The night of March 14 marked the Santa Clara International Exchange Concert at Santa Clara University’s Mayer Theater. Japan’s Okayama Gakugeikan High School Symphonic Band, The Ambassadors-Santa Clara Symphonic Youth Honor Band, and Déjà Vu and Déjà vu II all performed to an appreciative audience.
The theater was filled to capacity. Among the attendees were Counsel-General of Japan, Yasumasa Nagamine and his wife; Consul Takanori Okuda, State Assembly Member Paul Fong; City of Santa Clara Vice-Mayor Jamie Matthews, and Santa Clara Council Member Will Kennedy. The Sister Cities Association of Santa Clara and San Jose, along with Sister Cities International and Buscher Music Association, are among those who sponsored the event.
The music, which ranged from toe-tapping big band and a cappella singing to operatic overtures and Japanese favorites, is a way to bring the two countries together and “an example of the rich exchange between Santa Clara and San Jose and their sister cities of Izumo and Okayama, Japan,” according to the Counsel-General. The talent and dedication of the musicians and the enthusiastic leadership of the conductors, David Ladd Anderson and Shigenori Nakagawa, was exhibited by the fun everyone was having, as well as the quality of the performance.
The Okayama Gakugeikan High School Symphonic Band has been in existence for 34 years and consists of 113 members. The band received the Gold Prize in Japan at a prestigious national contest there, after competing with about 3000 other bands. Déjà vu is set to go to Europe this July and participate in world-known jazz festivals. “They were very well-received last year,” says Mike Boockholdt, parent of one of the bass trombonists. And the Ambassadors visited Japan last year and played at Okayama Symphony Hall.
The concert concluded with the Okayama Band and the Ambassadors playing “Stars and Stripes Forever,” complete with Japanese and American flags waving in the background.
When asked what was the highlight for him, the Counsel-General remarked, “While every tune is great, I liked the last one the best. It was very touching and all about heart-to-heart across the Pacific with the Sister Cities.”
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68th Annual Camellia Show
By Suzy Paluzzi
Over 2500 different camellia blooms brightened the Santa Clara Community Center on March 7 and 8 for the annual Camellia Show. And the number of attendees to the free event was higher than last year.
“There is an increase in interest here today,” beams John Mendoza III, Co-Chairperson and President of the Camellia Society of Santa Clara County, Inc., co-sponsors of the show with the City of Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department. Mendoza points out the 2009 introduction of the camellia, Tiny Gem, a “good unique border plant that grows up to only two and a half feet in ten years and has tiny white flowers.” This is another addition to the incredible assortment this year.
That is the beauty of the camellia. The varieties range in color, petal form, fragrance, leaf type, and size, to name a few of the distinctions. For example, the Holly Bright camellia has a serrated leaf, reminiscent of the holly plant. And camellia bushes can grow to more than six feet tall. The display at the show also contained Senritsu Ko, a camellia that looks like a rose, which was last year’s introduction.
Both novices and long-time camellia growers can be found discussing the plant and entering the contest that takes place. Novice Carol McCarthy, Assistant City Manager of Santa Clara, put in a bloom to be judged, Silver Waves, which was rewarded with a place at the Head Table of the Court of Honor. Entries were there from all over northern California. Best of Show went to prior winners Don and Joan Lesmeister for Sir Robert Muldoon. The basis for comparison is size, condition, color and how the plant is supposed to grow and look. Judges must be fully trained to take part.
“The purpose for the show is to educate the public about the camellia,” says Mendoza.
Jack Hillan, Co-Chairperson, shares that “Camellias are native to the upper regions in China so they are hardy and used to wet weather and frost.” “Camellias are the only flower that blooms in the winter with such color,” adds Mendoza.
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South Bay Stallions Bring Smash Mouth Football to Town
By Robert Haugh
Providing a venue where players can be part of a team and stay in touch with people who share the love for the game, semi-pro football brings hard-hitting, smash mouth football to the Bay Area.
The most recent addition to the semi-pro football ranks is the South Bay Stallions, a new franchise of the Northern California Football League.
One of the biggest goals of the team, according to Head Coach/owner Kurt Zubler “is to win and provide the fans exciting football action.”
Stallions’ players come from a variety of circumstances. Most played in High school and Pop Warner, with a handful of newly graduated Junior College players. The Stallions have also garnered some players who had tried out for the San Jose Sabrecats. Many players have played in NCAA Division I and II.
Matt Martinez, Donny Johnson and Jason Walker are three local players who have past playing history in local Pop Warner football, such as the Santa Clara Lions or Sunnyvale Rockets. DB Antione Briggs is a 2007 Wilcox High School graduate who excelled then as a Charger.
Zubler wanted the “chance to call my own shots … to create a team in the South Bay to compete in the more competitive NCFL, and to do so with integrity.”
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900 Kiely: Residents Staunchly Oppose Project
By Alessio Cei
As developer Fairfield Residential comes ever closer to breaking ground on its immense project at 900 Kiely Blvd, which is slated to house nearly 2,000 people, residents continue to oppose what they see as an unnecessary, disruptive intrusion into their neighborhoods.
“Contrary to developer belief, I have no problem with higher-density development, but the project as a whole should make sense,” said Kevin Park, a Santa Clara resident who runs www.liveforeverodt.com, a website dedicated to defeating the current plan. “By ‘project’ I also include social, economic, and academic effects, not just environmental…Rather than try to understand these issues and the growing problem with crime in our area, Fairfield Residential is simply proposing the addition of 2,000 people.”
Last year, the Santa Clara Unified School District was nearly forced to go to the ballot box to procure new funding to cover the estimated influx of new students, an electoral struggle that was only averted by an eleventh-hour compromise with the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and developers, the latter of whom conceded $6,500 in additional funding per housing unit.
The chief concern for many residents is traffic. “With 900 [housing units], you figure, 1,800 cars extra,” said an area resident, who asked to be identified only as Jane. “I don’t know where we’re going to put those extra cars.” Kiely Blvd., the largest street bordering the property, is two lanes in each direction and sees a heavy load of traffic already; all other streets bordering the property are only one lane in each direction.
“Build it and they will come, and they will take the bus,” said John Reagan, president of the Casa de Valle Homeowner’s Association, describing the city and developer’s approach to traffic. “I’m a bus-taker. My employer gives me a free bus pass,” said Reagan. “My argument before City Council was, ‘Why don’t you impose on the developer that they have to provide passes as a condition of approval on the project?’ That at least gives [public transit] a running chance.”
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Police Blotter: Week of March 15, 2009
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Burglary Location: 1500 Block of Space Park Dr.
Suspect(s) entered an adjacent vacant business and cut a hole in the wall shared with a restaurant’s storage room. The suspects removed a quantity of beer and fled after setting off an alarm.
Case Number 09-2466
Drug Arrest Location: 3200 Block of El Camino Real
Officers Niesen and Schneider made contact with a parolee at a motel. A parole related search of his room revealed a controlled substance and he was arrested.
Case Number 09-2484
DUI Location: Intersection of Market & Winchester
Sergeant Fitting made contact with a man who was standing in the middle of the road with his motorcycle lying across the sidewalk. The man was intoxicated and was arrested for DUI.
Case Number 09-2490
Drug Arrest Location: Intersection of South Dr. & South Park Lane
Officer Phan made contact with three individuals who were walking around a neighborhood with two-way radios. One person was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia and a second was also arrested for a drug charge.
Case Number 09-2495
Drug Arrest Location: 2100 Block of the Alameda
Officer Niesen stopped a car with expired registration. The driver was on parole for a weapons violation and the passenger was on parole for drug sales. The passenger was in possession of methamphetamine, which he attempted to get rid of by dumping it on the floor of the vehicle. Both were arrested.
Case Number 09-2497
Monday, March 9th, 2009
Domestic Violence Location: 1900 Block of Stanley Way
During an argument, an intoxicated woman struck her husband across the forehead. Officers responded to the report of domestic violence and she was arrested.
Case Number 09-2498
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