Main Street

RubyRed MadHatters have a very important date

By Mary Ann Cook

RED HATS & ALL: The RubyRed MadHatters will hold a lunch meeting at Steamers April 20, at 11:30 a.m. The RubyReds are a local chapter of the Red Hat Society, an international organization of women of "un certain age," as the French would say. (Age 50 and over is the rough translation.)

The local chapter is headed by Karen Kilgore, who calls herself the Founding Instigator. The group's origins are based on the poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph. The poem begins, "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, with a red hat which doesn't go."

The idea is that older women are freer to express themselves, and do so with more humor. Kilgore copied the poem, framed it and hung it in her house. Then she kept running into other women who also responded to its theme. She looked up the Red Hat website and decided to start a chapter herself.

There are no rules, but there are some unrules: anybody who wants to can plan and carry through an event. There are 60 members, but only about 15 attend each function. Membership is unlimited. To embody the poem--and its attitude--attendees wear bright red hats and royal purple dresses.

Most of the women don't know each other until they meet at a gathering. Organizer of this luncheon is Karen LaRoche. The only other officer is Brandy Devine, who is recorder and keeps the scrapbook. The website is at www.redhatsociety.org.

NEW AUTHOR: Tami Anastasia has written a book with the same name as her business, and both enterprises somewhat echo her first name. The longtime health and fitness counselor has just written Toward A Magnificent Self: The Exercise Book For Every Body, published by Xulon Press.

Toward A Magnificent Self identifies the psychological roadblocks that stop people from making exercise a habit and teaches the reader how to break through those roadblocks. It includes self-assessment questionnaires, journaling and anecdotes.

Anastasia's private exercise studio is named TAMS (Toward a Magnificent Self) Wellness Studio and has been open at Vasona Station for the past two years. Before that her health consulting business operated out of the club on Los Gatos Boulevard founded by her father, John.

Anastasia's Athletic Club in Los Gatos ran for 13 years and Tami was its manager. It was the first health club in Santa Clara County, having opened in 1967. Tami Anastasia specializes in working with people who are sedentary and have difficulty motivating themselves to exercise.

And she works with those who suffer chronic pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia, and osteoporosis and those who are recovering from surgery. She has a master's in counseling from the Santa Clara University. And she grew up in Saratoga.

TO HEALTH: The Tempus Clinic may be too steep for most of us, with its $25,000-a-year price tag, but it promises measurable results in a year's time through a tailor-made program of diet and exercise. Its comprehensive physical is so thorough that metabolic changes can be measured every few months.

A personalized one-year diet and physical training plan is drawn up in consultation with one's own doctor. A longer life at a healthy weight, increased fitness and general well-being are the expected results. The facility, located at 536 N. Santa Cruz Ave., should open in mid-April.

It's president is Dr. Mike Nichols, who is on sabbatical from his practice in Saratoga in order to devote himself fully to preventative medicine. Other personnel are Joe Politi, chief operating officer; Phil Tonry, physical trainer; and Barry Benight, director of engineering and new products.

Politi is an embodiment of the system: he lost 40 pounds of fat in the past year and gained 10 pounds of muscle. They can tell the difference because they use a "bod pod" that measures such things. The Tempus phone number is 408.354.0801.

MOUNTAIN MAMAS: The Mountain Mamas will display their artwork April 20 and 21 at 16471 Bonnie Lane in Los Gatos as part of Open Art Studios. A percentage of the proceeds will go to the LG-Saratoga Observation Nursery School tuition fund.

The school on Black Road is affectionately known as "Mountain School," from which springs the name Mountain Mamas. Artists showing include painters Halina Gallagher, Jill Templeton and Dana Williams; quilters Jeanne Dominguez, Jill Templeton and Laurie West; jewelry makers Angie Davidson, Blair Kilbey, Sharon Perry and Caitlin and Tani Pryce; cardmaker Jan Eby; and portraitist Lily Soetarman. Music will be performed by Bonnie Ward, Jeanne Dominguez, John Templeton, Caitlin Pryce and April Soetarman. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

MUSIC AWARD: Michael Bautista won first place in the San Jose Music Study Club (SJMSC) Young Artists Awards and performed in concert with the two other award winners, Clint Cancio, classical pianist, and Kristen Barrett, soprano. Bautista is a Los Gatos native and Stanford grad.

A featured artist in the South Bay Guitar Society, he has twice won first place in National Federation of Music Clubs competitions and won an award earlier from the SJMSC. He's interested in artist management, record production, copyright and music law.

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