Saratoga Sampler

New planner oversees Hakone's weddings

By Mary Ann Cook

WEDDING BELLS: The new event planner for Hakone Gardens is Lara Knol. She helps plan and oversee the weddings and other events held every weekend at Hakone. Knol was an events planner for a public relations firm before starting her own business, Modern Engagements.

Many couples come back on their anniversaries, Knol relates. One couple came back on their first anniversary. Then, in succeeding years, they brought their first child for a baptism ceremony at Hakone. And then their second child, also for baptism.

Another couple had taken a vow of silence (probably part of a religious ritual) before their wedding. They also bathed in a cedar-lined tub at Hakone before the event. At the wedding, the guests were arranged in a spiral configuration so the bride and groom could greet each guest, working their way from the outside to the inside of the spiral.

This bride's costume didn't lend itself to successful spiraling, however. She was wearing a hoop which made a decided statement. As the couple worked toward the center of the spiral, greeting and bowing to guests, the hoop kept knocking into those who had just been greeted.

The guests, who hadn't taken anything like a vow of silence themselves, had an impossible time trying to keep from tittering. As the spiral progressed, so, too, did the merriment, even though it was considered inappropriate for such a dignified occasion.

Hakone weddings are usually held near the koi pond and bridge and are booked solid in good weather. In inclement weather, ceremonies can be conducted in the Cultural Exchange Center at the upper level. Knol can be reached at Hakone at 408.741.4994.

IG NOBEL WINNER: Gale Sturtevant of Saratoga picked up an award recently for her uncle, George Blonsky, who is now deceased. Among other talents, Blonsky, a mining engineer, was the inventor of the Blonsky birthing device that uses centrifugal force to help eject babies from the womb.

The Ig Nobel Award is presented annually by Harvard University to those inventions which are unique but "cannot or should not be reproduced." The patented Blonsky device spins the expectant mother, strapped to a frame, at "no more than seven times the power of gravity." A net was to be installed to catch the baby.

Astronauts usually black out at four to five G's. Though the tone of the awards is strictly tongue-in-cheek, the Igs are designed to celebrate the unusual, honor the imagination and spur interest in science, whether good or bad.

Sturtevant said this recognition may give her the impetus to go through other papers of her uncle's, which have been stored in her garage since his death in 1985.

LECTURE: Saratoga Foothill Club presents the first in its 1999-2000 lecture series on Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. with David Middlebrook, who will speak on "The Artist and the Community--An Artist's Evolution from Private to Public Art." Middlebrook is associate director of fine arts at San Jose State University.

AUCTION: The Book-Go-Round auction is at 7 p.m. sharp at the Saratoga Library on Oct. 21. One of the most unusual offerings, says BGR manager Mary Jeanne Fenn, is a book written in the 1880s about the Crusades.

The star attraction are the 98 illustrations by Gustav Doré. The book is unbound, so all the illustrations are loose plate, prime candidates for framing.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE: Open Studios day at Montalvo will be Oct. 24 from noon to 2 p.m. and will include presentations in the Carriage House at 2 p.m. and a reception from 3 to 4 p.m. Artists displaying work are photographer Daniel Anizon; artists Daniel Hauben and Sarah Farrell Hughes; playwright Judith Lane; writer Rachel Democracy Levitsky; and composer Molly Thompson.

Other residencies won for the coming year include artists Elizabeth Jameson of Seattle; Lynn Powers of San Jose; Diana Cherbuliez of Maine; Margaret Stratton of Iowa; and Joan Linder of New York City.

Writers include poets Susan Kwock Kim of Seattle, Liz Waldner of Iowa, Katherine Swiggart of Portland and essayist John D'Agata of New Hampshire. Musicians include Stacy Garrop of Indiana and pianists Yuval Admony of Israel and Tami Kanazawa Admony of Japan.

CATTLE BARON'S TAKE: The fourth annual Cattle Baron's Ball raised nearly $875,000 for the American Cancer Society. Some 1,200 attended the event at Moffett Field. Bidding at the live and silent auctions during the evening brought in more than $225,000. The ball is considered a model for fundraising for the ACS nationally.

GUIDED HIKES: A hike in the Marin headlands offers sunset, moonrise and dinner on Oct. 23, sponsored by Nature Outings. Point Bonita Lighthouse, California Marin Mammal Center and Hawk Hill will all be included, with the Golden Gate Bridge as framework in the background. Cost is $12, and the number is 408.374.5981.

Two new staffers join the Saratoga News

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