Los Gatos Weekly-Times
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Photograph by George Sakkestad
It will be a frightening day for a good cause at Los Gatos Cinemas on Oct. 28 when the Saratoga Rotary Club hosts Scare-A-Thon, an all-day mini festival of classic horror films. Rotary members Debby Rich (left) and Dr. Ronald Gemberling are promoting the event that will raise funds for the club's Rotoplast program.
Get good and scared for a very good cause
By Chris Vongsarath
As the weather begins to cool and with Halloween creeping up in the coming week, those familiar frightening chills are beginning to fill the air. And for those looking to get a head start on the festivities, this weekend's Scare-A-Thon will give horror buffs a quick fix.
Put on by the Saratoga Rotary Club, Scare-A-Thon is an all-day mini festival of classic horror films fun for all ages. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Frankenstein, Psycho, The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead and The Blair Witch Project will all play at the Los Gatos Cinemas, 41 Santa Cruz Ave., on Oct. 28, 3-10 p.m.
Bonita Choly, business manager for Camera Cinemas, the company that owns and operates the Los Gatos Cinemas, said she welcomes Scare-A-Thon--and other events --at the theater.
"It brings us closer to the community," she said. "It's our pleasure. The more we can do it, the happier we are."
Since spring Choly has been planning a three-phase renovation project for the theater. She said the first phase, which involves the main lobby and one of the corridors, should be ready for Sunday's event.
"It would be nice to open our doors to that group and have it as spruced and nice as it can be," she said. "Everybody loves Halloween. It's not every day you get to wear a costume to work."
In addition to the movies, prizes will be awarded for the best costumes and there will also be an auction for a trip to New Zealand, worth an estimated $15,000.
More importantly, the event is part of a fundraising campaign for the Saratoga Rotary Club and its partner Rotaplast, an international nonprofit organization specializing in providing medical procedures worldwide. The two parties are working toward $51,000 by May 2008 to finance a mission to help cleft lip and cleft palate patients in Guatemala.
With only about one-fifth of that goal reached, the Saratoga Rotary Club is counting on Scare-A-Thon to raise much of the needed funds.
Rotarian Debby Rich is heading the Rotaplast project. She initially came up with the idea after going on a similar mission to El Salvador a year ago.
"What touched me most was the fact that we were giving these people and their children what constitutes a normal life over there, which is way different from our lives here," she said. "Just being able to give them that chance was heartwarming."
During the 10-day mission, Rich witnessed hundreds of children and adults who needed her help.
"They just come in, and there's this incredible hope on their faces," she said. "But it was hard because we knew we couldn't take them all."
Rich went on that mission with Dr. Ronald Gemberling, a fellow Rotarian who has worked with Rotaplast on more than a dozen missions. The upcoming Guatemala mission is dedicated in his honor, but he refrains from taking any credit.
"This is for the kids," Gemberling said. "This is a dedication to the hard work of the Rotaplast team. They're the ones who deserve it. I just hold the knife."
In two weeks Gemberling will be going to the Philippines on a separate Rotaplast mission. Every year more than 250,000 babies are born with cleft lip and cleft palate worldwide caused mainly by poor medical care and other environmental factors.
On the missions, Gemberling tries to help the youngest ones first, as they stand to benefit most, he said.
"We hate to turn away any child because it may be their only shot to be exposed to any kind of Western care," he said.
While the purpose of Scare-A-Thon is to raise funds for an international medical mission, Rich said she will be cautious about promoting the cause at the event.
"We'll have something for the mission, but it's supposed to be a fun event, so we don't want to bring anyone down," she said. "I just want everyone to have a great time."
Local support for Scare-A-Thon has been tremendous, Rich said. Two weeks before the event, ticket sales have reached half the Rotary Club's goal with more expected in the days ahead. Rich is shooting for ticket sales to hit 500, which would make it a sellout. But the awareness about the mission is the most important thing.
"It's already a success," Rich said. "It's just the degree of success we're waiting for. And I'd like for it to go over the top."
Tickets for Scare-A-Thon are $35 and can be purchased at the Los Gatos Cinemas, from a Rotarian, or by mail: 16400 Matilija Drive, Los Gatos, 95030. For more information, call 408.913.7712. For more information on Rotaplast International, visit www.rotaplast.org.
