Milpitas chamber hosts trade show

"Gateway to Success" is a business-to-business trade show mixer, hosted by the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce at the Embassy Suites hotel. All participants invite the public to the free trade show on Wednesday, May 21, 5 to 8 p.m. Participants can pick up a "passport" for door prizes, enjoy refreshments, and meet more than 40 businesses showcasing their products and services.

Camera club meeting

Milpitas Camera Club will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 13. The meeting will be held at the Milpitas Police Department Community Room, 1275 N. Milpitas Blvd. All interested photography enthusiasts are welcome to attend. This meeting will include slide and print judging. For additional information, visit www.milpitascamera.com or call Dave Herzstein at (510) 552-5408.

Milpitas High 1988 reunion

Members of the Milpitas High School class of 1988 are invited to the 20-year reunion, to be held Saturday, June 14. The event will take place at the Beverly Heritage Hotel, 1820 Barber Lane in Milpitas. Register at www.greatreunions.com.

Under-14 soccer tryouts

North Valley Youth Soccer and Milpitas Youth Soccer Club will hold tryouts for a class 3 boys under-14 soccer team in San Jose May 15 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Morrill Middle School, 1970 Morrill Ave. in San Jose. The tryouts are open to boys in San Jose and Milpitas. For more information, contact Coach Mark Della Maggiora at

Working with media

Milpitas Chamber of Commerce's Educational Series welcomes Erika Taylor, who will present "Working With the Media to Promote Your Business" on Thursday, May 15, 6-7 p.m. at the Milpitas chamber office, 828 N. Hillview Drive. Taylor will address the handy tips and tricks for working with the media. Topics will include: "When and When Not to Use a Press Release; What Is News?; How to Contact the Media and What to Say When You Do; Things the Media Loves ... and Hates; and Timely Stories vs. Evergreen Features." RSVP with the chamber at 262-2613. The event is free.

Milpitas Family Day

Join Milpitas' Parks and Recreation Services Department for the second annual Family Day event on Saturday, May 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Milpitas Community Center Amphi-theater, 457 E. Calaveras Blvd.

This event is planned as a fun-filled day of play, games, raffles and entertainment for the whole family. Parents can also find helpful resource tables on child care, safety and activities for every child's interest.

Watch out for demonstrations from Blue Dragon, Jensen's School of Performing Arts and the Teen Center Break Dancers.

This event is sponsored by the Youth Program Team. For more information about the Youth Program Team, contact Milpitas Parks and Recreation Services at 586-3210.

Tip-A-Cop event

Milpitas Police Department, in conjunction with the Special Olympics of Northern California, is hosting a Tip-A-Cop event at Milpitas' Outback Steakhouse restaurant May 20.

Tip-A-Cop is a fund-raising event where police officers will serve customers at the restaurant. Monies raised help offset the cost for athletes to participate in the Special Olympics being held at University of California at Berkeley on June 6-8.

The event will be held from 4-8:30 p.m. at 1246 Great Mall Drive.

For more information, contact Officer Kevin Jackson at 586-2528.

Library closed one day

The Milpitas Community Library will be closed on Friday, May 16 for staff training. It will resume normal open hours on Saturday, May 17. Patrons may access the library's catalog and databases remotely at any time by logging on to the library's Web site as www.santaclaracountylib.org. For more information, call the adult reference desk at 262-1171, extension 3616.

Chinese school open house

North Valley Chinese School will host its annual open house Sunday, May 18, at Ruskin Elementary School, 1401 Turlock Lane in San Jose. Information on the Chinese as a second language program will be shared from 10:15-10:30 a.m. in the multipurpose room, and information regarding the Heritage Mandarin program will be from 10:35-10:50 a.m. All interested parents are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served, and student artwork and scrapbook projects will be on display. North Valley Chinese School is a non-profit organization that offers Chinese language and culture education programs on Sunday mornings at the Ruskin campus. For more information, call 942-1438, or visit www.nvcs98.org.

Historical society events

The Milpitas Historical Society will meet May 14 at 7 p.m. at the Milpitas Community Library, 40 N. Milpitas Blvd. The speaker will be Robert Marshall of the South Bay Historical Railroad Society.

The historical society's tour this month will be at the Quicksilver Mines in Almaden. Author Mike Boulland will guide attendees on a two-and-a-half hour tour. To participate in the tour, meet at Big Lots in the Serra Center at 9 a.m. on May 10. For more information call 942-1492.

Recyclable book bags

Milpitas Community Library celebrated Earth Day by launching a program offering reusable woven book bags for $1 each. The bags are made from recyclable material and will replace the free plastic bags the library had previously provided to patrons for carrying out library materials.

For more information on the recyclable book bags, visit the checkout desk at the library, 40 N. Milpitas Blvd.

Relay For Life meetings

The team captain meetings for this year's Relay For Life, will be held on the third Tuesday of each month (next is May 20). They will be at 7 p.m. and held in the meeting room at Milpitas Fire Station No. 1 at 777 S. Main St. There will be a short (10-minute) "youth team orientation" at the end of each meeting. It is mandatory that each youth team attend one of these.

Organizers say now is the time to get teams organized and moving. Team captain packets and materials are available. Contact Laurel Rogers at 946-8492 for more information, or visit www.events.cancer.org/rflmilpitasca.

Relay For Life Committee meetings will be held on the third Thursday of each month (May 22) at 7 p.m. at the fire station.

Candidates forum

Berryessa Citizens Advisory Council is hosting a another candidates' forum for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors District Three contenders at the Berryessa Community Center, 3050 Berryessa Road, San Jose on May 12 from 7-8:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served and written questions for the candidates will be accepted for consideration from attendees until 7:10 p.m. There will be a two-minute opening and closing statement period with about 10 questions from the moderator. Each candidate will then have two minutes to respond. For more information, call Ty Greaves 929-2010 or 497-9261.

Peaceful Poets

The Peaceful Poets will meet at the Milpitas Community Library on May 15 and June 19 at 7 p.m. The Peaceful Poets also appear on Milpitas Community Television (Channel 26) on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8-9 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 1-2 p.m. For more information, call Pat Montoya at 262-7037.

Dance party

Lockandkeymatch.com presents the Lock & Key and Dance Party on Friday, May 16, 8 p.m.-12 a.m. at the Beverly Heritage Hotel, 1820 Barber Lane in Milpitas. Single professionals of all ages are invited. Tickets are $15 advance, and $20 at the door. For more information, go to www.lockandkeymatch.com or call Patrick at (925) 945-8340.

Mosaic of music

Association for Viet Arts will present "MOSAIC: A Fusion of Vietnamese and World Music" on Saturday, May 31 at 3 p.m. at CET's Anthony Soto Theatre, located at 701 Vine St. in San Jose. The concert will feature the Unity Nguyen Ensemble and special guest artists Masuru Koga, Mandjou KonŽ and Ben Isaacs, performing a unique fusion of traditional Vietnamese and world music. The program includes Vietnamese folk songs intricately woven with traditional African rhythms, African songs with Vietnamese and English lyrics, and contemporary elements such as the electric bass. Instruments that will be showcased include the dan tranh (16-string zither), kora (21-string harp), balafon (African xylophone), and African drums. A question-and-answer session will be held following the performance.

Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 seniors (65 years or over) and students (with identification). Tickets can be purchased at the Law Office of Victoria Tran Sood, 1551 McCarthy Blvd., Suite 204, Milpitas. For information and tickets, visit the Association for Viet Arts, www.vietarts.org, or call Cathy Nguyen, 476-7963.

School board workshop

Santa Clara County School Boards Association will host a candidates' workshop for prospective school board members on Saturday, June 7, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Current school board members will talk about roles and responsibilities of school board service. A representative from the Registrar of Voters will speak about campaign filing. The event is free, thanks to the sponsorship of Pacific Gas & Electric, and open to all prospective candidates or those who may have an interest in board service. Registration will take place on site, the Berryessa Union School District Office, 1376 Piedmont Road, San Jose.

Football, cheer sign-ups

Milpitas Knights PAL youth football and cheerleading are holding sign-ups at the Round Table Pizza located at 1271 E. Calaveras Blvd. Sign-ups for both cheer and football will be held May 20 and June 3. Cheer registration is $125, and football is $250. Space is limited. For more information, contact cheer director Linda Brown at 469-6041, or athletic director Mo Carrera at 849-8846.

The Santa Clara Lions Football Club will be holding sign-ups for tackle football, flag football and cheerleading on May 11. Sign-ups will be from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Townsend Field, 295 Monroe St. A copy of the child's birth certificate and a parent signature is required for all three activities. Registration fee is $75 for tackle football and cheerleading, and $50 for flag football. For more information call Craig Connelly at 221-3056 (daytime) or 248-5002 (evenings).

Volunteers sought

Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley seeks center and home care volunteers to care for injured and orphaned wildlife for release back to the wild. Volunteer opportunities include: animal care, board work, construction, database/office management, educational outreach, event planning, facilities planning, fundraising, grant writing, graphic design, and landscaping/gardening. The Wildlife Center, located in San Jose, has an active and enthusiastic corps of volunteers committed to welcoming and training new supporters.

For more information visit www.wcsv.org on the Web. E-mail Patricia Abreu at volunteer@wcsv.org or call 929-9453 for orientation dates.

Young ladies life skills

International Order of Job's Daughters - Silicon Valley teaches young ladies, 10 to 20 years old, important life skills such as leadership, organization, teamwork and self-reliance. Girls also learn a sense of community by participating in philanthropic projects. Meetings are held on the first Monday at 7 p.m. and the third Saturday at 11 a.m. of each month at Mountain View Masonic Lodge, 890 Church St., Mountain View. For more information, call 781-0946 or e-mail yvettespencerbg103@yahoo.com.

Child advocates needed

Child Advocates of Silicon Valley is seeking caring adults, 21 and older, to become friends, mentors and advocates for children in the foster care system that have been abused, neglected or abandoned. Volunteers spend weekly one-on-one time with a child and speak up for their best interests in court. There are currently hundreds of children on the waiting list for an advocate. To learn how you can help, or for more information, please contact Samantha at 573-5665 or samantha@cadvocates.org.

Adult tutors needed

Vision Literacy, a service of the Santa Clara County Library, provides adults in Santa Clara County with free literacy services. A nationally recognized not-for profit organization, Vision Literacy trains volunteer tutors to help adults with reading, writing, and basic math skills.

Vision Literacy relies heavily on some 200 volunteers, most working as tutors in 12 cities throughout Santa Clara County. Our programs feature small-group and individual tutoring sessions that focus on specific learner needs. Tutors enrich our community by helping adults become empowered community members by increasing their literacy skills.

Vision Literacy's services, discuss expectations of tutor training, and allow for a direct question and answer period. Methods for ongoing tutor support are also addressed during this initial meeting. After completing orientation, interested volunteers are welcome to register for tutor training or explore other volunteer opportunities. To register for orientation call 262-1349 or email info@visionliteracy.org.

Orientation times and locations include:

Saturday, Aug. 23, 10:30-11:30 a.m., Milpitas Community Library (40 N. Milpitas Blvd., Milpitas).