By Khalida Sarwari
A former bakery owner, a retired fire chief and jeweler and former schoolteacher will be among the honorees at the Saratoga Historical Foundation’s recognition dinner on May 22.
The “Honoring Saratogans” dinner, held annually to recognize Saratoga residents who have contributed in the areas of community service and local history, will be paying tribute to Bob Cancellieri, Ernie Kraule and Betty Peck this year.
“This dinner is one way we can recognize and celebrate the contributions made by individuals from all walks of life, across a range of areas that improves the community in which we live,” said Saratoga Historical Foundation president Annette Stransky. “It is a great way to thank these people who through hard work and dedication have significantly contributed to the community.”
The former owner of Saratoga Plaza Bakery on Big Basin Way, Cancellieri specialized once in a pastry called almond delights that he says would attract the likes of filmmaker and actor Orson Welles, who’d send an assistant to pick them up when he was in town for a few weeks in 1958, recalled Cancellieri. Welles even wrote him a note saying how much he had enjoyed the pastries, Cancellieri said, but when he sent the note to be printed in the Saratoga News, it wasn’t returned to him.
Cancellieri has served as a volunteer firefighter, been on the board of the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council and Southwest YMCA and a member of the Saratoga Lions Club for 55 years, serving as president four times. In 2012, he won first place in the Saratoga’s Got Talent show along with a group of singers called The Crew.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” he said, about finding out he’d been selected as one of the three honorees. “I said to myself, I guess I did some extraordinary things, too.”
Kraule is best known as chief of the Saratoga Fire District for more than 30 years in a 40-year career with the fire department. Following his retirement, he oversaw the construction of the Saratoga Fire Station on Saratoga Avenue in 2002. Locals may also remember he ran Kraule’s Jewelers on Big Basin Way, a company that his parents started in 1950. He said he’d be taking his wife, Paula, to the recognition dinner.
“I’m very honored; I’m very excited,” he said. “It will be kind of a fun day to meet a lot friends and acquaintances, people that I’ve known over the years.”
Kraule is a fire commissioner and presently serves on the board of directors at Our Lady of Fatima Villa and the Saratoga History Museum. He’s also served on the boards of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce and the Saratoga Historical Foundation and has been involved with the Saratoga Rotary Charitable Foundation. With a reputation as a problem solver, Kraule hops in his plane when he needs a “10,000-mile view of things.”
“I don’t own a boat, I own a plane,” he quipped. “It’s a lot more exciting.”
More than 40 years in education wasn’t enough for Peck, a former schoolteacher and published author. In 1993, she enrolled at Mills College at the age of 72 to get her doctorate in education through Nova Southeastern University. Her dissertation was on beauty in the classroom, said her daughter, Anna Rainville.
“It was just so wonderful to be able to have the time to do it, because I was always so busy and I loved it,” said Peck.
In 1956, Peck founded the Easterbrook Farm School, which now goes by the name Los Gatos-Saratoga Observation Nursery School. Named after its caretakers, the late Harold and Louise Easterbrook, the school focuses on play, being outside in a natural setting and learning to get along with others.
Her other accomplishments include building a community garden in 1971 that was used by thousands of children over the course of 15 years and operating a program through the Santa Clara County Office of Education called Kindergarten Forum where she regularly invites teachers to her home for mentoring and discussion. The next one is scheduled for June, according to Rainville.
Peck also holds weekly salons at her home, gathering local artists, writers and educators over a potluck lunch, a tradition she started with her late husband, Willys, 30 years ago.
“At 94, she has a great life,” Rainville said. “She is vibrant and giving and waking up with new ideas every day.”
Last year’s honorees were Henry Clarke, a World War II veteran and plumbing shop owner; Rhoda Ann Porter, former Saratoga High School secretary; and Adrian Stanga, a WWII vet and former Sunnyvale school principal.
The Saratoga Historical Foundation is a nonprofit organization that operates the Saratoga History Museum, which contains one of the largest collections of history and memorabilia on the city and people of Saratoga.
The recognition dinner will take place May 22 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Foothill Club. Tickets are $45 for foundation members and $50 for non-members and can be purchased by sending a check to “Honoring Saratogans/SHF” at P.O. Box 172, Saratoga, CA 95071.
For more information, call 408.867.4311 or email roberthimel@att.net.
