Urban Putt, which had its ribbon-cutting Thursday afternoon, is a sleek, indoor reimagining of the miniature golf courses we remember that opened at Paseo, the building that used to house the Camera 12 theaters.

But instead of trying to knock a ball through a windmill or into a clown’s mouth, you can take aim at a well-detailed replica of a room at the Winchester Mystery House or watch your lime green ball get vacuumed up through plastic tubes on a scaled-down version of the old Electric Light Tower.

Owner Steve Fox clearly spared no expense in letting his design team find some new ways to get a dimpled ball from putter to hole. It’s also got a spacious full bar and a kitchen run by Executive Chef Chad Ferry — downtowners still fondly recall Deluxe Eatery & Drinkery on San Fernando Street — making it a good gathering spot whether your putting or not.

Meanwhile, Still O.G. — about a block north at 66 S. First St. — is a hi-fi listening lounge that eschews digital sound for the throwback tones of analog music. Vinyl records line the shelves around the DJ station and everything from speakers to the ceilings and floors seems geared to letting people just bask in the sound. It’s a relaxed vibe for sure — except on Fridays and Saturday nights — and a selection of a dozen cocktails on draft have replaced the craft brews from the old Original Gravity. (The food menu, though, keeps some Original Gravity favorites like the smash burger, sausage sandwich and fries).

The other surprise within is Alter Ego, a cocktail-focused “speakeasy” taking up the back half of the old Original Gravity space that’s an entirely different world. With only about 40 seats (and reservations all but required), Alter Ego exudes a more refined, bespoke vibe.

It’s good to see these pieces coming together to make downtown’s nightlife scene more interesting. Now, someone just needs to figure out how to get enough people there to provide life during daylight hours.

SUMMER RELIEF: Water slides may be the last thing on anyone’s mind with all the expected rain and snow this weekend, but just wait until summer and you’ll be happy that the San Jose City Council gave its blessing Tuesday to California Dreamin’ Entertainment to operate Raging Waters at Lake Cunningham Park.

California Dreamin’ CEO Steve Dooner, who spoke at the meeting along with original Raging Waters developer Thomas Lochtefeld, said they wanted “not only to reopen the park but hopefully on a long-term basis make it a real destination for the whole valley.”

Their proposal for reopening the East San Jose Park this summer includes using partners like Chuck E. Cheese and adding new amenities like a wine garden. With an extension, the lease runs through September 2025, with a city option for another six months after that. Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Director Jon Cicirelli gave credit to PRNS staffers Shannon Heimer and Dominque Pacolba for doing the heavy lifting on the project in about five months.

“This was a big problem that landed in our lap completely unexpectedly and they had to drop a lot of other things to make this happen,” he said.

Countless kids seeking relief from San Jose’s sweltering summer heat in a few months will be thankful, too, I’m sure.

NEW YEAR’S WINDALL: Well, 2024 got off to a very good start for graphic designer Kyoko Dougherty, owner and creative director of San Jose’s Tabara Design. She walked into Community Bank and Trust’s San Jose branch on Jan. 20 knowing she had won something in a contest but had no idea it was $10,000 in CB&T’s holiday sweepstakes.

Dougherty got an entry in the drawing every time she used her credit card during the holiday season. “I never expected to win any drawing prize, so I was very surprised and very happy, and I feel that I am very lucky,” Dougherty said.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan thanked the group — which was led by Dublin Lord Mayor Daithí de Róiste and included Deputy Lord Mayor Claire O’Connell, Councillor Anne Feeney and Deputy Chief Executive Eileen Quinlivan — for traveling halfway around the world to visit Silicon Valley.

“Our collaboration in economic development, arts, sports, community affairs and local government have made both of our cities stronger,” Mahan said during a ceremony to raise the flags of Ireland and Dublin on a windy afternoon at City Hall Plaza. Former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery, who helped forge the connection with then-Dublin Lord Mayor Bertie Ahern in 1986, also spoke at the event, along with Micheál Smith, the consul general of Ireland in San Francisco.

Mahan’s current counterpart praised the work of the San Jose-Dublin Sister City Program for its work in keeping strong the link between the two communities for nearly 40 years. “It’s been truly astounding to see the hard work people are putting in, meeting on a weekly basis, a monthly basis, to really drive that relationship between our two cities,” de Róiste said. “It’s so so impressive and for our part, it’s so very welcome.”

Like all previous mayors, Mahan couldn’t help but notice the impressive chain around the neck of Dublin’s lord mayor. “I really need to lobby my colleagues for an upgrade in title and a giant gold chain,” joked Mahan, who will almost certainly be re-elected to a four-year term next Tuesday. Mahan might have an easier time persuading his 10 council colleagues than he would in Dublin, which has 63 city councillors.

The Irish delegation, which arrived Monday and will depart Friday, has a slate of meetings on the economy, education and arts and culture planned — along with some receptions. Unfortunately, the delegation won’t be around for the San Jose-Dublin Program’s annual Shamrock Run, the 5K/10K race through downtown on March 16. I’m sure plenty of people will be raising a post-race Guinness for them at O’Flaherty’s Pub in San Pedro Square.

WINNING SPEECH: Let’s hear it for Anderson Ortiz, an El Salvadoran immigrant and student at Oxford Day Academy student. He was selected as the Youth of the year for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula after delivering a speech before hundreds of people during a Feb. 15 ceremony at the group’s East Palo Alto Clubhouse.

Ortiz was one of four finalists — along with Azaria James, Makasini Broussard and Johanna Castillo — whose speeches were evaluated by a panel of high-powered business leaders: Birdies CEO Bianca Gates, Kleiner Perkins Partner Mamoon Hamid, Box CEO Aaron Levie, Sunshine CEO Marissa Mayer and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky.

OH SAY CAN YOU SING?: The San Jose Giants are getting ready for their season opener on April 5 at Excite Ballpark and have launched a search for talented fans who want to perform the National Anthem at home games. If you think you’d like to sing or play “The Star Spangled Banner” on an instrument in front of a baseball crowd, submit a video or audio audition to community@sjgiants.com.

The metal sculpture popping in primary colors was relocated to Woz Way near the walkway to the Purple Museum’s entrance and its fading colors were given a much-needed refresh. It had spent the previous three decades on Park Avenue in front of Parkside Hall, which at the time of the piece’s installation was San Jose’s convention center.

Quite frankly, this is a way more visible location for Bottini’s fun piece. Though it was steps away from the Tech Interactive’s group entrance on Park Avenue, the placement of “Civic Stage Set” somehow managed to allow it to blend into its background. And with the demolition of Parkside Hall in anticipation of a planned development on the site, the artwork had been behind a construction fence anyway.

“The new home for the work is a much better fit than the previous location, as it complements nicely the idea and importance of building blocks, color, and balance, all integral elements in childhood development,” said Michael Ogilvie, San Jose’s public art director.

Another Bottini piece, “Great Planes Study VII,” was purchased by San Jose in 1976 and put on display on Market Street. The 20-foot-high abstract sculpture was not universally loved, and the story goes that the Chamber of Commerce even planted a screen of trees to block it from view of its office. Adding injury to insult, the 7,000 lb. sculpture was damaged when a contractor attempted to move it during construction of the Fairmont Hotel in the mid-’80s and wound up being scrapped. And, that wasn’t even reported or noticed until the city’s public art director walked by the site and saw it missing from its base.

The city smoothed things out with Bottini, who didn’t know his piece was being moved, by agreeing to purchase “Civic Stage Set” for $25,000. It would have been a sad irony if “Civic Stage Set” had also been damaged or lost due to construction, but Bottini was notified and involved with this move — so it’s one relocation story with a happy ending for everyone, especially the kids who’ll get to see the sculpture from now on.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: West Valley Community Services will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year at the 13th annual Chefs of Compassion: Cooking for a Cause benefit gala March 8 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The fundraiser challenges three chefs to prepare a three-course dinner using ingredients sourced from the Cupertino-based social-service agency’s in-house market.

This year’s chefs are Apurva Panchal of ROOH Palo Alto, Katie Voong of Sunnyvale’s KTea Cafe and Kerry Yepiz, director of child nutrition at Los Gatos Union School District. Their results will be evaluated by both a judging panel and the audience.

West Valley Community Services got its start in 1973 when it was founded by three public health nurses as the Cupertino Roundup. So it’s only fitting that at the Chefs of Compassion event, the agency will be honoring another trio of nurses: El Camino Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Cheryl Reinking; Elaine Ware, chief nurse executive for Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center; and Stacy Alves, chief nurse executive at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center.

Tickets are available for $185 each at www.chefsofcompassion.org.

LEGAL EAGLES: An in-house lawyer charged with killing the CEO of the medical company they worked for was found not guilty — thanks to the strong defense delivered by Lynbrook High School’s team at the Santa Clara County High School Mock Trial Tournament. The Lynbrook defenders “out-lawed” the prosecution team from Prospect High in the championship round Feb. 13, which was held in the Santa Clara County Superior Court’s Old Courthouse in downtown San Jose.

The tournament among 21 public and private schools — sponsored by the Santa Clara County Office of Education in partnership with the Santa Clara County Bar Association and the Santa Clara County Superior Court — was presided over by sitting Superior Court judges and was scored by hundreds of county attorneys. Lynbrook advances to the state championship in Los Angeles on March 22-24.

Besides the big verdict, Prospect High’s Hylim Lee won this year’s Santa Clara County Courtroom Artist contest; Jhun Madriaga received the Johnny Gogo Award for his commitment to promoting and coordinating the mock trial program for the Santa Clara County Office of Education; and Gunderson High School teacher and coach Sonia Rebelo was inducted into the Coaches Hall of Fame.

ASTAIRE WAY TO HEAVEN: This weekend, the Stanford Theatre kicked off an eight-week showcase of movies starring Fred Astaire with two of the dancer’s best musicals, “Top Hat” from 1935 and 1953’s “The Band Wagon.” Astaire is paired with Ginger Rogers in the former and Cyd Charisse in the latter, and moviegoers should recognize some classic tunes from both films including “Cheek to Cheek” and “That’s Entertainment.” You can get the full lineup for the festival, which runs through April 14, at stanfordtheatre.org.

The Stanford Theatre Foundation also is partnering with Cinequest again this year for a silent movie night at the gorgeous California Theatre in downtown San Jose during next month’s film festival. This year’s double-bill on March 8 features Douglas Fairbanks in 1920’s swashbuckling “The Mark of Zorro” and Buster Keaton in the comedy “Our Hospitality” from 1923, with Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer for both. Tickets are available at cinequest.org or at the California Theatre box office before the 7 p.m. show.

The story was told twice Thursday during Teniente-Matson’s official presidential investiture, once by Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and again by California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia. Both noted that she was dressed head to toe as a Spartan — with a blue beanie, blue-and-gold raincoat and bright yellow boots — and that it was entirely in her character to jump in to help where she could.

“I think it is in the spirit of who I am. I wanted to be where we could have a service impact,” Teniente-Matson said after the ceremony at the Hammer Theatre Center in downtown San Jose. In attendance were 23 of her fellow CSU presidents, as well as SJSU students, faculty, staff and alumni, city and county elected officials and other community members — including three of her predecessors: Robert Caret, Mohammad Qayoumi and Mary Papazian.

Thirteen months into her tenure — formal investitures are generally held during or shortly after a university president’s first year — Teniente-Matson has become known as SJSU’s most vocal president in decades.  Provost Vincent del Casino called her “a passionate advocate for students and an amazing lead storyteller” for the university and said he’s optimistic about San Jose State’s future under her leadership.

“If the first year of President Teniente-Matson is any indication, we’re in for a crazy ride,” he said during the ceremony.

Teniente-Matson, who spent eight years as president of Texas A&M-San Antonio before coming to San Jose State, may not be entirely breaking the mold of SJSU presidents — but she’s definitely reshaping it.

Dominic Treseler, a San Jose State political science student who serves as president of the California State Student Association, recalled Teniente-Matson’s first meeting with him and three of his Associated Students colleagues more than a year ago, just before her presidency officially started.

“When we stepped into that room with President Matson, she dispelled any tension immediately,” he said. She insisted they watch a San Jose State football game together and casually chatted about the students’ time at SJSU and their roles as student leaders. Treseler said over the next several weeks he often heard from students who had met with her as well, and appeared to be listening to them and their concerns.

“President Matson has shown in her first year that she sees the value in student connections for the betterment of our university. I also don’t think we’ve had a better spokesperson,” he said, adding that he often hears that in community settings, Teniente-Matson centers the stories of SJSU students and highlights the university’s role as Silicon Valley’s economic engine.

Thursday’s investiture was historic as Teniente-Matson is the first Latina to hold the post in San Jose State’s 167-year history. The audience was treated to performances by the San Jose State marching band and the SJSU Choraliers. Garcia, the CSU chancellor, presented Teniente-Matson with a presidential medallion designed by SJSU graduate Yvonne Escalante that includes a silver weaving to represent the university as a tapestry of innovation.

Innovation was also a key part of Teniente’s speech, talking about the role San Jose State students and faculty can play in Silicon Valley’s next iteration, centered around artificial intelligence, spatial computing, robotics, space travel and climate science.

She also acknowledged San Jose State’s long history, including “moments of truth” that aren’t all positive, like the reception Spartan athlete Tommie Smith and John Carlos received in the immediate aftermath of their Black Power salute protest at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics or the university’s role in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. When she says that she’s committed to the legacy of Speed City, you can bet she means both the historic success SJSU achieved on the track as well as the civil rights legacy entwined with those victories.

“This institution has always been at the epicenter of the future,” she said. “We have always been resilient and we will continue to lead as justice-oriented strategic changemakers.”

While downtown has been pretty quiet since they started, there suddenly was a line of people outside the window, checking out the installation-in-progress as they waited to get into the Loft Bar & Bistro next door. Winters said he was worried the crowd might be turned off by the artistic lighting they were testing, but passersby cheered the work.

“It’s been good to get that kind of welcome,” Winters said at an opening reception for the new installation at 72 S. Second Street.

“Dream Club Lab” — with its shimmering lights and sounds you can hear if you lean up against the windows — evokes a fantasy techno club, maybe filled with people that you just can’t see. And it’s the most exclusive club in town, since you can’t actually go inside — it’s meant to be experienced from the sidewalk. It’s visible all the time, but on Thursday through Sunday nights when more people are downtown, people can see special video effects and robots dancing through the 9,000-square foot space, which has been vacant since it was built 20 years ago.

Alex Stettinski, CEO of the San Jose Downtown Association, which commissioned the piece, said he hopes the installation adds vibrancy to downtown during its short four-month run and maybe attracts a tenant who can visualize the potential of the space between the Improv and the Loft. “This isn’t permanent, but it was never meant to be permanent,” he said. “It’s meant to draw some attention to these spaces and add life to the street.”

It’s also the first project in a downtown lighting plan initiative to create more activations that support the booming nightlife scene, make it easier to navigate downtown on foot and, quite frankly, make people feel safer by eliminating dark stretches between businesses.

Both Buckholtz and Winters, who have been collaborating as Nighthouse Studio since 2006, said they had a very positive experience working in downtown San Jose. “I personally am now a fan in the city,” Buckholtz said. “There are so many really cool places to go.”

Winters said he wants viewers to decide for themselves what “Dream Club Lab” means to them, but he dropped some hints about the name.

“Dreams in many cases are precursors to reality. They aren’t reality, but without dreams, your reality is going to be pretty barren. Your reality is going to be this before any of this was here — an empty concrete shell,” he said. “We’re thinking about this as a portal. It’s a way station for things to come into being.”

SJSU REMEMBERS: San Jose State will host a Day of Remembrance at the Hammer Theatre Center on Monday, commemorating the Feb. 19, 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066, which forced the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. That order continues to resonate at the SJSU campus, as its men’s gym was a processing center for the Japanese American community in this area — including then-10-year-old Norm Mineta, who later served as mayor and U.S. Transportation Secretary. In a fitting turnaround, the building is now Uchida Hall, named for the legendary judo coach, Yosh Uchida.

The events on Monday begin at 10 a.m. with a screening of the short film “Nisei,” followed by a panel discussion with Spartan Film Studios’ Barnaby Dallas and Nick Martinez, student Jake Shimada and Carolyn Thomas from the Japanese American Museum of San Jose. That will be followed by a noon program featuring San Jose Taiko and speakers from the city and the university addressing the importance of the day and a panel discussion on the “Never Again is Now!” mural project with mural project convener Nina Chuang; Susan Hayase of San Jose Nikkei Resisters; Asian American Studies Professor Yvonne Kwan and SJSU Director of Advocacy and Community Relations Edwin Tan.

The day will conclude with an art walk with stops at Ruth Asawa’s Japanese Internment Memorial and Uchida Hall.

MUSEUM GOES BACK TO THE ’50S: The Los Altos History Museum is continuing on its series of time-traveling fundraisers with next month’s “Dancing through the Decades: The Nifty ’50s.” Executive Director Elisabeth Ward said that while the previous fundraisers celebrating the 1920s and 1960s touched on the elegance of those decades, the museum is aiming for a bit more fun going back to the years of greasers and poodle skirts. And, she added, it’s very fitting since the 1950s are when Los Altos and Los Altos Hills were both incorporated.

The March 23 event — headed by a volunteer committee led by led by Pilar Parducci and Jung Yoon — will include fun artifacts from the era and memories of days filled with TV dinners, cruising El Camino Real and stopping by Clint’s Ice Cream with its big ice cream cone on the building’s roof. Belmont’s Heirloom Catering Co. is preparing the dinner, but it remains to be seen if they’ll opt for a 1950s menu. Tickets are $195 a person until Feb. 23 when prices go up to $235. Need more info? It’s at losaltoshistory.org.

DESIGNS ON THE FAIR: The 80th Santa Clara County Fair will take place this summer, and the celebration includes a poster contest open to young artists and designers. The theme of this year’s fair, which runs July 25-28 and continues Aug. 1-4, is “From the Fields to the Future,” and posters should illustrate how the valley has evolved from its agricultural origins to the tech-based region surrounding us today.

SOUNDS OF ITALY: Italian tenor Pasquale Esposito will join the San Jose Wind Symphony for its concert on Feb. 25 in Saratoga. Esposito’s voice will come in handy as the symphony, led by David Vickerman, explores the world of Italian opera, with selections from “Tosca,” “Rigoletto,” “La Boheme,” and “Pagliacci.” The 3 p.m. concert at the McAfee Performing Arts Center will also include Ottorino Resphigi’s classic, “Pines of Rome,” which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Get tickets and more information at www.sjws.org.

California Dreamin’ Entertainment will take over the city-owned water park at Lake Cunningham Park on a short term basis, pending city council approval on Feb. 27. Mayor Matt Mahan said the agreement, which runs through September 2025 with options for extentions, would give the city time to find a long-term operator while also getting the park quickly reopened after operator Palace Entertainment walked away last September.

“My colleagues and I were devastated by the idea that our families, in particular our young people, would not get to experience what for nearly four decades now many of us, including myself, have fond memories of: summers spent laughing and playing at our East Side water park,” said Mahan, who recalled the joy of coming over the hill from Watsonville for a big trip every summer when he was growing up. “Raging Waters will be open this summer providing the fun experience we all know and love.”

California Dreamin’ Entertainment is expected to pump $6 million into the park, adding attractions like a wine bar and bringing in food trucks. Neil Rufino, assistant director for the city’s Parks, Recreations and Neighborhood Services department, said the majority of the park was in good condition and that the new operator will pay the city 6 percent of gross revenue, which the city can then reinvest into the future of Lake Cunningham Park.

San Jose City Councilmember Domingo Candelas called it a real win for residents, especially those in East San Jose who sometimes feel disenfranchised by the city. “This is a double-down and a commitment from the city to be able to say we care about making sure you have access to safe, equitable, affordable and enriching experiences,” said Candelas, who added that he’s hopeful the water park can reopen by May.

Last year, the same group also took over the former Raging Waters in Sacramento — which also had been operated by Palace — and formed a branding partnership with Chuck E. Cheese for that location.

Could such a deal be in the works for San Jose, too? It wasn’t mentioned Thursday, but it would make sense as the pizza chain was founded in San Jose and California Dreamin’ CEO Steven Dooner even started his career there back in the 1970s, according to his LinkedIn page.

EARTHQUAKES AT 50: No doubt there’ll be a huge crowd at San Pedro Square Market on Sunday as the San Jose Earthquakes kick off their 50th anniversary celebration with a block party starting at 3 p.m. You’ll see Quakes alums, Krazy George banging his drum and the MLS Cup trophies from 2001 and 2003. The big event will be at 5:30 p.m. when retired former Earthquakes player Jimmy Conrad takes a walk down memory lane by talking to current and former players about the team’s first five decades before the unveiling of “The 50th Kit,” the team’s anniversary jersey.

Fans are guessing it’ll incorporate the team’s original 1974 Earthquakes logo in some way and possibly include some of those old red and white colors.

Get more information and tickets at www.svautoshow.com.

But as I was shuffling through the crowd of people admiring Doug Crafts’ beautifully detailed piece, “Take another little piece of my heart now, baby — Charcuterie a la Janis Joplin,” which features cheese, crackers and a human heart on a black marble platter, I was surprised at how, well, mainstream it all felt. From what I could see, the visitors that night weren’t a collection of anti-love romance haters and I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t a few couples there on a date night.

It would be something if visiting the Works show, which set out to thumb its nose at the saccharin notions of Valentines with their pink construction paper hearts and messages stamped into candy, actually turned into an art-driven way to express your love for someone (even yourself)? Anyway, whether you have romance in mind or not, it’s worth visiting Works (inside Open San Jose at 38 S. Second St.) before the show closes this weekend. A closing party is set for Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. and you can get more information at workssanjose.org.

HONOR ROLL: The ninth annual Silicon Valley Black Legends Awards is returning in-person this weekend at the Hammer Theatre Center in downtown San Jose after being a virtual event for the past three years.

Hosted by Afrikahn Jahmal Dayvs and Janice Edwards — who were both previously inducted as Legends — the Feb. 17 event is a fundraiser for the development of the San Jose Black History Museum Silicon Valley, a joint project among five grounds in San Jose: Joyner Payne Youth Services Agency, the Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce, the African American Community Service Agency, the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage California and Our Common Denominator.

Tickets to the event, which begins with a 5 p.m. reception, can be purchased at blacklegendawards.org.

THE WRITE STUFF: Author Percival Everett, whose novel “Erasure” was the basis of Cord Jefferson’s Oscar-nominated film, “American Fiction,” will be at the Hammer Theatre Center on Feb. 15 for an event hosted by San Jose State University’s Center for Literary Arts. Everett, who is the author of more than 20 books and teaches at USC, will read from his latest, “Trees,” and will have an onstage conversation with Keenan Norris, an associate professor at San Jose State University whose latest novel, “The Confession of Copeland Cane,” won the 2022 Northern California Book Award.

The 7 p.m. event is sold out, but you can still go to hammertheatre.com to register for the free livestream.

For the past week, TheatreWorks has taken it on tour, presenting a stripped down version of the 85-minute autobiographical play at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Overfelt High School and Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose and the Oakland Theater Project, which sold out a public performance scheduled for Saturday night.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Associate Producer Jeffrey Lo said this is the beginning of a community outreach initiative the company hopes to do with a show every year.

“We have a more invigorated focus on serving the community in this way,” Lo said Friday afternoon at Sacred Heart, where an audience of about 75 people watched the performance. “Some of the audiences we’ve reached on this tour are people who might be without the means to attend the theater or maybe they didn’t grow up going to the theater.”

Lo said this particular show was one that TheatreWorks saw could really speak to those communities, increasing the impact, especially for students. “We’re also creating a point of contact so they know us and know TheatreWorks and if they do want to come to one of our shows, we will make that happen,” he said.

TheatreWorks is wrapping up a limited engagement of “Hershey Felder as George Gershwin, Alone” this weekend at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts before starting on its next show, Madhuri Shekar’s “Queen,” which opens March 6. Go to www.theatreworks.org for more details.

MAN ABOUT TOWN: Richard Santos, the vice chair of Valley Water’s board, has been running around so much lately he should qualify as a marathoner.

Over a couple days in late January, he introduced new Valley Water Chair Nai Hsueh at the Valley Water Commission meeting, presented the volunteer of the year awards at the Santa Visits Alviso program meeting, headed over to Milpitas to celebrate that city’s 70th anniversary in late January, attended a community recognition by San Jose Councilmember David Cohen for Alviso Santa program founder Judy Santiago, was interviewed by a Milpitas High student, presented a plaque to Plata Arroyo Neighborhood Association President Danny Garza at a La Raza Roundtable meeting and wound up at the Santa Visits Alviso cioppino dinner at the South Bay Yacht Club. Whew!

He’s not slowing down much this month either. On Saturday morning, he was slated to share some Alviso history and talk water conservation with members of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition who took part in a King Tides Ride. At least he plans to take a break Sunday to watch the Super Bowl at home with some chips, salsa and a Corona.

THE WRITE STUFF: Williams Briggs, the former chair of San Jose State’s journalism department, has completed his trilogy of little-known regional California histories with “The Star, The Saint and The City: How Sam Brannan’s Newspaper Heralded the Gold Rush and Created San Francisco.” Brannan’s newspaper, “The California Star” is credited with renaming the fledgling city of Yerba Buena to San Francisco in 1846 and breaking the story of the gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill two years later.

“Brannan was the city’s biggest promoter, its first entrepreneur and California’s first millionaire, but many people are less familiar with that part of the story for any number of reasons,” says Briggs, the former chair of San Jose State’s journalism department. “He’s an extraordinary historical figure who deserves more attention.”

Briggs — who is also the author of “Badass Lawman” and “That Pirate, Bouchard” will have a talk and booksigning at 6 p.m. Feb. 15 at Booksmart in Morgan Hill.

SUPER SUPPORT: The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds installed a 40-foot banner emblazed with “Go 49ers!” on its gateway arch this week, showing some love for the Niners as they face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Sunday. The fair folks are optimists, too: There isn’t a specific game mentioned on the banner, so it could be used for years to come.

Bertucelli’s La Villa deli in Willow Glen also has a lighted “Go 49ers” sign on the side of its building, but they’re hardly bandwagon fans. The deli’s meaty Chris Combo sandwich has been a longtime favorite of 49ers players.

Of course, nearly every sports bar and restaurant will be showing the big game, but you shouldn’t plan to see it at Original Joe’s in downtown San Jose. The landmark eatery will be closed Sunday, as owners Brad and Michelle Rocca have given the staff the day off so they can watch the game, too.

And I recently wrote about a couple of auctions that had 49ers tickets up for bid last weekend. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley raised $25,000 for its pair of tickets, which included first-class airfare, and Hillbrook School brought in $61,000 for its ticket pacakge, which also included a Vegas hotel stay and invites to 49ers friends and family parties. I don’t know who bought those items, but it wasn’t me: I’ll be dropping considerably less dough on some pizza and watching from home.

The display in the San Jose City Hall wing building includes 50 photographs by Manoj Musale, a professional photographer in Pune who often goes to great lengths — and heights — to get dazzling crowd shots, as well as art pieces donated to San Jose as part of the relationship. It was originally commissioned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the sister-city bond between the two communities.

“And then the pandemic happened,” said Suneel Kelkar, president of the San Jose-Pune Sister City Organization. Curator Robin Treen went through more than 2,000 photographs taken by Musale in September 2018 in selecting 50 that best represented the people and culture of the city.

Vijay Pendse, a native of Pune, first proposed the idea of linking the two tech-oriented cities back in the 1980s, working with a small group of people for a couple of years until San Jose’s city council granted its approval in 1989. The relationship was formalized with Pune, India’s seventh largest city, in 1992. The two cities have partnered on several projects over the years, including the creation of a park at the Mutha River and promoting educational opportunities in Pune. The statue of Shivaji Maharaj — which you might remember was stolen from the Guadalupe River Park and later found at a metal recycler — was a gift to San Jose from the people of Pune.

“What we try to do is improve the lives of people in Pune somehow,” Kelkar said at a reception held Monday at City Hall to celebrate the exhibition’s opening.

NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS: Festivities for the Lunar New Year are in full swing this weekend. You can celebrate the Year of the Dragon in San Jose’s historic Japantown on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and expect it to be loud if you’re heading out there. A firecracker line will start at Fourth and Jackson streets at noon and will run through Japantown before finishing at Empire Seven Studios at Seventh and Empire streets.

Businesses around Japantown — including Kogura Gifts, State of Grace and Cukui — will take part in a Japanese new year tradition by selling “fukubukuro” or lucky bags. They’ll put together mystery bags for patrons to purchase as part of the custom of cleaning out your old stuff and making room for new things in the new year.

LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS: There’s a bit of a phenomenon happening with the black-and-white slapstick comedy “Hundreds of Beavers.” If you haven’t heard about the movie — described as a “supernatural winter epic” about a drunken applejack salesman who does battle with, well, the title should give that away — you probably will soon. The film-festival favorite is in the midst of an old-fashioned “roadshow” rollout, and the Santa Cruz Cinema is the only theater in Northern California showing it.

“We are thrilled to have the exclusive screening of ‘Hundreds of Beavers,’ ” said Santa Cruz Cinemas General Manager Mark Pike, General Manager of Santa Cruz Cinema. “We are lucky to be selected to show this rare and epic film.”

The movie opened Thursday night, and you can get showtimes and tickets at www.santacruzcinema.com.

And it’s not the house’s first move, either.

The Polhemus House, as it was originally known, was built in 1916 on the corner of Stockton Avenue and Polhemus Street, which is now West Taylor Street (both house and street being named for the family of Charles Pohlemus). It was sold to Bellarmine in 1946 and moved to Elm and Hedding streets, where it sat until Saturday.

Both moves were done by Kelly Brothers House Moving, which in recent years also trucked Poor House Bistro and Pallesen apartment building to new locations. Howard “King” Kelly, patriarch of Kelly Brothers, was 11 years old and present for the first move — there’s a photograph of him sitting in the cab of a truck with the house behind him. Kelly, now 84, was unable to be at the move Saturday, but his son, John Kelly was there as part of three family generations participating in the job and carried the photo of his 11-year-old dad.

The house, named after St. John Berchmans, a Jesuit seminarian who died in 1621, served as a dormitory building back when Bellarmine was a boarding school and also as an infirmary. Most recently, it had been the home for more than three decades of Bellarmine Director of Facilities Quirino Arias, who brought up six children there and was present Saturday to watch the move.

When Berchmans Hall is refurbished, it will house the school’s office of admissions and welcome center and in its former place will be the 21-classroom Wade Academic Center, scheduled for completion by Fall 2025. And if Bellarmine needs to ever move it again, no doubt they’ll call Kelly Brothers.

CLUB CHEERS: There was a standing ovation Friday night at the Signia by Hilton hotel for Matthew Van, who was named the Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley’s Youth of the Year at a festive gala attended by nearly 400 guests. Van, a Santa Clara High School senior who has been accepted to Cornell University, was selected from three finalists to represent the region in Youth of the Year competitions at the state and national level.

And if Van sounds a bit familiar, it’s not you, it’s him: Van also was last year’s Youth of the Year for Silicon Valley. Van, who has attended the Alviso clubhouse for more than a decade, had to practice public speaking, write essays and work on team-building exercises throughout the four-month program. Spoiler alert: He’s pretty darn good at all of that.

PARTY COUNTDOWN: The Mardi Gras celebration at Poor House Bistro is back next Tuesday for the first time since the New Orleans-style restaurant and live music venue was moved — by Kelly Brothers — to San Jose’s Little Italy district in 2022. The Fat Tuesday festivities will include music by Eamonn Flynn, doing a tribute to Allen Toussaint, from 4 to 6 p.m. and Guilded Splinters playing from 6 to 9 p.m. The new location is 317 W. St. John St.

And if you want to get an early start on the celebration, there’s also going to be a Carnevale/Mardi Gras party at the Italian Cellar Speakeasy — across the patio and down the stairs from the Poor House — on Friday, Feb. 9. That’ll include Venetian Carnevale and New Orleans Mardi Gras appetizers, specialty cocktails for purchase and a Venetian mask/Mardi Gras costume contest. It runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. and costs $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers. Tickets are available online at littleitalysj.com/events.