Lisa Heyamoto: Signature pink boxers honor man's late wife

Ever since he was a kid in Milwaukee, Ted Banzhaf has had a secret. He might look the part of the professional with his ever-present suit and tie, but beneath that polished veneer, unfailingly, was a pair of pink boxer shorts.

It was a running joke with his family and friends, one that began when his mom started buying him 10 pairs of monogrammed Brooks Brothers boxers in the unusual hue to wear with his school uniform every year.

The signature shade accompanied him through school and through an eventual move to Sacramento. He wore them when he married his wife, Linda, in 1999, when they began talking about starting a family, and when that idea was put aside after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"There was absolutely no warning," he said. "It just got worse and worse."

They were a wardrobe staple for the next six years, as Linda endured a mastectomy, endless chemotherapy treatments, two hip replacements and a disease that was mercilessly attacking her body.

And they were there on Jan. 22 of last year, when Linda died on her birthday.

It was then that he remembered what the color pink also represented, and the idea seems so obvious. He would start a business selling pink boxer shorts, and he would donate the proceeds to help women like his wife.

First, there were a few things he needed to figure out. Banzhaf knew he didn't want to slap some pink dye on some cheap shorts, so he researched high-end boxers, found quality fabric and had them specially made.

Then there was the money thing. Most companies, he learned, claim to donate "a portion of their profits" to fight the good fight, but that portion usually turns out to be a paltry 3 percent. He wanted everything to go to the American Breast Cancer Foundation, and it took a legal loophole to make it happen.

Now, almost a year and a half after Linda's death, the idea born of his grief can be found at www.pinkboxers.org. He figures that if he sells 200,000, he can donate up to $5 million to the foundation for early detection and patient financial aid.

"And that," he says, "would be fantastic."

* * *

Well, it's officially May, time to kiss the days of A/C-free living goodbye. But the onset of warm weather also brings something to help you through that love/hate relationship with your elderly swamp cooler – the farmers market is back in town.

Starting this week, the local growers are open for business on Tuesdays at Fremont and Roosevelt parks, on Wednesdays at Cesar Chavez Plaza and on Thursdays at Downtown Plaza. And Sunday's market is at the location most clearly suited for the sale of fresh organic produce: the parking lot under the freeway.

* * *

Hats – or, perhaps, hairnets – off to the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department, which won the Samuel J. Crumbine Consumer Protection Award for Excellence in Food Protection. Which is more of a mouthful than any restaurant could serve, sanitarily or otherwise.

Honored for its red, yellow and green food safety placard program, the county beat out such fierce competitors as the city of Bloomington, Ind., and the Maricopa County, Arizona, Environmental Services department. Awards will be given at a conference next month in Tucson, where the banquet staff is doubtlessly already sweating bullets.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Lisa Heyamoto, (916) 321-1261.