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Cupertino’s 50-plus softball league promotes competition, camaraderie

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

The boys and girls of summer who gathered on the softball field at Cupertino’s Memorial Park late last month had a few more summers behind them than your average player.Bill Bonin was celebrating his 73rd birthday when he played in the June 29 game with the 50-plus co-ed softball league organized by the Cupertino Senior Center.“I like the competition and the camaraderie and the exercise,” said Bonin, who played intramural softball in college at UC Berkeley and has lived in Cupertino for 20 years.Harlan Jackson has been involved in the popular softball league for more than 10 years. Jackson, who has lived in Cupertino for more than 60 years, said he loves the personalities in this once-a-week league.“Everybody is fun; everybody’s out to have fun,” Jackson said. “What I like about this group is that everyone is understanding about everyone else’s strengths and limitations.”The league starts play at the end of March each year, if the weather is cooperating, and runs until the beginning...

Name your price for train ride on Billy Jones Day

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

Billy Jones DayBilly Jones’ legacy is hard to miss at his eponymous Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad; his name is painted on the side of the conductor’s car and appears above a grinning wildcat on the park’s logo. But on Sunday, July 23, the park will dedicate the entire day to celebrating its founder with Billy Jones Day at Oak Meadow Park. From 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., attendees will get to name their own price for a ride on the train and carousel.Hot weather safetyEarlier this month, Los Gatos residents got a taste of what will likely be a sweltering summer. Santa Clara County has resources available online for residents to help understand the risks of hot weather and stay safe during heat waves. The website, www.preparescc.org/heatsafety, includes information on cooling centers, which the town opens to the public during extreme weather, and is available in five languages. The Los Gatos Library is always available as a cooling center during business hours.Gouache art classesAspiring ...

Los Gatos’ pickleball courts draw hundreds of new players

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

At the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center, pickleball is becoming a “big dill.”In the past four months, more than 450 people have signed up to play the fast-growing, easy-to-learn sport at the Los Gatos JCC, said Danielle Patterson, the center’s marketing and communications director.“The pickleball courts have definitely grown in popularity,” Patterson said. “I’d say it’s one of the top reasons people are here. You hear that ‘dink’ sound when you walk through the door,”The sport has taken over the country and launched a professional major league with investors including LeBron James and Kevin Durant as well as Tom Brady and Drew Brees. More than 36 million people picked up paddles and played the sport last year, including celebrities like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.“It’s a pretty low-barrier-to-entry sport,” Patterson said. “You have a bunch of people doing it who are trying pickleball for the first time, (as well as) former tennis p...

Author shares fruits of her labor with Milpitas garden club

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

Local author Lisa Prince Newman shared her love of apricots with the Green Thumb Garden Club of Milpitas at the group’s June 26 meeting.Newman recently released the fifth anniversary edition of her cookbook and memoir, “For the Love of Apricots: Recipes and Memories of the Santa Clara Valley.”The author was raised locally in the ’60s and ’70s surrounded by acres of old French prune trees, persimmon, fig, apple, Meyer lemon, pomegranate, kumquat and loquat. Growing up, her mother Aileen instilled in her a love of farm-to-table cooking.On a winter walk through Novakovich Orchards in Saratoga, Newman was inspired write “For the Love of Apricots.” The book combines her passion for apricots and her culinary skills with regional history and environmental perspective.Club members and Newman engaged in a lively discussion in the community room of the Milpitas Police Department, sharing their childhood memories around apricots. Garden club president Valerie Meisner remembered cutting apricot...

Lyric Theatre celebrates 50 years with 3 shows and a gala in San Jose

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Lyric Theatre is staging three shows in repertory July 22-Aug. 6 and hosting a gala on July 30.The company kicks things off July 22 with a matinee of “Ragtime the Musical” and an evening performance of “The Best of Lerner and Loewe,” both at Hammer Theatre Center in downtown San Jose. Both shows run through Aug. 5.Nominated for 13 Tony Awards in 1998, “Ragtime” depicts racial tensions, infidelity and violence in early 1900s New York City. Terrence McNally’s book is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.Lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe’s partnership spanned three decades and spawned hit musicals including “My Fair Lady,” “Brigadoon,” “Paint Your Wagon” and “Camelot” along with the musical film “Gigi.” “The Best of Lerner and Loewe” includes highlights of these show, perfor...

Pond repurposing at Cupertino’s Memorial Park named project of the year

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

Award with purposeCupertino’s Memorial Park Ponds Repurposing Project was this year’s winner of the American Public Works Association Silicon Valley Project of the Year Award for projects under $2 million.The $1.68 million project removed the concrete liner for the old ponds, which have been drained since 2013 in response to drought restrictions. The city replaced the ponds with usable green space, planted garden areas, and did some minor paving to allow residents to walk through the area. In addition, the irrigation system was upgraded and modified to facilitate better water usage.New public works directorChad Mosley has moved up the ranks in Cupertino’s Department of Public Works, having recently been promoted from assistant director to director of the department.Mosley has worked for the Department of Public Works since 2009,  initially as a city engineer. In that role, he has overseen land development and helped manage the Capital Improvement Program.Mosley assumed his new role ...

Teens are behind the scenes for ‘Willy Wonka Jr’ in Sunnyvale

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

Sunnyvale Community Players’ production of “Willy Wonka Jr” is set to open July 14 thanks to the efforts of not only its young cast but of a group of teens who helped behind the scenes.The teens enrolled in the Players’ mentorship program learned the ins and outs of set, costume and lighting design and other aspects of theater production while helping get the musical, based on Roald Dahl’s classic book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” on its feet.Korinna “Coco” Dunn assisted director Emily Profitt, while Liv Do assisted vocal director Miguel Armendariz.Scenic and set designer Dutch Fritz had two teen mentees, Wren Iswandhi and Matine Nejad. Wren, who designed sets, handled publicity and played Auntie Em in their high school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” said working on “Wonka” deepened their love for the technical side of theater.“Wonka” marks the eighth show that Rose Ginsberg, who is assisting costume designer Diana Savastio, has worked on behind the scenes and her first...

An obsession: How members of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club are keeping tradition alive on Spreckels Lake 

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

The spectators arrive by accident, not yet aware of the roles they’re about to play at Spreckels Lake in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.A group gathers at a picnic table. A couple takes a seat on a nearby bench. A young woman sinks onto a blanket and pulls out a book. They show up for any number of reasons, none of which are to cheer on Rob Weaver and Jim Harrold, friendly rivals and titans of their sport.With remote controls attached to straps hanging around their necks and their thumbs pressed gently against their joysticks, they pace the pavement along the 950-foot-long lake, steering their boats around buoys as they duke it out in the Infinity 54 class of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club.“We get a lot of people watching us,” said Weaver. “Sometimes, we hand them the controls. Once they get a boat and start racing, they get hooked. They get obsessed.”Spreckels Lake glimmers on this sunny Saturday. Sun-soaked ducks swim near the shore on the west end, as giggling c...

The best Bay Area seafood shacks in Half Moon Bay and Point Reyes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

There’s nothing like a tasty seafood meal after a long day at the beach. If you’re hankering for some fresh or barbecued oysters, crispy calamari, a bowl of steaming clam chowder or a plate of grilled local halibut, here are a few suggestions for seafood spots near some of our favorite hidden beaches in Half Moon Bay and out at Point Reyes.Barbara’s Fishtrap, Half Moon BayWith its neon fish sign, waterside location and laidback feel, Barbara’s Fishtrap is the very epitome of a seafood shack. This casual eatery is Princeton Harbor’s go-to spot for local seafood, including crispy calamari, steamed clams, scallops and seafood pasta.Details: Open for lunch and dinner daily at 281 Capistrano Road in Half Moon Bay; barbarasfishtrap.com.Sam’s Chowder House, Half Moon BayThis very popular harborside eatery offers a full oyster bar — and legendary lobster rolls. (The Today Show dubbed the latter one of the five best sandwiches in the country.) Start with crab cakes, d...

Discovering the Bay Area’s hidden beaches from Half Moon Bay to Point Reyes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:31:42 GMT

The Bay Area’s Pacific coastline is one of our greatest attractions. The beaches that dot and dapple this rugged meeting of land and sea are why many of us live here. We love how our beaches, large or small, have moods that change with the weather and day of the week, and almost all of them offer a distinctive sense of solace and serenity that can only be found on a sandy, wave-lapped shore.Don’t like summer crowds? No worries, there are plenty of less-visited beaches in the Bay Area where amazing scenery can be discovered and enjoyed, even on weekends. And our epic wet winter has created a spectacular spring bloom on the coast that will last well into early summer, making a hidden beach adventure this year even more rewarding.Here are some of our favorite, lesser-known beaches to check out.Bean Hollow State Beach is an easy stop for Highway 1 travelers heading south to Santa Cruz or north to Half Moon Bay. (Photo by Ben Davidson)One of the features of Pebble Beach are the amazing, ...