Saratoga Sampler

Mary Lou Taylor runs with Markham banner

By Mary Ann Cook

NEW POETRY REFUGE: Saratogan Mary Lou Taylor, poet and fine arts maven, is chairman of a three-person committee that is negotiating with the city of San Jose for the use of the Edwin Markham house. Markham lived in San Jose early in the last century.

Seems the San Jose Center for Poetry and Literature would like to use the house as a center for reading, writing, workshops and the like. Others on the committee are Kevin Arnold, president of the board of SJCPL and Kathie Isaac-Luke, its executive director.

The city moved the house from Eighth Street to its present location at Kelley Park some years ago. The idea for the poetry center use came from San Jose Mercury columnist Leigh Weimers and Taylor took up the banner and started running with it.

Renovations on the Markham House are under way and the SJCPL is raising money to make it handicap-accessible. San Jose has given the group permission to use the nearby firehouse for larger events, since the house is too small for readings.

TRANSPLANTING DEMOCRACY: Former Saratoga mayor Jerry Smith will give a talk on Nov. 28, at 10 a.m. about his role in helping establish democratic institutions in countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc. At the Foothill Club, it's part of their public lecture series.

Smith is a retired state senator and appellate court judge, as well as a former mayor of Saratoga. The event is co-sponsored by the Silicon Valley chapter of the Commonwealth Club, international relations section. Donation of $6 is suggested.

CHRISTMAS AT OUR HOUSE: The annual fundraiser for the St. Francis Women's Club includes a tour of four Los Altos Hills homes--all decked out for the holidays. A complimentary tea and a Christmas Gift Shoppe will be offered, as well. The event is Dec. 1 and 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Viewers should allow a minimum of three hours for the house tours. Tickets are $30 in advance. Lunch is an additional $20, and reservations are required. For more info, call 650.969.3508. Celia Maglione of Saratoga is the publicity chairwoman.

St. Francis is in Mountain View, but Saratogans are much in evidence. To wit: Patti Pennant is principal; Mike Speckman, is director of admissions and Angelo Aguier is development director. Some 105 students are from Saratoga and Los Gatos.

Imi Blatz and Patti Calderoni of Saratoga are on the house tour committee. More than 2,500 people are expected for the tour and between $120,000-150,000 is usually raised. Claudia Gilbert of Saratoga is president of the woman's club.

PAINLESS PROPS: Millie Bernstein has created a painless way to acquaint voters with the pros and cons of all the propositions on the ballot. Ever since she can remember she has hosted a Proposition Party a few days before the election.

Each guest chooses a specific proposition to research and report on--pro and con. By the time the evening is over participants have a solid and grounded opinion about each proposition discussed.

No, nothing was said about candidates. But at the end of the evening, measures were debated, with the subject of BART a particularly heated one.

STILL ON HER TOES: Ballet San Jose is alive and thriving and continuing with the company is Dalia Rawson, who was raised in San Jose. Rawson has danced the role of Maria in The Nutcracker in former years and may do so again. However, casting for that holiday show had not been completed yet.

San Jose and Cleveland have been in ballet company partnership for the past few years, but Cleveland's finances forced it to pull out early this fall. San Jose resumed on its own, with a new name. The restructured company still has the hometown balletomane, one of its principles, on stage.

FREE SHAKESPEARE: A free performance by two players from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival will be held at West Valley College on Nov. 22--one performance at 9:30 a.m. and a repeat at 10:30 a.m. in the college theater.

The actors, Alicia Mandelkow and Thom Rivera, will perform excerpts from Shakespeare, as well as from contemporary literature. An interactive workshop will also be conducted. The program is part of the School Visit Program, designed to heighten interest in theater in young people.

SHOW MUST GO ON DEPT: Pianist extraordinaire Jon Nakamatsu was featured artist at Montalvo recently. Nearing intermission time, the fire alarm went off. People began leaving, but Nakamatsu kept on playing. Shortly the Carriage House was vacated.

When the concert resumed, Nakamatsu, a Van Cliburn winner, played the last movement of the Chopin Sonata, at the very spot where he had been interrupted. Didn't miss a beat as the saying goes, and played three encores. The alarm had sounded for the Villa, where a microwave had evidently caught fire.

GOOD AS NEW: Good As New books will be featured at the Book-Go-Round on Nov. 24, from 6 to 9 p.m., as part of Saratoga's Village Open House. The shop will be closed that Friday until Open House hours. Smart Santas shop at the Book-Go-Round.

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