Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Strawberry Festival begins new era

By Jerry Doyle

The Eastfield Ming Quong Strawberry Festival will begin a new era on June 7 and 8 at its new site at West Valley College in Saratoga. It is with mixed emotions that EMQ takes this major step in the history of the festival. After all, it's hard to imagine the Strawberry Festival anywhere but Los Gatos.

For the past 37 years, Los Gatos residents have enthusiastically welcomed us by turning out by the hundreds to volunteer year after year to make the annual weekend event such a success. For many Los Gatans, the Strawberry Festival has been a rich community tradition supported by several generations of families.

It was 37 years ago that the first seed for the Strawberry Festival was planted when a group of Ming Quong volunteers organized a backyard event to raise allowance money for the children of Ming Quong. Handmade items and strawberry sundaes were sold, raising several hundred dollars. The idea caught on--and immediately inspired people in the community to get involved.

The following year, the event was moved to the Ming Quong campus on Loma Alta Avenue, where it became an annual neighborly gathering. In 1980 the festival was moved to the Los Gatos Civic Center, where it flourished, drawing more than 70,000 visitors per weekend from all over the Bay Area. Today more than 1,000 volunteers participate, raising more than $70,000 annually in support of EMQ's mental health services for children and their families.

During the past several years, it became apparent that the festival had once again outgrown its home. While town merchants and residents continued to be supportive of our need to raise funds for children's programs and services, the size of the Strawberry Festival was beginning to take its toll. We heard their concerns and closely looked at what would be in the best interest of EMQ as well as the community.

West Valley College in Saratoga, just down the road, has a spacious, parklike campus and generous parking facilities. We all agreed that West Valley would provide a pleasant experience for festival-goers as well as an opportunity for future expansion and increased revenue.

We want to thank both the Los Gatos and Saratoga communities for their overwhelming support of our decision to move the festival. In addition we want to thank our 1,000 volunteers who are making the move with us to create a new generation of prosperous Strawberry Festivals.

West Valley College has been very generous in hosting our festival on their beautiful campus. Tom Green, dean of budget and planning, and his staff are working with us to make the transition as smooth as possible.

We are also grateful to the Saratoga Rotary members for sharing their experience of putting on their annual art show, also held at WVC. Their insights have been invaluable to us.

While this year's festival remains true to tradition, we are planning several new and exciting changes. Festival-goers will find more space and plenty of parking at West Valley (we are asking for a $1 donation per car), more than 100 arts and crafts booths, a second stage in the carnival area for our children's entertainers and, of course, scrumptious strawberry treats and other wonderful food.

For the first time, we will be working with the Bay Area Lupus Foundation to include its Los Gatos/Saratoga 5K Run-Walk in the Strawberry Festival. The run takes place Sunday morning on the scenic West Valley campus. Following the run, participants will feast on our famous strawberry pancake breakfast!

EMQ has been privileged to be a part of the Los Gatos community, which has always embraced our mission of helping children and their families through the Strawberry Festival and other volunteer activities. We hope that the festival's move to WVC will be a positive experience for both Los Gatans and Saratogans as the two communities come together for the common goal of helping children and their families.

For more information about the Eastfield Ming Quong Strawberry Festival, June 7-8 at West Valley College in Saratoga, call 364-4081 or check out our Web site at www.emq.org/strawber.htm.

Jerry Doyle is president and CEO of the Eastfield Ming Quong.

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