Saratoga News

Saratoga Sampler

Mary Ann Cook

Senior Sizzlers plan to kick up their heels

SIZZLERS: The Sizzling Seniors dance group will perform at Live Oak Adult Day Care, located at the First Methodist Church, on May 29 at 10:30 a.m. The senior dancers are an outgrowth of the dance aerobics class offered through the Los Gatos Recreation Department.

Lesley Dinette and Audrey Christianson are two Los Gatans who kick up their heels with the group, and dancing dynamo Bev Meyers of Saratoga is the leader. The Sizzling Seniors also take their act on the road--to schools in an intergenerational program through Santa Clara's rec department. With the semester-long commitment, the seniors not only teach youngsters dances but also help them create arts and crafts. If you'd like to be part of the action, call Meyers at 257-7243.

ART ALERT: The work of several hundred area artists will be on display at the Triton Museum May 30-31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Demos, food and music are included. Also, children's activities will be part of the action Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Triton director George Rivera judged the sculpture, and a three-person jury named award-winners in other media. Ten percent of all sales will be donated to the museum's acquisition fund.

Visual Artists' Association Summit at the Triton is the sponsor, and Marian Gault of Monte Sereno is its president. Los Gatan Jeanne Bock is chairman of the show. Local artists who will be among the 100 or more exhibiting include Gloria Watson, Mary Ann Henderson, Felicia Pollock, Helen Riley, Ruth Condit, Norm Carter, Phyllis Feemster and Suzanne and Jim Arnold.

LILITH FAIR WINNER: Here's a story about how a nonsinger won a--well, singing contest. Beth Lisick of Saratoga beat out 800 other competitors to win the Acoustic Talent Search sponsored by Lilith Fair.

The nearly 800 entries were narrowed down via audition tapes of two songs sent in by the hopefuls. The 20 performers remaining after that weeding-out process vied for two spots on the fair bill, to be held June 23-24 at Shoreline Amphitheater. The competition where Lisick won the top spot was staged in San Francisco in front of some 1,000 onlookers.

Lisick's winning entry, "Bag of Bones," was poetry--read rapid-fire to a background of percussion music. Lisick says she's no musician. But she is a writer, the author of Monkey Girl (Manic D Press) and has presented her own work at various poetry readings.

As for entering the fair competition, she figured her poetry would gain a wider audience if she connected with a band. She is an online editor for the entertainment section of the San Francisco Chronicle. Well, if Rex Harrison could do it in My Fair Lady--be a nonsinging singer, that is--why not Beth Lisick?

POPS CONCERT: "Anything Goes" is the theme for the choir concert May 28-29 at Los Gatos High School. Technical director is Saratogan Steve Porter. Diana Pleasant is show director and department chairwoman, and Jeanne Aikman is set designer. Tickets are $10 reserved, $8 general. Call 354-2730, ext. 240, for more information

OPERA LOVERS: No question there are opera lovers aplenty in this area. Jean Nelson reports that the last concert of the season for the Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Concert Association was packed. The program was presented by Opera San José and featured three sopranos and seven tenors and baritones, who sang excerpts from a wide variety of operas and received a standing ovation. The high school auditorium holds about 400.

GRAD GIFTS: The Butter Paddle is offering a new line of paperweights for your grads that are proving to be very popular. These glass weights have a pen-and-ink sketch of Saratoga High (or Los Gatos High) in the background. They can be further personalized with names and dates of the grad.

The product name is Eglomise, and any school or university in the U.S can be depicted. Wooden boxes and mirrors also have these pen-and-ink drawings of Saratoga High, reports Carol Pozas, buyer for the Butter Paddle. Turnaround time to personalize said gifts is 10 days.

And the shop, which benefits Eastfield Ming Quong, also has gifts for fathers in plenty of time for their day. Aromatherapy candles are another big seller lately, and more and more corporate gifts are purchased from the Butter Paddle these days.

KID LIT ALERT: A new group is forming for those who write children's books. It will meet for the first time May 28. For more information, call Linda Baxter at 395-6676.

MAY, YOU SAY?: This May has been a March. It's dark and gloomy as I write this and seems to have been for weeks. Still I see an astonishing number of shorts and skimpy outfits strolling by. Those optimistic wearers must have checked the calendar, not the thermometer.

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