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Around Town: Celebration of reading at Kepler's May 7

For the 17th year, Menlo Park Library and Kepler's will celebrate "The Magic of Reading" from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at the bookstore, 1010 El Camino Real in Menlo Park.

Highlights of the event will be music from the Menlo-Atherton High School jazz and concert bands, and bands and orchestras from Oak Knoll, Encinal and Hillview schools.

"Celebration of Reading" will benefit the Belle Haven Library through a percentage of sales at Kepler's on that day.

All musical groups will perform on the plaza in front of the bookstore. The first to perform will be the combined orchestra of the fifth-graders at Oak Knoll and Encinal schools. The two groups opened the program last year and attracted a standing-room-only crowd.

Musical groups of the sixth- through eighth-grade at Hillview will then play until 1:30 p.m. In the afternoon, all four Menlo-Atherton bands will play, with the concert band opening and the jazz band closing.

Prizes for raffles throughout the first part of the program will help raise money for elementary school programs.

The Friends of the Menlo Park Library and Kepler's are co-sponsoring the annual event.

Sheldon Breiner talk on Olmec monuments

Geophysicist Sheldon Breiner will give a free presentation in Portola Valley's Historic Schoolhouse at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, on his use of a handheld magnetometer to discover stone artifacts from the Olmec civilization buried for 3,000 years in the rain forests of southern Mexico.

A magnetometer notes anomalies in the Earth's magnetic field caused by underground minerals that have or do not have magnetic properties. Any interruption in the profile of those minerals indicates the presence of something significant, such as a huge buried stone.

Go to breiner.com/sheldon/olmec for more information. The Historic Schoolhouse is located at 765 Portola Road in Portola Valley.

Open studio benefits Mission Hospice

Mission Hospice & Home Care will receive all profits from Frances Freyberg's Silicon Valley Open Studio May 7-8 in Menlo Park. The free event will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 856 Partridge Ave. in Menlo Park.

Ms. Freyberg, a Menlo Park resident, specializes in color portraits of people, wildlife, nature and architecture from her travels in more than 50 countries. She is also director of development for Mission Hospice.

Exhibiting at 856 Partridge Ave. on both May 7-8 and May 14-15 (from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), along with Ms. Freyberg, are Alice Weil of Menlo Park, Julia Munger Seelos and Lynn Montoya of Redwood City, and Kim Holl of Portola Valley. The show will include paintings, jewelry, and photography.

More than 400 local artists are opening their studios to the public during the first three weekends in May as part of the 25th annual Silicon Valley Open Studios.

Chickens for sale at Flea Street Cafe

Early Bird Ranch farmers Kevin and Shaelynn Watt will be in the Flea Street Cafe parking lot from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, May 7, selling their pasture-raised chickens. The large meaty birds "truly tastes like chicken," say the Watts.

The birds are processed on the farm, frozen in vacuum-sealed bags, and average 4 to 5 pounds. Price is $5 per pound.

Full Belly Farm will also be in the parking lot selling veggies, herbs, eggs and flowers. Flea Street Cafe is at 3607 Alameda de las Pulgas in West Menlo Park.

Email info@EarlyBirdRanch.com or call 619-855-9926 to reserve a chicken.

Garden Conservancy Open Days

Three private gardens in Atherton and Menlo Park will be open to the public between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, May 7, as part of the Garden Conservancy's annual Open Days.

Admission to each garden is $5. Children 12 and under are free. Open Days are self-guided and flexible. No reservations are needed. The gardens are open rain or shine.

Featured in this year's event are the Clapper garden, 161 Tuscaloosa Ave., in Atherton; the Clark-Peterson garden, 1 Encino Road, in Atherton; and the Schlein garden, 776 Cotton St., in Menlo Park.