Silicon Valley developer rocks out with former Eagles guitarist
When developer Case Swenson learned he would receive the Distinguished Citizen Award from the local council of the Boy Scouts of America, he wanted something a bit more exciting than your standard rubber-chicken testimonial.
“I didn’t want it to be your typical hotel banquet dinner,” said Swenson, who lives in Los Gatos and is CEO of the development company that bears his family’s name. “I wanted it to be fun and something very true to San Jose.”
And that’s how more than 430 people ended up getting not only dinner but a set by former Eagles lead guitarist Don Felder at the City National Civic in downtown San Jose on Thursday night. Swenson, who plays lead guitar in the Burroughs Brothers Classic Rock Band, even joined Felder on stage for a tune.
Was it a dream come true? “Absolutely,” Swenson said.
It also was a dream come true for the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which has given out the award to civic leaders since 1975. Felder’s appearance generated a buzz around the event for South Bay classic rock fans and brought out more guests than expected. Felder played through most of the Eagles’ big hits, bringing Swenson up for “Take It Easy” before closing with “Hotel California.”
The crowd included Swenson’s wife, Lisa, and their two children; his parents, Molly and Barry Swenson; and several previous recipients, including Mary Ellen and Michael E. Fox Sr., Marilyn and Frank Dorsa, Christine and John Davis, Mark and Paul Normandin, Jon Ball and Shaun Del Grande, who also served as emcee.
“He doesn’t want to just be good at anything. He wants to excel,” Del Grande said of
Swenson. “But he gives back, and he pays it forward.”
WHERE ARE THE HOLIDAY TUNES: SOMETHING SEEMED OFF IN OUR HOUSE OVER THANKSGIVING WEEKEND, AND DRIVING IN THE CAR WASN’T QUITE
THE SAME. FINALLY, IT HIT ME >> 94.5 BAY-FM wasn’t playing the 24/7 holiday music it traditionally had from Thanksgiving (or earlier) right on through Christmas Day. While it could get tiresome after a few weeks of continuous caroling — which also had been available on its sister station, Mix 106.5 — it was always comforting to know it was there when we needed it.
On the Facebook page for the station formerly known as KBAY, it was declared that holiday tunes would start Monday but wouldn’t be played 100 percent of the time. If they’ve been playing, I haven’t heard ’em. If you need your fix of Christmas classics, though, and don’t feel like firing up a Pandora station or an Apple music playlist, you can tune in to KOIT-FM (96.5).
BIG GIFT FOR SAN JOSE STATE FOOTBALL: IT TURNS OUT THERE’S A SILVER LINING ATTACHED TO YET ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING SEASON FOR
SAN JOSE STATE’S FOOTBALL TEAM >> SJSU alum John Hopkirk and his wife, Anne Murphy, have made a $2 million gift commitment toward a new football operations center on the east side of CEFCU Stadium.
Hopkirk, a certified public accountant who went to San Jose State in the late 1960s, and Murphy are longtime fans of the Spartans athletics program. They travel around the country to watch the football team play, and Hopkirk believes he’s seen every one of the men’s basketball team’s post-season appearances for the past 50 years. The football operations center project will involve rebuilding the stadium’s aging east side and will include locker rooms, offices, an auditorium and premium seating on the 50-yard line.
NUMU’S NEW DIRECTOR >> When the new year rolls around, the New Museum of Los Gatos will get a new executive director in Maureen Cappon-Javey. She’ll be taking over for Lisa Coscino, who is stepping down at the end of the year after four years at the helm.
Coscino, who oversaw the museum’s rebranding and reopening in 2015, will join NUMU’s board in January. Cappon-Javey, NUMU’s deputy director, joined the museum in 2016 after working at San Jose’s Institute of Contemporary Art and also serves as chair of the Los Gatos Arts and Culture Commission.
GOOD DEED DEPT. >> It’s the busy season for Diana Vallorz of Tony & Alba’s Pizza & Pasta on Stevens Creek Boulevard. She’s the driving force behind the restaurant’s Random Acts of Pizza program, and while it’s a year-round effort, activity picks up significantly around the holiday season.
Customers pay $10 to sponsor a dinner of pizza, salad, drinks and dessert for needy families, and the restaurant covers the rest. Vallorz says Tony & Alba’s has distributed more than 1,000 certificates over the past three years thanks to the generosity of regulars, including the Notre Dame Club of the South Bay, which sponsored 60 certificates over the past few weeks.