ALOHA: There are at least 10 couples who hope Debby Stanley doesn't sell her Hawaiian homes anytime soon. Both are up for sale: one at the beach and one in the hills of Oahu. But while they were still in her grasp, Stanley hosted a weeklong party for 20 friends at her vacation oases.
Most of the assembled have been friends for 20 years, since their children were preschoolers: now those same children are in college, says Joan Pisani, who, with husband Ron, was one of the partygoers. Pisani is Saratoga's recreational director, but says she didn't direct any of the recreation on Oahu.
Others who took part in the Stanley largesse were Hillie and Ron Adolphson, Michelle and Doug Helmuth, Susan and Steve Lapinsky, Sharon and Glen Jones, Mary and Pete Swentzel, Gail and Tom Ennis, Megan and Jim Allen, Marlaine and Rich Griffin, and Pat Yates and Dave Smith.
Teams of four did the cooking: each team was responsible for one dinner. Meals were communal. Action or nonaction included golf, water sports, reading, lounging. Spoof gifts were awarded at the end of the week. The houses are about half an hour from Waikiki.
MEMORIAL DAY STALWARTS: Helen Frances makes wreaths for the Blaney Plaza arch and Madronia Cemetery and supplies ribbons for laurel sprays that are placed on the graves of the veterans by the Scouts. Bill Goehner, Post 344 VFW, will lead the parade, and Boy Scout Troop 535 will provide the color guard.
Two buglers, Andrew Kao and Roger Tsai of the Saratoga High Band, will close the ceremony with the playing of echoing taps. Doris Cooper is organizer of the children participating in the ceremony at the arch.
Lt. Colonel Charles Ingalls, the speaker, is Commander of the 130th Rescue Squadron, Air National Guard at Moffett, not the 129th Air Rescue Wing as was earlier reported.
MISSION SUNDAY: Immanuel Lutheran Church held a Mission Sunday recently and raised more than $5,000 for three different missions. That total includes $900 in matching funds from Thrivent Financials. The three missions are for schools in Colombia and Tanzania and an orphanage in Botswana.
The Dan and Berit Wick Mission is the one in Cartagena, Colombia; the Makumira University College is in Tanzania; and the Dula Sentle Orphanage in Botswana is for children whose parents have died of AIDS.
YOUNG FUNDRAISERS: Congregation Beth David's seventh-grade class raised $5,000 this year and handed out checks to four nonprofits as the culmination of the drive. The beneficiaries were Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, $2,500; Second Harvest Food Bank, $1,200; American Jewish World Service, $825; and Jewish Family Service, $475.
The family service money is earmarked for the No Older Adult Abandoned Here program, which helps isolated Jewish seniors. The hospital grant will receive a matching grant from the Packard foundation.
Teacher Barbara Biran said that students had, in essence, created a philanthropic corporation: raised money, evaluated requests from nonprofits and then decided which ones to honor and how much to distribute to each.
Students donated money that would normally be spent on bar/bat mitzvah gifts for each other; they solicited funds from Beth David congregants through the synagogue newsletter; and they held bake sales and cakewalks.
HAKONE ON FILM: A film crew was in Hakone Gardens for a couple of days this month to film a program documenting the garden that will air over the Home and Garden network in November. Hakone was awarded a National Treasure designation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Twelve sites are chosen each year. Bobbie Greene, director of the Save America's Treasures program, was interviewed in the filming at Hakone. The film will be shown repeatedly throughout November, reports Lon Saavedra, Hakone director.
MODEL T ENDURANCE: The Model T Ford Endurance Run will be held for the 35th time June 13. It's 200 miles long, starts at First and Santa Clara streets in San Jose and ends at Sun Microsystems/Agnews on Palm Drive, San Jose. Lunch will be in Livermore at Codiroli Ford.
The race is sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Model T Ford Club, and the route will take the intrepid drivers up and over Mt. Hamilton. Two locals making the trek are Jim Cullinane, car No. 12, of Saratoga, and Peder Jorgensen, car No. 11, of Los Gatos.
INSECT FAIR: The annual YSI Insect Fair will be held May 29, 10 a.m.4 p.m., at Sanborn Park. One can hold a cockroach, touch a tarantula and watch a silkworm spin silk. The contact is 408.356.4945. Park fee is $4. Suggested donations are $1 per child, $3 per adult.
ART SHOW TOTAL: Saratoga Rotary raised $512,000 at its annual Art Show this month. The money is used to benefit community nonprofits.
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By Mary Ann Cook