Saratoga News

Saratoga Sampler

Mary Ann Cook

Fifty years later, the love story continues

ANNIVERSARY: Steve and Vel Volek celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary April 17 with dinner with four other couples: Jeanne and Tom Standifur, Pat and Fritz Conroy, Arlene and Archie Pritchard and former Saratogans Don and Shirley Wolfe, who came down from Santa Rosa for the celebration. The Voleks are friends, soulmates--a true love story--reports Tom Standifur. The couple met in grade school in Rittman, Ohio, grew up together, dated in high school and married after that.

They are the parents of five (one deceased) and the grandparents of 14. Most of the offspring came in for the celebratory weekend. The Voleks have lived in Saratoga for 27 years and own V&S International, a distributor company in Campbell that deals in the nuts and bolts of building. V&S stands for Vel and Steve, natch.

WORKSHOP: Mythmaking, a writing workshop taught by Denise Duhamel, will be held Thursdays, May 14-June 18, 1-3:30 p.m. at Villa Montalvo. Participants will write revisionist fairy tales and religious stories, as well as research a group of myths unfamiliar to them as source material for poetry.

Denise Duhamel is the author of nine books of poetry and has been widely anthologized. She has read her work on National Public Radio and for the Academy of American Poets and the Poetry Society of America.

Winner of numerous grants and residencies, she will be in residence at Montalvo for six weeks. The course is for poets who want to go beyond the personal poem. Cost is $150; for more information, call Lisa Ramirez at 961-5812 or 867-2919.

BARBERSHOPPERS: "Barbershoppers on Broadway" is the name of the concert the Garden City Barbershop Chorus will present at 7:30 p.m. May 15 at Los Gatos High School. The chorus has won the Northern California Championship at the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Singing event every year for the past six years.

And the group was ranked among the top 20 internationally, no small feat when you realize there are 780 such groups harmonizing around the world. Five of the 85-member chorus are Saratogans: Greg Brock, Bob Cancellieri, Jerry Larkin, Archie Pritchard and Greg Sawyer. Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors and students at the door, or call Kandee Linden at 799-4075.

EARTH ANGELS SOUGHT: You can help the frail elderly who no longer drive by volunteering to take them to the doctor's and to the grocery store, run errands, etc. Catholic Charities Independent Aging Program does the training at John XXIII near SJSU, and hours are flexible. If you can help, contact John Ruzzo at 282-8608.

THEATER PARTY: Closer to home you can help the frail elderly by attending a theater party June 4. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Adult Care Center, where dessert will be served. Then it's off to City Hall Chambers for the musical Brigadoon.

It's presented by the Saratoga Drama Group on its home stage. There are 300 tickets to be sold at $18 each. Mary Richards is director of the center, and tickets can be ordered through her office at 868-1262.

HOLE IN ONE: Here's a hole in one with a difference: this one went in the car, not the cup. At a recent golf tournament at Rinconada, Jerry Houston sent a ball through the window of a Mercury Cougar, the hole-in-one prize courtesy of Harlan McHugh.

No one claimed the shattered prize, but Saratogan Mary Albanese came close on the 13th hole--only half an inch separated her from the Cougar, reports Bart Raynaud, one of the witnesses to the feat. Others in her foursome were Mark Raynaud and Mike Konopik. However, Albanese did win closest-to-the-pin, which carried an award of $50--some consolation, I guess. Bocce ball directional skills must carry over into golf. The Albaneses own Campo di Bocce in Los Gatos. Houston, the hole-in-car hitter, works for Alain Pinel in Saratoga.

SERVICE DAY: Some 30 family-member volunteers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cleaned up Gardner Park April 18. It was part of the service-day cleanup for members of the LDS congregation.

MARK THE DATE: The annual Saratoga Grammar School Reunion will be Aug. 1, starting at 10 a.m. with a tour of the former Oak Street School, then drift down to Wildwood Park for a barbecue. Entertainment by Les Landin's Skillet Family, and cost is $10. Call Les at 867-2893 to be in on the planning, or Patti Wyant Reschar at 356-8660 if you have names or addresses the committee may be missing.

HIGHEST HONOR: The highest honor the Lions Club bestows is that of Melvin Jones Fellow, and Bob Louden was so honored last month. It was the first such honor in many a year for the Saratoga club, and Louden was totally surprised. A generous donation by Lion Pete Kreamer made the tribute possible, and the donation goes to the Lions International Eye Foundation, so others will benefit as well.

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