Photograph courtesy of the Stannard family
A small store and orchards once lined Minnesota Avenue. Lincoln Avenue's long line of eucalyptus trees is visible in the background.
Horses, fire trucks and muscle hogs will be part of Founder's Day parade
By Barbara Doheny
Chris Carris, who organized this year's Founder's Day parade, has been working the phones nonstop to line up marchers for the event, which goes from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9.
"We were determined to have the full seven-tenths of a mile parade," said Carris, owner of the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company. He measured the distance by driving along Lincoln from Coe Street to Minnesota Street, the parade's projected route.
Carris and his crew were able to arrange for horses, cars and even a fire engine. The only group they couldn't find was a marching band.
It's unlikely anyone will miss it. Carris estimates 400 people will march in the parade, representing 52 groups, driving 80 cars, riding 15 motorcycles and mounting two dozen horses.
Carris said the parade is worth a few days of overtime. "We're happy we can continue the tradition of the community parade. I think it's really important to retain the identity of Willow Glen. The hard thing about modern times is identifying with anything."
Carris was born and raised in San Jose and remembers watching parades down Lincoln Avenue as a youngster.
"I always liked to see the horses," he said. "Willow Glen was always downtown for us people in the ranches. As a boy, I'd come here to see the movies, watch Oliver make the saddles," he said, referring to the saddler that used to serve nearby farms.
For horse aficionados, the Mounted Unit of the San Jose Police Department will be on hand, along with the Wells Fargo stagecoach.
Those who like their horsepower under a hood can look forward to classic cars, police cars, more than a dozen customized Dodge Vipers and a fleet of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Photograph courtesy of the Stannard family
From left, Jessie Warner, Bert Webster, Edith Warner and E. H. Warner cycling at the turn of the century.
John Karamazov is organizing entries for The Viper Club and The Harley Club. Co-owner (with Horst Brenner) of The Glen Restaurant and Billiard Room, and a Founder's Day Committee member, he seems most excited about a certain custom motorcycle.
"The show-stopper is called a 'boss hoss,' " he said. "It's got an automatic transmission, weighs 2,000 pounds, and has a 350cc small block engine." In other words, it's a motorcycle with the power of a muscle car.
Reyna Hernandez-Cervantes, Junior Miss San Jose, will ride in one of the cars. Her favorite parade memories are from the Cinco de Mayo parade in downtown San Jose. She loved the music and the dancers with their twirling dresses.
The 18-year-old has gone to Founder's Day parades with her family since she was in middle school, and rode in the parade last year, too.
"Everyone's looking at you. The little kids are waving back. Their little faces are just so cute," she said. Parade participants must arrive by 7:30 a.m. for the 9 a.m. start.
Of course, in a parade one can feel glamorous just marching along with buddies. The Karamazov children, Christopher, 5, Angela, 4, and Christina, 3, will walk the parade route with their classmates from Mulberry School.
"My kids can't wait to be in the parade. They talk about it all the time," Karamazov said. "When the kids engage, the parents engage, because the parents get joy from their kids."
Karamazov grew up in Detroit, where Hudson's Department Stores sponsored an annual holiday parade. Decades later, he doesn't hesitate for a second to recall his favorite part of the parade.
"Santa Claus," he said firmly, adding, as an afterthought, "and the horses . . . the whole parade goes by and everyone's waiting for Santa at the very end. And the fire engines, too. You can't have a parade without a fire engine."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
