Los Altos Hills will celebrate its 50th anniversary Friday in grand style, with a gala evening event, a documentary video and a new historical display chronicling the town’s history.
Planning for the celebration began months ago, with the community relations committee and an ad hoc historical display committee taking on the lion’s share of the work. After the gala, the historical display and video will be available for viewing at town hall.
At the sold-out black-tie-optional gala, 300 Hills residents and friends will mingle, eat and dance at the Los Altos Golf & Country Club. A disc jockey will spin the biggest hits of each year from the town’s founding in 1956 to today. Children from Bullis Charter School are scheduled to deliver a special choral rendition of “The Sound of Music.”
The event, set to begin at 6 p.m., will showcase the 14 historical panels developed by the ad hoc committee. Every couple attending will receive a complimentary copy of the DVD, showcasing the treasures of Los Altos Hills. Contributions from the town, the historical society and the people who produced each work funded the project.
“We really occupy a unique position along the Peninsula,” Mayor Breene Kerr said as he described the residents who have contributed to the “rich history of the town.” Kerr delivers the introduction to the 20-minute documentary film, produced by Nancy Traficanti and Mary Davey.
“It provides an overview of all the things that aren’t all that well known in the community – the pathways, the people, Westwind Barn,” said Duffy Price, who headed up the ad hoc committee. “As our population and demographics have changed … we (have) come up with something people could watch to get a sense of what the town is all about,” she said.
“I was able to see a preview of it and it just brings tears to your eyes,” said Roy Woolsey, chairman of the community relations committee.
The anniversary’s other grand project, the earth-toned, 1.5-by-7-foot display panels, has the professional look of a museum exhibit. Each of the 14 pieces tells a part of the Hills’ history, from its founding to today. Two last-minute additions, panels 13 and 14, reproduce the Green Sheets, the “declaration of independence” printed by the Hills’ founding residents as a statement of community and purpose prior to incorporation.
“When you read them … you see that the founders really were very independent thinkers and wanted government by and for the people,” Hills resident Alexander Atkins said. His company Alexander Atkins Design Inc. created the panels with the help of researcher and writer Debra Black and other members of the community.
In addition to digitally enhancing and repairing historic photos, Atkins digitized the Green Sheets so that residents can read and use them as editable text. The panels will remain on display in town hall until they find a permanent home. The documentary video will be on sale for $5.
“This is a history, not the history, because there are so many stories that can be told,” Black said. “We could have made it several times larger.”
Atkins emphasized that the story is not over with the completion of these efforts. Cards on which residents can share their own stories are planned to accompany the display, and Atkins said that he hopes the whole project can someday become a book.
The party will continue at the town’s anniversary-themed June 4 picnic.
