COWBOYS AND CAMILLE: Camille Hatch Craddock, who died May 17, was a longtime Los Gatan who supplied the late John Baggerly with many historic anecdotes when he was writing "Picture from the Past" for this newspaper. Mrs. Craddock was both a beauty queen and, conversely, someone very private and retiring.
John's wife, Barbara, offers some asides to the Hatch Craddock story. Seems Camille's father, Eldon Hatch, was an extra in Bronco Billy Anderson's cowboy films, at least one of which was filmed in Los Gatos. The back of the Lyndon Hotel was one setting used.
But even more appealing to the filmmakers were the Santa Cruz Mountains, which they deemed just right for a Western. But the weather wasn't as compatible as the verdant setting: the area proved so cloudy that the locale had to be changed to Niles. This was in 1906.
So it was that East Bay town, rather than Los Gatos, that ended up being the home of one of the first movie studios. Bronco Billy and his partner, George Spoor, a pioneer movie-camera developer, operated as the Essanay Moving Picture Company. Charlie Chaplin and Wallace Beery starred in their movies.
And Camille Hatch provided cheesecake for promoting those early-in-the-20th-century films. Other public roles followed: Mrs. Craddock appeared in the Town Pageant in 1940, the one that inspired the romance of John and Barbara Baggerly. The Baggerlys played the young leads.
Meanwhile father Hatch, after his acting career faded, managed the town swimming pool at Bunker Hill Park. He was paid $125 a week salary, according to George Bruntz's History of Los Gatos.
Camille Craddock's late son, Bill, won note with his well-regarded book, Be Not Content. The other Craddock offspring is Dianne, who lives in Santa Cruz.
WHERE IN THE WORLD: Where in the World Am I? is a new book by 85-year-old Los Gatan Rae E.K. Caplan. Caplan tells of how she found a new purpose—and a self-confidence she never had before—when she was forced to rebuild her life after the sudden death of her husband when she was 58.
Shock, bewilderment and depression plagued her widowhood at first. But she persevered, sold real estate for Value Realty (now Coldwell Banker) and realized how sheltered she'd been until then, entering the business world for the first time.
On the social scene, she sailed San Francisco Bay with a group of singles, and this marked a major turning point, bringing a new hobby and new adventures in travel. As a sole traveler in her 60s, she traveled the world, often by boat. New interests, new friends and new incentives followed.
Thus did she reinvent herself and discover joy in being alive. Now 85, Caplan has just returned from Antarctica, via a special expedition with Atlantic Odyssey Voyage. Where in the World is self-published by Lulu Publishing Company.
PROM DRESSES RECYCLED: A new type of prom-dress shop, called Becca's Closet, will open in Monte Sereno soon. The purpose of these shops is to give prom dresses to those who wouldn't ordinarily be able to buy one. The idea comes from the late Rebecca Kirtman of Pompano Beach, Fla.
Rebecca, as a teenager, wrote to manufacturers, requesting donations for her dress bank. She collected about 250 and began giving them away to needy girls. Tragically, Rebecca was killed in an auto accident last year at age 16.
However, her parents and friends have continued the charity and now have a stockload of 3,000 dresses. Some two dozen chapters of Becca's Closet are slated to open in nine different states, and one is even starting in Singapore. Recipients of the dresses need to show a student I.D. but don't have to show proof of need.
The website is www.beccascloset.org, to sign up for an appointment or to donate dresses. The idea has already been catching on here, what with Silicon Valley Charity Ball organizers holding a similar charity, asking people to bring in cleaned, old ball gowns at a pre-ball tea this spring.
Those gowns, too, were given to young women who wouldn't be able to otherwise afford one, and the ball was called the Cinderella Ball.
CHANGING OF GUARD: It's time for a changing of the guard for local clubs. New officers for the History Club are Louise Seagraves, president; Carol Burt, 1st v.p.; Jan Johnston, 2nd v.p., Therese Wiese, treasurer; Marge Ulrich, recording secretary; Margaret Schu, corresponding secretary.
A.J. Haywood is auditor; Gwen Davis is parliamentarian; and members at large are Carol Milligan, Faustene Heilman, Joan Brown, Betty Ulrich and Jubie Jaramillo.
YOUTH CONCERT: The Palo Alto Philharmonic presents its annual Youth and Family Concert June 6 at 3 p.m. at Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto. Monte Serenan Lee Actor leads the orchestra; Leigh Weimers will narrate Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.
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By Mary Ann Cook