Community

Sanger

Journalist and author Thomas Sanger told the compelling story of the World War II torpedoing and sinking of the British passenger ship SS Athenia in his Nov. 20 Morning Forum of Los Altos presentation, “The Athenia Story: The Forgotten Tale of a Passenger Ship Torpedoed on the First Day of WWII.”

The Athenia was the first ship attacked in World War II. Sanger was inspired by the ship’s story, as his grandmother, Rhoda Thomas, was a passenger and a survivor. She wrote 14 letters about her experience and then stashed them away. Finding the letters after she died prompted Sanger to write about the ordeal. His book “Without Warning” is a fictionalized account of the sinking and of the heroism of the crew, especially Chief Officer Barnet Copland.

Two new directors are set to join the Los Altos-based Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board of Directors.

The board unanimously approved Moss Beach resident Zoe Kersteen-Tucker to fill an open board seat at its public meeting Nov. 27.

The following free events are scheduled at the Los Altos main library, 13 S. San Antonio Road. Events are held in the Orchard Room unless otherwise noted. For more information, call 948-7683 or visit sccl.org/losaltos.

• 6:30-8:30 p.m. today: A winter paper-crafting activity is scheduled, part of the library’s Crafts After Dark Adult/Teen Craft Program. The event is free, no registration is required and supplies will be provided.

Courtesy of Robin Chapman
The J. Gilbert Smith House is a centerpiece of the Los Altos History Museum.

San Antonio Road once stretched from El Camino Real up past Skyline Boulevard into La Honda, when pioneers used it as a redwood logging road during the 19th century. Before that, it was an Ohlone pathway, traveled by California’s original inhabitants as they moved from San Francisco Bay into the foothills.

Early orchardist J. Gilbert Smith pitched a tent on his land along this road and lived under the California sky as he worked to plant his apricot trees and build his house, beginning in 1901.

Whelan

Tickets are available for the Los Altos History Museum’s final Crab Feed fundraiser, scheduled 6-10 p.m. Feb. 2 at St. William Church Parish Hall, 611 S. El Monte Ave., Los Altos.

For 31 years, the all-you-can-eat crab fest and live auction has been a Los Altos tradition, raising funds to help the museum continue its mission of producing engaging educational programs and exhibitions for the community. The final Crab Feed will honor Pinky Whelan, founder and creator of the event.

The 17th annual benefit concerts for the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, “The 1950s – When Broadway Ruled,” are scheduled 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 and 13 at Spieker Ballroom on the Menlo School campus, 50 Valparaiso Ave., Atherton.

The concerts will include selections from “Guys and Dolls,” “The Sound of Music,” “My Fair Lady,” “West Side Story” and “The King and I.”