The San Jose Municipal Rose Garden was awash in red on Sunday morning — and not just because of the colorful flowers there. It was because of the hundreds of red-shirted people taking a healthy stroll around the park for the Stroke Awareness Foundation’s 11th annual Fight Stroke Walk.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo helped lead the 5K walk around the garden’s perimeter, and another welcome sight was former Valley Medical Center Foundation Executive Director Chris Wilder. He survived a massive stroke last year and has since joined the board of the Stroke Awareness Foundation.
Foundation co-founder Chuck Toeniskoetter — whom I managed to keep up with for a few laps — told me that the nonprofit is seeing its message get through about how life-saving early awareness of a stroke can be. And that’s been especially helped since the foundation has added information in multiple languages: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog and Farsi. You can get more information — and learn about how to spot early signs of stroke — at www.strokeinfo.org.
If you missed this year’s walk, you’ll get a chance before long: Next year’s is scheduled for May 7.
MAKING A SPLASH: Aquarium of the Bay found its way back to San Jose on Monday night, bringing its Blue Marble Awards ceremony to the City Hall rotunda — a change from last year’s event, which was held at Hayes Mansion in South San Jose. George Jacob, CEO of the nonprofit Bay Ecotarium — of which the Pier 39 aquarium is a part — welcomed hundreds of stylishly dressed guests who were mostly attired in shades of blue.
Former San Francisco Giants star Hunter Pence provided the keynote, followed with remarks by NetApp CEO George Kurian and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. The entertainment highlight of the night may have been a rousing performance by two-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej and Lonnie Park — joined by a chorus of scouts from the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council of the Boy Scouts of America — that had the audience waving their cellphone flashlights.
The evening’s trio of awardees were Casa de Fruta General Manager Gene Zanger, in his role as board chair for Visit California; Clearinghouse CDFI President and CEO Douglas Bystry; and Alaska Airlines President and CEO Ben Minicucci.
PARK PLACES: After two years as “D4 in the Neighborhood,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg’s annual fall get-together this weekend has adopted a snappier name, “Picnic in the Park.” She’ll be mingling with people at Orchard City Green in Campbell from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., but she’ll be far from the only draw. The free event includes a reptile show, a gardening demonstration by Valley Verde, entertainment by singer/songwriter Casey Bogdan and a drag queen story time. Food trucks will be on hand, and San Francisco-based company Don Bugito, which specializes in edible insects, will have a table. Maybe there’ll be free samples for adventurous eaters.
While we’re talking about parks and insects, it seems appropriate to note the groundbreaking last Saturday for Mariposa Park in San Jose’s Tropicana-Lanai neighborhood. The project, which is expected to be completed next spring, will transform an empty lot into a 0.15-acre park with a playground, picnic tables and space for gathering. It draws its name from the mural, “El Sueño de la Mariposa,” Spanish for “The Butterfly’s Dream,” by artist Morgan Bricca that beautifies the Highway 101 soundwall next to the park.
SPELL CHECK: After Tuesday’s 5.1 earthquake, a few people forwarded screenshots of a U.S. Geological Survey alert map that placed the temblor “east of San Hose.” Seems like someone’s spelling got shaken up more than anything around here did.
Source: www.mercurynews.com