For more than three decades, San Jose’s Children’s Discovery Museum has built its reputation on creating a place where all kids can learn through play. That mission lines up with the Special Olympics of Northern California, which received the museum’s Legacy for Children Award at its Keep On Playing gala last Saturday night.
Andrea Cahn , who accepted the sundial award on behalf of the organization, is senior vice president of Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools, a program that aims for social inclusion through planned activities at more than 10,000 schools in the United States, including more than a dozen in San Jose and Santa Clara County.
“Special Olympics approaches this vision through sports and through our schools’ programming. The museum approaches it through hands-on learning, through family engagement and discovery. The methods might differ, but the destination is beautifully aligned,” Chan said. “We’re all about a future where inclusion is expected, rather than exceptional.”
Debbie McKenzie, associate director of development for the Children’s Discovery Museum, receives a bouquet from board chair Monica Nayar, left, and CEO Linda Tsai at the Keep on Playing gala on Saturday, July 18, 2026. McKenzie is planning to retire this year. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
More than 200 people attended the event at the Purple Museum in downtown San Jose, which included a fun improv performance by Freestyle+ and a couple of special moments for the institution. The gala served as an introduction for new Children’s Discovery Museum CEO Linda Tsai, who has been on the job four months, but it was also a farewell for Debbie McKenzie, CDM’s associate director of development who has been part of all 26 of the Legacy for Children Award events.
Tsai and board chair Monica Nayar of PwC presented McKenzie with a floral bouquet and elicited a promise that she would come back after retirement — as a guest.
LAKE CUNNINGHAM IS BACK: Families around San Jose were disappointed by the news that the Calibunga water park at Lake Cunningham Park in San Jose was kaput for the summer. But the venue won’t be dead for the whole season thanks to the launch of Fridays at the Lake, a weekly series of free family-friendly events running through Oct. 2.
San Francisco’s Circus Bella will kick things off this week and immediately confuse the marketing by having two days of fun: Thursday and Friday. The open-air circus — which features acrobats, aerialists, jugglers, clowns and a six-piece band — will start seating at 5:30 p.m. both days at the park’s Cypress Pavilion. Families can bring picnic dinners, small chairs or blankets and there will be food trucks and a pop-up beer garden.
Skating and live music by La Maltida Cruda and Monkey will be offered at the park’s revived skate park on July 3. There also will be wrestling — both live with Pro Wrestling Revolution and on screen with the movie “Nacho Libre” — on Aug. 31. More movies, music and other activities will follow, and you can keep track of them all at the “Fridays at the Lake” collection on Eventbrite.
ART AND ABOUT: We don’t usually rave about people painting on overpasses, but in this case, John Barrick — aka Honest John — deserves a big round of applause for his new mural on the Highway 87 overpass above eastbound West Santa Clara Street. The mural spells out, “Welcome to Downtown San Jose” in painted block letters that match the city’s official colors of white, blue and gold. It is just the kind of fun, placemaking symbol that downtown — and the city as a whole — could use more of.
A new mural by John Barrick, aka Honest John, on the Highway 87 overpass on West Santa Clara Street, photographed on Friday, July 17, 2026, serves as a gateway to downtown San Jose. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about San Jose arts organization Local Color preparing to move into its new creative hub in the Davidson Building on West Julian Street. Erin Salazar, Carman Gaines and their team are ready to welcome people over for a housewarming, with a first look and 11th birthday celebration for Local Color planned from 3 to 7 p.m. this Saturday. There’ll be workshop, music and birthday cake, and you can keep on top of the updates on the group’s plans on its Instagram page.