Cashman Gone; Fans Buzz On

Fans of Pat Cashman certainly have staying power. The Pat Pack, a group protesting KIRO-FM's ("The Buzz," 100.7) cancellation of Cashman's morning show, held another protest rally at Westlake Park Wednesday.

The rally, which attracted several dozen sign-wavers, marked the one-month anniversary of "Black Monday." April 5 was the day faithful listeners tuned in and discovered Cashman and his cohorts, Lisa Foster and Dustin Hornby, had been replaced.

Since then, Pat Packers have kept in touch through the Internet, thanks to a talented 15-year-old known only as Chris. He set up the buzzclub.org, the original Web site. When that site experienced difficulties, he created a second site: patpack.org

Without this means of communication, the protest movement might have collapsed weeks ago. It seems very Seattle for listeners to feel empowered to influence programming decisions.

Nostalgia trip: Although press shy, Bruce and Jolene McCaw don't hide out when it comes to good deeds. The couple - he's one of the Cellular One McCaws - somehow learned their friend, jazz singer Gina Funes, had passed up an opera career.

Funes studied with the late and legendary Stanley Chapple at the University of Washington School of Music. She earned an opportunity to go to Salzburg, Austria, for further training; but, by then a single mom with two children, she reluctantly turned down the offer.

Later, Funes met and married musician Fred Radke and became part of his band.

When the McCaws heard about Funes' past, they arranged to donate $50,000 to the school's music fund in Funes' name. The award was announced Monday during a program at the school.

Funes said: "It was thrilling. That's the same auditorium where I used to audition."

George's pals: The sixth-grade class at Epiphany School in Seattle recently produced a portrait of George Washington, inspired by the Rembrandt Peale painting recently installed in the Governor's Mansion.

Here's how it was done: An adult volunteer obtained a picture of the portrait, enlarged it and cut the photo into squares. The students each took a section and painted it. The artwork then was reassembled.

The kids' mosaic painting sold at the school's auction for $1,300.

The class sent a card, signed by the student artists, along with a check for $675 to the Governor's Mansion Foundation. The donation will help reduce the balance - now a small one - owed on the $211,500 painting.

Clean sweep: KMTT (103.7 FM) traffic reporter Courtney Shaw often concludes reports with the exit line: "Calgon, take me away." (A Calgon commercial follows Shaw's reports.)

The other day Shaw was off, prompting morning hosts Mike West and John Fisher to ask about her whereabouts.

Sharon Vail, who was substituting, said, "I think Calgon finally took her away."

Boren yesterday: The scene was a doctor's office on Pill Hill. A cab driver came through, looking for his fare, a Mr. or Ms. Terry Boren. He didn't find him or her. Said one patient: "Funny. It didn't dawn on me until later. The clinic is at intersection of Terry and Boren."

Jean Godden's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Her phone message number is 206-464-8300. Her e-mail address is: jgodden@seattletimes.com