Photograph by Paul Myers

A subgroup of the Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga, the 'Silver Servers' volunteer to serve meals at the Live Oak Senior Nutrition and Service Center in Los Gatos. They include (from left) Betty Jasper, Becky McEntee, Pat Meyer, Jan Ehrhardt, Susan Swartz, Linda Krain and Ann Fenolio.

Assistance League will 'show and tell'

Dealers will examine antiques

By Shari Kaplan

The Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga, a local guild of the National Assistance League, is inviting all members of the community to its second annual Antique Show and Tell event, which will take place March 27 at Nordahl Hall, 580 W. Parr Ave., in Los Gatos.

The event's highlight, according to charter member and officer Louise Webb of Saratoga, is the "show and tell" part, in which six to eight antique dealers examine and informally appraise any and all antiques brought before them.

"We saw some really interesting items [last year]," she recalls. "People really had fun in line looking at everyone else's items, and they'll tell all sorts of stories about their antiques."

Webb herself was eager to have an old medicine chest from Korea appraised, but it was too big and heavy to bring. "I brought a drawer and a photograph instead!" she says, laughing.

The event also includes a box lunch and a silent auction. Among the items up for bid are dinners for two, tickets to sporting events, a weekend beach getaway and many themed gift baskets. Auction items are either donated by local merchants or provided by league members, such as the artwork of Jillian Ring, who crafts small Japanese kimonos from various materials and then frames them in shadow boxes.

Proceeds from Antique Show and Tell benefit the guild's philanthropic projects in the Saratoga and Los Gatos communities, such as a senior crafts group led by Susan Swartz at the Los Gatos Neighborhood Center and senior crafts, bingo games and meals at the Saratoga Adult Care Center and Saratoga Senior Center, coordinated by Webb.

Another ongoing project of the guild is Operation School Bell, coordinated by Angela King, which last fall provided basic school supplies for 37 needy children in the community--from elementary schoolers to high school students--who otherwise would start school unprepared. The guild maintains the privacy of all students, with referrals coming through school administrators and nurses. Operation School Bell is also conducted by the more than 100 National Assistance League guilds throughout the country.

The formation of the Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga got under way in early 2000, under the guidance of Los Gatan Chrystie DeSoto. By May of that year, several dozen women from Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga attended a chapter meeting. The chapter attained full guild status in October 2000, after it obtained more than 40 charter members. New members are always welcome.

Admission to Antique Show and Tell is $25 per person, which includes a box lunch and one antique appraisal. Tickets for additional appraisals are available at the door for $5 each. For more information about the event or the guild, call Becky McEntee at 408.354.4051, Louise Webb at 408.867.9533 or Jan Ehrhardt at 408.356.4274.

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