Foundation to honor Dando at Rose Garden walk
Former San Jose Vice Mayor Pat Dando will be remembered at Sunday’s Fight Stroke Walk, the seventh annual event put on by the Stroke Awareness Foundation, which she cofounded in 2002 with Chuck Toeniskoetter and the late Chuck Hoffman. Dando — whose career also included leading the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce — died last July at age 71 of lung cancer.
“She served our community incredibly well of over four decades and was a driving force behind what SAF does in growing awarness and educating about stroke,” said Bill Baron, who serves on the foundation’s board of directors. Dando suffered a stroke in 2001, and the lack of certified stroke centers in Santa Clara County prompted the foundation’s creation. Today, every hospital in the county is a certified stroke center.
As part of the foundation’s tribute, plans are in the works to honor Dando with a dedicated rosebush at the Municipal Rose Garden, the site of the annual 5K walk. Using privately donated funds separate from the foundation, the board of directors is selecting the Pat Dando Rose, which will be registered with the International Cultivar Registry of Roses and the official American Rose Society. “Pat loved roses and the rose selected
is brilliant yellow in color, which honors her incredible personality and her Texas roots,” Baron said.
The rose won’t be at the garden until next year’s event, but there’s a whole host of other activities slated for Sunday’s walk. Harold Martin’s new band, HMQ, which has picked up members of the Joe Sharino Band, will be performing. The walk begins at 10 a.m., and you can register at www. strokeinfo.org/walk.
GIMME SHELTER >> It’s hard to overstate the relevance of “The House Imaginary,” a new exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art that showcases artists’ interpretations of these places we call home. And as much as houses are central to the works featured in the show, they’re also a key ingredient in Gothic novels. San Jose State literature professor Katherine D. Harris will be exploring that aspect of the house at Wednesday’s Lunchtime Lecture at the museum, going from Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” through more modern works, including Stephen King’s “The Shining” and Mark Danielewski’s mind-bending “House of Leaves.”
You’re welcome to bring food to the noon lecture, “Gothic Monsters and Evil Houses,” which is included with museum admission.
LIVE FROM NEW YORK >> Fresh from its successful “Havana Nights” auction at San Jose’s Hayes Mansion on April 14, Archbishop Mitty High School has announced that former “Saturday Night Live” performer Colin Quinn will be the featured entertainer for this fall’s Black and Gold gala.
Quinn is best known for his work on “Weekend Update” on SNL and is now in his own Netflix comedy, “The New York Story.” The Black and Gold gala will be on Nov. 3 at the Fairmont San Jose, and you can contact Sarah Janigian at 408-342-4224 for early ticket and sponsor information.
FROM BROADWAY TO SJSU: SAN JOSE NATIVE JESSE SANCHEZ, WHO WAS ON THE NATIONAL TOUR OF “HAMILTON,” COLLABORATED WITH SAN JOSE STATE STUDENTS AS VOCAL DIRECTOR FOR “IN THE HEIGHTS,” LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA’S PRE-“HAMILTON” HIT. AND THAT’S NOT THE SHOW’S ONLY BROADWAY CONNECTION >> It’s also using the original Broadway set, which has been slightly reconfigured for the stage at the Hammer Theatre Center.
The production, which opened Friday, sold out its initial seven shows — prompting the addition of more performances at 11 a.m. Wednesday and 1 p.m. Saturday. Producer Barnaby Dallas says tickets are going fast for those shows, too.