There were robots and rockets and even a little freestyle rapping at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose on Saturday night. There also were Girl Scouts showing off their ingenuity around downtown’s famed Purple Museum, and more than 350 grown-ups having fun like they were kids again.

The occasion was CDM’s Keep on Playing gala, where Sylvia Acevedo — a rocket scientist, tech entrepreneur and former CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA — was honored with the Legacy for Children Award. Keeping with the fun theme of the night, which included people making kaleidoscopes in the LeRoy Neiman Art Studio and launching rockets in Discovery Meadow, most attendees were wearing their best sneakers.

Legacy for Children Award recipient Sylvia Acevedo poses with Children's Discovery Executive Director Marilee Jennings in the museum's outdoor amphitheater at the Keep on Playing gala on Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
Legacy for Children Award recipient Sylvia Acevedo poses with Children’s Discovery Executive Director Marilee Jennings in the museum’s outdoor amphitheater at the Keep on Playing gala on Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group) 

After all, heels or stiff leather shoes don’t do as well in Bill’s Backyard, the Children’s Discovery Museum’s outdoor space where Catalyst Arts put on a “cosmic night circus” with a juggler, aerialist and fire dancers. That show followed a performance by violinist Abby Young from a unique stage, atop the firetruck inside the museum that’s normally swarming with kids.

The evening also served as the fundraising launch for the Exploration Portal, a new 4,000 square-foot outdoor space with eight interactive exhibits to help kids delve into the natural world. Based on renderings on display Saturday night, when it opens — everyone’s fingers are crossed for summer 2024 — the highlight will be three Giant SmartFlowers, with solar-panel systems in the shape of a sunflower that will track the sun across the sky each day and close up at night. They’re not just decorative either, but will generate energy to power the outdoor space. (You can find out more about it at explorationportal.org.)

OFF TO A RUNNING START: The third annual Bloom Energy & Tarana Wireless Stars and Strides run to benefit the Valley Health Foundation — the new name for the Valley Medical Center Foundation — should be a fun way to kick off the month in downtown San Jose.

Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen is planning to bring out two classes of cadets –about 70 runners — to set the pace for the 5K/10K run/walks. The department helicopter will land on the lawn at Discovery Meadow, with a young patient from Valley Medical Center, accompanied by superheroes Wonder Woman and Superman, helping to kick off the 10 a.m. kids fun run.

A stars-and-stripes wearing Michael Elliott, CEO of the Valley Health Foundation, speaks to the crowd at the second annual Stars and Strides Run on July 2, 2022 in downtown San Jose. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
A stars-and-stripes wearing Michael Elliott, CEO of the Valley Health Foundation, speaks to the crowd at the second annual Stars and Strides Run on July 2, 2022 in downtown San Jose. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group) 

There’s still time to register at starsandstridesrun.com, and as I’m helping to judge the costume contest for the race, I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of people out there early wearing costumes — whether they’re Independence Day-themed or otherwise. What’s the point of dressing up, you might ask? Individual winners get roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines, and winners of the group costume category get discounted tickets. And they’ll probably get mentioned in a local news column, too. The contest happens at 7:15 a.m. before the races start at 8 a.m.

A festival in the meadow follows the races with a beer/mimosa garden and music by the Idol Hands band, featuring medical pros from VMC who moonlight as musicians (or maybe it’s the other way around).

SHOW AND TELL: I had a great time serving as guest host for San Jose Stage Company‘s Monday Night Live fundraiser held at Blanco Urban in San Pedro Square on, well, Monday night. The San Jose City Council members who lampooned themselves a bit on stage — Mayor Matt Mahan and councilmembers Domingo Candelas, Dev Davis, Pam Foley and Omar Torres — were all good sports and held their own comedically with San Jose Stage vet Will Springhorn Jr.

It also was a celebration of the Stage’s 40th anniversary, going back to its first production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” upstairs at Eulipia on South First Street. The husband-and-wife team of Artistic Director Randall King and Executive Director Cathleen King aren’t showing any signs of slowing down, either, having just finished another season. And they extended their praise to some longtime supporters of the company, including Supervisor Cindy Chavez, state Sen. Dave Cortese, former state Sen. Jim Beall and Republic Urban Properties President Michael Van Every.

Source: www.mercurynews.com