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Saratoga Sampler
Saratoga celebrates the 4th in eclectic style at Montalvo
By Mary Ann Cook
HOMETOWN MILLENNIUM: Saratoga's Hometown Millennium 4th of July celebration will be held at Montalvo--yes, on July 4. Shuttles will ferry celebrants to the villa from the Fruitvale entrance of West Valley College, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for $1. There is no parking at Montalvo.
Unique this year is the Millennium Capsule, sponsored by the Saratoga Historical Foundation. Festival-goers will be asked to sign scrolls that will be included in the capsule. It will be buried at the Historical Museum this fall to be unearthed in the year 2025.
Saratoga students will add floppy disks with one-page-long answers to the question, "What I would like to see happen in the next 25 years" to the time capsule. For more about the essays, call Bob Louden at 408.741.1100. For more on the attendees document, call Louise Cooper, president of the Foundation, at 408.867.3335.
Another highlight this year is the Air Force Band of the California Air National Reserve. The band will play at 2 p.m. in the Garden Theater. Masonic Sojourner's heartwarming Heroes of '76 will follow the band, as will Les Landin and his Skillet Likker Family Band.
Saratoga's Sister City Taiko Drum Group, led by Art and Aki Okuno, will kick off the program at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Sons of the American Revolution in full military dress and Saratoga's Summer School Singers directed by Vickie Wyant.
Co-sponsors for the event are the Saratoga Lions Club, the city of Saratoga and Montalvo.
ACROSS AMERICA: Mark Patten, a '78 grad of Saratoga High and son of Eleanor and Frank Patten, will take the challenge of the 3,000 mile ultra-cycling race called Race Across America that extends from Portland, Ore to Pensacola, Fla.
These cyclists push themselves to the max, consuming a liquid diet that is handed to them from their accompanying vans while they cycle. Participants allow themselves only one-and-one-half hours of sleep per night. This is Patten's third go at the race.
The first time Patten finished the race in 10 days. The second time he became delusional from sleep deprivation and dropped out with 112 miles left to the finishing line. "I felt like I wasn't moving, but the ground was spinning under me," he says.
"I've never felt so good in my life; and I've never felt so awful in my life," is the way he appraises his 10 days of endurance racing. The trick is to make the euphoric episodes far outnumber the grim times, or to stay safely somewhere in between.
"Sometimes things feel effortless, going up a hill. Everything is falling together and I'm laughing inside it's so effortless." All this despite the blood blisters on the feet and the black toenails. He figures it takes about six months for his body to fully recover.
Patten works for Thrasher Termite in Los Gatos, doing construction work, when he's not mega-cycling across the country. Twenty-two men and one woman are signed up for the event this year. The race takes from eight to 10 days and a van follows each cyclist. This year Frank Patten will be crew chief on his son's van.
Also on board will be Darryl Chase, who got Mark interested in long distance cycling; his uncle; a friend of his father's; and a reporter from ESPN. You can track his progress on his webpage at markpatten.com with a link to wwwraceacrossamerica.org.
PO BIZ: Marie Howe is a New York-based poet who teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and is the author of numerous collections, so organizers of a private poetry workshop felt mighty lucky to have her lead a recent three-day workshop.
The workshop was held at Mary Lou Taylor's Saratoga home. Among the 10 participants were Saratogan Ariel Smart and former Saratogan Marcia Adams, now of Santa Cruz. Writing a poem that addresses a part of your body was one provocative assignment.
WINE COUNTRY CLASSIC: Five Saratoga vintage-car owners participated in the two-day Chrysler/Jeep Wine Country Classic, held at Sears Point International Raceway last month. Michael Meindorfer drove his 1962 Lotus 22 F-Jr and Joe Graziano was alternately behind the wheel of his '64 Lotus 23B and '66 Lotus 47.
Others were Doug Sallen with a '64 Morgan, Ken Epsman with a '66 Shelby GT-350 and '71 Javelin, and Walt Boeninger with a '67 Mustang. A parade of 30 vintage cars wound its way from Sears Point to Sebastiani Winery for the race-car festival, car viewing, food and wine.
PEN WOMEN AWARDS: Scholarship winners from the National League of American Pen Women included Zoe Rodriguez Segnitz of Monte Sereno and Los Gatos High who won $100 in the art category. Also honored were Lindsay Wolf of Saratoga and Lynbrook High School who won first place and $100 in the letters category.
Runner-up in letters was Jennifer Cheng of Saratoga High School who won $75 and Ivy Chen of Saratoga High who won honorable mention. Jeff Mount, teacher at Los Gatos High, was awarded $200 in letters.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
