Saratoga Sampler

Mothers, daughters mark six years of charity work

By Mary Ann Cook

CHARITY LEAGUE: Seven young Saratoga women, all high school seniors, completed a six-year program of philanthropic, social and cultural activities as members of the National Charity League and were honored at a Senior Presentation this spring.

The ceremony is the annual wrap-up for the Saratoga-Los Gatos Chapter of the NCL. The girls are Kristy Mincey, Lauren Sherburne, Meghan Miyamoto, Katy Mc-Mains, Betsy Masiello, Amy Pappanasos and Britton Peck. From Los Gatos is Katie Reich.

NCL is made up of mothers and daughters who work at and raise money for local charities, and attend social and cultural activities together as well. The young women worked at the Special Olympics, at the Family Living Center at Agnews and offered pet-assisted therapy at Valley Medical Center and Saratoga Place, a residential center.

Their helping hands were found at the Cattle Baron's Ball, the Strawberry Festival, Courageous Kids, and at cleanup days for Saratoga Creek, the beach and the Guadalupe River.

95th BIRTHDAY: Helen Ansok's 95th birthday was celebrated with an open house hosted by her son and daughter-in-law. Don and Jo Anne Ansok. Helen Ansok is the widow of George Ansok, who built the development Rancho Quito, which includes the house she lives in, plus those of many of the guests.

George Ansok died 18 years ago, but since her son lives but a block away Helen A. is able to maintain independent living. Guests were Florence Jensen, Ann and Joel Sharon, Shirley and Bill Shoup, Judi and Fred Becker and Betsy and Ralph Van Heerden.

The honoree loves to go out to lunch and loves the sights and smells at Yamagami's Nursery, reports Betsy Van Heerden. But dancing, now curtailed, is probably her greatest recreational outlet.

PIANO AUDITIONS: Some 82 piano students, presented by nine teachers, played for a professional adjudicator one recent weekend at the School of Piano in Saratoga. In this national piano-playing audition, students play memorized pieces and receive a detailed evaluation of their performance, plus a pin and a certificate.

Participating teachers from Saratoga include Kerstin Stone, owner/director of the School of Piano; Patricia Finley; Sylvia Lee; Jeannine Infantino; and Jeanne Kuo.

The audition qualifies the students for membership in the American College of Musicians. Ages ranged from 7 to those who were reluctant to give their age, students from Gavilan College.

The auditions follow a prescribed check list, evaluating accuracy, tone quality, technique, rhythm, phrasing, interpretation and repertoire. It's not competitive, stresses Stone, but rather a case of setting and meeting a goal. Azule Crossing furnished the setting and Carl Meyer of Meyer Enterprises the 7-foot Hardeman grand piano.

RAFFLE WINNER: Louise Webb won a raffle sponsored by Weight Watchers last month. The prize was just the ticket for celebrity-chaser Webb, since it was admission to a Weight Watchers-sponsored event in San Francisco.

The speaker was none other than the Duchess of York herself, Sarah Ferguson, whom Webb has always admired. The duchess is even more gracious and better looking in person than TV or photos would reveal, reports Webb, who is herself thinner by 10 pounds or more since joining Weight Watchers 10 weeks ago.

SPEAKER: Author Molly Giles will speak at the Saratoga Library May 27 at 7:30 p.m., the final program in the author series "Books Alive!: A Celebration of Reading." Giles is the author of two short-story collections, and teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University.

Creek Walk won the Small Press and Commonwealth Club awards for fiction and Rough Translations won the Flannery O'Connor, Bay Area Book Reviewers and Boston Globe awards. Giles is teaching a short-story course at Montalvo and is one of the resident artists there.

POWERBAR POWERPEDE: The women's Reebok Aggies centipede team won their event and set a new record in the Bay to Breakers, shaving 30 seconds off a record that had held for 10 years. Local members include Liz Nast of Saratoga and Jackie McCleary, Julie Rohloff, Louise Kobin and Tenaya Soderman of Los Gatos.

Centipedes run single file under a sheet with 13 heads exposed at 4-foot intervals. The Aggie women have won 10 of the last 12 races, and both Aggie men and women centipede teams hold the Bay to Breakers course record. For centipedes, that is. They're sponsored by Reebok and PowerBar.

FAB FOUR: Beatles memorabilia is at the Forbes Mill Museum, on view till Aug. 15. "FABulous FANaticism" is from a private collection and highlights the career of the Liverpool phenomenon. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., 75 Church St., Los Gatos.

SHOWCASE: The 1999 Symphony Showcase will be held June 5-27 at a Greco-Roman style home in the Saratoga foothills. Donation is $20, and hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The phone number is 354-0773.

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