‘Blessings bench’ to be unveiled Saturday
They had so much to be thankful for, Betty Peck says of life with her late husband, Willys. This week, she reflected on their wooded bungalow in Saratoga, passionate careers, tight community and an unparalleled love for each other in advance of a special ceremony to take place in the Village on Saturday.
“I have never been without praise for what I have received,” Peck said from her home. “My life is filled with that kind of knowing, feeling, experiencing the beauty that has come to me, and of course to Willys.
“What a man he was,” she added, blowing a kiss to his memory.
As part of their daily ritual, the Pecks would count their blessings on a bench that faced the Saratoga Creek outside their home. The bench became known as their Blessings Bench.
This concept inspired the “Willys and Betty Peck Blessing Bench,” an art installation featuring two life-size bronze sculptures of the iconic couple sitting on a bench, to be revealed in Blaney Plaza on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Willys was an Army veteran, a civil lawyer, Saratoga News reporter, renowned Mercury News copy editor and headline writer, Saratoga Historical Foundation president and champion for preservation.
He fought to keep the Memorial Arch in Blaney Plaza when its removal was proposed. The arch, which honors six Saratoga men who died serving in World War I, remains still.
“Willys devoted his life to Saratoga,” Peck said of her husband’s legacy. “I mean, he just wouldn’t let them tear things down. When they were ready to tear down the arch, Willys threw his body in front of it and said ‘Never! This stands representing our soldiers.’ He was so attached and so devoted to Saratoga that he would
give his life for it.”
Peck, a 95-year-old retired elementary school teacher who taught for more than 50 years, has also left a lasting impact on the community; her internationally shared “Kindergarten Teacher’s Creed” being just one notable legacy.
“I bring the gift of myself to this celebration of life we call the kindergarten. I come each day to be refined, smoothed, tempered, for I hold in my hands, with wonder and gratitude, the future! Seeds of the future are in the oneness of all nature and all people, in tune with the divine to be found in our hearts, that I give through the joy and beauty of love,” the creed reads.
Her distinctive teaching style, which involved incorporating nature and play, made a home for her as a kindergarten teacher at the former Saratoga School on Oak Street, now Saratoga Elementary School. She also founded a nature-centered preschool, now known as the Los GatosSaratoga Observation Nursery School.
For their lasting impact on the community, the legendary locals were chosen for a public art project, the cornerstone of a renewed emphasis on creating more public art in the city.
“These two were just a perfect beginning because they combined our history of Saratoga, public service and the emphasis that two people can have such an impact on the community,” said Hugh Roberts, chairman of a committee built around the Peck Bench.
Jerry Smith, ex-Saratoga mayor, state senator, sculptor and friend of the Pecks, was selected to create the bronze figures using the “lost wax” technique. His work can be seen at the Foothill Club and throughout the Santa Clara Valley.
“Combining all that was the Pecks with an ex-mayor seemed to be a sort of trifecta that would be a winner,” Roberts said. “It would certainly be something that the Historical Foundation would be interested in.”
He was right. Saratoga Historical Foundation president Annette Stransky sat on the Peck bench committee and helped set up the project’s tax-deductible funding. Yuchi Wang of the foundation kept track of donors and budgeting.
After more than 200 donations to the tune of $70,000, plus city approval, the project was set to go. Each donor received a copy of Willys’ “Saratoga Stereopticon,” a collection of essays on his beloved town.
Before Smith died earlier this year, he was able to complete the artwork. His partners, Anthony Teixeira and Julia Jacobsen, carried out the casting, bronze pouring and installation processes.
To accurately embody the Pecks, their children, Anna Rainville and Bill Peck, modeled for each statue. They each posed for hours while Teixeira covered them in a mache-like casting. The castings were removed and pieced back together, then bronze was poured into the molds and fired, using the kiln at the San Jose State University Foundry where Smith spent much time practicing sculpture.
Local contractor Victor Prenda designed and installed the concrete bench that the statues will sit on. The Saratoga Historical Foundation will dedicate the work to the city of Saratoga on Saturday.
“I’d like people to see the bench and be interested enough to find out more about these two talented people,” Stransky said. “Perhaps in researching Willys it might spark an interest in journalism, drama or in preserving local history. With Betty, as a pioneer in early education, it could create curiosity about early education, of learning the importance of play or an appreciation of nature as it applies to early education.”
The Peck Bench Committee, made up of Roberts, his wife Kathleen, Stransky, Jill Hunter, Dave Johnston and Joan Bose, spent nearly three years deliberating the details of the project.
Bose had four children who were Betty’s kindergarten students. Bose also volunteered to archive Willys’ collection of history.
“She was his secretary, and he used to call her ‘Joan of Archives,’ ” Betty Peck said.
Bose still often joins Peck for tea, bringing with her favorite Ghirardelli caramel chocolate each time, as she did this past Tuesday. Together, they reflected on the idea of the bench.
As Peck sees it, the bench is the perfect embodiment of her and Willys’ reflective nature.
“A bench symbolizes togetherness,” Peck said. “Now, what can you wish for more than that? Togetherness, to leave yourself behind and look out in the beauty of the world.”
She will join Saturday’s dedication through Skype. Saratoga Mayor Emily Lo will speak, and Bill Peck will recite a new poem.