Merced Sun-Star

Veterans of Foreign Wars post No. 4327 will serve breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday and on the 3rd Saturday of each month thereafter, in the east wing of the Veterans Memorial Building. Some of the proceeds will go to Modesto post no. 3199 to help rebuild the location, which was destroyed by fire in August.

May 12, 1958: It was a wasp-shaped seaplane and it circled the airport for three hours and nobody knew if it would land, crash, or fly away.

Standing beneath the shade trees on the grassy lawn that flanks the River Oaks Range, on the Bettencourt Family Ranch, it is easy to picture an older, simpler time. Ducks and geese patrol serenely. Bison wander amiably in the distance. Just across the gravel road leading to the range, crops wave gently in the May sunshine. Removed a fair distance from the nearest road, silence and peace pervade the air, and the breeze brushes gently through the leaves of the surrounding trees.

Special events

Clubs

When Atwater Garden Club member Sherry Miller first began to contemplate what to do with her garden, neighbors would wonder as she stood outside, looking from her coffee cup to the three acres that surrounded her house.

The Merced County Arts Council will present a three-man show from through June 2, in the Merced Multicultural Arts Center. All are welcome. The artists are Bob Nugent, Jennifer Maria Harris and Mahara T. Sinclair and friends. Galleries are free and open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, call (209) 388-1090.

Kenneth W. Boyd, Los Banos,

ATWATER

It will be an evening celebrated in grand style as Playhouse Merced presents "Some Enchanted Evening -- The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein."

PUBLIC MEETINGS TODAY

Treasures and goodies go on sale to the public today and Saturday at the United Methodist Church, 899 Yosemite Park Way, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. both days. Wesley Hall, on the Laurel Street side of the church, will be filled with furniture, household goods, antiques and collectibles for sale at bargain prices.