Saratoga News
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Saratoga Sampler
Block party brings together families from all over
By Mary Ann Cook
CELEBRATING DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOOD: No one remembers when the Labor Day block party at the corner of Glen Brae Drive and Alder Court began, but it has certainly brought this neighborhood closer together. Paul and Kay Tokar started the treasured tradition when they invited 16 families to a get-acquainted potluck.
Four families are original owners from the early 1960s, and eight families are retirees. The neighborhood, then and now, is made up of families from all over the globe--Egypt, India, Iran, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, China. The picnic tables that line Alder Court and the Tokar garage are laden with food specialties from all these countries.
When Paul Tokar hands off a large wooden spoon, masquerading as a microphone, to one of the assembled neighbors, the stories begin. Mixed with laughter and sometimes tears, families share their life events for the year. "We started the block party because we missed the feeling of community," Kay recalls. "Now everyone knows one another and helps when someone is sick or goes away on a trip."
The party also raises awareness of neighborhood concerns: The need for yard lighting or tips to combat roof rats, for instance.
One party regular is Mom Tokar, Paul's mother Elsie, who will turn 95 this month and who recently moved to Saratoga Retirement Community Center. Her culinary specialty is Mom's apple crisp. Melva Vollersen is our block party correspondent.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?: They Called it Saratoga, the story of Saratoga's naming history, is out just in time for the city's 50th anniversary celebration. The text was adapted and edited by Willys Peck, primarily from Saratoga's First Hundred Years, written by the late Florence R. Cunningham, edited by Francis L. Fox.
The new book was underwritten by Rick Bonetti, of Alain Pinel Realty, and project-managed by Chuck Schoppe, president of the Saratoga Historical Foundation. They Called it Saratoga will be for sale at the Historical Museum and at SHF events.
In other historical news, the foundation and the museum received a $5,000 grant from the Rotary Club for restoration and conservation of the four Sarah Brown artworks. Sarah was John Brown's daughter, the 19th of his 20 children. Included are portraits of John Brown and Mary Day Brown in pencil and crayon on paper.
The other two pieces are A View of Mount Diablo, a pastel on paper, and A Branch of Peaches, an oil on board that is a tribute to the local fruit industry. Museum director April Halberstadt accepted the Rotary grant, along with Schoppe.
Diane Stoiber, president of the Rotary Charitable Foundation, called Saratoga's historical foundation a treasure. The restoration work was done by the Achenburg Conservation Lab in the Palace of the Legion of Honor.
PLAQUE PLANTING: Bernice Hutchinson and Dorothy Taylor were part of a group of seven women who planted a small redwood in the back of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Allendale Avenue 30 years ago. The women were members of the Utahnia Camp of the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
In pioneer costumes, they were celebrating their 10th year as a camp by planting the tree. This week Hutchinson, Taylor and the current camp captain, Betty G. Mason, affixed a brass plaque to the now towering tree. Hutchinson was camp captain '76-'78 and Taylor, who recently turned 96, was captain in '78-'80.
For membership, a woman must be a lineal or legal descendent of a pioneer who came to Utah before the railroad did--pre-May 10, 1869.
NO NAME: Connie Mitchell's book club has no name, but it could be called An Argument for Argonaut, since the group was formed by women whose children all went to Argonaut School. It started when the youngsters were in second grade, and those same young'uns are now grown and gone, so it's a venerable club.
The No Names started with 12 readers; membership is now 22. Original members included, besides Mitchell, Cassandra Dotzler, Merrily Doore, Eleanor Hilsinrath, Jane Bernard and Karen Garrapolo. One classic per year is their wont, and Anna Karenina produced one of their more provocative discussions.
An English professor from Berkeley, a friend of a member, was a guest at the meeting and lent her broad perspective to the doings.
IS THIS LEGIT?: I shot a hole in one at Blackberry Golf Course recently, which was even more of a twist of fate than most such shots are. This one landed in the left sand trap on No. 3, popped out and then rolled determinedly to the cup. I think I was as excited about its bizarre behavior in bouncing out than I was about the fact that it plopped in.
Can you even claim a hole in one if it hits the sand first? It's obviously not the correct methodology.
SIERRA CLUB: The End of Suburbia is the documentary to be shown at the Saratoga Library Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m. A study of the sustainability of our way of life, the film is sponsored by the Sierra Club. Contact is Marj Ottenburg, 408.8674576.
Got a tip for Saratoga Sampler? Send email to mac@impruve.com.
