December 17, 2003

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Palo Alto Online

Cookies and tea for two -- hundred, that is

by Jocelyn Dong

The day after Thanksgiving, some people awaken to hear the siren's call of the shopping malls.

But not Barbara Maher. Though her Evergreen Park home lies a scant 1.5 miles from Stanford Shopping Center, she is lured every year by a different tune -- the call to bake. And bake, and bake.

In fact, Maher, along with her significant other, Tommy Derrick, and younger members of his family, don't stop baking until the following Wednesday -- when at last they've populated every square inch of their kitchen counters, table tops and refrigerators with 4,000 sugary and buttery morsels.

The point to this whirl-wind baking fest? Their annual cookie and tea party -- now in its 14th year -- held the first Saturday in December.

The tradition draws hundreds of neighbors, friends and family members to nosh on nearly 50 kinds of cookies -- from "Choco-Caramel Delight" to "Hidden Mint" to something simply called, "THE Cookie."

Though the party has grown since its inception as new acquaintances and co-workers have been added to the mix, the bash still serves its time-honored purpose: to connect friends, family and neighbors through cookies. This year the guest list exceeded 175. In addition, the hosts have turned the bash into a benefit, with party-goers bringing toys and food for the clients of MayView Community Health Center, located off California Avenue.

On the afternoon of Dec. 6, adults and children streamed into Maher and Derrick's 99-year-old blue-and-white Victorian, which had been decked out in holiday finery. Plates of cookies perched on tables in room after room of the three-story home, along with every manner of holiday adornment -- snow globes, Santas, snowmen and even a collection of moose.

"It's a nice occasion to get out and meet people (in the neighborhood) who normally just drive past," said Rob Kennelly, who lives with his family a few doors down. He peered at a dazzling array of cookies on a gigantic, two-foot wide round tray. The party, he said, is one of the events that provide a sense of community in the quiet neighborhood.

Barbara Maher, dressed up in an embroidered white blouse and her blond-turning-silver hair neatly coiffed, glided from room to room, greeting guests with hugs and smiles.

One unique tradition is the "Cookie Map," a green poster board identifying each cookie. The guide was developed to answer guests' endless questions about each cookie's flavor and whether "their" favorite cookie was being served.

Cath Tendler-Valencia, a colleague of Barbara's in special education, called the map "the Whitman Sampler" for cookies.

She came up from Monterey to attend the party. "I drove 90 miles for a cookie," she said.

The cookie fest had an inauspicious birth: the 1989 earthquake. Movement along the Loma Prieta fault knocked down the house's plaster, back shed and fence. It caused the house to shift slightly on its foundation. Somewhat counter-intuitively, a friend suggested Maher and Derrick host a big party that year, because "no one expects your house to be in good order during construction, so it's the best time to entertain."

They bought the reasoning, draped Christmas cloth and poinsettias over piles of lumber, and had their first party. Over the years, they've been able to show guests the progress on the restoration of their home.

A few years into the tradition, the Mahers noticed that guests wanted to give back -- and the idea for a benefit was born.

"The fourth year, when everyone left, we had 14 pounds of See's chocolates and 20 bottles of wine. And we thought, 'Well, this is silly,'" Maher said.

The next year, they told guests that if they felt like bringing something, bring gifts or food for patients at the MayView Community Health Center, on whose board Maher sat. The response, she said, was "huge," with one friend arriving with four bags of groceries and another pledging to donate 100 turkeys.

Neighbor Linda Lucian has been coming to the party for two years. Her daughter picked out a wooden puzzle and Spanish book to give the kids at the clinic this year.

Lucian calls the charity aspect "an extension of what (Tommy and Barbara) do -- to be generous to others. It's about community, and not just this community, but MayView, too."

Marie Luise Fries, who lives across El Camino Real in College Terrace, was one of the party's original guests and attended again this year. She enjoys the assortment of people at the party.

"It's interesting how people have branched out (through meeting each other) and connected to the neighborhood" through the party, she said. Seeing the same guests every year at the party -- sometimes the only time they see one another -- and catching up is one of the highlights for her.

Toward 6 p.m., the official end of the party, rain started to come down and Maher and Derrick packed plates of cookies for departing guests.

Derrick reached into his pocket and pulled out a fistful of checks. Guests donated $1,500 to MayView, and one family told Maher they'll be donating stock.

Derrick and Maher said they are grateful. The clinic, which provides primary health care to low-income patients, serves about 4,000 people a year. The stack of donated gifts and food will go to the 100 neediest families at the clinic's Palo Alto and Mountain View sites.

When the hustle of the party quiets down, Maher said she reflects on the people who came and the changes they've had in their lives. And she hopes she will see them next year when she, Derrick and the rest of his clan again host their cookie extravaganza.

"I can't stop now. People just write it on their calendars: 'First Saturday in December -- Cookies.' After 14 years I wouldn't want to (stop)," she said. "This house needs to be open to the community, and this is a great way to do that."

And besides, she added, "Who doesn't like cookies?"

For information about MayView, call 327-8717 or visit www.mayview.org. Jocelyn Dong can be e-mailed at jdong@paweekly.com.

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