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Local cadets take first in competition: The Chesty Puller BN, United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, a naval youth program which covers the Monterey Bay area, recently placed first in their division at the annual Seamanship Challenge held at Coast Guard Island in Alameda. The unit competed in teams of four, and earned third place for Line Heaving; second place in the Obstacle Course; First place for Close Order Drill; First place in Damage Control; and First place in the Stretcher Relay. This gave them an overall first place in the Combined Units Division.

BIRTHS: Harper Elise Flores: Harper Elise Flores was born Aug. 24 to Rebecca Gutierrez and Chuck Flores of Hollister. She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces.

To paraphrase Hamlet, the young opossum literally suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous (mis)fortune. It was walking along the top of a fence just minding its own business, perhaps looking for an evening meal of fallen fruit or crunchy snails, when a person deliberately shot it down with an arrow. A neighbor saw the poor creature desperately struggling and notified the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center. Staff at WERC found the arrow had pierced the top of the front leg and through the chest, narrowly missing vital organs, but leaving him extremely weak and causing severe nerve damage in the leg. X-rays showed the humerus bone was shattered. It was with very sad hearts that this little opossum was euthanized.

Does the city ever plan on cracking down on the fruit vendors on the corners of Gilroy streets? Do these vendors have business licenses? Where is the fruit coming from? The state requires all food sold to be prepared in sanitary kitchens. Is this fruit being prepared in such manner?

David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning drama “Proof” has a mix of pathos, humor and wonder, which keeps the edginess of this show presented by South Valley Civic Theatre. Cindy Powell directs with a strong hand, in-volving the audience, which makes for an intimate experience.

This is a very busy time of year for wineries of the South Valley. Grapes are being harvested to be crushed. Many local wineries invite visitors to see the crush process in action. So, consider this an opportune time to pay them a visit, do some winetasting and of course, pack a nice picnic lunch. This week, I feature an item for your picnic lunch served in what I feel is a revolutionary method.

Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve is the largest preserve in the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. At 18,670 acres, it encompasses the portion of the Santa Cruz Mountains from Lexington Reservoir above Los Gatos down to Mt. Umunhum where it shares a boundary with Almaden Quicksilver County Park. If you look toward the southwest from nearly anywhere in the South Bay, you are looking at Sierra Azul.

From time to time I catch a glimpse of my butt in a random mirror and think, “Hmm, I should work out.” Fortunately, I’m a fundamentally lazy person, so my workout mainly consists of thinking about working out. If you’re wondering—thinking about working out is not an effective way to shrink the size of your butt. Hey, never say I don’t add knowledge to the South Valley with this column, OK?

MORGAN HILL—San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture wants to help bring Sierra LaMar home.