CELEBRITY FUNDRAISER: Seven local female achievers in the arts will be honored Feb. 8 at the annual Pen Women Celebrity Luncheon fundraiser. Those earning celebrity status are Betty Auchard, Janet Gold, Erie Mills, Jan Turnage, Susan Landauer, Luisa Tofi Claeys, Judith Sutton and Maggie Blackwell.
Sutton is a longtime English teacher at Saratoga High, Claeys is a Saratoga artist and Auchard is a Los Gatos author. The event will be held at the San Jose Elks Lodge, 444 W. Alma Ave., starting at 11 a.m., with the luncheon at noon. Entertainment will be provided by members of the chapter, starting at 1 p.m.
"Butterfly Creation" is the event's name: music, a fashion show and performances will be built around this theme. Jeri Scaife, a fashion designer from Oakland and member of the Santa Clara branch, will show her fashions and describe her unique wearable art of textured and tapestry fabrics.
Also involved in the program are Susan Zerwick and Carol Greene of Los Gatos and Michelle Gabriel and Louise Webb of Saratoga. The cost is $26, and checks should be mailed to ShaRon Haugen, 4156 Snowbank Court, San Jose, 95135-1046, by Jan. 30. For more information, call 408.238.2340
Sutton has a new book of poetry out called Prism. It is listed on the National Authors Registry.
FUZZY FRIENDS: Anna Andrade of Monte Sereno and her Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, Pepper, have been visiting Good Sam's skilled nursing unit at Mission Oaks Hospital on a monthly basis, but as of this month they'll snap up the pace to weekly visits.
They are bona fide auxiliary members, now that Pepper has passed puppy training and the American Kennel Club "canine good citizen test." He also possesses a Bay Area Rhodesian Ridgeback Club Herding Instinct Certificate. The hospital visits are part of the Fuzzy Friends program.
YSI MARKS 50TH YEAR: Science and outdoor adventure don't need to take a holiday during winter weather—as witness, the winter lineup at YSI (Youth Science Institute). YSI is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In Los Gatos, the venue is at Vasona Park; in Saratoga there's Sanborn Park.
Science classes are held at Vasona from 3:45 to 5 p.m. each day according to age level. Monday is for pre-kindergartners, Tuesday and Wednesday for kindergarten and first-graders and Thursday for second- and third-graders.
Snowflakes and raindrops will be covered Jan. 2124; "Makin' Noise," about instruments made from household objects, is Jan. 2730; "Hibernation Habits" is the theme Feb. 36; and "Cool Penguins" Feb. 1013. The cost is $14 per class, per child. For more information, call 408.356.4945 or visit www.ysi-ca.org.
The night hikes in Sanborn Park have not been neglected. Each walk is 11/2 hours, and they're scheduled for Jan. 25, Feb. 15 and March 8, 6:308:30 p.m. Look and listen for night animals.
FOR COURAGEOUS KIDS: Rinconada Hills will hold a charity supper to benefit the American Cancer Society's "courageous kids" on Feb. 1, 6 p.m., in the clubhouse. The $40 ticket includes appetizers, dinner, dancing, drinks, a silent auction and a drawing. The dress is black tie optional.
Checks should be made payable to Rinconada Charity Events and mailed to 100 Avenida del Sol, Los Gatos, 95032. All proceeds benefit Courageous Kids. The goal of the annual event is to surpass the $7,000 raised last year. That amount sent more than 500 kids undergoing cancer treatment, and their families, to Great America for the day.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Saratogans Frank Tsai, Narasimha Nookla and Pat and Johnny Dawson are part of the selection committee of Habitat for Humanity, which will choose the family to live in the new H-for-H house in Los Gatos.
Committee members from Los Gatos are Bill Blaze, Mary Hughes, Val Bredemeier, Chata Alfaro, Julie DiNapoli and Ginger Taylor-McDonald.
The committee is faced with a daunting task: choosing from among the many qualified and deserving applicants—teachers, government workers and others who serve the community but can't afford to live here without help.
HAKONE HAPPENINGS: New watercolor classes at Hakone this year include beginning watercolor, taught by Shirley Lin Kinoshita, and watercolor workshops with Dan Tellup. Kinoshita's classes are Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m., at the Cultural Exchange Center. The drop-in cost is $15 a session.
The full eight-week course is $110. The course in session now meets until Feb. 25, and the next full session is March 4April 22. Kinoshita is at 408.255.6559. Tellup's workshops are Feb. 28 and March 1, 9:30 a.m.4 p.m. The cost is $70 for two days, $40 for one. Mail checks payable to the Hakone Foundation to Gerry Furman, 20001 Winter Lane, Saratoga, 95070. Furman's number is 408.867.2634.
Tellup's work can be seen at Aegis Gallery in Saratoga and at the Triton Museum's Biennial Watercolor Show.
Got a tip for Saratoga Sampler? Send email to
maryanncook@earthlink.net.
By Mary Ann Cook