January 8, 2008

A look back at 2008 highlights

The past year was one of ups and downs from an election that made history to the highest gas prices in our history; from falling housing prices to falling stock prices to an incredible rise in home foreclosures. Here are some of the events affecting Willow Glen and Cambrian Park.

JANUARY

Nancy Biagini, one of Willow Glen’s best features, passed away, the victim of a 14-month battle with colon cancer. Locals remembered her smile and the welcome they felt when seeing her on the street or meeting her for the first time. Mrs. Biagini died Jan. 6 in San Jose. More than 1,000 people attended her funeral.

The San Jose City Council voted to build the South Side Police Substation; construction will begin in February. The substation, which city voters approved as part of a $159 million bond measure package in 2002, received a low bid about $7 million short of the money appropriated from the bond measure. The city manager’s staff scrambled to find the money, which includes taking the $1.1 million appropriated for public art that caused a rift in council voting for the program.

The council unanimously approved an increase to History San Jose’s subsidy of $1.38 million or $875,000 annually for three years. HSJ’s subsidy had been scheduled to drop from $574,823 in 2008 to $335,085 for the next two years.

A group of volunteers from the Lion’s Club Scales of Justice group began working to form a new club in the Willow Glen and Cambrian Park areas. The new club had its first meeting on Jan. 22 and hoped to bring more people together at a second meeting on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Denny’s Restaurant on Hillsdale Avenue.

The pace of home sales in California’s new-home communities in November continued to be dramatically lower than a year ago, according to the California Building Industry Association. The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI) New Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that new home sales in November were nearly 55 percent below sales in November 2006.

San Jose’s future is bright and Mayor Chuck Reed is looking forward to turning around the financial problems that have plagued the city in recent years, he said in his State of the City address. However, he told a crowd of more than 1,400 people the city still needs to tighten its belt financially.

What do you get when you combine a campus filled with teenagers, a liberal sprinkling of litter and multiply by five years? If the campus in question is Campbell Union’s Branham High School, then the answer is SPARE – Students Promoting Awareness of Recycling and the Environment. Previously known as the BHS Recycling Club, the 60-member strong SPARE is the brainchild of social studies faculty member Matt Zehner, who started the club with little more than a good idea and a lone member.
Proceeds from collecting and recycling the school’s can, bottle, paper, ink and toner cartridges and other recyclables has funded a campus beautification “adopt-a-garden” program. Since this program’s inception two years ago, over a dozen landscaped plots have been established and maintained at Branham. Various groups or departments on campus work with SPARE to set up and then maintain each plot. There is currently a waiting list for new gardens.

Pierluigi Oliverio recognized Our City Forest and its president Rhonda Berry (right), as District 6 Good Neighbors during the community honoree section of the State of the City Program. Oliverio honored the organization and its president for its commitment to the environment and the community since its 1994 inception. Part of the reason for Our City Forest’s success has been Berry’s professionalism blended with her passion about her organization that allows her to find the best solution, he said.

District 9 City Councilmember Judy Chirco honored Irene Jimenez and Hortencia Garcia as Good Neighbors at the State of the City program on Jan. 16 at the Convention Center. The two have been active in organizing the Donna Lane neighborhood.

Chirco unveiled the Cambrian Library Donor Wall at a donor appreciation event she hosted at the Cambrian Library on Sunday, Jan.13. More than 75 library donors attended the event where Andrea Goeke, the Cambrian Teen Idol winner performed as part of the program. Mary McLane of the San Jose Library Foundation said the Cambrian branch has exceeded its goal of raising $100,000 for the new library by $5,000.

Five top Silicon Valley CEOs and their executives raced through the aisles of Target tossing toys in shopping carts for low-income boys and girls, elbowing the competition in a timed race…and then pulled out their personal checkbooks to pay at the cash register. The annual CEO Shopping Challenge, held at the start of the holiday season, is a huge benefit to local nonprofit The Family Giving Tree. In its third year, the challenge has become a spirited Silicon Valley tradition. CEOs spend their own money, and the event has provided more than 9,000 gifts since 2005.

Susan Max is not your typical grandmother. The Army Reserve captain spent most of the past year serving her country in Baghdad. Max is the mother of four and grandmother of four. Being in Iraq as a soldier is “an interesting experience at this time of my life,” she told the Times. The 59-year-old, who stands just slightly over 5 feet tall and weighs 106 pounds, lives near Almaden. She has been a member of the Army Reserves for more than 17 years and a nurse for 41 years—35 of them for the U.S. Army. She was sent to Iraq about a year ago, where she works at the headquarters there, to plan, inform and develop programs.

FEBRUARY

More than 100 people crowded the Camden Community Center Feb. 14 as Councilmember Judy Chirco honored a group of D9 Stars that also are community leaders in the Cambrian area. The list included clergy members and volunteers, fire fighters and librarians, school superintendents and students, principals and teachers, Home and School Club presidents and business owners and club members.

The guests were invited by Chirco and treated to breakfast with the council member and her staff, given some time to mix with other community members and to learn about Cambrian area supporters. There was a good deal of laughing as well as some bantering between rival principals. This was Chirco’s second Valentine’s Day breakfast. “

The seventh grade students of St. Christopher School met the students from the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School (GHJDS) of Palo Alto as part of a program called “Dialogue for Understanding” developed by Elizabeth Sharkey, junior high teacher of GHJDS, with Carly Roben, junior high teacher of St. Christopher School. The purpose of the program is to promote cross-religious understanding through student-led discussions and presentations.

Watch out, Stephen King! Willow Glen Elementary fourth-grader Megan Ritchie placed second in her grade level in The Wooden Horse toy store’s 21st annual “Spooky Story Writing Contest.” Megan’s was one of 843 entries.

Willow Glen High School’s Parent Club held its annual nighttime fund-raising event March 14, the school’s major fund-raiser of 2008. All the money raised benefited Willow Glen High School students. The evening featured Texas Hold’em Poker, raffle prizes, and silent and live auctions. Up for grabs at the live auction were front row seats for June graduation.

The San Jose Youth Commission held a citywide youth conference Feb. 1 at City Hall. The conference informed young people about the range of statistics regarding their generation and called them to action by becoming involved in the issues they feel passionately about. The youth commission believes that teens can make positive changes in their lives and communities if they are informed, inspired and united with one voice.

On a recent trip to San Jose, former Willow Glen native Susan Arbuckle toured the old neighborhood, following her brother Jim’s death last summer when he fell while rounding the corner on his bike at Foxworthy and Meridian avenues. Susan and Jim are the children of historian Clyde Arbuckle, 0who wrote the monumental “Clyde Arbuckle’s History of San Jose,” published in 1985, and was a former curator of the San Jose Historical Museum and the a guru for history buffs through evening classes he taught throughout the South Bay.

The First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, held its sixth annual free lecture in the Adult Education Roundtable project featuring Bishop John Shelby Spong, who is the retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, N.J., Spong’s lecture/presentation “Tomorrow’s Christianity: Not Rescuing Sinners, but Transforming Humanity.”

MARCH

Eleven-year-old Gunnar Moody was singing in his physical education class when his teacher asked him to go outside. When Gunnar, a high-functioning sixth grade autistic child refused, the teacher sent a student to get the San Jose Police officer located at the school. The officer asked Gunnar to leave three times. When he wouldn’t, the officer handcuffed him to take him from the classroom. Gunnar was later moved to another school.

Military chaplains have a most incredible and difficult job (remember Father Mulcahy in M*A*S*H?). They minister to, console, comfort, aid and inspire the brave men and women of our military who may be hurt, scared or disillusioned. They often do this under fire, in terrible conditions, far from their friends and family and for months on end. A group of third-grade students from St. Christopher School joined Adopt-a-Chaplain (AAC), a San Jose-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting troops through the ministries of chaplains and 35 students are collecting and packaging everything from toothpaste to toys, to be shipped monthly to Father John, a Catholic priest from Chicago, who has been supporting troops in Ramadi for close to a year.

For the third time in less than a month, the Vietnamese-American business district at Highway 101 and Senter Road made the news, this time likely the end of a nearly yearlong effort to name the area. The City Council voted unanimously to ratify the March 13 agreement allowing construction and installation of temporary community signs with the name Little Saigon at or near the Story-McLaughlin Road intersection. In the compromise agreement, private citizens agreed to find funding to pay for, construct and install the signs.

The Lupus Foundation of Northern California announced its 30-year anniversary, a significant milestone for the Bay Area organization. The foundation was founded in February 1978 to increase awareness, provide education and support services and support external research efforts for this afflicting disease.

It’s been about a year-and-a-half since the San Jose City Council passed then-Councilmember Ken Yeager’s proposal to offer more healthy food options in city-operated vending machines, the California Association of Nutrition and Activity Programs has recognized the policy as landmark legislation in the fight against obesity. Yeager, now a Santa Clara County supervisor, received the association’s inaugural California Advocate for Nutrition Award today at the 2008 Network for a Healthy California Conference in Sacramento.

Santa Clara County’s Legislative Committee approved a request from Yeager to recommend that the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors formally oppose the FDA’s 1983 policy that bans any man from donating blood if he has had sexual contact with any man since 1977. Under the recommendation, the Board of Supervisors would work with federal representatives to lobby the FDA to change its rules.

When people talk about helping others, it’s usually just talk. But 175 volunteers recently put their money where their mouths are by getting up early on a rainy Sunday morning and working for four hours serving others in their community.
The Journey Christian Church, which meets at Pioneer High School, hosted its 11th Community Impact Day, sending church members to 14 project sites throughout the South Bay and investing $8,000 on the projects.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to contribute $950,000 to the purchase of the 57-acre Beatty property by the Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District (the District) for public parkland and open space purposes.

The Junior League of San Jose hosted “In Vogue,” its 15th biennial fundraising fashion show, at the Fairmont Hotel San Jose. Fashion show proceeds are invested in projects that build better communities and help young children enter elementary school ready to learn and thrive.

Last year’s phenomenon from the top of City Hall returned again this year when the city turned on the FalconCam on Valentine’s Day. Peregrine falcons named Clara and Carlos have set up a nest on the top floor of San Jose’s City Hall. Last year, Clara and her mate Jose, raised three fledglings in the same nesting box.

On March 14, Our City Forest planted 21 trees on the Sartorette Elementary School. Our City Forest, and the school’s student council, parents and faculty planted the trees. Our City Forest provides free trees for residents of San Jose to plant in public areas, such as parks, schools, and median strips.

Although the weather was cold and rainy and the wind was howling, a large group of people made it to Willow Glen’s Relay For Life kickoff. The eighth annual relay was held May 17-18 at Willow Glen High School’s track from 10 a.m. to 10 a.m. One of San Jose’s oldest relays, this year’s Willow Glen event promises to be even more fruitful than last year.

It’s been nearly a year since Pierluigi Oliverio took office and he notes that a majority of his work has landed in the success column. In some of his early work, the District 6 council member says he “initially shot for the moon and fell, on a star.”

It’s not often that children find themselves able to hunt Easter eggs when it’s raining and hailing outside, but that’s exactly what happened when the Cambrian Community Center held its second annual egg hunt. Due to weather, the center held its hunt in the community room, but no one appeared terribly sad about it. The children came in all sizes and ages and unlike a year ago were, in most cases, dressed for the weather. They waited anxiously outside after registering and then were welcomed in by age group.

Evelyn (Savio) Ford never attended St. Christopher School, but she bequeathed $50,000 in her will to the school’s endowment fund will help generations of children to attend. Ford died at the age of 86 on Aug. 21, 2007, the day before St. Christopher students started the 2007-08 school year.

It took weeks for volunteers from Willow Glen Baptist Church to buy toys and candy and fill about 5,000 colorful plastic Easter eggs but only 30 minutes to spread them out at Bramhall Park. It took less than 15 minutes for them all to disappear.

APRIL

Mayor Chuck Reed presented his budget message at the March 18 evening Council meeting and council members unanimously approved his suggestions. Reed asked the council to agree to a three-year general fund structural deficit elimination plan stakeholder group to determine a plan to be presented to the City Council in November. The group would include a group of up to 30 San Jose residents providing a balance of city employees, labor, business, nonprofits, taxpayers and members of neighborhood associations.

Project Cornerstone celebrated its fifth annual Asset Champions Breakfast at The Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jose with a puzzle-piece theme of “Connecting With Youth: Where Do You Fit?” Nine hundred participants filled the banquet room and were greeted by Anne Ehresman, executive director of the organization.

Willow Glen High School students in cooperation with the Children’s Musical Theater San Jose presented “The Leader of the Pack,” a fun musical for the entire family in the Willow Glen High cafeteria.

At the 39th annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon April 25 at the Santa Clara Marriott, the Junior League of San Jose (JLSJ) honored community volunteers who made an outstanding impact in their communities. This annual event recognizes volunteers from local community agencies who went far beyond the already high expectations for volunteers and took it upon themselves to change the way things are. Winners included Willow Glen’s Felecia Mulvany whose personal experience was the inspiration for Felecia to create Project Cornerstone’s Asset Building Champions program (ABC), a parent-run initiative in which volunteers lead classroom activities focusing on conflict resolution and tolerance.

Besides its usual gamut of classes, bridge games and lunches, the Kirk Community Center’s senior programs for spring included a driving class taught by Mr. Roadshow, Gary Richards, a special spring luncheon, complimentary haircuts and some special spring programs including an Older American’s Celebration, a new AARP walking program, a spring concert and a history program about the Bay area’s coastal defenses during World War II.

A bidding war broke out in Willow Glen’s Vin Santo Ristorante as the Willow Glen Elementary School’s PTA entertained a sell-out crowd for its seventh annual “Night in Northern Italy.” The fundraiser took in more than $30,000, up from last year’s record by several thousand and substantially up from the $20,000 netted two years ago. Proceeds from the event benefit educational enrichment programs on the historic campus. These include field trips, music, art, sports and science as well as family activities and teacher stipends for supplies and materials.

District 6 Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio and San Jose Library Director Jane Light toured the new Willow Glen Branch Library, which is nearing completion. The one-story building has an open feel with high ceilings and unique light fixtures. Its artwork, which already has been installed, is in the form of windows. Two glass panes encompass the colorful work within 50 windows on the western side of the building.

At the April 8 City Council meeting, Councilmember Chirco recognized several individuals to receive the District 9 Stars Award. The recipients were Ed Beckman, Barbara Stover, Mary Ann Ward and Ann and Jim LaFrom. Also receiving D9 Stars were the Beautiful Day – Better Homes Kooser Rehabilitation Team composed of Venture Christian Church members and the city of San Jose’s Code Enforcement and Housing departments.

Rebuilding Together brings out a number of volunteers from San Jose and surrounding areas, but seldom do volunteers travel all the way from Zambia to help.
Dick Armstrong, a civil engineer who telecommutes from Zambia, joined other volunteers from Fall Creek Engineering and the Family Community Church to help repair and spruce up a home in Cambrian Park.
MAY
Spring in Willow Glen brings the annual Lifestyles Home Tour to benefit the San Jose Day Nursery. This year’s tour offered ideas for a new home, for decorating a current home or just to see how others live. This self-guided tour offers six homes in the Willow Glen area, featuring creative remodels, inviting interior design and innovative floral arrangements.

Enthused attendees, undaunted by the extra hot temperatures, showed up at the Camden Community Center on Saturday, May 17, to Celebrate Cambrian. The third annual daylong celebration offered a number of activities, games, crafts and information about city services. There was an art show with works from young people and from seniors. There was a raffle for District 9 elementary schools to win an art course; as well as music and dancing a plenty – including a dance contest for mascots from local schools, stores and teams.

Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV) honored hundreds of volunteers who tirelessly work to improve the lives of homeless animals during National Volunteer Week April 27 - May 3. The weeklong celebration pays special tribute to volunteers who give of themselves to better their communities and the lives of others.

Celebrating six years of philanthropy, the Almaden-Blossom Valley Chapter of National Charity League (NCL) honored 19 high school senior girls at its Senior Presentation gala at the Corinthian Event Center. The young ladies attired in white evening gowns gathered in honor of their mother/daughter commitment to community service. Their moms dressed in black gowns stood at their sides. The group provided more than 2,018 volunteer hours to local nonprofits such as the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, the San Jose Family Shelter and Sunday Friends.

Every year, about 15 regulars at the Heartbeat Café in Cambrian Park Plaza get together on Wednesday mornings to bet on who will be eliminated from the next week’s American Idol television show. This year, there was a side bet between Café owner Jolanta Kobylinski and a regular named Steve (he prefers to use only his first name) over whether the winner would be David Archuleta or David Cook. Kobylinski choose Cook and won and Steve showed up to wash windows after many of the customers arrived early and took pens to the windows.

The X-Force student ministries worked again to raise money to help African countries get pure water. The group held a car wash and rummage sale to raise money to enable them to raise more money for a triathlon this summer.

The city of San Jose was awash in purple on May 1, thanks to volunteers from the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay For Life, a community event against cancer.
Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilmembers Nancy Pyle, Forrest Williams and Pierluigi Oliverio proclaimed the date “Paint our Town Purple Day” as part of a special proclamation. There were Relays For Life in Willow Glen, Almaden and Blossom Valley this year.

Students from Ida Price Middle School visited historic Mount Vernon and received a limited-edition portrait of George Washington during a special presentation at Washington’s Mansion. The portrait, a framed 30-inch-by-36-inch copy of a painting by Rembrandt Peale, was presented by Mount Vernon as part of its George Washington Portrait of Leadership Program, which puts the once-ubiquitous portraits of Washington back in schools.

A large crowd gathered at a remodeled building on Lincoln near Malone to christen the new Castle View Realty office. The realty company is owned by Farah and Mo Bani-Taba and has been operating for 10 years. The couple both were raised in San Jose and graduated from San Jose State. Farah has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics and Mo a master’s in business administration.

For at least 20 years, River Glen Elementary School has held a spring event. But this year, the school crowned a king and queen. The queen was parent Suzanne Wolf who also works for the city’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department. The king was District 6 Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio, who delivered a speech in Spanish thanking the students, teachers, administrators and volunteers for their work and the honor of being chosen king as well as offering his support when needed.

Mary Tillman was the guest speaker at the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s sixth annual Women in Leadership on May 21 at the San Jose Marriott. The Almaden Valley school teacher and now author follows a distinguished lineup of local women speakers who have made a difference for other women including Olympic ice skating gold medal winner Peggy Fleming, who is also a breast cancer survivor, and Santa Clara County District Attorney Delores Carr, who is the county’s first woman DA and only the second woman tin California to hold that office.

JUNE

Stone Church of Willow Glen celebrated its new Green Initiative by hosting a Bike to Church Day. Those who biked, walked or used public transport were rewarded with a feast of fresh bagels and cream cheese; chilled fruit juice and coffee. A feel-good energy permeated the social hall. Nearly half the 400 people that make up the congregation took part in the Green action day and it attracted young and old alike.

For the second year, 19 students, teachers and parents sacrificed their long hair to Locks of Love, cutting off between 8 and 20 inches. Many of those participating had been growing their hair for years, others had just started in September, but all were ready and willing to give their locks to help those suffering from alopecia or from chemotherapy to have wigs so they can look like everyone else.

Marcella Longoria, a student at Willow Glen High School, has been selected for membership in the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). The Society recognizes top scholars and invites only those students who have achieved superior academic excellence.

Once-vacant buildings at the intersection of Lincoln and Curtner now house new merchants and shops. The four corners are now home to Elva’s Coffee Stop, Ace Hardware. Rain Salon, Taqueria Tlaquepague Authentic Mexican Food and Strada Salon and Day Spa.

Willow Glen’s own Hicklebee’s, the award-winning children’s bookstore on Lincoln Avenue, will soon have a second home in the new terminal at the Mineta San Jose Airport. Host International asked Hicklebee’s to join other local stores in the new terminal.

Despite losing their leading member and source of inspiration to breast cancer last year, the Walkin’ Raviolis team continued to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life event to raise money to fight the disease. They also held numerous fundraisers throughout the year including a pasta feed and garage sale.

The Walkin’ Raviolis is comprised of 25 family and friends of Tina Martignetti and her mother Mary, who raise money for cancer research by participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and holding various fundraisers throughout the year.

JULY

The Northern California Junior Sports Camp for youth with physical disabilities celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. The camp allows disabled youths to participate in activities such as wheelchair basketball, tennis, rugby, soccer, track and field, scuba diving, water-skiing, fencing, kayaking and rock climbing. The camp was held July 7-18 at San Jose State University.

Carmen Loy, a teacher at Shallenberger Elementary School, was awarded the Reading Model Classroom by Renaissance Learning.

Despite walking and working in the 100-degree heat, the 2008 Willow Glen Relay For Life surpassed previous records with more than 130 survivors, compared with 90 last year and collecting more than $200,000. The crew of women, Sherry Rodriguez, Debbie Evans, Pam Green and Georgia Ladd, who have been on the Relay committee for the last eight years also were working this year; Rodriguez and Evans on survivors and Greene and Ladd on the food committee. Mary Keenan served as event chair for the second year.

With pomp and circumstance, flowers, balloons and beach balls the Willow Glen and Branham High School classes of 2008 each took turns receiving their diplomas.

Both graduations were beautiful and despite the heat managed to bring tears to their parents faces and joy and the freedom of nearing adulthood to the graduates.

While San Jose’s budget for 2008-09 has been an ongoing process since last January, it passed relatively quickly June 17 with only a few distractions and only one vote against it. During a public hearing the night before, a large number of people, including city and police employees, labor union officials and residents, took two minutes to express their desires in what the money should be spent on.

Oliverio asked that the personnel at Fire Station 6 remain at five in case of multiple emergencies, so there would be enough fire fighters to go around, with other stations too distant to handle medical emergencies. He suggested that money come from the city’s emergency fund along with additional funds taken from closing the Willow Glen Branch Library on Mondays, but his preferences were defeated.

The final budget that passed closed $29 million in the deficit—with no layoffs—and will add 25 new police officers, $1.5 million for gang prevention programs and $1.2 million for traffic calming.

Changes to the city’s traffic calming policies came after last fall’s series of 10 meetings in each council district to gather information from citizens on the existing policy, get feedback on potential changes and recommend priorities to address neighborhood traffic concerns.

The mayor’s newly passed budget includes the hiring of 25 new police officers in addition to the 15 hired last year with a “hope” to add 100 by 2012. No one on the council disagreed with the $1,535,207 million allotted to gang prevention and intervention programs. Of that total, $200,000 will go to a summer program to prevent gang activity during summer months; $100,000 for a pilot Community Responsibility Council for youth offenders in partnership with Santa Clara County; $185,207 toward reinstatement of Crime Prevention staff and the Challenges and Choices youth program; and $50,000 for truancy abatement programs.

Willow Glen’s Lincoln Avenue was crowded with dancers, kids and people out for a good time on June 14 for the 13th annual Dancin’ on the Avenue. The Joe Sharino Band was a big hit. The crowd was estimated at more than 35,000 while the sales generated more than $40,000 for the Willow Glen Business Association to keep streets clean, safe and landscaped and providing extra revenues in taxes for the city of San Jose.

AUGUST

Powell’s Candy Shop owner Neil Knott came up with an idea to bring people to downtown Willow Glen on Sundays, and viola, it happened on Aug. 31 behind the Garden Theater and was successful. He calls it the Sweet Sunday gathering at the Garden Theater, the First Annual Kids Flea Market.

District 6 held a community meeting to discuss traffic calming improvements and to allow for any additional concerns and suggestions to be shared and discussed Aug. 14, at the Hoover Community Center. The meeting follows one held July 17 with the community to improve traffic problems, especially around schools and follows the unfortunate and tragic traffic accident that killed a 12-year-old student.

Oster Elementary School invited all alumni, past and present staff, neighbors and those with an interest in Oster to join the festivities and share stories at “Celebrating 50 years of Cougar Pride.” The reunion was Sept. 12 at the school. A live band and entertainment were provided.

Oliverio hosted the second annual District 6 Safety Fair and Outdoor Movie on Friday, Aug. 29, at Bramhall/Willow Street Park. Residents were encouraged to bring a blanket and a flashlight. Besides the movie “Cars,” the evening featured the San Jose Police Department’s Mounted Unit, officials from the San Jose Fire Department, Schurras Candy and Elva’s Coffee Stop. Oliverio also arranged a public safety meeting for Wednesday, Aug. 27, at the Willow Glen Senior Center.

A free Safety Fair was held Aug. 16 at River Glen Park. Realtor Holly Barr and P.A.L. soccer put the fair together. It offered more than 12 booths with information about family safety, free items and articles for sale from local vendors such as Ace Hardware as well as representatives from the police and fire departments, Internet safety, child proofing and other areas.

Every year for the past six, there has been free music in Willow Glen, thanks to the Kiwanis Club of Willow Glen. In the past few years, there have been some changes, all for the better, extending the concert series an extra week, adding 60 minutes and more food and drinks. And while it appears the basic program hasn’t changed, the crowds have grown averaging between 400 and 500 each week so far this year.

Starbucks put out the word it was closing 600 of its coffee bars before it told some of the property owners. Michael Mulcahy, who owns the Garden Theater Building, the home of the only Starbucks in San Jose to close, was told by a television reporter of its closing, before the company told him. “This is an above average store, a favorite of the district managers. It’s a heartfelt loss,” he added.

A team of 11 women - less one of the original 12 who had to drop out due to a twisted ankle - took the challenge to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and walk 40 miles around San Francisco. Elva Acevedo was among the members of Team Willow Glen Walkers, who began training earlier this year, and her business, Elva’s Coffee Stop on Lincoln Avenue was the point where team members met, worked out a strategy and began their training

For the third year in a row, three Kiwanis Clubs held a chili cook-off, raising more than $9,000 to help fund programs the service clubs host to benefit students, children, needy families and other programs conducted throughout the year. The Kiwanis Clubs from Cambrian Park, Willow Glen and South San Jose each year invite local chili aficionados to make and serve chili to hungry club members and friends. Once the judging takes place, everyone digs in to a dinner with barbeque tri-tip and corn on the cob along with dessert that included Charlie’s Cheesecakes this year.

Fammatre Elementary School held its annual holiday boutique, enticing locals to buy a number of homemade items including jewelry, candy, tote bags, crafts, pottery, birdhouses and a make-your-own candle booth.

Cambrian Park and Willow Glen Kiwanis Clubs joined 14 other local clubs in helping run the John Fraley Holiday Food Drive. The following Wednesday, the Willow Glen club held its annual Giant Interclub Luncheon at the Three Flames with all 16 local clubs attending.

The holidays are just around the corner and the elves at the nonprofit Family Giving Tree busily prepared to grant more than 50,000 underprivileged children’s holiday wishes. The difference between this charity and others is they give the children the exact toy the children choose themselves. The Family Giving Tree, a 19-year-old nonprofit, serves more than 240 social service agencies in the Bay area and has granted nearly 600,000 personalized holiday gift wishes since 1990.

DECEMBER

Stone Church of Willow Glen opened its glistening green doors to two energetic and noisy guests during the morning service. Dubbed the Green Men (after The Blue Man percussion group), two emerald-faced men ran down the aisle wielding drums and tambourines during the children’s service, making a cacophony of noise. This special visit by the Green Men coincided with Stone Church’s celebration of its Green Certification from Santa Clara County, a celebration that included green facing painting, planting seeds, green corsages for new members and, of course, mountains of green cake.

The Cambrian Park Kiwanis Club opened its 34th annual Christmas tree lot at the far end of Leigh High School’s parking lot. The money raised at the tree lot all stays within the area to sponsor scholarships, parties for those less fortunate and the club’s other service ventures. Many families have made the trek to the lot a family holiday tradition.

Intero partnered with the Family Giving Tree during the holiday season by hosting a giving tree containing the holiday gift wish cards of several local needy children.

Laura Ross, a lifelong Willow Glen resident and third-generation member of a Willow Glen family, published a book called “Valley Girl Turns 40” and held a book-signing party at the Garden Theater. It was a huge party, with the first floor crowded with friends of the hairdresser who comments that she is a “big ’80s buff.”

With the holidays just over three weeks away, Holiday Gifts for Teens volunteers collected donations for teenagers. Every year the American Association of University Women and Sacred Heart Community Service volunteers put together gifts for this forgotten segment of the population. The volunteers have set a goal of 1,400 gift bags for low-income teens, 100 more than last year.

Although Measure B’s vote tally reached 66.7 and stayed there, an environmental group went to court in early December asking for a restraining order to stop certification of the results by the Registrar of Voters. However, because the results were certified prior to the court receiving the suit, on Tuesday, Dec. 2 a San Francisco judge threw out the motion. The final results of 66.78 percent in favor already had been certified, he said, so the suit was filed too late.

Thursday, Dec. 4, the tree lights almost didn’t come on in Willow Glen, but finally shone brightly in front of the school. Although some of the holiday activities had already begun, the night marked the official start of the holiday season. As is the custom, the evening began at Willow Glen Elementary School with the annual book fair at 5:30, followed by an appearance by Santa and the program, which included singing and musical presentations from local schools. The Business Association planned lots of activities for shoppers and the carriage rides returned.

In mid-December, the mayor announced he selected District 9 Councilmember Judy Chirco as the next vice mayor, replacing Dave Cortese who was termed out.