Saratoga News

Saratoga Sampler

Mary Ann Cook

Friends gear up to educate public about the library

FRIENDS' CAMPAIGN: The Friends of the Saratoga Library are mounting a consciousness-raising campaign to try to illustrate to the community just how over-crowded the present facility is and how sorely a new library is needed.

The Friends operate the Book-Go-Round, a used book shop on Oak Street. They sponsor paperback sales and rare book auctions twice a year and help out at the library itself with various tasks. Their money-raising record is enviable--they grossed $90,000 this last fiscal year, with $77,000 of that coming from the Book-Go-Round.

And membership figures are equally impressive: 1,060 members, up 9 percent this year. Plus, the Friends have 100 Life Members, which represents a $200 donation. More than 115 folks volunteered at the library for the first time this past year.

Although there are 87 regular volunteers at the Book-Go-Round alone, plus 37 on the substitute list, volunteers are vitally needed, says Mary Jeanne Fenn, director of the BGR. It takes a lot of people to staff the shop, which is open every day of the week from noon to 5 p.m.

One good intergenerational example is set by Chia Chao and his daughter Jennifer, who do an entire Sunday staffing once a month. (Most volunteers work a 2 1/2 hour shift.) Now that Jennifer is in college, a younger daughter is set to serve.

The money earned from BGR sales goes for new books, special programs, additional children's programs, picking up the tab for summer Sunday hours and $31,000 to the Library Improvement Fund.

The Fall book sale starts Oct. 14, 6-9 p.m. and runs through Sunday with antiquarian books and other rarities and collectibles on sale at the library. Fenn especially noted children's books and a Civil War book published shortly after the Civil War.

MEMORIAL RELAY: The Peckler Memorial Relay will be held Oct. 18 at 8 a.m. at Douglas Miller Point at Lexington Dam. The 15-mile course will be broken down into legs between 1 and 4 miles. Sign up at $25 per leg or run the whole 15 for $50.

For high school and younger, the cost is $10 per leg. The run benefits Community Against Substance Abuse, A Place for Teens and the Teen Counseling Center of the West Valley. The event memorializes Jim, Jill and Jeff Peckler, active in CASA, who were killed in a drunk driving accident in 1997. Contacts are Joanne Rodgers, 356-1858; Lisa Richardson, 358-4915; or Tina Brown, 395-7119.

MORE ON MT. WHITNEY: Lynn Wedel and Nancy Witthaus made it to the top of Mt. Whitney this summer and gloried in the view from the western side after their climb up the eastern side. The western outlook was a magnificent series of mountain tops stretching as far as the eye could see.

The downside of the trek was that Wedel reached the 14,496-foot mountain top two hours later than she intended. So coming back down, partly in the dark, was decidedly scary. Nonetheless, Wedel chooses personally adventuresome trips as a rule.

As does her husband, Roger, who four years ago bicycled across the U.S. with cohorts Kirby Miller of Saratoga and Dick Swinnerton of Cupertino. The wives were part of a van-riding support team that carried supplies for their husbands.

The cycling threesome had longed for such a trip for 10 years and so when retirement beckoned, they took the long-awaited adventure from Astoria, Ore., to Revere Beach, north of Boston. They wanted to begin and end the 77-day trip by dipping their wheels in each ocean.

Dick Swinnerton wrote a book about the trip, We Passed this Way, A Coast to Coast Bicycle Trip with Historical Reflections. Now he's retracing the trail the three followed, giving presentations about the book. And this time not traveling by bike.

He's given about 50 talks so far, Lynn estimates. Roger Wedel was credited as the book's author in last week's column, but the real author is Swinnerton. The men covered 50 miles a day in their two-wheeled trip-of-a-lifetime.

SCRABBLE FANATICS: The Bay Area is becoming a veritable hotbed for Scrabble aficionados. Two groups meet regularly in our area: one at the Westgate Barnes and Noble on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 6:30 p.m., and every Sunday at noon at Stuft Pizza in Los Gatos.

The next small ($2 entry fee) tournament scheduled is Oct. 4 at noon at Stuft Pizza. It's called a Bragging Rights Tourney because no money or prizes are awarded--only bragging rights if you win.

Call John Green at 353-1870 to register or for more information. When a big tournament is scheduled the local players are found there, so call ahead to make sure the group is meeting at Stuft Pizza that Sunday.

Next big tournament will be at Los Gatos Lodge Nov. 7 and 8. To register call Rick Long at 456-7875.

Players are seeded and the Stuft Pizza group is so active tournament-wise that their ratings change monthly. Most National Scrabble Association players, now numbering 10,000, play only two tournaments a year. But in the Bay Area, in New York, and in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., the competition is much more intense.

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