As a community grows and changes, the concept of "tradition" tends to lose some of its impact, if not disappear altogether. Here in Saratoga we have seen this occur in some notable instances, such as the Blossom Festival, which effectively lost its significance with the disappearance of the blossoms that once carpeted the valley floor. From 1900 to 1941, though, it was a tradition that put Saratoga on the map, not only for elaborate entertainment, such as the 1925 appearance of the San Francisco Symphony, but for the matchless spectacle of miles of fruit trees in bloom. There were post-World War II revivals of the celebration by that name, but without the blossoms the tradition was immeasurably weakened.
Another tradition was the all-volunteer Saratoga Fire Department, and the spectacle of its members going into action was the kind of thing no tourist should miss. First, there was the strident wail of the siren atop the Saratoga Garage, now the Village fire station. Then there was the bustle of downtown merchants and tradesmen hurrying from their places of business to go out with the two trucks housed in the garage. In those precell phone days, volunteers arriving at the garage after the trucks' departure learned of the fire's location from a blackboard placed in a window, and they drove their cars to the scene. It was a remarkably efficient operation and a tradition of merit.
But there is one Saratoga tradition that has lasted almost 80 years, to the credit of its sponsors and the community at large. This is the annual Memorial Day observance coordinated by the Saratoga Foothill Club, an organization that occupies its own traditional niche.
This year's ceremony, as in the past, will begin Monday (May 26) at 9:30 a.m. with the placing of a wreath at the Memorial Arch, Saratoga's monument erected to commemorate those who died during World War I. The Arch has since been regarded as a monument to all veterans.
From the Arch, participants will join in a walk up Oak Street to Madronia Cemetery, where the observance will continue at 10 a.m. The Foothill Club has pointed out that parking will not be available within the cemetery on that day. The Memorial Day message will be given by Col. James T. Williams, commander of the 129th Rescue Wing of the Air National Guard, Moffett Federal Airfield.
The Saratoga High School band and chorus will perform, while sprays of laurel and miniature flags will be placed on the graves of veterans by members of Boy and Girl Scout troops, Brownies, Cub Scouts and the 4-H Club. In Madronia, there are the graves of 740 veterans going back as far as the Civil War. Boy Scout Troop 535 will present the Colors, and the ceremony will end with a trumpeter playing "taps."
I have been attending these ceremonies since I was a small child, and some memories stand out indelibly. The Saratoga area attracted quite a few high-ranking retired military officers after World War II, and I recall when I was in the Lions Club in the 1950s, we had two, maybe it was three, generals and two admirals, along with several colonels. Not having risen above private first class in an armored infantry battalion, I felt somewhat outclassed. The brass showed up on Memorial Day.
The military figure I most remember, though, was Maj. Gen. Grote Hutcheson, who came to Saratoga in 1924 and made his home at the old Saratoga Inn, where the Saratoga Inn Place condominiums are located. Hutcheson was an 1884 graduate of West Point, where he was a classmate of Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in World War I. Hutcheson's military career included service in the last Indian campaigns, in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War, in the China relief expedition of 1900, and on the Mexican border just before World War I.
On Memorial Day, he would don his uniform and drive to Madronia in his big green Packard, with its two-star emblem above the license plate. I remember in particular his address at the 1946 Memorial Day observance. The United Nations was barely a year old after its inception in San Francisco, and people were wondering if it would go the way of the failed League of Nations.
The general focused his remarks on the incipient United Nations.
"Give it a chance," said this man who knew what war was all about. "Give it a chance."
By Willys Peck