The Bear Man

John, this photo is for you.



The rest of the story...

When John and I first started going to Cal basketball games back in about 1990, we noticed the man in the picture above. He sat near us and attended nearly every game like we did. He almost aways wore the same outfit as he is wearing in the above photo. Before the start of the game and halftime, without fail he would stand or sit and read his newspaper.

Then at one point we stopped seeing him. John and I would look for him, but to no avail. So we made a bet. The first one who got definitive proof of the Bear Man would be owed a dinner. The photo above was taken at the Cal women's NIT championship game earlier this year. I told John about this, but never got a chance to show him the photo.

Here's a photo of the Bear Man reading his paper.

Eulogy from John's Service

The following is the eulogy given by John's college roommate, Geary Chun.

Childhood:
John was born in Los Angeles on December 29, 1962. He was the youngest of 3 children born to Haruso (or Harpy as he was known to his friends) and Gladys Komaru. John had two older sisters: Karrie and Leslie Komaru. Their family was always close and enjoyed many activities together. Karrie and Leslie remember taking family vacations every summer which included road trips to Las Vegas, San Mateo and Denver.

John was a collector and hobbyist from a young age. He loved collecting comic books and would seek out the rarest ones he could find. He had 3 or 4 aquariums filled with fish of all kinds and an endless number of pets including dogs, cats, turtles, mice and even a salamander.

John learned to love sports from his dad. They would often spend their weekends together watching football, basketball and baseball games. And they, along with sister Leslie, frequently attended USC football games, as it was their dad’s alma mater.
In High School, John was a member of the football team and his family would regularly attend his Saturday games. During that time, John also began his punk rocker phase and turned Leslie into a lover of the music too. Together they would head to Melrose Avenue where they could find their favorite music albums along with the clothes and culture of the punk rock era.
After graduating from Loyola High School in 1981, John attended El Camino City College. It gave him time to pursue his many passions and to hang out with his two best friends from high school. It also gave him time to think about the future and to decide what to do next.

Much to his family’s surprise, John decided to attend UC Berkeley instead of hometown favorite, USC. Leslie says it was the best decision he ever made.

College:
John spent the next 5 years attending Cal where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in City Planning in 1986 and his Master’s in Transportation Engineering in 1988. In those 5 years, John became a die-hard Golden Bear fan with season tickets to both football and basketball.

Professional:
In 1988, John began his career as a traffic and civil engineer. According to his friend Kevin, he really enjoyed solving traffic problems and working closely with others on his team. John has been described by his supervisors as technically one of the best they have ever worked with. He was one of the most respected professionals in his field by virtue of his professionalism, technical ability, and uncanny knack for making those around him feel good about themselves.

In 2005 John requested a job transfer and moved from Oakland to San Diego. The move brought him closer to some of his favorite fishing spots and closer to his dad whose health had been declining. On weekends, John would drive from San Diego to Los Angeles to be with his dad and to visit with his sisters. Together he and his dad would watch all of their favorite sports, just as they had always done when John was growing up.

After the death of his father, John moved back to Oakland in 2009 where he soon re-connected with his many Bay Area friends.

Personal remembrances:
My name is Geary Chun. I met John in college when we were both 20 years old. We became friends almost instantly and were roommates for 3.5 years. And although it’s been about 20 years since I moved from California to Hawaii, John and I remained close friends.

I’ve spoken and exchanged emails with several of John’s friends since we heard the terrible news. We shared some stories about the good old days and wrote down some thoughts about what made John special to us. And now I’d like to share some of them with you.

The Big Kid - Cars
When you come right down to it, John was just a big, overgrown, 47-year old kid. Forget the fancy degrees and prestigious job. John was a teddy bear on steroids. And John loved what all boys love: Cars, sports, fishing, gambling, eating, drinking and hanging out with friends. Most guys might indulge in their hobbies from time to time; maybe the occasional fishing trip; perhaps an old car to tinker with now and then. Not John.

John had more cars sitting around at his house than I think I’ve had in my entire life! According to his friend Ron, John would have had more but he’d run out of places to park them. John didn’t just sort of like cars, he was passionate about them; he loved any type of performance vehicle or 60’s era muscle car. John has owned 12 or more cars and trucks since he left college, some of these included: a Hurst Oldsmobile, a 65 Mustang, and two 65 Chevy Novas. Although John had his pick of these classic cars to drive, he always had what he called a “beater” to drive to work or just beat around in. One time his beater was stolen. It was later found with parts missing, but John still drove it using a screw driver to start the car and open the trunk.

John loved to go to car shows, auto swap meets and junkyards. His trips to the junk yards started out as a need to find cheap parts for his cars. Later it turned into a time to relax or a getaway from the daily stress of work. He was always looking for some “treasure” or special part to use on his cars; or maybe something just to keep, in case he might need it in the future. John didn’t mind getting a little greasy either. One day John and Ron were in a junkyard and had split up, each looking for treasures. John came back to Ron with a little grease and one of those “John smiles” on his face. John asked him, “Do I look Mexican”!!! Ron replied “no, well maybe just a little, why”. John’s reply was, “this guy just came up to me and started talking to me in Spanish, just like I should know what he was saying”. John said that he and the man made a few gestures at each other and then he let the man use a tool that he needed. John was always willing to help other people, even if he couldn’t understand what they were saying.

The Big Kid – Fishing
John’s love of fishing began as a boy growing up in Los Angeles. John spent many hours fishing at the Redondo Pier, hoping to catch some Bonito or some White Sea Bass.

He didn’t have much time to pursue this hobby in college but his passion for it was rekindled when he met Mark Aikawa at the Centennial Engineering firm. They became good friends and soon John was a part of Mark’s fishing fraternity. John enjoyed fishing on the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean catching Salmon, Striped Bass, Halibut and Rockfish.

Soon after, John started going Long Range fishing on the Royal Polaris out of San Diego. He was immediately hooked for life. This really started a new adventure for John. It was now about catching Yellowfin Tuna, Blue Fin Tuna, Albacore, and Yellowtail. He met many new friends while going on 5-, 8-, and even 21-day fishing trips. And many of those friends are here today. As the trips got longer and the fish he was chasing got bigger, John’s house began to resemble a fishing tackle store. But that didn’t prevent Mark, Leroy and John from making frequent trips to the “Rod Rack” in Hayward. The three of them would go there even if they didn’t need to buy anything, but just hang out with other fisherman.

John had some great expressions when he was fishing. When he didn’t get a bite or wasn’t catching any fish, his lower lip would come out and that pouty face we all know would appear. When John was getting a bite, you could see his face light up with joy. When the fishing was slow and no one was catching anything, John could be heard telling stories. One day while John was telling stories and he wasn’t paying attention to his fishing line, someone tied a pair of pliers to John’s hook. Minutes later when John was winding his line in, you should have seen the look on his face when the pliers appeared at the end of his line. Everyone was laughing, even John.

John’s fishing adventures took him to Clipperton Atoll, which is a 6-day boat ride from San Diego. There John had a chance to catch his first 200 pound Yellowfin Tuna. John hooked a big one, but unfortunately the fish broke the line and got away. Of course, John was upset, but he did manage to become a proud member of the 100-lb club by landing his first big yellowfin tuna.

He returned to San Diego without the elusive 200 pounder, but was more determined than ever to catch one the next time. That summer, Mark went on a 5-day fishing trip and caught a 135 pound Blue fin tuna and got in the club too! Mark said he knew John was happy for him, but also knew that John was a little perturbed since it only took him a 5-day trip to join the club while it had cost John thousands of dollars more. Once again, the lower lip appeared. But, not to be outdone, John caught two Yellowfin Tuna of over 200 pounds. He was in heaven for he was now in the 200-lb club.

The Big Kid - Sports
As you all know, John was a sports fanatic. He grew up as a big fan of the Angels , Cowboys, Lakers.

In college, John always played on our intramural sports teams. And at work, he was also a regular on his company’s softball team. John loved playing so much that he kept playing even when the younger guys started ribbing him about his age. When he was working in San Diego, a few years ago, he proudly told me that none of the young guys could believe how old he was. They wanted to know what year he graduated from High School and couldn’t believe he was a dinosaur from the 80’s! John did look pretty young; with his black slicked-back hair and always fashionable work clothes. But I think that they were really commenting on the excitement and joy he brought to something as simple as a softball game.

But the thing I’ll remember most about John was his passion for his Golden Bears! It didn’t matter to John if the football and basketball teams were good or bad. And when John arrived at Cal in 1983, they were pretty bad. The Cal football team had been to just one bowl game in the last 25 years. And the basketball team hadn’t been to an NCAA Tournament since 1960.
But John was the eternal optimist. He’d pour through the Cal media guides looking up info on his favorite players and the latest crop of recruits. He’d refer to them by their jersey numbers as if everyone would know exactly who he was talking about.

John sent me copies of the Cal football media guide every year until it became available for free on the internet. I think it was so he’d have someone else to rant and rave about his beloved bears with. He always talked about how this year was finally going to be Cal’s year. With John, every year was going to be “the year” for something.

Last football season, John was convinced that this time, it really was Cal’s year. They were going to the Rose Bowl. They had Heisman Trophy candidate Jahvid Best coming back for his junior year. And of course, they had Coach Tedford who had saved Cal after years of mediocrity. Tedford had paid his dues and this was finally his year. This was our year!

John emailed me to see if I might be interested in travelling with him to an Away game. You see, John was kind of hoping to go to ALL OF THE AWAY GAMES! Of course, as all Cal fans know, the wheels fell off of Cal’s Rose Bowl hopes early in the season. Cal got thrashed in their first two PAC-10 games by Oregon and USC. They lost by scores of 42-3 and 30-3.

For John, it was just a minor setback. He called me about a month ago with exciting news: “Hey Geary, this is going to be Cal’s year. USC’s on probation cuz of Reggie Bush. This will be the year! Or maybe it’ll be next year. But it better be soon! USC’s bowl ban only lasts two years”

John and I had planned to go to the Cal vs. Nevada game in Reno in September. It was the perfect combo. Sports and Gambling! To be honest, they don’t look so great this year. They might even lose the Nevada game. But John would have been rooting for them loudly, celebrating every great play and complaining about every bad call. And he’d be having the time of his life. Win or lose.

How to describe John?

John’s sports and hobbies were a big part of his life. It brought him so much joy and it was a gift that he could share with his friends. But, to me, it didn’t define who John was as a person.

I talked to several friends. None of us could easily sum up who John was but we all used the same adjectives to describe him. We might have chosen adjectives like smart and professional; or competitive and hard-working. John was all of those things and more. But the ones that first came to mind, the ones that really mattered were: playful and enthusiastic; kind and considerate; good-natured and generous.

Enthusiastic

Our friend Kelly wrote to me and she said:

- It's hard to describe John. You know how some people light up a room when they walk in? When I remember John from our college days, I think about how he was one of those people that would warm up the room when he walked in. He had a shy, understated way about him that, combined with his big smile and passionate talk about "boy hobbies", made you feel like you should maybe take a second look at car engines and fish guts.

I loved the way John described things too. Things weren’t good. They were awesome! If it were a restaurant, John would say something like “Hey Geary, I know this great place! They make this awesome [whatever it was]. I’ll take you there next time!” So the next time we’d go there. And the thing was, it really didn’t matter if it was good or just okay. It might have been a greasy Tommy Burger down in LA, which is just okay; or maybe a slice of Zachary’s deep dish pizza which actually is really awesome.

But the point is: if John said it was awesome, you believed it. How could you not when he got so excited about it?

Smiles and Laughter
Lots of friends reminisced about John's funny side. One time he and our roommate Wayne played a prank on CeCe and Ann, the neighbors below us in our apartment building. They lowered a weight over our balcony and used it to knock on the girls’ window pane while laughing loudly at their shrieks and screams. Another roommate, Paul, reminded me about the time we broke into our friends’ apartment and added food coloring to all of their food. In fact, John and Paul liked it so much that they started putting food coloring in our own food.

Wayne remembers John teasing me about my hair. He said that when I woke up in the morning it looked like the hair from one of those troll dolls that were popular in the 70’s. You know, the kind with the bushy hair that sticks out in all directions. But as you can see, that was a long, long time ago!

Of course, John was never malicious with his pranks or teasing. He’d always have a big smile on his face. Sometimes it was sly and mischievous, but it was always genuine.

Always had time for a friend
We all remembered how generous John was with his time. Our friend Carol reminded me that John had this old beat up Datsun pickup truck when we were in college. In those days, he was one of the few people we knew with a vehicle. Every week he would come by the apartments and one or two people from each apartment would climb into the back of the truck and he’d take everyone to do their grocery shopping.

John’s truck was our sole source of transportation for many years. We’d all pile in and John would drive us over to Fenton’s for ice cream; or to haul supplies for our annual Luau; or even to go down to Stanford for the Big Game. John was always willing to help. Anytime a friend was moving apartments, John was the first one there.

Over the years, John has helped me in so many ways. When I was planning to attend grad school at UCLA, John drove down to help me find my first apartment there. When I needed a better wardrobe, he’d take me shopping at Nordstoms. When I got married, he stood by me as a groomsman. And when I had kids he’d always remember to buy them little footballs or t-shirts or jerseys.

We weren’t able to get together as often as we would have liked. We weren’t great at exchanging emails and rarely spoke on the phone. But that never changed our friendship. I always knew that the next time I’d see John, we’d pick up right where we had left off.

The kind of person that you hope your kids will grow up to be like

I can’t pinpoint what it was, but there was always something about John that drew people in. You wanted to get to know him. You wanted to be his friend. And I think it’s because you just knew that you’d be a better person for having John as a part of your life. I’ve always considered John one of the finest people I’ve ever known. He was the kind of person that I hope my kids will grow up to be like someday.

John lived his life to the fullest. On the day of his passing, John had just returned from a 5-day fishing trip, still basking in the simple pleasure that it brought him. That’s the John I’ll always remember.

We will mourn John’s passing today and for many more days to come. But we should also remember to take time to celebrate his life. And we should remind ourselves how lucky we all were to have been a part of it.

Break Your Heart

Another video request by Ryan.

"Break Your Heart" by Talo Cruz

An Incredible Catch

Hiroshima Toyo Carp's Masato Akamatsu robs Yokohoma's Shuichi Murata of a home run on Tuesday night.


EMBED-Spiderman Style Baseball Catch - Watch more free videos

Sky High Sports

There's a new game in town. Actually, it's a trampoline-based gym. The concept apparently was hatched by two brothers from the Bay Area. Now there are several outlets including the one near our home. There are also gyms in Tigard, OR and Bellevue, WA amongst other places.

Some of the kids from our swim meet had an outing with coaches recently. Instead of trying to describe the place, check out the video below. Naomi, Ethan and Ryan all were able to attend. Follow the bouncing Ry.



Here's a picture of some of the kids with the coaches.

Words to Live By

In an article in the June 21, 2010 edition of Sports Illustrated on the subject of mental health in baseball, Ian Snell who is now in the Seattle Mariners' farm system says that he lives by this advice given to him by his family:

Life is short.
Enjoy it.
Do everything possible to make it better for other people.
Just try to laugh, have fun, and don't let anything negative bother you.

These are good words to live by.

In Memory of John Komaru

Our dear friend John passed away on July 16, having just returned from a weeklong fishing trip.

We will remember him for his smile (he always had a smile no matter what), for his passion for all things Cal (most know about his passion for Cal football and basketball, but he was a huge supporter of all things Cal), and for his ability to see humor in the smallest snippets of life.

He was taken from us much too early and we will all miss him tremendously.

The slide show includes photos also provided by Ron Freeman. If you have any photos to share, please do so and I'll add them to the slide show.

Memorial Day 2010

Ygnacio Wood Seahorses - June 5, 2010

Today's swim meet was against the Forest Hills Beavers from Martinez. Ryan swam backstroke in the medley relay, free, backstroke, and free relay. Ethan swam free and backstroke. Naomi swam free and butterfly.

Girl Scout Court of Awards

Every year the girl scout troops of our school has their annual court of awards. This gathering is to celebrate the achievements and promotion of the girl scouts. Girl scouts bridging from Daisies to Brownies and from Brownies to Juniors get to cross the lovely bridge on the stage as accompanied by an older girl scout troop. Naomi's girl scout troop was the troop that accompanied both groups over the bridge. Naomi's troop had actually bridged from Juniors to Cadettes earlier this month by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge along with approximately 4,000 other girl scouts from California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Texas.

Bear Cub to Webelo

It's the end of another cub scouting season. Ethan moved up to become a first year Webelo. Webelo stands for "We'll Be Loyal Scouts." After second year Webelo rank comes promotion from cub scout to boy scout.

The following are a few pictures from our annual graduation ceremony. The event was somewhat bitter sweet in that the leader of Ethan's den announced that he and his family are leaving to head back home to Kentucky. Our den leader and his family will surely be missed as they were quite active in our pack.

Ryan plans on joining scouting next year as a Tiger Cub provided that a den is formed for the first graders next year. The signs for this happening look positive at the moment.

"I Love Rock and Roll"

It's that catchy song by Joan Jett. It came on the radio while we were in the car this evening.

Ryan said something like, "Oh, I like this one," and then started singing.

"I love rock and roll."

"I want to play in a rock band with a UFO."

Of course, this is not the correct line.

More Neil Young

Stats Redux - May 14, 2010

Here's an update on stats first posted in November 2005, and updated on January 2006, June 2006, October 2006, March 2007, November 2007, August 2008, and January 2009. It's been quite some time since our last update on these stats

Price of Gas: $3.19 per gallon (crude oil prices are down to a three-month low of about $71 per barrel, but the price at the pump remains over $3. gallon; is it the gargantuan oil spill in the Gulf that's responsible?)

Price of Milk: Down to $2.99 for a gallon at Trader Joe's (not that different from the price in January 2009)

Bridge Toll: $4 since January 1, 2007 on all Bay Area bridges except Golden Gate Bridge (which is $6 cash and $5 FasTrak as of 9/1/08), but tolls are set to rise on July 1, 2010 to $5 on all State bridges (with Bay Bridge prices going to $6 during morning and evening commute peaks, $4 other weekday times, $5 on weekends and $2.50 toll for carpoolers)

Today's High Temperature: 74 degrees F (overnight low of 51) and sunny/clear skies

Dow Jones Average: 10,620.16 close today (up almost 1600 points since January 2009)

Shopping Days to Christmas: 223 days (http://eclecticesoterica.com/xmas_cnt.html)

Dinner Tonight: Dorothy and Naomi are gone for the weekend, but here was a discussion from earlier today that led to today's dinner:

Ryan: Can I have Wendy's for dinner tonight?
Mom: You're going to have to take this up with dad tonight; I'm gone.
Ryan: But I know that he'll say, "No."
Mom: You'll have to check with him.
Ryan: McDonalds is okay too.

The Wendy's is still closed for remodeling so we went to McDonalds in downtown Walnut Creek.

Average Commute Time: just over an hour in mornings including pick up/drop off times (down to a 2-person carpool TU through FR; 3rd member of our carpool was a casualty last summer of slow economy; no carpool on MO because my carpool partner telecommutes)

Cost of Area Homes: median price of area homes is just over $400k

Movie Ticket: tough times means new, lower prices for movies of $8.25 for adults; last movie that we saw as a family was "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3-D (add $3 to prices)

Time with My Kids: played Connect 4 with Ethan while Ryan was at his friend Gabe's bowling birthday party; I was able to win only half the time (apparently, he and 3 friends have a Connect 4 game club at school for rainy days when they have to stay indoors)

Ryan just had a Star Wars themed 6th birthday party complete with a Death Star pinata!

They Give You This, But You Pay for That

Pinewood Derby Car Races - 2010

This is a video from our Cub Scout Pack's recent pinewood derby car races. We all had a great time as you can see from the video.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

It was a birthday weekend as our Ryan turned 6 this past week. We decided on a "Star Wars" theme at home. Let's just say that we survived. As one of the other parents said, "Imagine if these eight were your own." We tried to keep them occupied with games and activities. Started with a gathering activity (making Star Wars masks) as the party goers arrived. We had a Star Wars obstacle course, a Star Wars "pin the tail" game, an asteroid scavenger hunt, and a Death Star pinata. Here's what Ryan had to say about turning six:

The Wedding Entrance to Beat All Entrance

This is a video that went viral maybe a year or so ago. It was long ago now that the NBC show "The Office" even did a spoof of it on a recent episode. The original and the spoof are below.

I've encouraged my kids that if they are going to get married one day that this is what their wedding entrance should look like.

The song is Chris Brown's "Forever."

Pink Glove Dance to Promote Breast Cancer Awareness

Here's a great video to promote breast cancer awareness made by the staff of Providence St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. Got the link from my sister.

Speaking of Fireworks...

There will be a Seattle 4th of July fireworks show after all! Most of the effort to save the fireworks is owed to Dave Ross, a KIRO radio show host, and Tom Douglas owner of Seattle area restaurants featured on the Food Network. Here's a video clip about his donuts from Lola. His other Seattle area restaurants include: Palace Kitchen, Dahlia Lounge, and Etta's.

Anyway, back to Seattle fireworks. After searching for 15 months, One Reel, the nonprofit responsible for organizing the annual Lake Union fireworks, announced on March 31, 2010 that the fireworks show would be cancelled. They had been unsuccessful in reaching agreement with an entity to underwrite the cost of the $500,000 show. The previous local funder was Washington Mutual bank. Chase, which purchased Washington Mutual, funded the fireworks one year, but announced that they would not fund the fireworks show again. You would think that JP Morgan Chase would be able to spare $500,000. Chase had an ad campaign running that said, "Chase picks up the tab." "Your morning mocha could be on us." But I suppose your fireworks cannot be on Chase.

Chase is on the list of banks that received bailout money from the federal government, but not on the list of donors that ended up putting up money to fund the Seattle fireworks:

Microsoft $125,000
Starbucks $125,000
Vulcan Inc. $50,000
Nordstrom $25,000
Merrill Gardens $13,950
Charlie's Produce $10,000
Seattle Bank $10,000
International Parking Management Inc. $5,000
KING 5 $5,000
Northwest Administrators $5,000
Stewart & Terry LLC (Aspira Apartments Seattle) $5,000
Taco Time $5,000
Tom Douglas $5,000
Turner Construction $5,000
Underdog Sports $5,000
Red Mill Burgers $3,000
Berschauer Phillips Construction Co. $2,500
Cristal Charters $2,500
Ewing and Clark Inc. $2,500
Hales Ales $2,500
Novastar Development $2,500
Point B Inc. $2,500
BNI-Western Washington, Inc. $2,000
Filco Environmental Services $2,000
Key Bank $2,000
Neighborhood Grills $2,000
Pacific Urethane Recycling $2,000
Renton Concrete Recycles $2,000
Heidi McBain $1,500
Brian Hartman $1,250
All Systems Electric $1,000
Anchor Bay Charters $1,000
Anita Yearley MD $1,000
Beecher's Handmade Cheese $1,000
Blue Moon Burgers $1,000
Blue Rooster, Inc. $1,000
Brewe Layman p.s. $1,000
Brian Cartenuto $1,000
Capital Management $1,000
Cascade Federal Credit Union $1,000
Catherine Budbill State Farm Insurance $1,000
Claudia, McClain Insurance in Everett $1,000
Continental Van Lines, Inc. $1,000
Cutter & Buck Inc. $1,000
Dave Ross $1,000
Dearmin Fogarty PLLC $1,000
EmeraldSkySports.com $1,000
Findwell Real Estate $1,000
Fusiontek $1,000
Futurepoly $1,000
Geocaching.com $1,000
Greg Hunicutt $1,000
Gunning, Stenson & Price, P.S. $1,000
Heidi Heineman Aflac Insurance in Kent $1,000
Heston Technical Inc. $1,000
Hollywood Lights Inc $1,000
Homestead Book Company $1,000
Hy-Security Gate, Inc. $1,000
Jana Helmuth CPA $1,000
JK Fabrication $1,000
John Hanson $1,000
Legal Media Experts $1,000
Lenati LLC $1,000
Lucius Hill $1,000
Marty Rood, Mr. 99 & Associates, Inc. $1,000
Max Technology $1,000
Medina Hair Design $1,000
Meriwether Partners $1,000
Minor & James Medical $1,000
NELLA CUTLERY $1,000
Next Door Media $1,000
Northwest Gourmet Foods $1,000
Northwest Yacht Brokers Association $1,000
Nursecall Northwest $1,000
Paddy Coyne's Irish Pubs $1,000
Pamela Hinckley $1,000
Pennys Salsa Inc. $1,000
Phoenix Mailing LLC $1,000
QUEEN CITY PLATING, INC. $1,000
Read Products, Inc. $1,000
Reconstructed Clothing Company $1,000
Rite-Line Tax Service, Inc. $1,000
Santamaria and Sons $1,000
Schumacher & Co., P.S. $1,000
Seattle Ferry Service $1,000
Security Imaging Corporation $1,000
Sequoyah Electric $1,000
Sharron & Gary Deibert $1,000
Silver Cloud Inns and Hotels $1,000
Smith Brothers Farms $1,000
Sprague Pest Solutions $1,000
Sweetwater Investments $1,000
Tricia Rendina $1,000
Ventana Construction $1,000
Ward's Cove $1,000
West Seattle Blog $1,000
www.saspcrecycling.com $1,000
In Play Films $500
MCW Events $250
Turnure Telecom LLC $250
Dancey & Cassady, L.L.P. $100
FloorPlanOnline.com $100
The Frenchy Bee $100

These donors stepped up after Tom Douglas went on Dave Ross's radio show to pledge the first $5,000. After his appearance on the radio show, Tom Douglas went back to his office and started making calls. Microsoft and Starbucks pledged that they would match amount pledged by others meaning that $250,000 would be needed. Within two days, the entire amount was raised. Talk about grassroots efforts!

Oh, yes, and those of you from Alaska that make the trek to Seattle on a shopping trip might consider taking some of your business to those on the above list.