An Afternoon With Senator Phelan September 16, 2012

The Saratoga History Museum presents, “An Afternoon with Senator Phelan” on Sunday, September 16 from 12-4 PM. The free event will include classical music, a play, poetry reading by local Poet Laureates and a treasure hunt at the Museum at 20450 Saratoga-Los Gatos Road in Saratoga.

James Duval Phelan, a three- time mayor of San Francisco and US senator, dedicated his home, Villa Montalvo to the arts and since his death in 1930, Montalvo has been dedicated to that goal. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Villa Montalvo. Phelan was well-known locally for mentoring and giving galas featuring artists.
The event will start at 1:00 PM with, “A Classical Quartet”, a group of string musicians who play both semi and classical music. This is a repeat performance for musicians Tommy Chiou, Casper Chen, Linus Lu, and Kevin Lian who have played at the Museum and locally.

A reader’s theatre performance at 2:00 PM will feature Jack Dunstan posing as a San Francisco Sun reporter during the 1930’s and who will interview Senator Phelan played by Brian Berg. Dunstan once interviewed actress Olivia deHavilland during one of her visits to Saratoga.

At 3:00 PM Los Gatos Poet Laureate Parthenia M. Hicks will emcee the poetry reading as well as read several of her poems. Joining her in reading original poetry will be Sally Ashton the current Santa Clara County Poet Laureate; Dave Denny, the Poet Laureate of Cupertino; well-known author and poet Erica Goss and Saratoga resident, poet and author Mary Lou Taylor.

Visitors can also see the exhibit, “A Day in the Hills” featuring the life of Senator Phelan explained through memorabilia and photos. The free exhibit will run through the end of October.

Children and adults can participate in a treasure hunt in the museum—seeking clues to a list of questions –prizes are available. Children can also participate in old fashioned games outside the Museum. Docents will be giving tours of the historic McWilliams House as well as the one-room schoolhouse during the event.