Tuesday, December 12, 2006

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Casa Ramirez
It's time to make The Neighborhood View more interactive...so let's start by inviting our neighbors into our homes. Take a picture of your favorite holiday decorations...your tree, your lights, your house decorations, your store or shop, your street lit up at night or your family Christmas picture and send it in. Write up a short note, talking about your family traditions and we'll post them online. This will be a great way for us to share the holidays and get to know eachother a little better.


Send words and photos to:
lenramirez@aol.com

Share, don't be shy


Monday, December 11, 2006

POSADAS TRADITION KEPT ALIVE IN EAST FOOTHILLS

National Hispanic University students Carla Estrada and Juan Villalobos play the part of Mary and Joseph during Las Posadas at NHU.

By Len Ramirez

Families, the faithful and students gathered at the National Hispanic University on Sunday afternoon (12/10) to take part in the Mexican holiday tradition of Las Posadas.
"We have to keep the tradition alive" said Maria F. Hernandez-Schabbing, one of the organizers who helped make this a festive, colorful display of Christmas culture.
Las Posadas is the re-enactment of the holy family's epic search for lodging in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Christ. 18-year-old Carla Estrada and 18-year-old Juan Villalobos, both NHU Freshmen, superbly played the part of Mary and Joseph, leading a procession of angels, musicians and Aztec dancers through the NHU quad. Tradition dictates that the procession makes stops along the way at several doorsteps where Mary and Joseph ask for shelter in song, the reply is also sung, but there is "no room at the inn", so the procession moves on. Finally, shelter is found and a song of thanksgiving is sung. In this case, the procession ended with a rendition of the Jose Feliciano Christmas classic "Feliz Navidad."
The event also included a street faire with games and prizes, and a spanish mass that featured a beautiful Ave Maria, sung by San Jose teenage recording artist Manuel Romero.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

P.E.O. HOME TO CLOSE; LAND UP FOR GRABS

A tagger has already marked the wall in front of the California P.E.O home, aka Maguerite Terrace .

By Len Ramirez

The end is near for the California P.E.O. Home on Kirk Avenue.
"All residents will have been moved to a new home by this Saturday" said Randy Eilts, spokesman for the home, by telephone. "It had been a trickle of people moving out since word of the closure was announced back on April 12th."
Eilts said closing the home, which housed 37 women and is also known as Marguerite Terrace, was a difficult decision for the P.E.O's Board of Directors to make. But he said the board concluded that it was no longer financially feasible for the home to remain open.
Although the front building was remodeled a few years ago, most of the rest of the facility was in need of upgrades such as heating, cooling and roofing. Eilts says remodeling all eight buildings in the entire 40-plus year-old facility was not "financially viable."
Eilts also said the property has been put up for sale, although he would not divulge the asking price on the property. He did say "We're still taking offers" on the land.
It is doubtful that any new owners would continue using the property as a nursing home, given the condition of the facilities.
The property sits on 4 1/2 acres in San Jose city limits and is zoned for the current use, but some neighbors have already expressed fears that the property could turn into another large and dense housing development, such as the ones recently built on Alum Rock and Story Roads.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

KIDS, PARENTS AND STAFF PITCH IN TO BEAUTIFY LINDA VISTA

Some of the many volunteers who helped make Linda Vista a better place to be.

Linda Vista is already a California Distinguished School, Saturday was a good example of why.
About 100 people from the school community showed up on a gorgeous Saturday during the holidays to pick up shovels, rakes and brooms and spend the day beautifying the already scenic campus.
Together with several members of the Linda Vista teaching staff, Principal Paddy Douglas rolled up her sleeves to help create retaining walls and gardens clustered in three areas around campus. One of the areas will be a vegetable garden the students will tend to learn more about science and nutrition. "We're also going to make a mural" Douglas said. It will be on a wall backing up the garden and it will have a "farmworker or agricultural" theme.
It was a total team effort as several Linda Vista families showed up to help out. Several students spent the day, side by side with their parents and teachers to make their school a better place to be. Helping to make it all possible are the kind folks at the Alum Rock Orchard Store, Payless Rockery and Mission Concrete who donated materials and the expertise to pull off a beautiful job.