Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Main Street

Mary Ann Cook

The celebrants made merry in the castle

ELIZABETHAN ROMP: Talk about unusual wedding anniversary parties. We may have heard about the ultimate. Seems there's a Los Gatos Renaissance performing group called "The Players of Lady Shakespeare," and one of that number is Kerri Dillon, a.k.a. Susanna Shakespeare, oldest daughter of Will.

Dillon has taken on that persona for the past 10 years at fairs, clubs, schools, madrigal dinners and the like. But this summer she played her role at a dream destination--Leeds Castle in the Kent countryside. The gala celebrated the 35th wedding anniversary of friends Michael and Anne Charlotte Harvey of San Diego. Alan DeRico, a professional photographer and fellow Renaissance devotee, accompanied Dillon/Susanna.

Dinner in the Court of Queen Elizabeth I broached no polyester or pantsuits. Guests were required to be in elegant Elizabethan costume. Or if not Elizabethan, at least elegant in some other period attire, such as Edwardian, Regency or '20s flapper. Susanna herself was in a burgundy Elizabethan gown--30 pounds of it, in fact.

When the 38 actor friends came down the stairs fully costumed, they were mobbed by tourists who wanted photos. While Alan was buckling on his sword, an American tourist said to him, "I gotta tell ya, the pen is mightier than the sword."

Consummate actor DeRico didn't miss a beat as he responded in flawless Brit, "'Tis true, my good fellow, but only if thou hast a damn big pen." Susanna got in her own bawdy bit with the opening toast: "May all thine ales be cold and thy lovers hot!"

Then came the veritable avalanche of food and drink--consommé, roast beef, shepherd's pie, herb-encrusted salmon, pork, fresh asparagus, fruits, cheeses, baked Alaska, gateau trolley, wine, ales, champagnes--all served strictly by candlelight.

So ample was the spread and so merry were the celebrants that the table wasn't abandoned until past midnight. Try eating all those courses in a corset and covered with 30 pounds of velvet. Staying in a 500-year old moated castle with bed canopied to the ceiling, Dillon could sense all the occupants of times long past.

I'm just back from the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, and as I type this am bedecked in a T-shirt with the words "Will Power" and the famous balding bard's likeness thereon, so I feel right in 17th-century sync. Incidentally, Dillon's email address is bardgirl.

FROM THE EAST: Emie Yamate had a houseful of relatives from Japan who came for her son Michael's wedding to Noreen Quan in July. Visiting from Tokyo were her daughter, Reiko Minegishi, her daughter's husband, Minoru, and their three children.

The family visits yearly, and children and mother speak English at home and so are at ease in both cultures. But the cultures diverge on at least one point: Students have to take an exam before high school entry, and it's a crucial one for placement and their academic future.

So oldest grandchild Miako spent a good part of her time boning up, and was tutored several times a week. One of her assignments was to visit an art museum and then write a report. Miako picked the Los Gatos Museum of Art and Natural Science.

Not too surprising a choice, since her great aunt, Penny Morimoto, is a docent there. While here, the girls participated in obon festivals in Mountain View and Palo Alto, outfitted in traditional dress. Their mother went to Tokyo originally to study the Bando school of classical dance, met her husband there and stayed on. Both Reiko and her sister, Moschel, are titled Bando dancers, which indicates a high performance level, having passed the test. The Bando teacher comes from Los Angeles, so qualified teachers are a rarity. Emie is the widow of Minoru Yamate, a pediatric allergist.

ARRIVEDERCI: It was a tearful farewell party that Barbara and Fred Altomare and Mary and Doug Aumack threw for 75 friends and family at the Aumacks' Italianate home. The occasion was a farewell to the Campanellas--Gail and John and children Gianni, Dino and Veronica--who moved back to Santa Barbara after a seven-year stay here.

Friends created a memory book for the Campanellas that depicted seven years of fellowship. Gail Campanella on piano and Paul Tumason on accordion and banjo provided the music. Tumason is a photographer whose work you have probably seen. He did the symphony portraits in the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Dino Campanella is a member of the local teenage new wave band dredg.

LET'S LOOK AT ART: The San Jose outreach program called Let's Look at Art needs volunteers to visit local schools. A docent class starts Sept. 14. Call Val DeLang at 271-6840 if this combination of art and children delights you.

SEMINAR: "Was Darwin Wrong?" is the title of a talk Gary Himmelwright, an engineer at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, will give Sept. 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 57 Broadway. A free vegetarian lunch will follow. To preregister, call 354-1733 by Sept. 9.

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