Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Main Street

Mary Ann Cook

Theatre in the Mountains goes on the road

THE SCHULZ KID: The most ambitious production to date for Theatre in the Mountains is You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, what with more performances, including a road show. Performances at the theater at the Loma Prieta Community Center are Jan. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 4 at 1:30 p.m. On New Year's Eve a special 8:30 p.m. performance will be followed by a New Year's Party for audience, cast and crew. The cost is $25 ($20 for seniors, students and children) and includes buffet table and one round of drinks. Also: a disc jockey for dancing and a children's party next door, hosted by Kids and Company, with a reasonable hourly price tag.

Thanks to a grant from the Valley Foundation, transportation, tickets and meal subsidies for pre-show pizza can be offered to members of senior groups and underprivileged youth. Some 500 more viewers are expected for Charlie Brown as part of that outreach. Jon Rosen is grant writer for the company and director of this show; Rick Dentoni is technical director. George L. Smith, Pete Shuey, Barbara O'Kelly and Chonna Delaney are other board members.

Besides all that, Theatre in the Mountains will take this show on the road for four performances at Fisher Middle School: Jan. 9, 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 10, 2:30 and 7:30; and Jan. 11 at 2:30. The box office is 353-9999.

MONEY AND SEX: Women's relationship to money has changed dramatically over the past decades, and spending and saving strategies need to reflect those changes. So says Joan Perry, whose book, A Girl Needs Cash or How to Dump the White Knight Myth and Take Charge of Your Finances, is due in bookstores Jan. 12. Perry believes she was born to write this book. Though she worked on Wall Street herself, she became financially dependent on a man. When the relationship ended, she was left without her own nest egg, having invested in a real estate deal he engineered.

If it could happen to her, it could happen to anyone: hence the book. Perry was the first woman to own a municipal investment banking firm, developing large bond issues for such clients as the city of Chicago and the state of California. Take Charge Financial! is the company she runs today in the historic Honeymoon House on University Avenue. Take Charge sets up private pension plans for individuals and companies, sells stocks and bonds and other financial vehicles.

The title of her book comes from an old Sophie Tucker aphorism: "From birth to 18 a girl needs a good family; from 18 to 35, good looks; from 35 to 55, a good personality; and from 55 on, a girl needs cash." The book was written in collaboration with journalist Dolores Barclay. Claudia Mann will devote the front window display of her Maid's Quarters shop on Santa Cruz Avenue to A Girl Needs Cash.

BOWSER BASKETS: Fourth-graders at St. Mary's School raised $600 at a recent bake sale, which money they gave to Pets in Need. This was a bake sale with a difference, since the items offered were Bowser Biscuits the youngsters had baked, then packaged like boutique fare for the four-legged. The Culinary Catnip Kits held catnip seeds and soil in a hand-decorated terra-cotta pot. Pets in Need is an organization that provides veterinary care for pets of low-income elderly. Gina Borelli, Karen Brown, Trudy Esrey, Dianne Forster, Mary Ursula Hurley, Irene Miller, Diana Reilley and Abby Sobrato were the maternal mainstays on the project. Pets in Need is 415/367-1405.

STAR AT WHITE HOUSE: Another local needlepointer whose handiwork is hanging on the Christmas tree in the Blue Room of the White House is Karen Brayton-McFall of Monte Sereno. She made a needlepointed star of hand-spun and hand-dyed silk, gold with silver accents. She flew to Washington one weekend to see it: "How many times do you get invited to the White House?"

Karen owns the Rug and Yarn Hut, now in Campbell, but until recently in Los Gatos. The national needlepointers association was asked to contribute ornaments as seen through the eyes of a child. The shop nearest the White House created an entire train of needlepoint. Another standout was Santa and reindeer in flight, complete to the last needlepointed gift inside the sleigh.

STEPPIN' OUT: Chris and Lisa Marchese of Los Gatos will host a preview party for HOPE Rehabilitation Service Foundation's 1998 fashion show Jan. 8, 6:30-9: 30 p.m. Number to call is 748-2870. "Steppin' Out With Our Stars" is the name of the event.

LAST CHANCE: "Puttin' on the Ritz," the novelty shop on University Avenue, will close its doors at the end of this month. After 20 years, owner Marily Hart decided it was time for a change. She'll take a couple of months off to treat herself, then look for a new niche, probably in the retail trade. Besides her treasure trove of unusual items, Hart reputedly has a large repertoire of tales about L.G. nightlife.

BLOSSOM TROLLEY: Local historian Bill Wulf will share knowledge of the inter-urban's "Blossom Trolley Trip" Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. at the History Club. The trolley linked Los Gatos to San Jose and Saratoga and is recalled ever fondly by those who rode it.

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