Fruit Cocktail Club - Movie Night 2009

Our Nostalgic Movie Night on November 19, 2009 was a fabulous affair.  Movie Night winners of the vintage apparel went to Angela Esley, Margaret Ma, Patt Curia (who wore her father’s service uniform from the 1940s) and Sheldon Smith. The winning recipes were awarded to Leslie Masunaga - Crab Dip, Helen Stevens - Turkey Spam Macaroni, Linda Larson Boston - No Bake Cookies, and Babara Peddy - Cranberry Fruit Cocktail Salad. Other dishes that were often mentioned as favorites were the lime salad, rhubarb pie, creamed spinach, scalloped potatoes, drunkin’ dogs, tomato aspic, pineapple upside down cake, apricot upside down cake, and of course our traditional Spam Fruit Cocktail Loaf (it looks strange but actually tastes very good). It was a great evening of nostalgic tastes, treats and movies.

The Movie Night guests viewed films that included footage of orchards, prune picking, cutting cots and Ed Sakauye plowing his fields. Then Ed demonstrated the old Bean Spray Pump developed here in Santa Clara County beginning in 1885. The second film showed us how Louis Pellier grafted his branch of the French prune onto a local plum tree. Pierre Pellier brought the French prune cuttings from France as his brother, Louis, had requested. Next we saw firefighters from the 1960’s race down the San Jose streets in their rigs and put out a fire in Willow Glen. No women were allowed in the firehouses back then. Finally, we learned how IBM developed their first computer (RAMDAC) and how their modern, San Jose facilities looked in the 1950’s.

The Fruit Cocktail Club (Joe Melehan, Bill Foley, and Jim Zetterquist) was in charge of the movies and led the evening’s entertainment in the theatre. Jim Zetterquist hosted the movie commentary with Bill Foley, who also edited the films. The opening credits dedicated the event to Joe Melehan’s mother, Pat Perrucci Melehan, who passed away that same evening. Over many years, Pat Melehan had the singular distinction of being the daughter, the wife, and the mother of three presidents of Mayfair Packing Company.  She and her family played an important role in shaping "The Valley of Hearts Delight", making today's Santa Clara Valley the wonderful place it is today. She was much loved and will be missed by many. 

Movie Night Usherettes Movie Night Usherettes from Portraits of the Past, History San Jose, from left to right, Ethel Reinegger, JoAnn Renk, Gayle Frank, Nancy Martin.

Angela Elsey Angel Elsey Patt Curia Patt Curia Lynda Sereno Lynda Sereno
Cynthia Barnes Cynthia Barnes Margaret Ma Margaret Ma Sally Brusch-Cisco Sally Brusch-Cisco
Sheldon Smith Sheldon Smith Ellen, Anne and Heather Ellen Garbsoke, Anne Stahr,
and Heather David