Saratoga News

Saratoga Sampler

Mary Ann Cook

Salinas beckoned this student for spring break

SPRING BREAK: In the olden days, carousing college students went to warm climes to celebrate spring break, sleeping late, lazing in the sun and making sure the supply of beer was steady. The words "Fort Lauderdale" come to mind, but then I grew up in the Midwest. Out here it's Cabo and other Mexican destinations that are all the rage. But times change. And sometimes for the better. Sometimes present-day students work for others during spring break.

Such a one is Saratogan Kyle Barisich, a junior at USC. He spent his spring vacation, along with 22 other USC students, living at a homeless center in Salinas. The center is called Dorothy's Place (named after social activist Dorothy Day) and serves a midday meal to the homeless. It is also a place they can shower, clean their clothes or simply watch TV.

Barisich and the other students helped prepare meals, performed housekeeping chores and interacted with the approximately 100 people who came to the center daily. Kyle says he was stunned to realize how thin a line separates the homeless from the rest of us, how little it takes for some of us to end up on the street.

"There are so many interesting stories. I met a man yesterday who was a ragtime musician in Florida for 20 years." The connectiveness between people was the part that he found most life-affirming. "It's the simple things that count most. A smile. A haircut."

One of the students offered haircuts to people, some of whom hadn't had one in months. "What a difference it made. You could see it in their faces, their smiles." The students lived at the center, slept in sleeping bags. Barisich was coordinator of the program, which also had two USC faculty members aboard, part of Alternative Spring Break.

Barisich is a voice major, with his sights set on opera, but has always been interested in befriending the less fortunate. During high school years, he went to Mexico on trips sponsored by Sister Virginia of Sacred Heart Church, performed menial chores and made friends with the people. "Just knowing someone cares about you makes a vast difference. I feel I've gotten more out of this [spring break] experience than the people who come here have."

TEA PARTY: They didn't have a mad hatter, but they did have a hatter at the American Pen Women tea that Felicia Pollock hosted recently. The Santa Clara County chapter honors achievers each spring and then has a tea to get to know them better and hope they'll join the chapter.

One thing the group didn't have to worry about was entertainment. Once each guest talked about her latest achievement, conversation bubbled and the doings rolled along. Honored were Linda Spencer, artist, and Dale Lee, the aforementioned hatter, both of Los Gatos.

Others were quilter Diane Leone, artist Valerie McNeal, TV show host Suzanne Barnett, senior correspondent Mary Charles and authors Carolle Carter and Joan Ohanneson, who has just written a biography of the 12th-century visionary Hildegarde, the abbess of Bingen, called Scarlett Music.

On another note, Pollock, a photographer, has completed shooting Saratoga mayors past and present, and these portraits are hanging at City Hall. Now she's working on Kodak moments with current councilmembers and city staffers.

CELEBRATE 50: After years of welcoming others via Welcome Wagon and the Chamber of Commerce, Zara van Wichen and her husband, Albert, were welcomed themselves--to a 50th wedding anniversary party at La Hacienda hosted by their daughter and son-in-law Marilyn Eve and Robert Cargill. Mary and Lester Feinstein and John and Dorothy McCallum joined the festivities, along with son Martin.

Albert, a Dutch native, taught at Castro Junior High, and Zara, a native of England, was well known for entertaining local clubs with her renditions of British music hall numbers. The vWs are still active in musical evenings with friends.

Newcomers remember Zara fondly as one of their first introductions to Saratoga. As welcome-wagon greeter extraordinaire, she brought a needed respite from moving chores, recalls Lois Hower, office manager at the Saratoga News. She always brought a copy of the paper, saying, "You really won't know what's going on in town unless you read this."

WELCOMERS: The March meeting of the West Valley Welcomers was so elegant that valet parking was de rigueur for the 70 guests of Doris and Robert Sandie. Opera San José entertained, and lunch was served around the pool. Special recognition to Dianne Guisinger, decorations, and Jeanne Holst, greeter. Faith Smith is WVW president, and the number to call to join is 867-7421.

FRIENDS: New officers of the Friends of the Library will be announced at the next meeting, April 6, 10 a.m. at the library. AAUW members will present a political play, and some of the resemblances to historical presidential wives are said to be uncanny.

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