So when she says she wants to stay in Los Gatos, it must say something about the town.

Tallman has been named the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce's 2004 Business Person of the Year, an honor she will officially receive at a July 15 reception.

The New York native came to Los Gatos in 1997 to interview with Pacific Valley Investors Inc., which at the time owned the Toll House Hotel on S. Santa Cruz Avenue. She said that before even speaking to anyone, she found that the downtown area projected an "aura" both inviting and appealing.

"What's the impression that everyone gets, walking down Santa Cruz Avenue?" she asked. "It's charming."

She was hired on as general manager of the Toll House, and immediately began working with the business community. She met with Linda Asbury, former Chamber executive director, during her first week on the job, and soon became a charter member of the group's board of directors.

Tallman said she received a great deal of support from Wayne Levenfeld, Pacific Valley president.

"We were so much on the same wavelength," she said. "One of the things that was important was that he was so in tune with the community."

Using her experience with past business associations, she worked with the then-new Chamber of Commerce to create the town's first brochure, which highlighted local attractions, restaurants and accommodations.

She also volunteered her time, space at the hotel and any other resources she could to help the business community—things she continues to do now that she works for the Opera House, said Greg Stowers, past Chamber president. He said Tallman was chosen as Business Person of the Year partly for those contributions.

"She continually was unselfish in offering the hotel as a place to meet 'n' greet and host events," he said. The award is "an opportunity to highlight everything she's done for the community."

She started working with the Opera House—also owned by Pacific Valley—in 2003, and joined the banquet facility full time when the Toll House Hotel changed hands later that year.

Though hardly anyone thinks twice about a female business owner or executive in 2004, Tallman said it was a bit of a struggle to be accepted in years past. Though no one really ever said anything to her about it, she said it was often clear people were surprised to see a female doing her job. Her high school career counselor told her she had three career options: teacher, nurse or secretary. Though she did start out as a teacher, the business skills she learned from her father carried her into more male-dominated territory.

"I definitely had to prove myself," she said. "In the '60s it was a lot different. But I always thought I could do a good job. And I always encourage women to do what they want to do."

Tallman is doing what she wants to do in Los Gatos. She said she doesn't plan to leave any time soon, either. Though the town obviously can't compare to New York City or the tropical St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, she said some aspects of Los Gatos can't be beat.

"It was the people that really made a difference," she said. "The people were nice. There was a genuine caring here."

Stowers said it is Tallman's caring that makes her a worthy Business Person of the Year. He said her continued work to stimulate business through the recent economic slump has been especially helpful.

"Without the patronage of residents, this down economy would have been a lot worse for the town," he said. "She took it as an opportunity to step up and say, 'The community gives a lot to us and we should do the same.' "