Saratoga Sampler
SHS graduate does his alma mater proud
By Mary Ann Cook
RISING STAR: Kyle Barisich, a '95 graduate of Saratoga High, placed above 60 other contenders to win first place and $1,000 in the Five Towns Music and Art Competition in New York. The award is given to recognize the finest young talents in musical theater on the East Coast.
Barisich is currently performing in a cabaret show at Danny's, a mid-town Manhattan club, and is in his second and final year of graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music. With partner Genna Ambatielos he created the show, a spoof of a Vegas lounge act.
As an undergraduate he won a full scholarship to the University of Southern California. At Saratoga High, Barisich played the lead in Oklahoma and also appeared in West Valley Light Opera and San Jose Civic Light Opera productions. He is the son of Nick and Jan Barisich of Los Gatos.
His talent was evidenced early on, say his parents. At age 5 he played the Wiz in an abbreviated version of the Wizard of Oz for a nursery school production. At age 9 he sang Ave Maria a cappella at a Mother's Day service at Sacred Heart Church.
This summer Barisich played Will Parker in Oklahoma at Ash Lawn in Charlottesville, Va., during a 12-week festival on the grounds of James Monroe's plantation. Five years ago the winner of the Five Towns competition was Audra McDonald, who has gone on to win three Tonys. Not a bad act to follow.
CREEK CLEANUPS: Some 55 locals showed up to help clean up Saratoga Creek at Prospect on a recent Saturday morning and cleared a total of 400 pounds of trash. Sheila Tucker of the West Valley Clean Water Program led the effort.
Some of the items extracted from the water included an artist's easel, a microwave oven, a shopping cart and a packet of homework. The dog didn't eat that homework assignment--the creek did. Throughout the county there were 1,000 volunteers working at 20 different sites.
The cleanup is thanks to the efforts of the Creek Connections Action Group, composed of reps from the water district, the county and the cities therein. That group makes sure refuse bags and other materials for safe disposal are at the ready.
At Lexington County Park 80 volunteers dredged up 800 pounds of trash. Unusual finds included the skull and bones of an unknown animal, and boat and lawn chairs. Clothes always show up during these cleanups, says Mala Magill of the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
That's an indication of the homeless population. But no aluminum cans are found anymore, she adds. Put a monetary value on something and it becomes a rare find.
As for continued maintenance of creeks, they can be adopted, just as highways are by service clubs and others. The number of the Adopt-a-Creek Program is 408.265.2607.
MOON VIEW: The moon was eclipsed by the trees at Hakone but was visible as attendees wended their way back to town after the annual Moon Viewing at Hakone, sponsored by Saratoga Sister City.
A Japanese dance troupe entertained, demonstrating traditional dances, rife with the mythology explaining each movement.
Outgoing and unsuspecting SSC president Ed Porter was gifted with a Porter portrait photo taken by Louise Webb at the Citizen of the Year banquet for Marlene Duffin.
WALK FOR LEUKEMIA: Saratogan Tessie Young will walk the 26.2 miles in the Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 10, determined to raise $2,800 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The society provides a coach, training regimen, nutritional advice and an honoree, a local leukemia patient.
Leukemia is the No. 1 case of death in children between ages 1 to 14.
LISTEN UP: Beethoven, Schumann and Prokofiev are the composers that the Whitman String Quartet and pianist Charles Wadsworth will render on Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. at Le Petit Trianon, 72 N. Fifth St., San Jose. A pre-concert talk will be held at 6:30 p.m. by the ensemble.
The San Jose Chamber Music Society is the sponsor and Saratogans on the chamber board are treasurer Elliot Swanson and acting volunteer administrator Alice Swanson. For information, call Ted Lorraine, artistic director, at 408.281.3965 or 408.286.5111.
YARD SALE: West Valley chapter of the American Red Cross will hold a rummage sale on Oct. 7, starting at 8 a.m. in the yard of Rosalie and Ernie Patterson, 232 Massol Ave., Los Gatos. Funds raised will be used for Operation Reindeer, the project in which ARC and West Valley Realtors make up Christmas baskets for those in need.
OPERA: West Valley Welcomers will hold its fourth yearly opera event on Oct. 7, with Opera San Jose members performing excerpts from a miscellany of operas. The fundraiser will be held at 2 p.m. at 19400 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, home of Robert and Doris Sandie.
For reservations, call Grace Shepherd at 408.252.7145, or Joan Miller at 408.605.0579. WVW welcomes new members.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
