I would say that any lingering doubts as to the desirability of maintaining the agricultural integrity of Saratoga's Heritage Orchard were definitely eliminated by the success of the recent fifth annual Mustard Walk. According to Phylis Ballingall, who pretty much put the whole thing together for the Heritage Preservation Commission, there were more than 2,000 visitors. And even though the actual mustard plants were in the minority, the profusion of yellow oxalis--if that's what it was--provided the needed colorful setting. It was really something to see kids gleefully gathering bouquets of these blooms. Also, the weather couldn't have been better.
The walk, of course, was only part of it. There were donkey cart rides, a petting zoo, artists displaying and selling their works, musical entertainment and an exhibit of antique farm equipment. All of this was simply the traditional part. This year, the celebration was enhanced by an "East Meets West" theme, which involved the Lunar New Year Festival, with a display and entertainment in the community center. Oriental culture has been important in this community for a long time, and the ceremonial ribbon-cutting by Mayor Norman Kline was a fitting recognition of this alliance. It was a suitable event in marking Saratoga's 50th anniversary of city status. (Somehow the word "cityhood" seems awkward; sounds like the term for a metropolitan thug.)
I have previously drawn something of a parallel between the Mustard Walk and the Saratoga Blossom Festival, even though the former has made no pretense of capitalizing on the fruit tree blooms. Now, however, a group of local citizens has scheduled an event--a picnic--in the Heritage Orchard on March 19 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the blossoms should be out. Bring your own food and beverages.
It's part of Blossom Festival tradition that weather and the state of the blossoms make up a tantalizing gamble. Will it rain? Will the blossoms be in their prime? Better not place any bets.
All of which brings us to another "Only in Saratoga" event, the Olympiad of the Arts. This competition, with its rich historical background, enables high school, community college and lower-division college and university students to demonstrate their talents in the following fields: acting, dance and choreography, classical piano, classical and popular vocal selections, short story writing, poetry, photography, painting and sculpture. Winners will receive certificates and cash awards totaling $8,000.
According to Wendy Weisman, who heads the program for the West Valley/Mission Colleges Foundation, there are different deadlines for these events, and information is available on the website at www.olympiadofthearts.org. The culmination will be on May 7, the day of the Saratoga Rotary Art Show. The Olympiad production, featuring winners in the performing arts categories, will be in the West Valley College Theater. At that time there will also be a slide show of visual art and photography winning entries, and there will be a booklet of winning creative writing entries.
So, how did all this get started? Well, not surprisingly, the progenitor was Sen. James D. Phelan, he of Montalvo fame, who joined with Dr. Henry Meade Bland, California's poet laureate, in presenting the first Olympiad at the famed estate in 1928, an Olympic Games year. The Olympiad designation was appropriate since the ancient games included contests in the arts as well as the athletic events. I'm not sure where or how it originated, but the description "Athens of the West" came into being about this time, applicable not only to Montalvo but to the region generally.
Phelan, the founder, died only two years later, but the Olympiad lived on under various sponsorships. In 1954, the California Poetry Olympiad was sponsored by the Edwin Markham Poetry Society under the leadership of Gwendolen Brooks Penniman. She will be remembered as a contributor to this newspaper as "poet, artist and writer of Mount Eden Road." What finally evolved was a series of Olympiads in the 1950s and '60s, highlighted by the formation of Quadrennial Contests in the Arts as a nonprofit corporation in 1964. The West Valley/Mission Colleges Foundation took over sponsorship in 1978. While the four-year interval was maintained for some time, the Olympiad became an annual event in 1984.
As an outstanding cultural and social event, the Olympiad of the Arts is very Saratoga.
By Willys Peck