FAVORITE SONS & DAUGHTERS

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View welcomes announcements of recent achievements of Favorite Sons & Daughters who have graduated from local high schools. Achievements may run the gamut from earning a college degree to successfully climbing Mount Everest. Please include student's name, age, area high school attended and graduation year, parents' names and city of residence. Send announcements and photos by mail to: Lynn Benson, View, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070; by fax to 477-3852; or by e-mail, viewcalendars@viewnews.com.

Joko Sapangalo, a student at Desert Rose High School, was given a leadership award June 1, in recognition of his outstanding achievements.

Sapangalo enjoys music, playing the drums with his band and spending time with friends.

He is the son of Andrina and Gerald Sapangalo of North Las Vegas.

Taylor Webb, 12, was selected as an alumnus to represent the state of Nevada at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference July 9-14 in Boston.

Last summer, Taylor attended the conference in Washington, D.C., and was among a select group of students invited back as an alumnus.

Taylor just finished seventh grade at Faith Lutheran Junior/Senior High School. She will join a group of recognized middle school leaders from across the country to discuss community, national and world issues.

Taylor excels in math and was inducted into the Junior National Honor Society with a 4.0 grade point average.

She enjoys dance, gymnastics, playing piano and spending time with her family (especially her grandparents) and friends in her spare time.

Taylor is the daughter of William and Kimbra Webb of Las Vegas.

Sara Couch and Brandon Romero have received $1,000 Smart Start Scholarships from the Clark County Credit Union to help with their first year of college.

Couch, daughter of Neal and Elissa Couch, graduated as an honor student from Pahrump Valley High School with a 4.10 GPA. This fall, she will attend Hope International University in Fullterton, Calif.

Her high school activities included varsity cheerleading, Living Waters and Word of Life Fellowship and the Las Vegas Youth Orchestra.

Her career goal is to one day own her own business or restaurant.

Romero, son of Ben and Michelle Romero, graduated as a Valedictorian candidate from Basic High School. He was named to the All-State Academic Team in tennis and baseball and was an honorable mention on the All-State baseball team for pitching.

He plans to attend Southern Utah University in the fall.

Romero hopes to attend dental and orthodontic school and one day open a practice in Las Vegas.

View welcomes announcements of people celebrating 100-year or older birthdays. Please include the person's name, age and a brief biography.

Send announcements, photos and contact information by mail to: Lynn Benson, View, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070; by fax to 477-3852; or by e-mail, viewcalendars@viewnews.com.

"Tante" Gertrude Zahner was born June 15, 1906, in Stuttgart, Germany. She moved to the United States when she was 17. She later married, and was widowed in 1967.

Zahner loves animals and throughout her life she has always had a dog. She was an avid gardener and grew a "miracle garden," which yielded many beautiful flowers and plants.

While living in Michigan, Zahner worked at the Ford automotive plant. She also worked for Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford in their home. She retired in 1978 and moved to Las Vegas in 1990.

Zahner has one brother, one nephew, two grand-nephews, two great-grand nephews and one great-grand niece.

Ellen Daily was born in Chicago on July 6, 1906. She married Jim Dailey in 1928, and was widowed in 1962. She worked as a telephone operator and a department store elevator operator.

She worked two part-time jobs into her 80s, but quit when she was injured at work.

Daily is proud to have lived alone until age 96. She said she cannot believe she has turned 100.

Rick Ainsworth's "Thunder and Storm: The Haverfield Incident" (VRA Publishing, 2005) is a coming-of-age story set aboard a U.S. Navy ship in the South Pacific during World War II.

Ainsworth was born in Denver and lived in California after he left the Navy. Now he lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Therese, and their two miniature dachshunds. Ainsworth is currently working on his second novel.

Excerpt from "Thunder and Storm: The Haverfield Incident"

R.J. sighed. Everything seemed so simple, so basic out here. The Pacific recognized no individual, no ego. It just was, and seemed to pride itself on its aloofness and its superiority. No one escaped mother Pacific for long. She took you physically, or she took you emotionally, but she always prevailed. And her willing accomplice, her eager partner, was the brilliant full moon.

The dark cloud surrendered its hostage slowly, hesitantly, aware that as the moon moved on, the cloud would return to being just a cloud, its rich glow diminished to a dark shadow in the vast sky. A cloud once again, a moon once again. The cycle concluded, to be repeated and concluded again.

The moon followed the course it had followed since before time began, lumbering forward predictably in the night sky, its course and destination pre-ordained eons ago, undeterred by the aimless, shiftless clouds it encountered, unaware of the admiring eyes of insignificant beings inhabiting the planet a quarter million miles beneath its orbit ...

R.J. breathed deeply, completely comfortable and at peace. That's why they call it the Pacific he thought, for peace. It seemed to him that his personal troubles faded into insignificance at times like this, at sea. There was no better medicine, no better escape than being at sea.