May Fete In Camera

At a press conference Saturday, Aidan E. Drekmeier announced his candidacy for the 2036 Palo Alto City Council race and his further intention of becoming our youngest mayor yet — he is turning 2 this summer. Actually, he and his father, former Mayor Peter Drekmeier, were among the dozen or so people I greeted this morning at the annual May Fete Parade, some of whom I also caught in camera — I think "huis clos" is the French term.

First I saw Seth Birnbaum, his wife, Laurie, and daughter, Brenna, as they were getting ready for their big day marching, and then Brenna playing for her  first softball team. Seth and I platicamos about the good old days with Neighbors Abroad; he and I met on the Oaxaca exchange in 1981.

Then I ran into Ross Eltherington, my old classmate (well, if not "old" then "graying," as we both are) who was shooting photos of his middle school son marching while his younger son stood by. I forgot his son's name but I somehow do recall he was wearing a Buster Posey replica jersey. Ross made a cameo appearance here; when his father was about our age, he had a slightly more exciting media opportunity, appearing in the Steve McQueen movie, Bullitt.

I greeted council members Nancy Shepherd and Gail Price pre-parade, but they were too quick for me to capture on film. Gail reminded me that Monday at Council, there will be a proclamation in honor of the painter Nathan Oliveira.

At the top of the parade, I caught Mayor Sid Espinosa greeting Peter and Aidan, and as a bonus, I can see Chief Dennis Burns and former Mayor Pat Burt in frame. 

Closely behind Sid were school board members Camille Townsend (I caught) and Claire Klausner (I missed; my cell phone camera only holds about 9000 KB in memory and was full; I had to keep deleting images to shoot my remaining shots).

May Fete could easily be mistaken for a camera festival; I would estimate there are at least 500 people who took better photos there than these, but I hope I make up for it with my cutlines.

I caught my neighbor, Nancy Pleibel, who runs the Farmers Market, and either Peaches or Ginger, her dachshunds.

I took two shots of students of , the same school I attended years ago. I don't think we had a marching band (we may not have had anyone who played clarinet) and I am certain we did not have a squadron of electric vehicles.

Afterward, I checked out the literacy tables at Lytton Plaza and got info about Bookshare (started by the Fruchtermans, but today represented by the Sopkins) and the African Library Project, started by Chris Bradshaw from Portola Valley, which has established more than 300 libraries on that continent and reminded me of other projects I have supported, such as Room To Read (via Anne Le of Tamarine and her art auctions) and FACE Aids, started by Julie Veroff, the young Stanford Rhodes laureate.  

In the background of some of these shots you can note that is showing Love Parade, perhaps, not coincidentally, the 1929 Lubitsch musical with Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald, and Gigi (nine Oscars in 1958). Those films (for anyone reading this as news) can be caught tonight through Monday, May 9. (And unlike the Sarte play that I am subtly alluding to here, the exits are clearly marked.)

To wrap up my morning and continue the Francophile theme (regarding the country, not the ubiquitous actor), I took home two orders of French fries from the new burger grill next to Mill's.