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Saratoga Sampler
Saratogans go from the reef to the peak
By Mary Ann Cook
DOWN UNDER: Six Saratogans took a month-long trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji recently and excitedly recalled some of the highlights. The six were Pat and Bill Campbell, Carol and Ed Neumann and Mary Lou and Jack Taylor. They took in Sydney, Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Milford Sound. . .
The stunning contrasts--from high, high peaks to rain forests--were the splendors cited by all. From jungles to fjords, they covered a vast ecological span. At a thermal area in a volcanic channel, steam was rising from the golf course. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef and in Fiji.
"We had a lucky streak of sun and saw some places like Mount Cook and Mitre Peak that are rarely, if ever, seen," Carol said. (Usually covered by clouds.) "Australians are delightful--humorous and gracious. They think funny and all their talk is laced with humor. Especially our guides."
Pat was impressed with all the natural wonders--and the animals, "so different from ours. Milford Sound was fabulous, very beautiful.
"We flew back to Queenstown in a convoy of five little Cessnas. That was a thrill. Another time we had dinner at the Botanical Ark, a haven for tropical plants. The couple who live there are dedicated to saving the rain forests, particularly the plants for medicinal use. They're doing something great."
Mary Lou found the quality of the museums wonderful, raved about the Maori's art. "The food was excellent. Australians call the New Zealanders 'thick.' There's definitely a rivalry between the two. Christ Church was the most British of any place we went. Fiji was fascinating.
"We went to a kava ceremony, danced in a Congo line with the natives." All in all, a month to remember and savor back home.
HONORARY DEGREE: Rabbi Daniel J. Pressman of Congregation Beth David in Saratoga recently received an honorary doctorate from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Some 51 Conservative rabbis who "sowed their spiritual oats during the turbulent '60s" were so honored.
The honorees are all members of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly and have been ordained for at least 25 years. They have "made their mark on North American Jewry through their distinctive contributions to Jewish life and their communities," said the JTL release.
HAPPY 85th: "She's a great neighbor and a good friend," is Ruth Brunner, so Audrey Chapman and Anita Caldwell threw a surprise luncheon for her to mark her 85th birthday. The honoree is an avid gardener, tends her own Japanese-style garden and does the floral arrangements for the Opera Guild summer luncheons.
Brunner is also an active member of the Foothill Club and a sustaining member of the Villa Montalvo Service League. She's also an inveterate traveler, having toured gardens in Japan last year and this year will be traveling through France with daughters Sara and Barbara.
Those helping celebrate were Jean Alexander, Wilma Morrison, Dorothy Matthews, Aleda Cook, Joy Hulme, Carol Schrager and Winnie Simpson.
TWO BENEFICIARIES: The Summit League's Holiday House Tour last year was so successful it netted $68,170 each for two charities--Service for Brain Injury and Family Education Foundation. Christine Camara is executive director of SBI and accepted one of the checks recently.
SMALL WORLD TIME: I took a barge trip recently in the Paris environs and on the barge of 40 passengers were two people with a pronounced Saratoga/Los Gatos connection. One was a woman from Spokane whose husband exhibits his paintings in a Los Gatos gallery.
The other was a woman whose sister lives in Saratoga. Unfortunately, I can't relay any of their names because they were on cards tucked into my wallet, and the wallet is now in possession of some thieves in Avignon.
The wallet was cannily extracted from my care as I was lifting luggage onto a train rack, the work of two women who had me pinioned between them. I was totally unsuspecting until I looked down and saw the open zipper on my purse. By that time the train wheels were moving us north while the culprits had vanished.
WILDFLOWERS: The season for wildflowers is upon us and Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve promises a virtual sea of color--yellow, purple, orange, blue, red--cascading over the hills about now. Atop Borel Hill on Russian Ridge is a 360-degree view of the ocean, the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Bay Area.
Russian Ridge is at the northeast corner of the intersection of Skyline, Page Mill and Alpine. A docent-led hike is scheduled there on April 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Other MROSD action is a Picchetti Ranch hike on April 19, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and a Reptile Ramble at Monte Bello on April 21, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Docents are Dick Gehrer and Baohsun Yang at Picchetti, and Roger Myers and Tom Schoderbek at Monte Bello. Call 650.691.2150.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
