Resident puts his head on the block

By: Jeff Frank - North County Times | Monday, January 16, 2006 9:20 PM PST ∞

Finding himself in need of a little cash, Steve J. Block is using his head. Literally.

The Escondido resident is selling advertising space on the top of his head on the eBay auction site. Block, a limousine driver, has bills to pay and car repairs to make. Seeing stories of other people succeeding with similar offers, he decided to give it a try.

Among his selling points: As a limousine driver, he will be seen daily in hot spots in San Diego and Los Angeles; and he plans to donate some of any money raised to hurricane relief and to troops in Iraq.

Block will shave his head and wear a temporary tattoo of the buyer's design for 30 days, if the item's reserve is met. The reserve is several times the $500 that topped the bidding Monday afternoon. He said he's "open for just about anything as long as it's not obscene or offensive."

The item is listed on ebay.com under the title DC Shoes Block Brother. The auction ends around 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Paying tribute: The friends of Cory Denton can certainly keep a secret. About 60 people came Saturday to the Escondido Sports Center to pay tribute to Denton, a 26-year-old San Pasqual High School graduate who died of a heart attack last month during a soccer game at the center. And none of them spilled the beans to his parents about the retirement of Denton's No. 13 soccer jersey. A sign with his name and jersey number on it was attached to the boards at one end of the arena soccer facility. "(Denton's parents) were very pleasantly surprised. It was very emotional," said Brian Howard, who helped plan the event. "It meant a lot that so many people showed up. It reaffirmed how many people cared about him. For so many people to come out on a day when it was raining in parts of town was really nice."

The big step: Former Escondidan Pattie Glendenning, a fundraiser and event planner for St. Clare's Home, the Escondido and San Marcos chambers of commerce and North County Serenity House, among other good works, is taking a walk down the aisle this weekend. She will tie the knot with Chad Richey, a retired stockbroker from Glendale, on Saturday at the Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise, Idaho. Glendenning moved to Boise in April 2004, and retired last month from a job doing medical records for a neurosurgeon. The couple met while getting pedicures at a foot clinic for seniors. "It's a delightful adventure for me," said Glendenning, who has dived into several community service posts in Boise. "It's a move I was supposed to make. It's certainly had tremendous rewards." The couple will honeymoon in Palm Desert.

Contact staff columnist Jeff Frank at (760) 740-5419 or jfrank@nctimes.com.

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