Campbell has great night - and day - life
By Betty Deal
I was asked what I thought about how the
Campbell night life has changed. My first
answer was to say I don't have a night life;
I am too busy attending meetings or working.
After thinking about it, though, I decided
that I do have some thoughts on the subject.
First of all I think it's great. Now, several
years ago, that would not have been true. It
used to be that when you walked around
Campbell after 5 p.m., about the only places
that were open were nightclubs, service
stations, 7-Eleven and grocery stores. Also,
there were very few people around - the town
was dead.
But now, over the last five or six years,
Campbell has come alive! We have many fine
restaurants in the downtown and in our
surrounding five shopping centers. We have
world-famous art galleries, three newspapers,
wine tasting, a kids clothier, interior
design and decorating businesses, a
well-known western store, a golf shop, fine
and unique gift shops, several specialty
boutiques, coffee shops, and more.
We also have Villa Ragusa, the newest banquet
hall in town, which can serve a sit-down
dinner for more than 600 people. Plus we have
a new parking garage with 300 spaces to be
opening very soon.
One of the best things to help promote
Campbell night life will be the Heritage
Theatre, whose interior is now under
reconstruction. Scheduled to open in
September 2003, the theater will bring people
from all over the valley to Campbell to see
live performances by local drama groups,
schools and professional entertainers.
If you have an interest in theater and would
like to buy a special seat with your name on
it, or if you have extra money that you don't
know what to do with, make a donation to the
Friends of the Heritage Theatre. They have a
use for it.
These are just a few of the wonderful things
that Campbell has to offer to all ages - day
life or night life.
Over the past few years, Campbell has seen
many changes. Living in the heart of the
Silicon Valley, where almost everyone lives
and rushes around in the fast lane, it's
sometimes tough for a community to move
forward and still hold onto what it
treasures. Some of those treasures are
community spirit, community identity and the
overall feeling of the people in the
community. Campbell has done an excellent job
of moving forward with new ideas and new
technology and keeping a good variety of new
and old businesses, while at the same time
holding on to the treasures that make up a
good community.
Look around Campbell and you see a good mix
of new and old buildings, such as Stoddard's,
Stack's, Avery's, Technology Park, The
Outback Steakhouse. These are new buildings
that blend in very well with the old and
historic buildings, such as the Ainsley
House, Alie's, Stone Griffin, Campbell
Memorial Chapel, The Gaslighter Theatre,
Selix, the Campbell Historical Museum, the
community center and John F. Kennedy
University, just to mention a few.
And the community spirit and tradition
continue through the many events, festivals
and parades that are held every year in
Campbell. These all bring thousands of people
to our community to visit, shop, enjoy life
and live.
But all that Campbell has to offer did not
"just happen." It took the cooperation of the
city, the Campbell Chamber of Commerce, the
businesses and many community service
organizations. Most of all it took the desire
and spirit of the people to have and build a
great community to be proud of, to live, work
and play in.
The best of all, I think, is the fact that
any time of day or night you come to
Campbell, you will always find friendly
people there to meet and greet you. Many
visitors who have come to Campbell have found
this out and now they, too, are some of the
friendly people who are waiting to greet and
welcome you to Campbell night life or day
life.
Unofficial Campbell cheerleader Betty Deal is
the executive director of the Campbell
Chamber of Commerce.
Speak Out
Should Campbell annex Westmont High School?
Yes, Campbell should annex Westmont. That
neighborhood is split up between Campbell,
Saratoga and San Jose. The only one that
does not fit here is San Jose.
I thought that Westmont was located in
Campbell, as it already has a Campbell
address. Personally, I think of San Jose as
"that big city over there." San Jose can have
Del Mar, Leigh, Branham and Blackford.
Westmont should be part of
Campbell. And hey, it is a part of the
Campbell Union High School District,
not San Jose Unified School District.
Ask just about anyone in the city of San Jose
where Westmont High is located
and most will tell you that it is located
over there somewhere in Campbell.
That is just common-sense thinking.
K.T. Morimoto - Sunnypark Court
Correction:
An article about the San Tomas Baptist Church
in the May 22 issue of The Campbell Reporter
incorrectly reported that the Central Coast
Baptist Church had shut down a San Martin
church and built apartments on the property.
In fact, there is a church and parsonage on
the site.
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Campbell, California Since 1999
