATE DOUBLES

Overdoses, from page 1

sorption and restore breathing in the case of an overdose.

“We had to do something,” Buchanan said. “We had to prepare our staff for these situations.”

While not the only harm reduction method, substance abuse experts say that naloxone is a useful tool since minimally trained bystanders can administer it. Ac cording to the Centers for Disease Con trol, the number of naloxone prescrip tions dispensed nationally doubled from 2017 to 2018. California has programs that provide free naloxone to schools. However, schools decide to carry nalox one based on perceived drug usage at the school, and schools also need adminis trators to champion getting naloxone in their health centers. There are no topdown state guidelines requiring schools to carry naloxone on campus; they have the option to do so voluntarily.

Some school districts in the Bay Area like Novato Unified started supplying nal oxone to their health centers as early as 2017. Palo Alto Unified and Campbell Union added it in 2018. In 2020, 11 school districts in the Bay Area had naloxone on campus. This fall, the San Francisco Uni fied School District will explore creating a district protocol for opioid overdose.

Along with cities and towns, some counties are recommending schools provide naloxone—though not requir ing it. In September, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors earmarked $135,000 to provide naloxone kits to the county's 65 high schools.

Not more common, just more deadly

The teen overdose crisis is a recent phenomenon. For decades, teens, as a demographic, were relatively insulated from increased opioid overdose deaths since teen drug use is often characterized by experimentation rather than addiction. Although teen deaths due to overdoses have always existed, the spike in overdoses began just two years ago. In 2020, the rate of overdose deaths doubled for teenagers in America. In 2021, the rate increased another 20 percent. Yet during this time, illicit drug usage among teens has re mained essentially the same.

“Drug use is not becoming more com mon,” said Joseph Friedman, a Ph.D. researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “It's just becoming more dangerous.”

As teens report experimenting with prescription drugs like benzodiazepines (Xanax) and stimulants (Adderall), there is a greater risk today of using counterfeit pills that look identical to prescription drugs. There is also a great risk that the pill may contain fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, fentanyl is about 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and fuels overdoses. In 2021, 77 percent of teenage overdoses in America came from fentanyl.

“We're seeing that a lot of the overdoses are kids who are just experimenting,” Fried man said. “That changes the approach and urgency around harm reduction.”

Despite this crisis, the California De partment of Education has been unwill ing to do more than recommend schools stock naloxone on campus. There aren't legal mandates requiring its presence at high schools.

The absence of naloxone reflects the autonomy given to school districts.

“Schools are perhaps the most local control part of our society,” said Ori Tzvieli, the Contra Costa County Public Health Director.

Before schools can add naloxone to their health centers, the local school board must approve the new regulation, a process that can be time-intensive and cumbersome.

“By going school by school, we have to reach out and educate the school districts themselves. You have to find someone to champion this cause,” said Gretchen Burns Bergman, executive di rector and co-founder of A New PATH, a harm reduction advocacy group in San Diego. “It's a tedious process.”

Perceived risk may not reflect reality

In the Los Gatos-Saratoga Unified School District, for example, it took ed ucators a year to move a naloxone proto col through the bureaucratic process and receive approval from the school board.

This school-by-school approach also allows schools to decide to carry nalox one based on their own perceived risk.

“We have two schools in our district,” Buchanan said. “I don't think we experi enced the same sense of urgency because the experience happened at our school.”

This can be a problem when the greater school community lacks local statistics and data and underestimates community risk.

“People bury these stories,” Buchanan said. “It's hard to get people to accept that this is a crisis.”

The National Association of School Nurses President Linda Mendonca said that lack of awareness is the number one reason why schools do not keep nalox one on campus.

“People think this is not happening in [their] community, or they don't want to,” she said.

The National Association of School Nurses publicly supports providing nal oxone to high schools.

Proponents say more explicit policies in cluding naloxone mandates from the state and local governing boards would help reduce the number of teenage overdoses.

Those mandates do exist in higher lev els of education. In August, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that requires California community colleges and state universities to make naloxone available on their campuses. In 2019, Rhode Is land Gov. Gina Raimondo signed a law mandating naloxone in public and pri vate schools in the state.

The lack of naloxone in high schools isn't due to a lack of funding. The Califor nia Department of Health Care Services runs the Naloxone Distribution Project that provides free naloxone to schools and organizations serving high-risk pop ulations, teens being one. In May, Gov. Newsom added $10 million in funds to the Naloxone Distribution Project as part of his budget revision. The program now receives $15 million in state funds.

Schools in the Bay Area use this pro gram to supply naloxone to their health centers. For instance, Los Gatos High School received naloxone kits through this program, and schools in Contra Costa County are looking to do the same.

One additional concern surrounding naloxone is perceived liability. Some schools worry families may hold them responsible if something goes wrong.

“There is a bureaucratic protection that I found in high schools,” Burns Bergman said. “It is about not just stigma but about self-protection for liability.”

UCLA's Friedman emphasizes that naloxone is safe, however. More impor tantly, every state and the District of Columbia have laws that protect indi viduals from liability for administering naloxone since 2017.

“Accidentally using naloxone on someone who's not overdosing is not going to be dangerous to their health,” Friedman said. “It should be considered a liability not to have naloxone around.”

Photo courtesy of New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick via Bay City New

Give the Gift of Art

Don’t fight traffic for ordinary presents at the mall. Stay right here in the Valley and shop our holiday show for beautiful, unique, handmade art gifts of all types and prices.

The gallery is open: Friday – Sunday, 12 noon – 5:00 pm through December 23

Holiday Open House & Sale: Saturday, December 10, 12 noon – 5:00 pm

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AT THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS ART CENTER

SPORTS BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Stefanopoulos delivers yet again

Emanuel Lee, Sports Editor

As Aydon Stefanopoulos was standing in the awards ceremony after placing fifth in the CIF State Cross Country Championship Division II boys race on Nov. 26, he nearly had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

That’s because standing alongside him were 1-2 finishers Lex and Leo Young, the Newbury Park High brothers who have developed a massive following on social media for their running exploits.

“It’s almost surreal because I’ve watched them on their Youtube chan nel,” said Stefanopoulos, a Los Gatos High sophomore who ran the 3.1mile Woodward Park course in Fres no in a personal-record (PR) time of 15 minutes, 14.17 seconds, which equates to 4:54 mile pace. “They are my heroes and I’m standing next to them on the podium, so it’s amazing to see how far I’ve come. [To run that fast] is still unbelievable I did that.”

That would be an understatement.

Stefanopoulos’ time was the 16th fastest among all five divisions—that’s out of a total of 900-plus runners—and the top mark by a runner from the Central Coast Section. The latter is particularly of note because two weeks earlier Stefanopoulos had the 12th best overall time in the CCS Championships.

But at State, he was the best of the CCS.

Stefanopoulos did it by dialing in his race strategy at Woodward Park, which he had run four times previously (twice for training runs and two times for rac es). Showing discipline and resisting the urge to start too fast, Stefanopoulos took off at a brisk but easily manageable pace from the gun.

At the one-mile mark, he was in 14th place, just where he wanted to be.

“That was the exact plan because I know from experience going out too hard on that course is not something you want to do,” he said. “I know I have the space to catch people and I trust my speed. I’m a 800-mile (1600 meter) guy, so I know I have that top-end speed and

if it came down to a kick against any body, I would have it. So the strategy was sit and kick, go slow, slowly build up and kick past anyone around me.”

At the 2.1-mile mark, Stefanopoulous had moved up to seventh place en route to a fifth-place finish. Stefanopoulos said he made his move around the 1.5-mile mark on the only notable big hill on the course, which brought him into the lead chase pack that trailed the Newbury Park trio of the Young brothers and Aar on Sahlman.

It’s every runner’s goal and dream to peak for the biggest race of the season, and Stefanopoulos did just that at State. Stefanopoulos ran at State last year for Mitty in the Division II race, finishing 22nd in 15:53. He chalked up his 31-sec ond improvement in this year’s race to dialing everything in from his nutrition, fuel, sleep and most important, his body adjusting to the rigors of training.

“Going from middle school training to high school training, your body definite ly takes some getting used to the step up,”

he said. “Now my body has adjusted and is reacting well to the higher mileage, intervals, just more of everything.”

Stefanopoulos also credited his team mates and Los Gatos coach Paul Lawryk for aiding in his success. The Wild cats boys team qualified as a group, with Jack Fan (90th), Jensen Bidmead (104th), Ben Klarich, Keaton Wong, Noah Hale and Will Jenkins competing in a 202-runner field.

“The mentality of my team really helped me throughout the season,” Ste fanopoulos said. “And coach Paul has learned how to deal with my hyperness in practice. I’ve definitely gotten close to him throughout the season and he’s a great coach.”

Los Gatos finished 15th out of 24 teams in the Division II field, several places above CCS teams St. Francis and Branham. On the girls side, Wildcats senior Sophie Tau finished 18th in 18:21.2 and sophomore Shea Elmore was 55th in 19:22.6.

Tau shaved 26 seconds off her time from the 2021 State Championships to cap a spectacular senior season which saw her establish PRs at every distance and course, including Clovis North Twilight, Lynbrook Center Meet, Crystal Springs, Baylands, De La Salle Nike Invitational and Woodward Park. Stefanopoulos’ sea son has been nothing short of memorable and he’s looking to get even faster in his junior and senior seasons. Whatever hap pens the rest of the way, he won't soon for get this year’s State Championships and conversing with the top Newbury Park runners in the awards ceremony.

“These guys are celebrities to me and I’m shoulder to shoulder with them,” Stefanopoulos said. “As they called my name up to the podium and said ‘sopho more Aydon Stefanopoulos,’ Aaron Sahl man said, ‘You’re a sophomore?’ It made me feel fast and was a great experience.”

Up next for Stefanopoulos is the famed Champs Sports Cross Country (formerly Foot Locker) West Regionals on Dec. 3 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. Even though Stefanopoulos has had a long season, he lives to race and Mt. Sac is an iconic course in high school and college running circles.

“My mentality is every shot not taken is a shot missed,” he said. “My legs still feel great right now so I think I can do alright. I’ve never raced the Mt. Sac course before and am looking forward to competing there.”

FAST ’CATS Los Gatos High’s Keaton Wong (left), Jack Fan and Aydon Stefanopoulos are off and running in the CIF State Cross Country Championship Division II boys race on Nov. 26 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Raul Ebio

LOS GATOS BOYS HOOPS MOVE ON UP

Wildcats play in tougher De Anza Division

Emanuel Lee, Sports Editor

Virtually every high school basketball team that advances far in the playoffs or wins championships have one thing in common: they stay busy during the summer league season.

Los Gatos boys coach Nick Ward made sure to put the team in a position to succeed by packing everything he could during the summer league prep season which runs in June and July. In that span, Los Gatos played a whopping 44 games which has prepared them for the 2022-2023 season.

“It was wild,” Ward said. “You get to do whatever you want for seven to eight weeks and we didn’t take a day off for 19 straight days at one point. We played tournaments every weekend and just wanted to get the guys experience be cause we knew we had a lot of returners and guys who would compete this year moving up from the frosh-soph team.

“It’s one thing to scrimmage in prac tice; it’s another to play an opponent of another school. We scheduled heavy and it was a good evaluation period for us, a good time to play a ton and get that

experience. Nobody played every game, but we consistently had 24-25 guys at every game. The commitment level was phenomenal over the summer.”

The Wildcats (0-1), who play Prospect in the Westmont Tournament on Nov. 30, are coming off a season in which they went 9-3 to earn a share of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division championship.

In the SCVAL postseason meeting, the coaches voted unanimously to move Los Gatos up to the tougher De Anza Division for this season, knowing what the team had coming back. Headlining the list of returnees is senior point guard Max Houghton, who was a first team El Camino Division selection and makes everything go.

“We’re really fortunate to have Max back this year,” Ward said. “He’s kind of our floor general and one of our team captains, and a lot of our success will be run through him.”

Fellow senior captain and power forward Victor Josifovski has improved in every phase of the game. That dy namic has shown early in the season as he scored a team-high 15 points in a season-opening loss to Oaks Christian on Nov. 25 and also played well in the

sportsmanship game against an always tough Valley Christian team.

Nolan Koch, a 6-foot-4 junior post, has also made dramatic strides in his game and can bang with the best of them and dominate the glass at times. However, Koch possesses a po tent 3-point shot now that he’s more assured of his ability to hit from the outside.

“Over the last year, Nolan has de veloped the confidence to shoot the 3-pointer in games,” Ward said. “He’s always practiced it, but last year he was more hesitant being an underclassmen on varsity and getting a feel for guys around him. Whereas this year he’s got a full year under his belt and is a lot more confident in his ability to shoot and score for us. He’s a rebounding force and a big strong kid who can do it all.”

Senior wing Trent Splaine is another top returner who possesses a versatile skill set that allows him to play an inside-outside game to go along with tough defense.

“He’ll also rotate in that forward position probably a little more this year as Tommy Ankenbrandt works his way back from injury,” Ward said. “Trent is

playing a hybrid small power forward as we get started, and he’s a big, strong kid who moves really well.”

At 6-6 and 215 pounds, Ankenbrandt is the team’s tallest player and contributed a lot to the team when he was healthy last season. Dominick Nguyen rounds out the returning senior class, and even though he didn’t play a ton of minutes last year, Nguyen provides intangibles that every team needs to reach its potential.

“Dominick is more vocal than a year ago and is really trying to teach the junior guards what the expectations are in terms of the level of play and the physicality,” Ward said. “He does a really good job for us and his experience helps us a lot.”

Sophomore Osha Moloney showed flashes of dazzling play when he was called up to the varsity team halfway through last season. Moloney can flatout shoot it and no doubt will be heavily guarded beyond the 3-point line which should free up space for his fellow team mates everywhere on the floor.

As far as sharpshooters go, Ward said junior Joey Rabitz is “probably the best shooter on the team” and a player who will be counted upon to provide instant offense off the bench.

“There are days in practice when Joey makes one [shot] and you can tell the ball gets around to him the next two, three, four possessions in a row, and they’re all going in,” Ward said. “He comes in with a mentality to shoot, to score, and it’s nice to have a guy come off the bench who’s already got a hot hand.”

Another top newcomer is sophomore Scotty Brennan, who was the frosh-soph El Camino Division MVP last year. An athletic 6-3 wing, Brennan can drive, shoot, crash the boards, is aggressive and is expected to contribute immediately, Ward said.

Max Brin provides depth at point guard and is one of nine juniors on a 16-man roster. Ward said players are pushing each other to improve and that’s exactly what’s needed if the Wildcats are to compete for a top-three spot in the De Anza Division this season.

“We’re back up with all the big dogs and the guys are confident in our ability to compete,” Ward said. “The El Camino was the best El Camino I’ve ever seen last year, but when you put names out there like Palo Alto, the De Anza is a different animal. There’s no bad teams up there and no nights you get to take off.”

STELLAR CLASS Los Gatos High seniors Max Houghton, Trent Splaine, Tommy Ankenbrandt, Victor Josifovski and Dominick Nguyen will play instrumental roles in the team’s success this season.

Jonathan Natividad

LOCAL SCENE

HOUSING ELEMENT UPDATE

MEETING SET

The Town of Los Gatos is in the pro cess of updating its Housing Element of the General Plan, and the public is invited to participate.

The Housing Element Advisory Board will meet on Dec. 1 at 7pm via teleconference to discuss comments from the California Department of Housing and Community Develop ment on the Town’s Draft Housing Element.

The Housing Element is a strategic plan for housing Los Gatos’ present and future residents.

For information and the link to at tend the meeting, visit losgatosca.gov/ HousingElementUpdate.

TOWN RECRUITING FOR VARIOUS BOARDS

The Town of Los Gatos has volun teer opportunities available on its var ious boards and commissions:

• Arts and Culture Commission

• Building Board of Appeals

• Community Health & Senior Ser vices Commission

• Complete Streets & Transportation Commission

• Finance Commission

• General Plan Committee

• Historic Preservation Committee

• Library Board

• Parks Commission

• Personnel Board

• Planning Commission

The deadline to apply is Dec. 2 at 4pm. Tentative Interviews are sched uled for Dec. 13 at 7:30pm. ➝ losgatosca.gov/ CommissionApplication.

CARRIAGE RIDES DOWNTOWN

COMING SOON

Carriage rides return to downtown Los Gatos on select days from Dec. 8-23. The holiday tradition in downtown Los Gatos features a horse-drawn car riage ride beginning in Town Plaza and continuing through the Almond Grove district. The ride takes about 20 minutes.

➝ losgatoschamber.com/ carriage-rides.

1

DA, POLICE ANNOUNCE DEC.

10 GUN BUYBACK

Santa Clara County law enforce ment offices and the District Attor ney’s Office are asking the public to turn in their unwanted guns—for cash—at a Dec. 10 firearms buyback event in Morgan Hill.

The gun buyback will take place 9am-2pm at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center, 16500 Condit Road. Authorities are offering $100 each for handguns, rifles and shotguns; and $200 each for ghost guns and assault weapons, according to the DA’s office.

No questions will be asked about

who owns the surrendered firearms or where they came from, authorities said.

Gun buyback events help create a safer environment where it is more difficult for children, criminals and those with men tal health concerns to access dangerous weapons, according to authorities.

“An unwanted gun is just waiting for a child’s curiosity, or a criminal’s bad intentions,” DA Jeff Rosen said. “Let’s not just cross our fingers that there won’t be a tragedy. Let’s work together to make sure that every gun in this county is legal, locked and owned by a responsible person.”

Firearms surrendered at the buy back event must be functional, but un loaded and transported in the trunk of

your vehicle, the DA’s office said. Those returning firearms must remain in their car. No ammunition is allowed.

There is a limit of five firearms per person; and funds are limited to a firstcome, first-served basis until the funds run out, according to authorities.

In addition to the DA’s office, par ticipating in the Dec. 10 gun buyback are Gilroy Police Department, Morgan Hill Police Department, Morgan Hill Community Law Enforcement Foun dation, Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services, Santa Clara Coun ty Public Health, Santa Clara Coun ty Sheriff’s Office, Supervisor Mike Wasserman, Supervisor Otto Lee and South County Youth Task Force.

PLAZA COMES TO LIFE Workers team up to erect a 50-foot tree for Christmas in Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San José. For more than 40 years the two-acre park has been transformed into a holiday fantasy with over 40 musical and animated exhibits and thousands of lights. Christmas in the Park is a non-profit organization supported by fundraising efforts and the community. The free event is open through Jan.

from noon-10pm. Plaza de Cesar Chavez is at 1 Paseo de San Antonio in San José.

Tarmo Hannula

CALENDAR

GIRLS NIGHT OUT

The Los Gatos Chamber of Com merce will present a night of holiday shopping and dining downtown on Dec. 1. All the stores will stay open until 7:30pm and offer a discount or special deal. Restaurants are offering specials as well, and some will host an after-party. There is no cost to register, but the first 75 people to register will receive a swag bag and glass of cham pagne. All other registrants receive a glass of champagne and are entered into a drawing for a raffle.

HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING

The Annual Los Gatos Holiday Tree Lighting is scheduled for Dec. 2 at Pla za Park beginning at 5pm. ➝ losgatosca.gov/2510/ Tree-Lighting.

PIANIST PERFORMANCE

Steinway Society – The Bay Area will present Russian-American pia nist Natasha Paremski in concert on Dec. 3 at 7pm at the McAfee Perform ing Arts and Lecture Center in Sara toga. The program includes selections from the music of Chopin, Adès, Ravel and Balakirev. Paremski won several prestigious prizes at a very young age, including the Gilmore Young Artists prize in 2006, the Prix Montblanc in 2007, and the Orpheum Stiftung Prize in Switzerland. In September 2010, she received the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year award. The live concert will also be live-streamed online during the per formance and will be viewable for 48 hours following the concert.

➝ steinwaysociety.com.

CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAYS

PARADE

Los Gatos Lions, LGS Recreation and Los Gatos High School present the 66th Annual Los Gatos Children's Christmas/Holidays Parade on Dec. 3 at 11am in downtown.

➝ lgsrecreation.org/parade.

FANTASY OF LIGHTS

Fantasy of Lights Walk-thru and Drive-thru tickets are on sale now. Fantasy Walk-thru runs Dec. 3-4 at Vasona Lake County Park. The Drive-thru runs nightly Dec. 6-30 (closed Christmas Day).

➝ parks.sccgov.org/fantasylights-2022.

TIERRA FIRMA ART EXHIBIT

New Museum Los Gatos presents “Terra Firma,” an art exhibition about our relationship to the land, on view through March 19. “Terra Firma,” a group show organized by guest cu rator Marianne K. McGrath, brings together work by 15 artists, working in diverse media including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, installation and sound.

➝ numulosgatos.org.

LIVE JAZZ MUSIC

Live jazz performances at the Tast ing House, 368 Village Lane, take place Fridays and Saturdays from 6-9pm, and Sundays from 11am-2pm.

ENTERTAINMENT AT GARDINO’S

Gardino’s, 51 N. Santa Cruz Ave., features entertainment four days a week.

➝ bit.ly/3OSvPHS.

ONGOING

Los Gatos Farmers Market

The Los Gatos Certified Farmers’ Market offers seasonal fruits and veg etables from Santa Clara County yearround. More than 40 local farmers and food producers sell their wares Sundays from 9am to 1pm at Town Park Plaza on Main Street and N. San ta Cruz Avenue.

➝ cafarmersmkts.com/ losgatos-farmers-market.

DOWNTOWN PARADE RETURNS

Marshals, from page 1

1964, Shannon describes himself as a “new-timer,” who became interested in the railroad because his kids used to ride the train when it was at Billy Jones’s ranch on Winchester Boulevard.

In recognition of their longstanding service to the community, Shannon and Los Gatos High School Girls Field Hockey Coach Henry Reyes were named the Grand Mar shals for the Los Gatos Chil dren’s Christmas/Holidays Pa rade on Dec. 3.

Shannon’s long-time friend Johnny Hannegan said, “George has done so many wonderful things for people that most people don’t know about. Great family in the com munity, as well.”

And what a large family it is: Shannon has six children and 16 grandchildren, most of whom attended St. Mary’s School. That explains why, for 20 years or so, Shannon always volun teered to cook at the annual St. Mary’s Pancake Breakfast. He also helped with the cooking at the Lions Club Cioppino Din ner and was a fixture at the Los Gatos High School Snack Shack that’s also run by the Lions.

“We raise money for the Lions Club at the snack shack and the club gives most of it back to the school,” he said.

Shannon joined the Lions Club in 1980.

“We’re a working club,” he said. “It’s harder to get people to work than it is to raise money.”

The Lions are co-sponsors of the Children’s Christmas/Holidays Parade, too, with most members volunteering to help shepherd the parade through town.

“My kids volunteer, too,” he said. “The reason I volunteer is it makes me feel satisfied and I believe we have a respon sibility to give back to our community.”

Coach Henry Reyes’s life is all about kids

The major criteria to being named a Grand Marshal of the Los Gatos Chil dren’s Christmas/Holidays Parade is a dedication to the town’s youth.

Los Gatos High School Girls Field Hockey Coach Henry Reyes easily meets that criteria: he’s just completed his 32nd year as the team’s legendary head coach, who led the Wildcats to

24 Central Coast Section semi-finals, winning 16 championships.

“Coach Henry has helped me become a better player and person on and off the field,” said 2022 varsity player Alexa Musser. “He’s led me on my journey to love the game, and the hard work he puts into his players, team and the over all program is admirable.“

Interestingly, Alexa’s mom was coached by Reyes when he led the team to its first CCS championship in 1994.

Reyes first learned about field hockey when he attend ed San Jose State.

“I saw a couple of guys on the field and they let me join their practices, so in the late 1970s and early ‘80s I played in the men’s development program,” Reyes said.

He believes that “sports give kids an opportunity to develop responsibility, accountability, time management skills and teamwork. It helps them set short-term goals to achieve long-term goals. I think those are things that help them real ly grow into adulthood.”

He went on to say, “The thing that’s really important is sports helps kids see everyone as equals. You have to rely on and trust other people.”

Professionally, Reyes is the district director for the Boy Scouts.

“One thing I do is work with Scout Reach, which takes inner city kids hiking, camping and to museums—all good, healthy activities,” he said. “My job is to give kids and volunteers the tools they need to succeed.”

As a long-time coach, Reyes re-eval uates his interactions with kids to make sure his message stays relevant.

“The most interesting challenge to day is social media. I tell the kids they shouldn’t find validation there,” he said.

Which helps explain why the field hockey team T-shirts read, “Our great est strength is the person standing next to you.”

Los Gatos Lions, LGS Recreation and Los Gatos High School present the 66th Annual Los Gatos Children's Christmas/ Holidays Parade on Dec. 3 at 11am in downtown. For information, visit lgsrecreation.org/parade.

George Shannon

Henry Reyes

HORTICULTURE

DEBRIS FILLS GUTTERS DURING AUTUMN

Tony Tomeo, Contributor

Autumn foliar color certainly is pret ty while it lasts. Although less prom inent locally than it is where cooler weather begins earlier, it is an asset to many home gardens. It generally ap pears a bit later within mild climates here, but might also remain suspended a bit later. Ultimately though, with enough wintry wind and rain, it eventu ally becomes foliar debris.

Evergreen foliage also contributes to the mess. It is likely less abundant than deciduous foliage is during autumn, but only because it sheds through more ex tensive seasons. For example, Southern magnolia sheds mostly through spring, as new foliage replaces older foliage. It then continues to shed additional debris throughout the year, including autumn. Regardless of its various origins, fo liar debris becomes more of a concern during autumn for two simple reasons. Firstly, and obviously, more of it accu mulates during autumn than during any other season. Secondly, since au tumn is the beginning of the rainy season, it is the most inconvenient time of year for such debris to accumulate within home gardens.

Roadside gutters, eavestroughs and their downspouts should drain efficiently. However, foliar debris can interfere with their drainage when it becomes most important. Roadside gutters are more ac cessible, so are easier to observe and clean. Eavestroughs and their downspouts may be beyond reach, but may need more cleaning if defoliation continues.

Foliar debris is unhealthy for turf, groundcover and shrubbery that it ac cumulates over. It inhibits photosyn thesis by obstructing sunlight. It can also promote proliferation of fungal pathogens. This is why prompt raking is very important. Foliar debris can stain pavement and decking, and may be hazardously slippery. Behind chimneys, it can promote decay, and possibly be come a fire hazard.

Highlight: silk tree

Resiliency is typically an attribute. It is how the silk tree, Albizia julibrissin, adapts to various urban landscapes. Unfortunately, it is also how it nat

SIGN OF THE SEASON

Falling leaves eventually become abundantly messy.

uralized within a few ecosystems of North America. It grows easily from seed, whether or not it is appropriate to where it does so. Many naturalized specimens somehow find good situa tions in which to grow, though.

With good exposure, most mature silk trees develop rather low but broad canopies. They have potential to grow taller than 40 feet, but if not compet ing with taller trees, may stay half as tall. Their arching limbs flare elegantly outward in low mounding form. Their finely textured foliage provides appeal ingly uniform shade that is neither too dark nor too light.

The lacy and bipinnately compound leaves of silk tree are between half a foot and a foot long. Each leaf divides into as many as a dozen pairs of pinnae (leaflets). These pinnae divide into about twice as many pairs of pinnulae (leaflets of leaflets). Such minute foliar components disintegrate during au tumn defoliation, and can disappear into groundcover.

The pink and fluffy summer bloom can actually be messier than the decid uous foliage. It does not disintegrate as it falls, so may accumulate on top of vegetation below. Cultivars generally bloom with richer pink color, although at least one blooms with white. “Sum mer Chocolate” exhibits richly bronzed foliage that contrasts strikingly with pastel pink bloom.

Tony Tomeo can be contacted at tonytomeo.com.

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Was your home built before 1970?

Was your home built before 1970?

REAL ESTATE

HOME OF THE WEEK

RUSTIC CHARM WITH MODERN AMENITIES

This Los Gatos home is nestled atop the Fairview Plaza Historic Dis trict.

Located at 98 Fairview Plaza, the 2,589-square-foot home includes three bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Built in 2001, the main floor fea tures cathedral ceilings, hardwood flooring, a fireplace, deck and expan

sive windows overlooking the back yard. The open-concept kitchen fea tures new stainless steel appliances. The downstairs features an open area with a bathroom.

This home is listed at $2,890,000 by Katz Inc. For information, visit bit.ly/3R5fL6x.

Katz Inc.

FAIRVIEW PLAZA This home features an expansive backyard. Katz Inc. INSIDE Large windows are throughout

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM IN LOS GATOS

The team that launched the original Los Gatos Weekly has come together once again to give the town the quality of journalism it needs. News about local people, school sports and vital community issues will fill the pages of thislocal publication –and a live web site.

Los Gatos deserves real reporting.

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Serenity Polizzi 408.200.1323 Eric Bocanegra 408.200.1309

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