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Published on 07/14/1997 All articles from this issue

Festival blessed with perfect weather, upbeat crowd

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue

Town Crier Staff Writer

Folks strolled up Main Street under clear skies and gentle sun to the soothing sounds of music from the Andes. They boogied along Second Street to the beat of the twist. Live music mingled in the air with balloons, barbecues and bustle. Loads of bustle.

Thousands and thousands - some estimated 150,000 - came from all over the Bay Area to enjoy the two-day 18th annual Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival held last Saturday and Sunday in downtown Los Altos.

Events began at 10 a.m. By 10:30 on Saturday people were already scrounging for parking.

"I thought I'd come early and find parking - ha ha," said a veteran festival-goer from Oakland who declined to give her name as she streaked toward the booths.

San Mateo shopper Mary McCormick bought handfuls of small carved cats and birds from Cerri Noto in her Folkz Art booth.

For Noto, a craftswoman from Woodland, this was her first time at the Los Altos festival.

And business was good. By Sunday evening Noto was totally sold out.

"I use recycled redwood from fences," Noto said, for her carved animals and figures. She also uses discarded asparagus crates from the grocery store for her work.

Her disabled son, 28-year-old Peter, carves all the birds. She called her most popular item, that sold for $8.50, "a cheep chirp on a birch perch."

A few booths from Noto grandmothers bellied up to buy handmade soft cloth quilted items like "Quiet Time" books with buttons and bows for little fingers.

Suzanne and Kermit Purcell, San Jose residents, bought a blue "Quiet Time" for a great-nephew "due next week. I always have my Christmas shopping done by Christmas and this is for Christmas," Suzanne Purcell said.

Diane Khorey, a craftswoman from San Carlos who makes all the soft toys that she sells, said she has exhibited at the festival before.

"Business is good," she said Sunday, "better than last year."

Claudia Bowers came from San Francisco to shop at the festival with her friend Ruth Jones, who recently moved into the downtown Parc Regent condos.

"There's more variety here than what you see usually," Bowers said.

For $5 and a photo ID, folks could buy a festival wineglass or a beer mug and go tasting.

"It started out with the wineglasses being more popular," said Los Altos resident and former mayor Ruth Koehler who volunteered in the wineglass booth. "But as it's gotten hotter, the beer mugs are picking up speed."

Nena Price and Harold Hughes, Realtors with Coldwell Banker, worked next door in the Sunrise Winery booth pouring tastes.

Ron Stortz, who owns the Cupertino winery with his wife, encouraged those tasting to visit the winery, "a beautiful spot," with trails and picnic areas. Their tasting is in a restored turn-of-the-century ranch house that is on the national historic register.

Not everyone came to shop or sip. Palo Alto resident Laurie Latour came to race in the Sunday 10K run sponsored by éternelle Magazine, owned by Los Altos Hills resident Valerie Foster.

Latour learned about the race from a flier in Starbucks in Palo Alto.

"This is the first time I've been in Los Altos," Latour said. "The race brought me, but I'm sure I'll be back." After the race she planned to stay and shop.

Andy Montgomery and Alison Preston, San Jose residents, said they came for the food, as they munched on barbecued teriyaki chicken-on-a-stick.

Preston works in Los Altos at Organizational Diagnostics, "so it's my town." And Montgomery grew up in Los Altos. They've been coming to the festival for about 10 years.

Los Altos residents Chip and Mary Lion said they loved the KIDZONE, as they stood with their three children, watching kids learn as they played in the bicycle safety booth.

"It's great. It's grown. A couple of years ago they didn't even have a kid section," Chip Lion said.

Things went smoothly from the police point of view. "Just a few lost children," said Los Altos Police officer Lara Walker. But happy endings for all as they were reunited with parents.

The Los Altos Village Association sponsors the Arts & Wine Festival as a fund raiser for association activities. Hundreds of local residents volunteer to make the event a success.