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Fiesta de Artes celebrates 30 years of making merry
Los Gatos Civic Center is venue for event
By Shari Kaplan
The Fiesta de Artes--Los Gatos' contribution to the South Bay's abundance of art and wine festivals--is celebrating its third decade. Like the modern and traditional anniversary gifts associated with the 30-year mark, the Fiesta, which takes place Aug. 21 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Civic Center, has gone from a diamond in the rough to a pearl of the community.
According to history provided by the Los Gatos Kiwanis Club, which has run the Fiesta since 1996, the event had its humble beginnings in 1969, when the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce's wine festival merged with the town's art festival. It was the first such art and wine festival in Santa Clara County and also the first to introduce commemorative, collectible wine glasses.
When the old Chamber disbanded in the mid-1990s, a year passed in which there was no Fiesta. But that didn't stop glass production, according to collector, Kiwanian and longtime Los Gatan MarLyn Rassmussen. Los Gatos' senior deputy town clerk and executive assistant to the town clerk, Rassmussen is proud of her lineup of glasses, which remains unbroken in both senses. Among the rarest are a 1995 glass from the Fiesta that wasn't; glasses from the few years when the event was dry for lack of a beer and wine permit; and a "cracked" glass issued the year after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Although a Kiwanian for only seven years, Rassmussen's connection to the Fiesta goes back to its beginnings, when she was a Chamber volunteer and also ran a snack booth to benefit local Girl Scout troops with which she was involved.
In 1996, the Kiwanis Club stepped in to pick up the Fiesta at the encouragement of several members, including Rassmussen and longtime Los Gatan and Kiwanian Rich Lang, who once served on the old Chamber's board of directors.
"For many years, the club had fundraisers outside of Los Gatos. The Fiesta presented itself as a tremendous opportunity for the club to identify itself with the community," Rassmussen says.
"We've gone from a little thing that barely made a dime to something big that draws people from other cities and really makes a difference in the community. We're also getting some new club members due to people coming to the Fiesta," Lang says.
In fact, Lang adds, last year's Fiesta let the Kiwanis Club award $14,000 in scholarships to Los Gatos and Saratoga High School students, about double that of previous years. The club also donates to many other local organizations and programs. Some past and current recipients include the Peckler Memorial Relay, A Place for Teens, the Los Gatos Arts Commission, the Live Oak Senior Nutrition Center, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department's police recognition dinner, and local school activities.
Among the highlights of this year's Fiesta are several hundred arts and crafts booths; food, dessert, smoothie, beer and wine vendors; a bounce-house, face painting and balloon animals for kids; and live music by local bands, including country band Heather Gray & Stampede and jazz/fusion band Marshall Shapiro & Friends.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
