It's camellia season at Hakone Gardens. Every year, Hakone has more than 300 plants for viewing during the months of January through March. Adding to the splendor this year are new plants donated by the Camellia Society of Santa Clara County. The seven single japonicas are wild Japanese camellias that will complement the Wabisuke variety donated and planted by the society last spring at Hakone's Cultural Center.
Camellia enthusiasts are invited to join the society, which meets in Santa Clara on the third Wednesday of the month and will host its annual show Feb. 24-25 at the Santa Clara Community Recreation Center, 969 Kiely Blvd. Call Roy Swanson, 225-7479 for more information.
Hakone is a busy place these days. On Feb. 3, volunteer gardeners are invited to help work in the bamboo garden, plant groundcover and lay paving stones. Their reward: hot cocoa and cake.
Having put out a wish list of needs and desires for the gardens, the Hakone Foundation reports a $4,000 gift of stock from Tom and Eloise Rigler, which will help with several projects, including water fountains, benches and pathway improvements. The foundation has also been collecting money for a new "performance deck" to be used for dance, music and cultural programs, as well as weddings. Plans have been approved, and construction should be finished by next summer.
With the help of several volunteers and generous donations, Hakone has also put together a reference library of approximately 168 books, which are in the process of being computer-catalogued. Subjects reportedly range from architecture to Zen.
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How's your relationship doing? In connection with Valentine's Day, the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists is offering free "relationship checkups" from Feb. 5-17. The association maintains that most of us take better care of our cars than we do of our significant relationships. To help change that trend, counselors in the area will help you identify your relationship's strengths and weaknesses. For an appointment, call (800) 709-CARE. And if you want to keep that relationship happy, don't forget the candy and flowers on Feb. 14. Hint, hint.
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Deb Conway, chef at Le Mouton Noir, did a little extra takeout business last week. She provided a roast chicken dinner for residents of the Julian Street Inn in San Jose, via Saratoga Presbyterian Church's food for the homeless program.
--Sue Fagalde Lick
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 31, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved