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Saratoga Sampler
This handyman discovered a buried treasure
By Mary Ann Cook
HANDYMAN: One never knows what duties a handyman will be called upon to perform. Ray Bareiss of Saratoga, himself a handyman, has gotten a goodly number of strange requests, he says, chortling. He's performed yeoman handyman service in these parts for the past 14 years.
And he has some tales to tell. Most of his clients are elderly widows and they need assistance with all kinds of household emergencies. Perhaps the most unusual was a woman who wanted him to bury her cat. "Put it right there," she said, indicating the chosen spot in her backyard.
But when the gravedigger got far enough down what he found was the carcass of an earlier pet--another cat. "Oh, so that's where Fluffy is buried," his client said. "OK, then put this new one over there," the cat-widow client amended. And Bareiss obliged, shaking his head and chuckling all the while.
Before retirement, Bareiss worked for Bell Telephone in Philadelphia for 38 years, then flew small airplanes for an air transport company for several years. He moved to California to be near his son. A lady friend he met while square dancing with Bachelors and Bachelorettes in San Jose was part of the appeal as well.
Bareiss does no advertising except by word of mouth. He got his start in the handyman business by being part of the retirement job roster offered by the Senior Coordinating Council in Los Gatos, an agency now defunct.
FORE: Saratogan Jerry Houston made history again at the recent Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce golf tourney. This time he hit a spectator. Fortunately it was a glancing blow on the bounce, so the injury was slight. The chief injury seems to be to Houston's dignity.
Last year he sent an errant ball through the window of the car that was to be the prize if there was any hole-in-one committed. To commemorate that unscheduled landing, tourney official Bart Raynard gifted him with a bag full of broken auto glass and a swing analysis certificate from Swing Solutions.
No telling what he'll be needled with next year. Houston is a real estate agent in the Saratoga Alain Pinel office in Saratoga. Winning foursome at the tournament was the team from GTE--Steve McCabe, Emerson Dauncey, Joe Poyer and Mike Raydo with a net 61.
FASHION SHOW: Bellarmine's annual Mother's Guild Scholarship Endowment Fund Fashion Show will be held on Oct. 22 in the San Jose Fairmont Hotel, with both a lunch and dinner show..
Money raised helps qualified students attend Bellarmine who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it. Each year the show raises roughly $100,000 for this scholarship fund. Some 200 students attend Bellarmine on scholarships each year out of a student population of 1,350.
Lunch reservations are $68 and dinner is $115. The contact number is 408.294.9224, ext. 209. "For the Boys ... Generations of Excellence" is the title of the show.
These Saratogans are on the committee bringing it together: Janice Morimoto, Barbara Gentzkow and Marlaine Griffin. Gentzkow is chairwoman-elect of the whole shebang, which means she'll be head honcho next year. Los Gatans on the committee include Mary Almassy, Kristen Dickens, Joan Bertolotti and Ann Rogerson. This is the 45th year for the event.
ONLINE THEATRICS: Youngsters from ages 10 to 21 can contribute their ideas about life 100 years from now and help tailor an original musical that will premiere in May 2001. San Jose Children's Musical Theater is the sponsor of this online creativity.
The theater group's division, TADA (Theater as Digital Activity), on Oct. 15 will start work on a third original musical created online. The play will be called 2101 and will evolve through electronic message boards, online chats, weekly surveys and email. The site can be found at www.sjcmt.com/2101 by Oct. 15 or any time thereafter.
Pulse: The Rhythm of Life was TADA's first project and was inspired by online contributions from children living with disabilities or serious illnesses such as cancer and cystic fibrosis. The second online musical, Our Tree: The Family Chronicles, will premiere in May 2000.
IN TANDEM: When composer William Coble was an artist-in-residence at Montalvo last year he heard Maude Meehan reading her poetry at the Villa. So impressed was he with the work of the 79-year-old Santa Cruz poet that he asked if he could put it to music.
Now Montalvo aficionados are awaiting the results of this fortuitous collaboration.
CAMEL AND OSTRICH RACING?: Camel and ostrich races were part of the weekend when Mary Lou and Jack Taylor visited former Saratogans Gary and Kathy Sozzi in their new setting in Genoa, Nev.
Women saddle up on the ostriches; men ride the camels. The pace is fast, despite that both creatures have an unusual loping gait, reports M.L.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
