Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone brought his football helmet to the fifth annual Dwight Clark Legacy Series on Wednesday night in downtown San Jose, but he wasn’t planning to run a few plays. He had an entirely different game plan in mind.

Since the late 1990s, Stone — who has been a 49ers season-ticket holder since the magical 1981 season — has been getting Niners enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame to sign the helmet. He’s got signatures from legends including Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Y.A. Tittle, Bob St. Clair and Hugh McElhenny.

Bryant Young, an NFL Hall of Famer and former defensive tackle for the 49ers, autographs a 49ers helmet for Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone at the Hammer Theatre Center on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group) 

And it was Bryan Young’s turn Wednesday. The former defensive tackle, who entered the Hall of Fame in 2022, graciously signed Stone’s helmet during a reception for the Dwight Clark Legacy Series, a fundraiser for the Golden Heart Fund that provides support for former 49ers players after their NFL careers have ended.

“I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve gotten each one of these signatures personally,” said Stone, who says he’s not much of a memorabilia collector but can also get a little obsessive once he’s started something. He’s also on a mission to attend every major sporting event and only has a few, including the Iditarod sled-dog race, remaining on his bucket list. He’s planning to check off the Ryder Cup this fall in New York.

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Of course, he also plans to keep adding to the helmet as long as 49ers keep making the Hall of Fame. Patrick Willis, you’re up next.

HISTORICAL BENEFIT: History San Jose recently joined the ranks of Blue Star Museums, institutions that provide free admission to currently serving U.S. military personnel and their families throughout the summer. The benefit started May 17 — Armed Forces Day — and runs through Labor Day, which is Sept. 1 this year. For History San Jose, this includes admission to History Park at Kelley Park, as well as the Gonzales/Peralta Adobe and Fallon House Historic Site in downtown San Jose.

Other valley museums that provide the benefit include the Campbell Historical Museum and Ainsley House, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, the San Jose Museum of Art, New Museum in Los Gatos, the Japanese American Museum in San Jose and the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford. The Blue Star Museums program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families.

GARDEN SOUNDS: If you’re looking for a different way to spend Memorial Day, Hakone Estate and Gardens in Saratoga might be the place. Taiko master Kenny Edo will help launch a new concert series, “Garden of Culture,” at the historic venue on Big Basin Way. The concert, “Sounds of Old and New,” begins at 6 p.m. Monday and also will feature guest artists Chizuko Endo, Mas Koga, Jay Lai and Hiroshi Tanaka. Tickets are available at hakone.com.

THEATER WITH A POINT: Absurdity sounds like a good antidote to all the strife and woe going on in the world right now. So it’s perfect timing for “Rhinoceros,” Eugene Ionesco’s imaginative comedy that’s being helmed by director Bruce McLeod for Foothill Theatre Arts. The one-act show, which opens at Foothill College’s Lohman Theatre in Los Altos Hills on Friday, explores what happens to a sleepy town when everyone is turned into a rhinoceros. After you see it, you can figure out whether you’d stand alone or go with the herd. It runs through June 8, and all the details are at www.foothill.edu/theater.