Campbell, California Since 1999
The Good Old Days
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Orchardist's friendly deed is remembered
years later
By Marilyn Clough 
Photograph courtesy of Marilyn Clough A Special Tree: Shortly after Marilyn Clough moved to her home on McBain Avenue, she photographed her house, with its cherry tree, a remnant of the orchard the homes in the subdivision replaced. The blue "X" shows the young zarcova tree planted by Mr. Iwagaki, who owned the cherry orchard. The cherry trees had been allowed to die when the subdivision became inevitable, and the lots for the new homes had been delineated. In 1962, when we bought our new home on McBain Avenue between Leigh and Midway, which was under construction, the neighborhood looked like a war zone with the old, neglected trees dead and barely standing upright. Miraculously, two big Royal Annes in what had been the back row along the fence line had survived and lived fruitfully in our back yard for another 20 years. In what had been the second row, there was an enormous Bing cherry that had ended up on the property line between the houses. The cherries on that particular tree, while somewhat scarce, were delicious. We were the envy of our friends, who coveted a bag of Bings when they were available. In the middle of the parking strip of each lot was a small zarcova tree, a type of elm. We didn't pay much attention to ours, what with all the new houses and landscaping distractions, but it was off to a good start and thrived on its own. 
Photograph courtesy of Marilyn Clough Early Days: The author's husband and young children work in the yard of their home shortly after moving to McBain Avenue. Later we learned that Mr. Iwagaki, who had owned the cherry orchard, had planted each tree on both sides of the street when the cherry orchard was abandoned, so that all his new neighbors to be would have a new young street tree. He even carried water in buckets from his home to water them. That was probably about homes. At that time, our neighborhood was in the county, and tree maintenance by the county was almost unheard of. Our little tree, however, grew up, and we finally hired an arborist to trim and shape it. Many of its cousins were not maintained at all, or they were removed by residents and replaced with a different type of tree. If all the original trees had survived, they would form an arch over the whole block and be quite beautiful. On one part of the street, we can see what might have been - an arch has formed with the few trees that remain. Our own tree is well over 40 years old. Meanwhile, the cherry trees were beginning to fail. In their last two years, we had such a bumper crop that we could hardly keep up with the picking. Kids picked after school; friends and neighbors rushed over; every spare minute was spent balancing on ladders, and we all had leaves in our hair and juice stains on our fingers. Our trees seemed to be giving us a last gasp thank-you for being caring neighbors. Marilyn Cough is a longtime Campbell resident who currently serves as president of the Campbell area chapter of AARP. |
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