Good things come to those who seek

<p>Don Pedrazzini never was so excited to answer the phone.</p><p>Don's the retired pilot from Santa Rosa who recently completed a quest to find the remote spot up between Cazadero and Annapolis where a B-24 bomber piloted by his uncle crashed and exploded a year into World War II.</p><p>Shortly after a story appeared about the fragments and parts that Don discovered, he got a call from longtime Annapolis rancher and WWII pilot Phillip Campbell. Phillip, who's 87, said there was something at his ranch that Don should have.</p><p>Don drove up to Annapolis. Phillip told him he was off doing his part for the war effort when the B-24 crashed a few miles south of his ranch in December of 1942. But an employee of his family's sawmill, Warner Brown, evidently heard the explosion and at some point ventured down to find the site.</p><p>Warner Brown carried back to the Campbell ranch something that's been with the family all these 66 years. Phillip offered it to Don: A 5-foot-2-inch propeller blade that had snapped off the B-24 Liberator on impact and is in perfect shape except for one deep nick.</p><p>Don will add it to the shards and parts that will constitute a shrine for 2nd Lt. Donald "Shorty" Pedrazzini and the five other aviators who died while guarding the coast one year after Pearl Harbor.</p><p>DON'S PHONE RANG AGAIN and this time it was a member of the Collings Foundation, owner of the only B-24 (out of 18,483 built during WWII) that is still flying.</p><p>The plane will lumber into Santa Rosa on June 4, and the foundation folks (www.collingsfoundation.org) invited Don -- and me, to tell you the truth -- to come take a ride. When you look up, we'll be waving.</p><p>PINPOINT ACCURACY: CNN was reporting on the huge tornado that ripped through Windsor, Colo., days ago when a reporter demonstrated how Google Earth makes it possible to zoom right in on the area that took the hit.</p><p>The eye in the sky showed the United States, then focused more and more tightly until there on the camera was an aerial view of the firehouse in Windsor, our Windsor. Wrong Windsor, but still very cool.</p><p>WHERE HEALING HAPPENS: At the YWCA's "A Special Place" therapeutic preschool near Coddingtown is a granny unit used for counseling little ones who've witnessed domestic violence.</p><p>The space was funky enough that the YWCA asked a team of new members of the Junior League of Napa/Sonoma if they'd consider sprucing it up a bit.</p><p>The League women (www.jlns.org) and some local businesses came in with new paint, carpeting, bathroom fixtures, window coverings, a wall mural, toys, furniture -- an extremely loving makeover.</p><p>BETTER SCREENING: Matthew Pamatmat was standing outside his Rohnert Park apartment the other day when a bird landed on his head.</p><p>A friendly bird, a gray-and-white cockatiel. The two of them bonded instantly, but Matthew assumed somebody was missing the bird, so he placed an ad on Craigslist.</p><p>Several miles away, in Petaluma, Cindy Mills and Scot Hendrickson were beside themselves. It had been five days since their mellow cockatiel, Mozambeak, Mozo for short, pulled a pin that held a window screen shut and flew off.</p><p>A neighbor saw the Craigslist ad and told Cindy. She and Matthew connected by e-mail and she asked if the found bird loves peanuts.</p><p>Matthew checked. The bird scarfed his peanuts. Mozo! He's back home now, and the screen is fortified. Matthew would accept no reward, but suggested a donation to the Bird Rescue Center.</p><p>The check's on the way.</p><p>Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.</p>