By now, the creation of the Los Gatos Community Foundation by three members of the parks commission—whose initial impulse revolved around finding an appropriate home for the Lyndon cupola—is something of a local legend.
The cupola, which sat on the carriage house owned by John W. Lyndon, a prominent figure in Los Gatos history, was neglected, rescued several times, restored and finally relocated to Oak Meadow Park. It was these founders of the Community Foundation who believed the cupola would be perfect sitting atop an old-fashioned community bandstand.
The battles and frustrations to reach the goal have now become water under the bridge. Last summer the entire community celebrated the dedication of the completed bandstand in Oak Meadow Park. Thanks to some 1,000 people who purchased bricks at $150 apiece, the bandstand is now nearly paid off.
The foundation is hoping for an attendance of 400 at this year's Bandstand Celebration which would finish paying for the bandstand and would permit the foundation to return to giving scholarships to local high school students, which the group suspended for a year to focus on paying for the bandstand.
This year's Bandstand Celebration is being billed as a "second annual." In fact, it is only the evening portion of last year's day-long family and community event that is being repeated. Last year's event included the auctioning off of the creations of the Art Cat Project and Food Fest, a fundraiser for A Place for Teens, and children's games.
Still, a community party, priced to be inclusive, in front of the bandstand is a perfect way for people who live and work in Los Gatos to rally 'round a symbol of what can happen when good people put their energy into improving the community.
And the fact is the Community Foundation has been doing good things for some 10 years—not just building the bandstand for the Lyndon cupola. It's important to remember that in addition to this very visible success, the foundation has brought many local causes under its nonprofit umbrella, including the high school swimming pool and the Millennium Foundation.
In some cases, the umbrella allows a fledgling organization to enjoy nonprofit, tax-exempt status while getting its papers filed for its own nonprofit status. In other cases, the umbrella allows community groups to organize for specific projects, such as the Los Gatos High School swimming pool, without having to go through the legal paperwork involved in gaining nonprofit status. The foundation also has awarded many scholarships to students at Los Gatos, Leigh and Westmont High schools.
For those who like to enjoy a good time in addition to doing good work, organizers assure us that the Bandstand Celebration will be a get-down-and boogie kind of evening. Just the ticket for an old-fashioned community bandstand.
