BAREC, Valley Fair, and Stevens Creek Auto Row
BAREC has been in the works for several years now. The city of Santa Clara still supports building a senior housing facility with up to 165 units and single family housing by Summerhill homes up to 110 units. These would only be accessible from Winchester Blvd.
Westfield Valley Fair is now proposing a large expansion which includes 610,000 sq. ft. of new retail space, two new 5 story parking structures, moving two banks, Longs and Safeway, and relocating the Dorcich/Winchester driveway. Meetings hosted by Westfield and the city of San Jose are happening now. The city of Santa Clara is just beginning to receive proposed plans from the developer.
The City of San Jose is weighing plans to keep car dealers. They are proposing spending $132,000 to pay an urban designer to improve the look of Stevens Creek Auto Row to retain and attract car dealerships which are a strategic part of the tax base for the city. This Mercury News article describes this concern in some detail. www.mercurynews.com It is all happening so fast that this newsletter cannot possibly keep you informed in an accurate and timely manner. Please join the SOFNA email group where we post city and developer meetings promptly. Send a blank e-mail to southofforest-subscribe@yahoogroups.com with your name and email address to subscribe.You will be pleasantly surprised by the quality of communication we share on this neighborhood forum. You can also check out our SOFNA website at www.oocities.org/south_of_forest. Our numbers at meetings will become crucial in coming months if we want to be a positive influence on changes coming to our neighborhood.
The Second Annual Honor Our Long-Time Residents Event will be held on July 22, 2006, at the home of Ted and Maria Coughlin. Come get reacquainted with neighbors you haven't seen in years (or at least since last year's event) and share your memories of the neighborhood. If you have photos of the area before all the houses were built, bring them to share. Festivities will start at 3 p.m. and an early-bird dinner will be served. Information on the Vial of Life program will be available. We will have live musical entertainment this year. For more information, call Maria at 243-6341 or Corinne at 249-9787. Watch for a flyer to be delivered soon.
Our third Neighborhood Watch Meeting was held on April 19th, again at the home of Joanne Anderson on Westridge Avenue. More than thirty people attended and joined together for a potluck dinner afterwards. DeAnna Schifano, the Community Service Officer from the Santa Clara Police Department, made the evening's presentation, covering topics concerning getting to know your neighbors, crime-deterrent landscaping, home and vehicle security, operation identification, and identity theft.
There are over 100 Neighborhood Watch groups in Santa Clara and we have one of the largest. But we still need your help. We are still looking for street captains for Forest and Cecil (west). Street captains distribute the newsletters and flyers provided by DeAnna Schifano and have agreed to distribute the SOFNA newsletters as well. We are also looking for someone to host a Neighborhood Watch meeting this fall. If you want a Neighborhood Watch decal for your window, would like to volunteer, or just need more information contact Corinne Celio at 249-9787.
The State of California has announced in a draft Environmental Impact review (EIR) that the soil on the BAREC site is contaminated with dieldrin, a pesticide banned since the 1970's for all uses due to its link to cancer; and arsenic, a poison that has also been linked to cancer. In order to investigate the possible existence of a cancer cluster in the neighborhood there is currently an informal survey being done. Preliminary results of the study show 49 cases of various cancers. The survey is focused on long-term residents (longer than 15 years) who live within 1000 feet of BAREC that have had cancer. The survey consists of a one-page questionnaire which is being used to develop a map to present to state officials who are responsible for the public health. If you have questions about the survey, have been affected by cancer, or have knowledge of a former neighbor who has since moved away or is deceased and would like to help in this investigation please contact me, Angela D'Orfani at 243-6887. I live on Pineview Drive. Thank you for any assistance you can provide for the health of our neighborhood.
We have noticed more instances of graffiti in the neighborhood. A list of specific spots where graffiti has appeared has been sent to the Street Department. The usual procedure is for a City employee to take a photo of the tag and then remove the mark within three days. If graffiti appears on private property, the property owner is given fourteen days to either paint over or remove it.
If you notice graffiti, call the Street Department at 615-3080 to report it. Be sure to give an exact address. If you see someone in the act of defacing property, do not confront the person. Instead, call the Graffiti Hotline at 241-9495, 24 hours a day. Provide specific information as to location, date, and time.
Again at this year's National Night Out, SOFNA will display a collection box for the Operation Care and Comfort program of the American Red Cross. The all-volunteer program has shipped more than 165,000 pounds of needed items to Marine, Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard personnel deployed in conflict regions. Collect hotel and sample-sized toiletries, greeting cards, stationery supplies, and condiment packets (to spice up MREs) to be sent to our troops overseas. Donate DVDs, individually wrapped hard candy, chewing gum, and granola bars. Your tax-deductible check is also welcome and should be made out to ARC OCC. For more information, go to www.operationcareandcomfort.org. To help set up a table at National Night Out on August 1, call Corinne at 249-9787.
Cindy Baldanzi, president of FineLine Graphics in Santa Clara and our neighbor on Harold Ave, has been designing the layout and paying for the printing costs of our newsletter since it inception. We are grateful for Cindy’s outstanding support of our association, but we also understand the high costs of production that mount up over time. As a result, after this issue, you will recognize our SOFNA News Masthead, but it will now be printed on a different paper and only in black and white. Cindy wants to continue to donate design services to SOFNA but we will now be paying for material costs out of our own SOFNA resources. Donations to pay for printing costs are appreciated. Checks made out to "South of Forest neighborhood Association" may be delivered or mailed to the attention of SOFNA treasurer John Shores at 185 Tyler Ave, San Jose CA 95117. We suggest $10 a year per household for your volunteer “subscription.” Thank you for your support in continuing this outstanding newsletter.
Nina, the wife of our SOFNA president Eric; and the mother of 3 beautiful children, passed away of a sudden illness on May 2nd, 2006. Her grace, warmth and elegance will be deeply missed. Contributions can be made to the Nina Wesson Memorial Fund account 05750-45086 at the Bank of America. Funds will help provide for the welfare of the children.
Marie and Lou Gairaud live at 3191 Cecil Avenue. Lou was born at O'Connor Hospital; his family has been in the valley for several generations. But Marie is from Glasgow, Scotland. Lou hired her through an agency in San Jose to be a housekeeper for him and his five children. So Marie and her young son left her family in Scotland and came to California on a one-year contract. She worked as Lou's housekeeper for nine years, helping to raise his children. During that time she became a U.S. citizen. But it was time to move on and she and Lou parted ways. A chance meeting at a mutual friend's party a few years later led to courtship and marriage. And now between them they have 14 grandchildren and two great-grandsons.
Lou attended Bellarmine College Prep and went on to Santa Clara University where he studied electrical engineering. He served two years in the Army, stationed mostly at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He then served 28 years in the reserves. He jokes that the annual two-week commitment was the only vacation he ever got! But he never worked as an electrical engineer, instead joining his father's business and becoming an insurance broker and a real estate broker. He maintains his real estate license and continues to show properties.
Lou bought their house on Cecil Avenue in 1956 - they are the second owners. In January, 1983, a fire that had smoldered in the chimney/attic area destroyed the roof and they were forced to live with close friends while the house was rebuilt. After four months they were able to move back in and a few weeks later held an open house to which they invited the fire crew to show their appreciation for having saved their personal belongings and the family cat.
With the children grown and scattered (Marie's son is in Minnesota; Lou's children live in Boulder Creek and San Jose), the Gairauds volunteer at St. Martin's. They previously have helped with the food box packing and now they do the grocery shopping for the breakfast fundraisers. They grow magnificent roses which Lou is still able prune while Marie tends to the weeding. Their four-legged companion is a 14-year old cat named Paws, so named because of his extra toes. Lou continues his photography hobby which began in high school. He had a dark room in the basement of his family home, but he has now moved on to the digital age with a 4-megapixel Canon camera that he says was obsolete just two weeks after he bought it. Marie serves as Neighborhood Watch Street Captain for the section of Cecil Avenue that runs from Westridge to Dorcich. A wonderful couple with great stories to share!
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