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Lauren Merriman leaves city to work with seniors
By Oakley Brooks
Lauren Merriman, best known as Saratoga's teen coordinator over the last year, recently accepted a position in Mountain View's recreation department. Her move after just 10 months on the job in Saratoga left city staffers and youth commissioners with mixed feelings last week.
"We wish her the best but we were very sorry to see her go," said Kim Saxton-Heinrichs, Merriman's supervisor in the city's recreation department.
Merriman, 24, and energetic by all accounts, was responsible for one of the more popular teen hangouts in town--the Warner Hutton House. Every day as 80 to 90 middle school youngsters descended on the teen house, Merriman and a handful of other activities directors kept them occupied with pool, arts and crafts, and other activities.
As part of the teen center events, Merriman coordinated the monthly middle school dances that Saratoga's Youth Commission hosts at the Warner Hutton House.
Additionally, she oversaw the city's youth basketball league, an adult softball league and teen camps in the summer.
She also guided the youth commission in its push to raise funds, plan teen getaway trips and, lately, its drive to bring a mobile skatepark to the city.
"She seemed to multi-task better than anyone I've ever met," said James Atkins, chairman of the youth commission over the last two school years.
Atkins said he was disappointed about Merriman's departure--"we were finally getting to know her." But he vowed that he and other youth commissioners would continue to push forward with the skatepark issue until the equipment arrived in Saratoga. Saratoga City Council members recently expressed unanimous interest in a skatepark that could be packed up and towed throughout the city.
The commissioners will have acting teen coordinator Taffy Lowery to help them along the way. Lowery will also keep the Warner Hutton House running on weekday afternoons.
Lowery worked with the recreation department beginning in 1991 and helped open the Warner Hutton House in 1992, before leaving the city in 1996.
She recently left a job with a local office-furnishing business to fill in with the city. But she hasn't decided whether she'll apply for the permanent coordinator position.
Merriman took over as a seniors program coordinator in Mountain View. She had worked with the city before arriving at Saratoga, and she told Saxton-Heinrichs recently that she wished to work with an operation larger than Saratoga.
The third week in January, her first in Mountain View was a difficult one, however.
"I miss the teens so much in Saratoga," she said. "I hope I made a positive difference there."
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
