School carnival, alumni dinner highlight busy slate of activities

By Kathleen Acuff, Town Crier Staff Writer

Los Altos High School alumni from 45 graduating classes will converge on Los Altos Friday for three days of celebration as LAHS turns 50.

The weekend tees off at 10 a.m. Friday with a shotgun scramble at Eagle Ridge Golf Club in Gilroy and continues through Sunday. Saturday will see the serious partying, beginning with the school’s first carnival, an all-day event to which the community is enthusiastically invited.

The carnival is scheduled 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the soccer field that borders Jardin Avenue behind the school.

“We’re planning to use as much space as humanly possible,” said co-chairwoman Joyce Imprescia.

Instead of mechanical rides, interactive activities with giant, inflatable toys will take the field with midway games and student-run activity booths. Imprescia said the committee coordinating the event wanted activities the whole family could enjoy. She hazarded a guess that this first LAHS carnival is the first carnival anywhere to have only inflatable interactive amusements.

“Our inflatable rides are friendly to everyone, as opposed to mechanical rides. And we chose midway games and other activities to appeal to preschool to high school ages,” she said.

The inflatable amusements include two giant slides, a rock-climb slide, two obstacle courses, bungee football, a super caterpillar, a jousting arena and the evocatively named twister bouncy boxing activity.

Midway games will include frog fly, high striker, hockey shot, basketball hoops, baseball and football toss, speed pitch and soccer shot. LAHS students will run activity booths: cakewalk, fortune telling, face painting and caricature drawing.

Twenty dollars will buy one person unlimited turns on the “rides.” Games and food - Chef Chu’s, Mr. Pizza Man and barbecue - are extra.

The LAHS folkloric dance group Mexico Lindo and three bands will perform, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aftermath and The Dave Abbott Band are composed of alumni, and Tone Daddy is the third band. Proceeds from the carnival will benefit LAHS clubs and boosters. For more information, contact Joyce Imprescia at 941-9216 or mcjci@pacbell.net.

Nearby, at 10:30 a.m. at Main Street Cafe & Books, 134 Main St., former LAHS principal Bob Madgic signs his latest book, “Shattered Air.” The book signing is not an official alumni event.

The weekend’s main event is the alumni street party on Main, 6-11 p.m., Saturday. It is a ticket-holder’s party, catered by Chez Vous with no-host wine and beer. Revelers will check in at Second and Main or at the State and Main Plaza at 6 p.m. to get the paraphernalia that will enable them to party in style.

The Hit Men will provide music from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, 8-11 p.m.

Sunday’s events begin at 11 a.m., giving the heartiest partiers time to recuperate and get over to the school for the alumni baseball game, a barbecue and an alumni band concert.

The events will end at 4 p.m.