The highly appreciated Los Gatos Historic Homes Tour will be returning on November 7 - 8, 2009, 10am to 4pm each day. Seven beautiful Los Gatos homes will be on display, with docents at each home to point out special aspects of the home.
Not only are the homes lovely to see, but it's a fabulous way to get a taste of the history of Los Gatos. I highly recommend this event, particularly to folks new to the town!
Tickets are $35 per person. Learn more at www.MuseumsOfLosGatos.org. Proceeds go to support the towns two museums (one a history museum, the other an art museum).
Would you like to volunteer to help put it on? You can do that and enjoy a free pass to the homes on tour.
Overall, we have enjoyed a milder summer here in Los Gatos this year. We didn't have quite so many days that broke a hundred degrees. Just as well, since there were more "staycations" here too!
As the summer begins edging toward fall, perhaps you're not feeling relaxed and energiezed - maybe you've been all work, no play. But even if you're not going on a trip, you can still indulge in a little local R & R, and much of it's at no cost. Need a couple of ideas?
San Jose State also has a great, free music concert series called the Summer Pops Music Series that just began on Aug 22nd and the San Jose Music in the Park has one more event left. Please visit the San Jose Metblogs page for the schedule (which includes both) - there are four more to come, including one later today)
Are you "music'd out"? Need something else to do? Few more ideas:
Testarossa's Wine & Cheese Weekend is happening now! Today from noon to four pm, visit the Testarossa tasting room and for $10 per person, sample five cheeses along with their delicious wines. (Also note Sept 6th, "Music on the Patio". See site for more info.)
Los Gatos enjoys two museums (one art, one history) plus a museum gallery. Events and museum access are low cost to free - please see the museums' events page online for details
For a list of more venues, from the RIngling Brothers Circus to Mountain Winery events, please visit the Merc's events page online - loads of local events in San Jose, Saratoga, Campbell and all over Silicon Valley
Got a favorite local event? Feel free to post it in a comment below. Although normally I delete "ads" that seem like spam, this time I'll make an exception - feel free to promote YOUR favorite local South Bay event here on Live in Los Gatos!
Tonight my husband, our daughter and I enjoyed a wonderful performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor, one of three shows now running at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, courtesy of the 8th annual Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival. As with other shows we've attended in past years, this one was playing to a full house.
The other offerings this year are A Midsummer Night's Dream and Jungle Book. I haven't seen them, but it is the same, strong cast (the Festival Theater Ensemble).
What is a little amazing to me is to realize that several of the ensemble members act in all three shows, which are running concurrantly. So for instance, Friday they performed in A Midsummer Night's Dream, tonight was The Merry Wives of Windsor, and tomorrow night will be The Jungle Book. Although my own experience performing onstage is very limited, it seems to me that doing three shows at once is a lot like trying to study Italian, Spanish and French in the same semester: it is probably very challenging to do it gracefully, not stumble or get confused.
But to watch them tonight, you'd never know that there was any other show to perform this week. All of the acting was good, with particularly stellar jobs done by Todd Wright (playing Falstaff) and Rachael Bakker (as Mistress Margaret Page). The lighting, sound, costumes, sets and everything that backs up good acting was right on target too.
Congratulations to the cast, crew, directors, producers and gazillion volunteers on another very successful run! Thanks to all of you who make this festival the newer tradition that we appreciate so much.
Some practical stuff for attending the shows:
Shows are at 8pm and last 2 hrs, 40 minutes with intermission. They do take credit cards and checks. If you want to attend all three shows, buy them as a bundle and save some money (see website for details).
Other stuff: Nice looking fleece sweaters and tshirts, as well as caps and other goodies, can be purchased and coffee, tea and cookies are available during the intermission for whatever donation you'd care to make.
Parking at the Oak Meadow lot can be iffy when the summer evenings are pleasant, as they were tonight (apparently it was foggy and cold last night!). Street parking is always a choice but it may take a little time. So to get the best seats (as you can probably tell from the photo, we were in the top row) and better parking, arrive 20 or 30 minutes early (not the 7 or 8 we did.)
And - I cannot stress this enough - dress in layers! The temperature drops considerably once the sun goes down. Bring your jacket, bring a blanket. You'll be glad you did.
In recent years, the town of Los Gatos has enjoyed a historic walking tour, "A Walk in and Out of the Past". The date moves around a bit but I didn't see it on any schedule and was wondering what happened to it as it's truly a delightful way to reconnect with the town's past.
As it turns out, Carol Gruetzner (who is in charge of the walk and created the concept) is recovering from some ankle surgery, so no walk is planned for this calendar year. However, the familiar cast of historical characters from the wild west days of Los Gatos are returning this Sunday, July 19th, 2009 - they will just be in one place this time rather than scattered around several blocks of the downtown.
The Vine to Wine exhibit is equally historical and will include the favorites from the last few years, and it will be a free event (unlike the walk) located at the Los Gatos history museum (Forbes Mill). Stop by the history museum at Forbes Mill (75 Church Street, near Los Gatos high and tucked away off the main drag) on Sunday afternoon between 1 and 4 pm for the exhibit, and between 1:15 and 3 for the visit of historic characters.
Congregation Shir Hadash formed a Re-employment group in February of 2009 to provide skill building programs and mutual support for the local South Bay Jewish community and is welcoming the wider community to participate. Meetings are every other Wednesday from 10:30 to 11:30am. Dave Slesnick, an HR professional and congregant, is coordinating the group.
For more information, please contact Rabbi Melanie Aron at 358-1751 x 4 or RabbiAron@ShirHadash.org. On Linked In? Log in, search for the group "Congregation Shir Hadash Re-Employment Group" and request to join it. If you have job leads to share, please write to jobs@ShirHadash.org.
From 11am until 5:30pm, there will be loads of fun events to celebrate Independence Day in downtown Los Gatos. The town has a flyer with detailed information on the entertainment (music, dancing, games) and more. Happy Fourth of July!
The music, which played from 6:30pm to a little past 8:30pm, was fantastic. Dennis Rowland is an engaging performer, both when singing and when chatting with the audience. The Full Spectrum Jazz is an awesome band by itself, but also worked in perfect sync with Mr. Rowland.
The crowd stayed to the end despite some fairly cool winds blowing in through the pass from Santa Cruz, especially after sunset (microclimates: it was warm and nearly windless out in Belwood, so the temp change caught me by surprise - next time, I'll remember to bring layers). Loads of booths ringed the periphery, enabling concert attendees to buy a little food (oysters, anyone?), wine or coffee. Patrons at Willow Street, just on the other side of North Santa Cruz Avenue, got to enjoy patio dining enhanced by great jazz. Not a bad way to take in the music!
Blankets are no longer permitted as they were causing loads of damage to the lawn, and most of the concert goers seemed aware of this and came prepared with soccer-viewing type chairs. This seemed to actually improve the overall situation as more people fit into the lawn area with chairs rather than a patchwork quilt of towels and blankets.
Many thanks to all the sponsors who make Jazz on the Plazz possible. See you next week!
A blog about Los Gatos real estate, homes, houses, condos, townhomes, housing market, neightborhoods, history, events, businesses, parks, schools, photos, issues, and lifestyle.
Mary Pope-Handy
Realtor, CRS, ABR, SRES, E-PRO
Luxor Real Estate Group
Mailing Address for Mary: PO Box 440 Los Gatos, CA 95031-0440
877 397-5391 (office/toll-free)
Tonight my husband, our daughter and I enjoyed a wonderful performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor, one of three shows now running at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, courtesy of the 8th annual 
But to watch them tonight, you'd never know that there was any other show to perform this week. All of the acting was good, with particularly stellar jobs done by Todd Wright (playing Falstaff) and Rachael Bakker (as Mistress Margaret Page). The lighting, sound, costumes, sets and everything that backs up good acting was right on target too.
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