Members from various communities and organizations, including the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, Hakone Gardens and primary sponsor Saratoga Rotary, joined forces in the Baltic Room at West Valley College to discuss the planning stages of Building Bridges, a program envisioned and spearheaded by Armstrong to raise understanding about and appreciation for cultural diversity.

"The Saratoga community is constantly evolving, but there is still some prejudice and divide between certain groups," said Armstrong. "We need to bridge that gap."

The fruit of it all—a weeklong celebration held Oct. 19 through 26—will showcase aspects of different cultures within local schools and institutions.

Cynthia Chang, a member of the Los Gatos­Saratoga Union High School District Board of Trustees and chairwoman of the schools committee, anticipates a high level of participation among educators and students. Teachers from Blue Hills and Argonaut elementary schools, as well as Saratoga and Prospect high schools, showed enthusiasm for the cause at the meeting.

"We will work with teachers to try to incorporate diversity into their curriculum," says Chang. "We'll also probably have an art and essay contest relating to the building bridges theme."

Don Miller, Rotary member and chairman of the publicity committee, said that although Saratoga is rich in diversity, it is not a strength of the city, which it should be. He says that in order to harmoniously combine the different faces of the city into one group, people need to start educating others about different cultures. In the effort to spread awareness throughout the communities, Miller anticipates broadcasting the importance of diversity through mediums like radio and the Internet.

During the meeting, members separated into subgroups to outline specific goals and plans in the areas of education, food, entertainment and publicity.

Jeff Nerney, director of student activities at West Valley College and chairman of the entertainment committee, said his group's goal is to identify as many sources as possible within the community and to compile a list of 10 possible entertainment groups by their next meeting.

"I expect a wide spread of participants. Many of the student committee members are members of ethnic clubs at their schools," says Nerney.

In addition, Nerney and his committee will be responsible for booking entertainment—music, dance, fashion and storytelling—for different stages.

Meanwhile, as a member of Rotary, Armstrong is pushing to bring in speakers from different cultures to enlighten members on topics of diversity. He also urges religious congregations to hold at least one weekend service or Mass dedicated to the diversity theme during the weeklong celebration.