Hellyer Park’s new playground a sight to see
It’s never too late for a new playground it seems. Just ask any of the dozens of kids who were climbing around the new playground at Hellyer County Park on Tuesday morning.
The county had hoped to have the playground at the South San Jose park open for the summer, but the heavy rain and flooding we had this winter pushed things back. The playground, which is nearly twice the size of the old one, officially opened Sept. 19 on the Lake Cottonwood side of the park.
It features a 30-foothigh play structure with a long, enclosed slide, bridges and swings as well as a cargo-net climbing course that one mom expects to be very popular. “I know all the kids are into ‘American Ninja Warrior,’ and that is very ‘American Ninja Warrior,’ ” said Kari Oliver of San Jose, who was there with her friend Amber Vezina and their 3-yearold kids.
There’s a smaller, shaded structure for younger kids, too, and a rock-formation splash pad featuring jets, waterfalls and sprinklers
— a first for a Santa Clara County park. Boy, that would have come in handy during last month’s heat wave, but there are probably still some warm days ahead.
PICTURE PERFECT>> Most people visiting the 17thfloor Silicon Valley Capital Club enjoy the view of downtown San Jose. But the members of History San Jose’s Heritage Circle visiting Monday evening were looking not at the scenery but scenes from the past.
The nonprofit history museum partnered with the San Jose business club to decorate many of its meeting and dining rooms with historic photos that match their themes. So the Vintage Room has framed photographs of the valley’s wine history, going back to Almaden Vineyard and Paul Masson. The Orchard Room has images from the farm days, and the Board Room is decorated with pictures of Lick Observatory.
But you don’t have to be a member of the Capital Club to enjoy the pics. History San Jose CEO Alida Bray says members of the public can purchase copies of archived photographs by going to historysanjose.zenfolio.com.
FALL INTO ART>> Guest curator Deborah Irmas will share her insights into the San Jose Museum of Art’s mesmerizing new exhibition, “This Is Not a Selfie: Photographic Self-Portraits from the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Collection,” on Wednesday night to officially open the show. There’s certainly no better expert to talk about it, as it stems from her parents’ photography collection. The lecture will be followed by a reception, but space is limited. Order tickets at sjmusart. org/event/creative-mindsand-opening-receptionnot-selfie.
Meanwhile, the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University is launching two fall exhibitions with an opening reception Thursday night. The first, Michael Mazur’s “L’Inferno di Dante,” is a captivating series of 41 black-and-white etchings that depict scenes from Dante’s “Inferno” that was just acquired by the museum last year. The second exhibition, “(Re)Writing the Narrative,” is a group show that looks at how artists shape — and sometimes reshape — social narratives. It includes works by Kathy Aoki, Hung Liu, Chris Hardy and Ana Teresa Fernandez that have both playful and serious undertones.
De Saisset members get an early preview at 6 p.m., while the free, public reception begins at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it Thursday, the museum is regularly open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.