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Saratoga Sampler
Hayes Mansion party fetes Bacon on her 100th year
By Mary Ann Cook
CENTENARIAN: Irene Hazel Bacon, who has lived in Saratoga half a century and half her life, turned 100 on Sept. 2. An afternoon dinner party was held for her at the Hayes Mansion Sept. 8, orchestrated by her daughters, Geri Cantwell and Connie Thompson.
Some 37 family members attended--all the grandchildren, great and great, great. Irene Bacon was born in 1901 in rural Nebraska, lived on a farm with 14 brothers and sisters. She has lived in Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado, as well as California.
Mrs. Bacon met her husband Russel when she was running a hotel in Dixon, Wyo. When the couple moved to Long Beach she operated a beauty shop. But once her children came, she stuck to the home fires. An avid gardener, she was also a woman's club member and outstanding bowler.
Plaques and trophies throughout the house attest to the Bacons' bowling prowess. Russel was active in the Saratoga Lions Club, was chief engineer for Shell Oil. The Bacon daughters take turns living with their mother in Saratoga, now that she is widowed.
They each live six months a year with their mother, then six months in Arizona (Geri) or Ojai (Connie). Connie's husband, Bob, substitute teaches during his six-month stay for Saratoga and Los Gatos High schools. The party was kept a surprise from the honoree until the morning of the event.
CELEBRATE SARATOGA: Celebrate Saratoga will be held Sept. 15 from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. along Big Basin Way. The numbers just keep growing for this moveable feast street dance. This year's figures: five bands on six stages, 17 restaurants and 13 wineries to choose to sample.
Kristin Davis and Dave Hernandez are co-chairs of the event. Also on the Celebrate committee are Fran and Pat Andreson, Monica Bailey, Sue Barrera, Nancy Bussani, Judy Coulter, Ray Froess, Kelli Egan, Jean Funari and Lea Ann Hernandez.
Others are Abby Krimotat, Pearl Medeiros, Jean Orr, Glynis Wineinger and Irene Todd, plus fire and sheriff notables. Shuttles will be running from Argonaut Shopping Center and Saratoga High. There's a Fun Zone for youngsters.
YOUNG WRITERS: Writer's Camp for Kids will be Sept. 29 at the Summit Road center. Workshops include Secrets to Joke Writing by Edie Matthews; Show Me Watcha Got by Vicky Mlyniec; Song of Self by Marie Elena Gaspari; and What a Character by Teresa Leyung Ryan.
One workshop will be given by teen writers Alina Din, Melissa Eisner and Dallas Woodburn, Motivation in Motion. Raising a Writer will be offered by writing coach Bliss Goldstein. The Peninsula chapter of California Writers Club is sponsoring the camp.
Classes will be limited to 20, divided into age-appropriate groups. Cost is $75: includes workshops, motivational talks, lunch, writing consultation, and writer's guidelines for children's magazines. For more: 408.353.1961.
ARTISTIC TRAVAILS: Joan Lowell is an artist and graphic designer who likes to plein-air it. In other words, she takes easels and paints and goes to work outdoors--smack dab in front of what she wants to convey on canvas. Sounds serene, this page taken from the Impressionists' book.
Unfortunately, this isn't as bucolic as it sounds at first brush. It's hard to stay focused, for instance, when firemen checking the dam at Vasona Park drop by to exchange some fine arts pointers. Suggesting just how she could touch up the water, make it more shimmery.
It's also difficult when schoolchildren drift by, because Lowell wants to impart some art knowledge while they're agape. She explains how paints mix to produce new colors, shares her vision of the magic of painting with her young audience.
All these interruptions, however, hamper the progress of the painting. Seems like it's impossible to stay both friendly and focused. Lowell hesitates to wear a Do Not Disturb sign around her neck and is leery of painting where there are no people at all. So is intent on searching for a new locale or mastering a new m.o.
When she's not painting, Lowell is receptionist for Dr. Arthur Cooley, a gynecologist with an office in Saratoga, where you can see some of the framed results of her work.
INDIAN DANCE: A program highlighting the different aspects of Indian dance will be given by the Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. at the Mexican Heritage Theater, 1700 Alum Rock Ave. Monte Serenan Mythili Kumar is the artistic director of Abhinaya and will be featured in a solo dance.
Other events in the month-long festival are Folk Dances of India, 7 p.m. Sept. 22 at Foothill College; and Malavika Sarukkai, featured in the PBS series Dancing, who will present a program at the Mexican Heritage Theater Sept. 16 at 6:15 p.m. The Abhinaya number is 408.983.0491.
YSI BENEFIT: Ron's Wildlife Run to benefit YSI (Youth Science Institute) will be held Sept. 16 starting at 8 a.m. at Vasona Park. Members of the Cyber Rays will be on hand and Special Olympics athletes and their coaches will compete. Contact is 408.356.4945, x 15; or www.ysi-ca.org.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
