Last year, 30,000 people signed up for classes offered through the recreation department. Spanning every age group, the classes seem to cover every type of activity out there--from classes on parenting issues to rock climbing to dog obedience.

But the department has not always been popular, or successful, or even around. What's more, some speculate it may not be what it is today had it not been for the blood, sweat and tears Goldberg poured into the department.

Gene Goldberg

When Goldberg was recruited to play football at San José State University, he had plans to move back to Southern California. "I never thought I'd stay up here," he says.

He was wrong.

A defensive safety playing alongside NFL coaching legend Bill Walsh and another legend, longtime Saratoga High School football coach Benny Pierce, Goldberg developed lasting friendships and an appreciation for what can be learned and experienced while on a team.

It was also during his years at SJSU that he studied physical education.

After one summer of coaching kids, however, Goldberg opted to change his major to recreational studies.

One of only eight students with the major, Goldberg seemed to have all the right tools for running a recreation department--he was resourceful, dedicated and had a knack for getting his way.

Plus, he loved the opportunity to give everyone a chance to participate in something, whether they were uncoordinated or the best of the best.

After graduation, Goldberg got a job at the Sunnyvale Recreation Department in 1954 and worked there for 2 1/2 years.

Eventually, he learned of a job opening at the fairly new Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation Department. He never looked back.

Life as director

Goldberg, however, was not the first director for the department. John Dolittle served as director for about three months until Goldberg was hired to replace him.

"He'd done exactly like his name--he had done little," Goldberg says.

When he started, Goldberg's office was a tiny closet, and the budget wasn't much bigger--$26,000 for both Los Gatos and Saratoga.

"With a name like Goldberg, I figured I'd have to find a way to make some money," he says.

Unlike many other recreation departments that are funded by cities, the local department has always been funded by school districts. Today, the department is the joint power of three school districts.

Ninety-five percent of the funding comes from a community service tax, part of the school tax, which gave the department three out of five cents of the tax. The other 5 percent comes from user fees.

Steve Rauwolf, director of the department since 2001, said that Goldberg made a bold move.

"Ahead of his time, Gene decided to move recreation services from tax-supported to fee-supported," Rauwolf says.

Within four months, Goldberg more than quadrupled the budget, expanding it to $110,000, and created 40 new programs by simply charging participants for the classes. Today, that budget is $5 million.

Goldberg not only created more programs and funding, he also developed another way to incorporate the community--he started the Los Gatos Christmas and holiday parade. While this has become a Los Gatos tradition, the idea wasn't popular with everyone at the time.

"You had a Jewish director running a Christmas parade. All my people came running, yelling at me," he says.

When Goldberg began, he realized that he had to hit the pavement and find partnerships within the community.

"I had to notify the community. I went to every service club. I talked to anyone and everyone in Los Gatos. I worked with the Parent Teacher Association. I found out what the parents, and mothers, wanted," he recalls.

Recreation classes

Whether it was swimming--which had up to 500 students in the early years--or French classes, Goldberg was determined to please the community.

And it didn't take much to get a class on its feet, as long as there were people who wanted the course and an instructor to teach it.

Some classes have always been offered--swimming, softball, tennis, even yoga.

For 20 years, Pierce, a Los Gatos resident, ran the softball program, which was started in 1959 by Hugh Welch.

"At that time, Little League only had six teams, so that was the reason the softball program got started," Pierce says. Unlike Little League, kids didn't have to worry about being "cut," because there were more than 50 teams.

"It was regardless of ability, and we started with just raw beginners," Pierce says.

Some classes and programs, however, were not always perceived as being best for the community. In fact, some of the classes raised a few eyebrows.

One class got started after a group of young women requested belly dancing.

"Belly dancing in the 1960s was pretty risky. We had a couple of pastors come down when they heard it was offered," Goldberg says.

Besides a course that taught, in some opinions, sexy dancing, there was also another questionable class--one that promoted gambling.

"A lot of people used to go to the horse track, but didn't know what was going on," Goldberg adds. So, community members asked the department if there could be a class that taught them what to do at the race tracks.

About 75 people signed up for a class that taught them how to read the "totalizator," taught by a jockey from Bay Meadows.

"I got telephone calls because of that class. People let me know they didn't like it, but they never really fought me," Goldberg says.

New faces

The recreation department was not just fundamental to strengthening the community's youth, but it also played a major role in its relationship with adults. This concept strengthened almost 20 years after the department started when it embraced adult education after a dramatic funding crisis hit the schools.

It also reached out to adults by offering a daycare program called Clubhouse.

Now, the department offers before- and after-school care programs at eight school sites in Los Gatos and Saratoga, Rauwolf says.

After years of having fun, developing friendships in the community and transforming the once three-class recreation department into hundreds of classes, Goldberg decided to retire at a time when he would still be missed.

"I went to work every morning, enjoying it," he says.

Continuing his legacy was Bob Best, who worked as the director for 14 years. During his time as director, he added seven new portable buildings for a clubhouse daycare and maintained the integrity of the department.

In 2001, Rauwolf took over as director after working in finance in the department for three years.

When he first started, he says there was a gap in the services the department provided.

"We served every age group, but didn't do much at all for middle school and high school students," he says.

Since identifying that, Rauwolf and his staff of more than 80 have developed an after-school youth leadership and activity program called The Zone at Fisher Middle School and Redwood Middle School.

And, most recently, in partnership with A Place for Teens, the teen center in Los Gatos, The Venue, has transformed into a popular hangout, with more than 200 teens visiting it a day.

Despite the introduction of the Saratoga Recreation Department 20 years ago, Rauwolf said while the two separate entities co-sponsor adult programs, they work together to best provide for their communities.

"We're careful not to duplicate services," he says.

Sitting in the director's chair of the lime-green recreation department headquarters--once the town library--Rauwolf humbly said that he may not be as charismatic as Goldberg, nor as funny, but he can still build upon the principles that Goldberg laid.

"Our vision is to build a healthy community," Rauwolf says. "He really established an efficient way to best service the community."

As Goldberg walked past what was once the old neighborhood center--now the Civic Center lawn--he said one thing he noticed about the community is that it is very "quality minded."

"If it's not a good program, you'll lose people here," he says.

For further information on the Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Education and Recreation Department and its programs, call 408.354.8700.

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Community Education and Recreation Department is celebrating 50 years of serving the residents of the Los Gatos and Saratoga communities.

Festivities for the Sept. 24 anniversary party for the department will kick off at 11:30 a.m. at the Civic Center in downtown Los Gatos. The free gala will offer youth activities and games from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., a skateboard open session from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and teen bands from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. LGS Big Band will perform from 3 to 4:45 p.m., and the Joe Sharino Band will play from 5 to 8 p.m.

The Great Los Gatos Food Fest held the same day in the same location will benefit A Place for Teens.