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Saratoga Sampler
Best-known Saratogan cares about customers
By Mary Ann Cook
MOST KNOWING: Is he the best-known person in Saratoga? Some folks, such as Saratoga High principal Kevin Skelly, think so. His name is Gary Hagen and he's the express checker at the Safeway at the Argonaut Center. If he's the express checker how can he know--and remember--so many things about so many people? 'Tis a wonder.
Hagen says the reason he can remember so much about others is that he has been at the store for nine years, and he is genuinely interested in and caring of other people. He even has his favorite customer stories to tell. One such involves a missing wedding ring.
He found the ring at his checkout stand and entrusted it to the store's safe. He thought if he could bring in a magnifying glass he might be able to read any inscriptions that might be on the inside of the band. So one day he did just that and read the date: 11-26-49.
He was relaying this information to co-worker Charlene Barry when customer Milo Curtis just happened to walk by. "Hey, that's my wedding anniversary date," said Curtis. "And are you missing a wedding ring?" asked an incredulous Hagen.
Indeed he was. And that astounding coincidence is how the ring got back to its rightful owner. Milo and Ann Curtis will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary soon, Hagen reports, and thanks to him, both in full possession of their rings. Hagen gives the role of checker a special burnish, say faithful customers--and friends.
JUMP START: A sold-out dinner/fashion show was held at the Silicon Valley Capital Club Athletics in San Jose in October to benefit Jump Start, the auxiliary to Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. Saratogan Brenda Davis is chairwoman of Next Door.
Other Saratogans involved are Ann Danner, a consultant to Next Door on fundraising issues, and Susan Wytyshyn, co-founder of the auxiliary and on the board of directors. Models included Los Gatos Mayor Jan Hutchins, County Sheriff Laurie Smith and police chiefs Bill Landsdowne of San Jose and Lucy Carlton of Los Altos.
Also in the fashion line-up were Jimmy Conrad of the San Jose Clash; Alvina Gonzales, wife of San Jose Mayor Ron; George Kennedy, district attorney; and Leigh Weimers, columnist.
EXTRAORDINARY: Saratoga High School has an extraordinary number of students who participate in extracurricular activities. Maybe one of the highest proportions of any high school in the land. Although I don't know if there's any national agency that measures such a thing.
But Saratoga High School principal Kevin Skelly has collected some data to mull over. To wit: the highest category of student involvement is athletics, with 298 teens enrolled therein. This does not include winter and spring figures.
In the category of instrumental music there's a strong outpouring, too: 176 students have signed on, which breaks down into 96 students in the band, 60 in the orchestra and 20 in the jazz ensemble. In vocal music there's a total of 70 students, not including any overlap with instrumental.
In the competitive speech program, 98 youngsters are enlisted. It's reputedly one of the best in the nation, say school watchdogs. In journalism, 70; in drama, 40; in cheer and song, 27. The total figure of 779 students does not include participation in clubs, commissions or student body organizations, so those numbers are conservative, to say the least. But they do show evidence of a highly committed student body.
SIERRA CLUB SLIDE SHOW: On Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Library, peak climber Tim Hult will show slides of his visit to Torre del Paine National Park in Chile, at one time a sheep ranch. Hult is a member of the Peak Climbing section of the Sierra Club. For more information on the talk or the club call Marj Ottenberg at 408.867.4576.
SIGNS OF FALL: Hike at Long Ridge on Nov. 6 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in a moderately paced docent-led exploration of the "Signs of Fall." The hike includes six miles of woodland, grasslands and old orchards. On Nov. 7, the agenda calls for a five-mile autumn tour of Edgewood County Park's fall foliage.
There is always something in bloom at Edgewood and this walk will tell the hiker what it is and why it's on display. On Nov. 10, the schedule calls for a five- or six-mile scenic aerobic hike, also at Long Ridge.
Saratogan Bernie Larkin leads this one from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. These hikes are sponsored by Midpeninsula Open Space District. Contact number is 650.691.1200.
SECOND PRINTING: Former Saratoga News editor Sue Fagalde Lick's book Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California has entered a second printing: the publisher sold out the first in a year. That's certainly the sweetest of music to an author's ear.
Lick now lives in Oregon, but the Portuguese book can be had at local bookstores, through Amazon.com or Heyday Books at 510.549.3564 or through Lick at slick@netbridge.net or 888.443.4692.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
