Families, others celebrate sunny arrival of spring
It’s ironic that the first Blossom Festival in Saratoga was staged in 1900 to celebrate the end of a drought, but this year’s festival taking place Saturday comes smack in the middle of one.
Back then, the blossoms were all over acres of orchards and for more than four decades it drew quite a crowd — as many as 20,000 one year — to Saratoga each spring, including Sen. James Phelan, who owned nearby at Villa Montalvo, California Gov. “Sunny” Jim Rolph, Helen Wills, the famed tennis champion of the 1920s and ’30s who was a friend of Phelan’s.
The revived festival is more about families than famous faces, though. Activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Heritage Orchard and Saratoga Civic Center include music by Saratoga Taiko, the Saratoga High choir, Dixieland band Toot Sweet and bluegrass band Bad Neighbors; artists and craftspeople exhibiting work; historical vehicles on display; gourmet food trucks; and a host of children’s activities. Girl Scouts will be there handing out commemorative flowers, and blossoms will be out in force — represented in a parade of paintings. And yes, you might catch a famous face from the past from noon to 2 p.m. as Saratogans parade around as historical figures, including Jack Mallory as festival founder Sunshine Williams and Tony Hoffman as Phelan.
Produced by the Saratoga Historical Foundation, the event is for anyone who wants to celebrate the arrival of spring. More information is available at www.saratogahistory.com or by calling 408-867-4311.
ITWAS A GOOD WEEK FOR: Pizza My Heart restaurant managers gathered at Mineta San Jose International Airport this week for the annual company trip to Las Vegas. Anyone hoping to catch a Cirque du Soleil show that night was out of luck, though; Owner Chuck Hammers secretly changed the group’s destination to Maui, a perfect spot for the surf-themed chain. I wonder if the trip was just team-building or if it doubled as scouting for a Hawaii location.
It may not be Maui, but Kris Rowberry of San Jose radio station KLIVAM has some fun planned in his future. An amusement park enthusiast who hosts “Lost Parks of Northern California” on CreaTV, Rowberry announced this week that he’s started work on a feature-length documentary on Arrow Development, a former manufacturer of roller coasters and amusement park rides based in Mountain View. The company had a part in many of the early rides at Disneyland, including the Matterhorn bobsleds, and also introduced the first Corkscrew roller coaster and log-flume ride.
ITWAS A BADWEEK FOR: Shane Patrick Connolly, the chief of staff for San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis, was walking on East Santa Clara Street downtown Monday morning when he was punched in the face by a man who appeared to be homeless. None the worse for wear, Connolly recounted the story Tuesday during St. Patrick’s Day festivities at O’Flaherty’s Pub. The attacker, on the other hand, was invited to have a less pleasant conversation with San Jose police.
CreaTV San Jose CEO Suzanne St. John Crane, meanwhile, returned from a business trip this week to find that co-workers had put the 49ers memorabilia shrine in her office beneath a black shroud and hummed “Taps” as she arrived. Given all the turmoil the NFL team went through this week, she’s probably lucky they didn’t switch everything out for Raiders gear.