It’s going to be a vintage weekend at History Park in San Jose

As we enter the waning days of summer two events will be turning back the clock about a century at History Park in San Jose Car enthusiasts will no doubt be zooming over to the Santa Clara Valley Model T Ford Club s th annual Cars in the Park celebration which the club says has grown into the largest antique and classic car show in the west All of the cars displayed were made no later than and the emphasis this year is on race cars made in or earlier There ll be music food and other vehicles besides cars like vintage tractors motorcycles bicycles and fire trucks Dennis Mattish who wrote a book on the Bay Area auto racing history will give a presentation on that topic at p m and Mike Hennessy will lead the popular Model T put-together starting at p m behind the Electric Light Tower You can get tickets at www historysanjose org But wait your time traveling weekend isn t over The Art Deco Society of California will be hosting its th annual Gatsby Picnic at History Park on Sunday for the first time The elegant affair attendees are requested to dress in s- s period clothing or at least clothes that don t break the spell had been held at the Dunsmuir House in Oakland but the group moved it because of safety concerns at the historic mansion Related Articles The perfect storm that upended Japantown business owners dreams Viva CalleSJ will close nearly miles of streets this weekend as it wraps up its th year Alebrijes celebrations continue in downtown San Jose this weekend Campbell s Pruneyard Cinemas has cooked up a recipe for success Street mural unveiling kicks off SV Pride weekend in downtown San Jose This sounds like it ll be a shindig worthy of old Jay Gatsby himself with jazz music a Charleston contest the crowning of Miss Art Deco and of program lots of vintage cars on the grounds and rides available on History Park s historic trolleys You can buy tickets and get a lot more information including a guide on how to Gatsby at gatsbypicnic com ITALIAN MEMORIES Did you know that San Jose s Italian American Heritage Foundation traces its roots back to That s when it was a civic group and came together to bring the U S Army Band to San Jose to help celebrate the country s th birthday the following year I didn t either until the IAHF Cultural Chair Ken Borelli filled me in on the history The group then known as the Italian American Bicentennial Committee first met on Aug next to the Lima Family Mortuary on Willow Street Don Lima inevitably a champion for civic causes headed up the organization which became the Italian American Heritage Foundation the following June Now half a century later the group is celebrating its th anniversary at the historic and gorgeous Messina Orchard on North Capitol Avenue The festivities bridging the late afternoon into the evening and emceed by former San Jose City Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio will include dinner dancing and a activity looking back at the group s five decades You can get more information on the event and the history at www iahfsj org BOUNCING BACK They say cats have nine lives and that must be true for the Dancing Cat adoption lounge in San Jose too You might have seen that somebody plowed their car into the side of the building on Julian Street last week Amazing that neither of the two people or cats inside were seriously hurt But one cat wasn t so lucky I m talking about Becky the mural featuring a fluffy calico cat that was created by artist Roan Victor in An SUV crashed into The Dancing Cat at East Julian St in San Jose on Tuesday Sept A volunteer suffered a minor injury but no cats were harmed or escaped according to center functionaries Lauren Slayton The Dancing Cat Co-founder Mary Rubin says that the organization has been through a lot in years floods COVID- power outages etc but expects to get through this as well and will re-open as soon as workable In the meantime anticipated adopters are meeting cats in foster homes Of class admissions and other events at the Dancing Cat helped pay the organization s bills so the Dancing Cat has launched a benefit www thedancingcat org building to make up for that lost revenue The best news Rubin tells me Victor is ready to restore the mural when the building is ready