Saratoga News

Community Briefs

Enter second annual Decorate Saratoga

Who's got the best outdoor holiday decorations in town? We're going to find out as the Saratoga News and the Saratoga Retirement Community (formerly Oddfellows Home of Saratoga) hold their second annual Decorate Saratoga contest.

The competition is open to both homes and businesses. Decorations will be judged on design, originality and use of color. Residents of the retirement home will be the judges, visiting neighborhoods on Dec. 17 and 18 to pick winners.

An entry form, included in this issue, must be submitted by Dec. 13 at 5 p.m. to the Saratoga News office, 14375 Saratoga Ave.

Make it a safe holiday season for your pets

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley wants to help make it a safe holiday for pets.

Christmas greenery often provides many potential dangers to pets. Fallen Christmas tree needles can get lodged in pets' paws or nostrils, ornaments can get knocked down and cut animals, tree water can make a thirsty cat or dog sick, and tinsel can cut through an animal's intestines if swallowed. And poinsettias, mistletoe and holly are festive, but poisonous to pets. The Humane Society recommends displaying an artificial tree decorated with unbreakable ornaments to protect your pets.

Other safe holiday tips include taping tree lights to the floor so that your pets can't chew on the cords and get electrocuted, and making sure that all your pets' tags are current.

For more information about making the holidays safe for pets, call 727-3383.

Young choirs present family musical program

The LDS Saratoga Ward young men's and young women's choirs present a family-centered program of readings, music and song to celebrate the 1996 Christmas season. The community is invited to attend Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 19100 Allendale Ave. There is no admission charge, and free parking is available.

Whale-watching trips begin on January 18

Saratogans Gail and Doug Cheeseman will lead whale-watching trips on Saturdays, Jan. 18 and 25 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. aboard the 80-foot "New Holiday" from Monterey Fisherman's Wharf. The cost is $50 a person for the all-day trip. For reservations, call 741-5330.

The trip has four naturalists on board to explain the behavior of the California gray whale, as well as dolphins and seabirds encountered during the day. The trip follows the coastline south past Carmel to Pt. Lobos, where the whales are usually bound. The Cheesemans have been leading the trips in Monterey Bay since the early 1970s. Doug Cheeseman teaches zoology and ecology at De Anza College in Cupertino.

League of Women Voters celebrates holidays with dessert party

Members of the Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno League of Women Voters will celebrate the holidays with a dessert party in the home of Saratogan Marlene Duffin at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12.

Special entertainment will be the Bell's Angels, the handbell choir from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Saratoga.

West Valley Welcomers celebrate with brunch

This holiday season the West Valley Welcomers, a 75-member nonprofit community group formed in 1963, will hold a Champagne Christmas Brunch at member Dianne Guisinger's home on Dec 12.

The money from this and other events will be donated to charities such as Hospice of the Valley, the Cupertino Senior Center and the Saratoga Senior Center.

For more information about the group or the Christmas brunch, call Dianne Guisinger at 867-2221.