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Saratoga Sampler
Couple makes Christmas fantasy reality
By Mary Ann Cook
FATHER CHRISTMAS: Around these parts, Don Miller is known as Father Christmas, and his wife, Fran, is costumer and sometime portrayer of Mrs. Christmas. The two call their venture Fantasy Fare and have represented 35 different characters in the 15 years they've been in this retiree business.
Father Christmas is older than Santa Claus--500 years old, compared with Santa's 250 years, Don notes. He's a holdover from pre-Christian Winter Solstice celebrations. Father Christmas presided over music and dance at festivities and was depicted throwing bones from the feasts at mastiffs at either end of the table.
He came into his own in England during the Reformation, when the English wanted to disavow Catholicism, as in blotting out saints, such as St. Nicholas. In Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Father Christmas is the Ghost of Christmas Present. Illustrations show him outfitted in green costume.
But people want a red-robed Father Christmas, so that is how Don Miller does the role. He is bare-chested, and his beard is real, so when it's tugged, it hurts, he reminds us. On his head is a wreath of holly and ivy, while his robe is trimmed in lambs' wool.
He'd like to find unsheared lambs' wool, but so far has been unsuccessful. "I work secondarily as a vacuum cleaner," he says about an auxiliary function of his costume. The wool picks up whatever motes or orts are on the floor as he sweeps along.
This season he performed at Mirassou Winery for the 15th year, at the Saratoga Historical Foundation, at the Saratoga Rotary Christmas Party and at the Kohl Mansion's Festival of Trees in Hillsborough, sponsored by the Peninsula Volunteers, where $90,000 for special education children was raised.
At Mirassou, children and adults can have their picture taken with Father Christmas, and many come back year after year. Sometimes pregnant women pose for the camera and then come back the next year with their babies in tow. At Mirassou as many as 300 photos at $5 a clip are taken.
Besides Father Christmas, Miller portrays U.S. Sen. James Phelan in activities at Villa Montalvo, and Paul Masson at the Mountain Winery. The Millers also do Renaissance dinners for companies or private parties, including weddings. As such, they greet guests, mingle with the assembled and sometimes give brief talks about the characters they represent.
Don Miller worked at IBM for 26 years, then was a management consultant specializing in "psychic income." Fran Miller taught art and music at Hillbrook School, teaches violin privately and majored in theater arts at Santa Clara University. The Millers were active in VITA (Valley Institute of Theater Arts), where they first portrayed Father Christmas and wife.
NO RETIREE: Some people retire and some just keep on doing what they do best. In the case of Raul Caceres, it's dealing with people and helping them find answers. Caceres volunteers at the reception/information desk at Kaiser Permanente Medical Facility in Campbell twice a week.
And he has worked there ever since its October opening. Caceres, 82, is a career diplomat from Honduras and served 50 years in the foreign service for that country in Mexico, San Francisco, Miami and New York. He was a staff delegate to international U.N. conferences and coffee conferences, as well as an adviser for international students.
As a volunteer, he worked for the Boy Scouts of America, Red Cross, Rotary, Masons, Shriners, Elks Club, Sister City and senior centers (the last two are Saratoga organizations). He and wife Elsie celebrated their 55th anniversary this year and are the parents of Robert and Raul Jr., both of whom are airline pilots.
GOOD WORKS: Saratoga's Foothill Club keeps a low profile, but continues to contribute holiday food boxes for families and seniors on limited incomes. This year, the club served some 100 families or individuals. Joan Leonard and Fran Kolsky were in charge of the project.
Some Saratoga couples make it a tradition to help gather and prepare food baskets for the club each year. The Foothill Club has been observing this tradition for nearly 50 years.
POETRY RETURN: Rachel Democracy Levitsky, a recent artist in residence at Villa Montalvo, involved the community in the Open Studios portion of her stay. She read from her own work, and others in the community read their work, too. These were members of the workshop series she had given over several weeks. They read the results of their labors, a first in community involvement for an Open Studio presentation.
MILLENNIUM ANYONE?: In an unofficial poll to find out how Saratogans plan to celebrate the close of the century, I found most saying they were sticking close to home, hearth and family.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
