The first-ever Los Gatos “Character Awards Ceremony” was held March 25 at Loma Brewing Company, celebrating five residents whose lives are characterized by acts of selflessness, integrity and resiliency.
The awards were sponsored by the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce and also recognized Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Mike Wasserman, who is termed out of office in November.
Wasserman served two terms on the Los Gatos Town Council, including two years as mayor, before being elected to the county board in 2010.
“In December I’m retiring from 20 years in political office,” Wasserman said. “You are now represented by Supervisor Joe Simitian and although I’m still in office, you could not be in better hands.”
Last summer, the supervisors adopted a redistricting map that moved Los Gatos and Monte Sereno out of Wasserman’s District 1 and into Simitian’s District 5.
So, when Simitian took the stage, he used the opportunity to introduce himself to an overflow crowd of more than 150 constituents.
“I am yours and you are mine,” Simitian said. “I am actually a recycled representative…because I represented this community in the California State Assembly 20 years ago.”
In keeping with the event’s primary focus of recognizing the characters of Los Gatos, it fell to Mayor Rob Rennie to mention some of the town’s most notable characters: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Olympic figure skater Peggy Fleming, Pet Rock creator Gary Dahl, and Los Gatos High School graduates Todd Beamer and Mark Bingham—the heroes who battled 9/11 hijackers aboard United Flight 93.
“We always talk about the character of Los Gatos and preserving the character of Los Gatos,” Rennie said. “But it’s the characters that are the ones that have formed the character of Los Gatos.”
The 2022 Los Gatos characters include Birdwatcher owner Lisa Myers, whose store was deemed “essential” during the pandemic, providing comfort to birders young and old.
“I had a wife tell me once that her husband sits on the back porch and looks at the birds in the yard because he was going through cancer treatment, and if it wasn’t for the birds she doesn’t know what would have happened because it helped him get through all the chemo,” Myers said.
The owner of the Pastaria & Market, Donna Novi, was honored for her ability to pivot during the pandemic—turning out meals for hospital workers instead of the usual restaurant menu.
“My staff is amazing,” Novi said. “And friends who are really supportive and family, customers walking in off the street and giving me an envelope with $1,000 in it, saying, ‘I want you to stay open.’ I mean, there’s been so many things, so I’m just really grateful for that and I think you learn to take those little pieces of gratitude and you learn to see the best in it so you can keep going.”
Award winner Ed Stahl is grateful for spending the last 60-plus years in Los Gatos. Stahl opened Travel Advisors of Los Gatos in 1961 and is still an avid traveler: he just returned from the Dubai World’s Fair.
Stahl, who is 90, says space travel is now on his bucket list, which is “getting longer, not shorter.”
Award-winner Sue Tuttle received kudos for her efforts to clean up downtown streets during the pandemic. A member of the town’s Beautification Committee, Tuttle has become a familiar sight with her litter pick-up stick, grabbing masks, candy wrappers, you name it, and stuffing them into a plastic bag.
“The feeling of volunteering makes me believe that I’m making the world a better place,” Tuttle said. “I will continue to pick up litter as long as people keep dropping things.”
Longtime resident Rob Stump is described as a “Wildfire Safety Superhero” for his efforts to help the town develop a wildfire safety plan that included developing neighborhood evacuation routes.
“I focus on a goal until it’s achieved and that’s really been my approach for wildfire preparedness for our neighborhood and for the town of Los Gatos,” Stump said.
The town will be putting Stump’s plans to good use during an April 2 wildfire evacuation drill for the College Hills neighborhood.
