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Main Street
Learn to hold your water in Singapore
By Mary Ann Cook
EASTER EGG HUNT: In just three years the Easter egg hunt in Patti and Bill Hughes' meadow has grown from 70 attendees to close to 300. The hunt is geared for those children up to age 8; parents do the hiding ahead of time. After the hunt is a picnic pond-side.
Added treat: Carol and Joe Hargett scooped out gelato for all the hunters. The Hargetts are part owners of Dolce Spazio, the gelato emporium on Santa Cruz Avenue. They also own the restaurant 29 E. Main. Managers of that restaurant are their daughter and son-in-law Michelle and Zane Bisbee.
Zane was the decorating maven who captured a best decorated award for businesses from the beautification committee last Christmas time.
TWO BENEFICIARIES: The Summit League's Holiday House Tour last year was so successful it netted $68,170 each for two charities--Service for Brain Injury and Family Education Foundation. Christine Camara is executive director of SBI and accepted one of the checks recently.
Paula McHugh and Dottie Cronk are the publicity chairwomen
DISPATCH FROM SUMMER: From world-traveler Summer Byron: "I flew into Singapore, the cleanest place on earth. It's a first world in the middle of Third World countries, a democracy without the freedom. You can't even spit on the streets without a heavy penalty...most of the elevators have pee detectors.
"If anyone pees in the elevator, it goes into lockdown until the authorities arrive to give you a proper fine of around $2,000!" She felt she was being ripped off with camera buying and because she was a woman, and left Singapore abruptly. Got sick on the bus out of Singapore. . .
("which was completely ironic, because I was stuck on the bus with the cleanest people on earth, they were all scared to death of me!") Finally, after three buses and untold taxi rides they were ensconced in a bungalow in Thailand, only to be awakened around 3:45 in the morning.
"About five Thai men rushed into our room and turned on the light as if it were an ambush! They grabbed all of our stuff, just as around three feet of water came rushing in. It turns out our bungalows got flooded in this mad storm and the guys worked there, and they were trying to get us out of there for fear of our safety!
...I was half asleep, grabbing for my toothbrush and purse and camera as they came floating by. . . it was an emergency ...so I wasn't even thinking about the fact that I was the only participant in a wet T-shirt contest." She stayed in Thailand in a beach shelter, recovering from 36 hours of sickness.
ADOPT-A-BENCH; The town's beautification committee urges residents to purchase a bench to commemorate a loved one--or even a pet. The donor pays 60 percent of the cost; the Redevelopment Agency pays 40 percent. The town will buy, install and maintain the bench and there's no future liability on the part of the donor.
A personalized brass plaque is placed on the bench and the donor may specify a preferred location. For more information, call 408.354.6834. Eight different styles of benches are offered, so prices vary. Trash receptacles can also be donated, if tidiness overwhelms you.
Shirley Henderson, chairwoman of the beautification committee, urges folks to drop by her shop, the Antiquarium, on Main Street, to alert her to any part of town they think is neglected and that the BC should focus on.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Blackburns--Lorraine and John's travels often involve vintage cars. This month they showed their '58 Jaguar at a four-day car show in Palm Springs. In September, they'll take in a CARavan tour in Maine with their '42 Packard, joining some 150 other cars.
Accompanying them will be Margaret and Heinz Schu. Last month Lorraine and Margaret went to Pismo Beach for a semi-annual Questers Convention. The Questers are a national antique study and historic preservation group.
They meet monthly locally and those interested may call Lorraine at 408.354.1279. Though little know, the Questers annually give a $15,000 scholarship to a graduate student at Columbia U.
THE RETURN OF VIRGINIA: Virginia is back at her customary perch, overlooking Los Gatos Boulevard near Lark, next door to the 76 Station. Virginia is a dummy that her owner/master found in a dumpster, and clothes in apparel appropriate to the season.
She's stood guard, rain or shine, at the north end of town for several years. But, lately, she was absent for a few months. Perhaps checking out the Paris fashions? She's currently swathed in hooded orange sweatshirt.
Actually, her clothes are courtesy of Goodwill. Her owner has a habit of taking her to parties. If she doesn't make an appearance, friends and family members invariably ask about her whereabouts. Why the name Virginia? The answer is obvious: She looks like a Virginia.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
