As Woody Allen once said, “Ninety percent of life is just showing up.” I always thought Woody overstated his case, but showing up is indeed important. It’s that time of year when those who showed up every day of school for years are recognized.

Recently, school trustees congratulated Jason Thomassen, a graduating senior at West High, for racking up 13 years of perfect attendance in the Tracy Unified School District.

Jason didn’t miss a day of school at North, Monte Vista and West High schools, graduating with a 3.17 GPA.

Among others who made it through Tracy schools without missing a day of school in years past is Debbie Lankford Scott, now a resident of Turlock.

Debbie, who posted her perfect attendance record in 1980 after not missing a day in school at Jefferson School and Tracy High, told me the other day that the tradition of “being there” every day is continuing in her family.

Her daughter, Stephanie Scott, has not missed a day of school through her senior year at Turlock’s Pitman High School.

And, as they say in the TV ads, “but wait; there’s more!”

Stephanie’s older sister, Sabrina Scott, graduated from Pitman in 2008 with 13 years of perfect attendance.

Debbie is proud of her girls — and proud of the tradition she started in her hometown of Tracy.

I’m almost (not quite) certain there are other 2011 graduates around here with perfect attendance during their elementary and high school years. Send me your names and where you went to school, and I’ll include it in next week’s column. E-mail address: shm@tracypress.com.

The Pillsbury baker

And meanwhile, in Sacramento, 1972 Tracy High graduate Leslie Navarra is competing online to become a finalist in the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off.

Navarra's recipe for Apricot-Bacon Flatbread was selected from tens of thousands of entries to be pitted against one other recipe on the Pillsbury website for two weeks. Consumers age 18 or older as of May 1 can vote online for their favorite recipe of the two. The recipe that receives the most votes during the two-week period will earn a spot to compete against 100 others for $1 million in the Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando in March 2012.

The Apricot-Bacon Flatbread recipe was developed last fall when Navarra, a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, set out to make an orange-and-black appetizer to serve at a party to watch the Giants in the World Series. The flatbread is made with Pillsbury pizza dough and has a base of apricot preserves topped with bacon, dates, goat cheese, caramelized onions and almonds.

The voting for Navarra's recipe began Thursday. Voters can log on to www.bakeoff.com to vote.

Navarra, 56, lives in Sacramento and is a manager at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center.

Her love of sports no doubt can be traced to her side of the family. Her dad, Ken Towns, was pro at Tracy Golf & Country Club for more than a decade.

And the apricot part of the recipe can be traced directly to husband Pete Navarra’s family. The Navarra clan produced tons and tons of apricots over the years in orchards south of Tracy.

• Sam Matthews, Tracy Press publisher emeritus, can be reached at 830-4234 or by e-mail at shm@tracypress.com.