Rain in South Bay could mean a weekend of soggy holiday events
I know we need the rain, but sometimes it feels like the weather around here likes playing the Grinch. There are a lot of outdoor holiday events happening or starting this weekend, and wet weather won’t be a welcome guest.
The annual Fantasy of Lights display at Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos kicks off this weekend with walk-through tours. All the spots Saturday and Sunday are sold out, and it is expected to go on unless really bad weather forces the Santa Clara County Parks Department to close it down (in which case refunds will be issued to ticket holders). Drive-through tours start Tuesday, and remember you need to buy tickets in advance at parkhere.org.
Another event that potentially could be washed out is the 34th annual Carol of Lights festival in downtown Campbell, which will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday and includes a petting zoo and a snow play area. Go to caroloflights.org for updates.
Not everything will bow to the wet stuff, though. Caltrain’s 17th annual Holiday Train — decorated with more than 75,000 lights — will roll down the tracks Saturday and Sunday, stopping at nine stations between San Francisco and Santa Clara over the two nights. There will be entertainment at each stop, where Santa’s helpers also will be collecting donations of new toys. The train starts in San Francisco at 4 p.m. both days and arrives in Burlingame (5:25 p.m.), Redwood City (6:10 p.m.), Mountain View (7:25 p.m.) and Santa Clara (8 p.m.) on Saturday and Millbrae (5:20
p.m.), San Mateo (6 p.m.), Menlo Park (7:05 p.m.) and Sunnyvale (7:50 p.m.) on Sunday.
And Los Gatos’ 63rd annual Children’s Christmas/Holiday Parade will get started at North Santa Cruz and Almendra avenues at 11 a.m. Saturday, rain or shine. Leading the 223 entries as grand marshal will be David Burt, a longtime Los Gatos youth coach and Lions Club member who had a 30-year career with Moore Buick Pontiac GMC. Santa Claus will close things out, as he does every year.
WORKS’ ART AUCTION COMING UP » More than 100 regional artists will have artwork up for bid Saturday at Works/San Jose’s annual auction, which always showcases a pretty amazing array of styles. And as art auctions go, this one is pretty affordable for people trying to start a collection or give someone a creative holiday gift.
You can preview the art starting at 7 p.m. today during the South First Fridays art walk and come back Saturday at 6 p.m. for the auction party. The gallery is at 385 S. Market St., on the east side of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, and you can register to bid for the auction at workssanjose.org.
TRIBUTE TO A TEACHER » A memorial service is taking place today at 4 p. m. for Hardy Reyerson, the longest- tenured teacher at Bellarmine College Prep, who died Nov. 12 at the age of 76. He spent an amazing 53 of those years teaching math, both at Bellarmine and, more recently, at Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School as well.
A Willow Glen resident who grew up in Minnesota, Reyerson was well known for his love of fitness and cycling, so much so that he was spotlighted in a Mercury News feature, “How I Stay Fit,” in 1995.
The service Friday will take place at Leontyne Chapel at Bellarmine College Prep, followed by a reception.