Day Under the Oaks draws curious to SRJC

Mike Guilford had an appreciative audience Sunday in his two small daughters, who squealed with excitement as he “competed” to blow, if not the world’s largest soap bubble, at least the largest soap bubble on Bailey Field.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh,” 6-year-old Penney Guilford shouted while leaping up and down and then tearing off with her 4-year-old sister Bernadette to pop each long, tubular bubble as it took to the air and then broke up into multiple bubbles that glistened with rainbow colors in the light.

The first-ever bubble blowing contest at Santa Rosa Junior College’s annual Day Under the Oaks was held in service to science experimentation. But to most of the more than 100 people who stopped by for a lesson in mondo bubble-blowing, it was, as Mike Guilford put it, “an excuse for me to play.”

That’s the kind of reaction organizers of the annual campus open house hope to achieve - to get people hooked on learning, maybe enough to come back and sign up for a class or enroll in a whole program.

Ron Schultz, 71, is a retired CEO for TN Spice Tea Co. But with degrees and advanced degrees in in math and physics, he found himself at SRJC tutoring. And that led to his obsession with coming up with the perfect non-toxic recipe to blow world-class giant bubbles. He spent the last year experimenting with solutions and then testing with students. He found the secret ingredient is guar gum powder, a common thickener for ice cream mixed with Dawn dish soap, the best brand by far for bubbles, he maintains.

Dressed in a white lab coat, the not-so-mad scientist said there were no prizes this year because there ?is currently no accurate way to measure a bubble. But he intends ?to spend the next year working on that problem so by next year’s Day Under the Oaks he can stage the World’s Largest Bubble Blowing Contest.

SRJC police estimated that ?5,000 to 7,000 people, undeterred by overcast skies, showed up at the Santa Rosa campus for a day of free science demonstrations, games and multicultural entertainment.

For many of the departments and clubs, it’s a chance to show off what they do, recruit new members and raise funds for programs by selling candy, cookies, cupcakes and drinks.

Rich Lehrer, who heads the radiologic technology program, made like a carnival barker, calling to passersby as they passed his booth. But instead of promising prizes, he dangled the chance at a $40 an hour career after a two-year training program at SRJC. Only 20 students a year are accepted into the program by lottery.

It caught the attention of Stacy Burton, 36, who was combing the campus with her husband and three kids, looking for cool things to check out. They had just been to Anatomy, where they all got to touch a real human brain and looked at the difference between healthy lungs and those diseased by smoking.

‘I’m in a florist class but I’m always looking to do something else to help support my family,” she said.

Attending Day Under the Oaks, she added, is also a great way to introduce her kids to new things.

“They’re having an opportunity to see what’s available to them,” she said. “The more they see and they more they’re educated, the higher up they’ll go.”

Clubs set up booths in Bertolini Quad in hopes of attracting recruits or spreading their message.

Members of the Black Student Union sold cupcakes and invited a conversation about race with the question, “Do you think we live in a post-racial society?”

“Five or so people came up. One told us about their experience being racially profiled,” said Shanice McCarter, a senior at Elsie Allen High who also takes classes at SRJC and is a member of the union.

There are only about eight members in the club, but they got one more to sign up.

“People are intimidated by the word ‘Black,’ but anyone can join as long as you’re willing to change tomorrow in the U.S.,” said Steven Covarrubias, 18.

The group toward the end of the day made signs and organized a short demonstration around the quad. About 20 students made a single loop around the green, chanting “Hands Up” and “Black Lives Matter.”

You can reach Staff Writer Meg ?McConahey at meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or 521-5204. On Twitter @megmcconahey.