Willow Glen Resident
News
Photograph by Kevin White
Ready, Set, Go: Willow Glen Runners Supply owner Lance Maurer has helped resurrect Founders Day. He has organized a 10K run/5K walk and a 125-yard kids dash as part of the morning festivities.
Founders Day returns to Willow Glen
By Alicia Upano
Willow Glen's piece of Americana is back.
Resurrected after a four-year hiatus, the Sept. 24 Founders Day celebration is smaller than in previous years and features new events, including a 10K run and a food and wine tasting garden. But the goal of the festivities is the same--to bring community together.
"We're definitely producing something that's different than what we had in the past," Willow Glen Business and Professional Association secretary Kevin Swanson says. "What I'm hoping is we can find a nice mix of new and old that will allow the event to continue as a successful event for the whole community."
Traditionally, Founders Day was a weekend celebration that included a parade down Lincoln Avenue, live music on several stages and food and crafts lining downtown Willow Glen. The event was held in September to honor Willow Glen's incorporation as a city Sept. 8, 1927. Although San Jose annexed the city in 1936, Willow Glen has retained its sense of individualism and community.
The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association sponsored the last Founders Day event in 2002, after the business association was unable to produce the celebration.
Since then, a lack of funding has prevented the association from sponsoring the event, though it continues to hear from residents requesting its return.
When Willow Glen Runners Supply co-owner Lance Maurer approached the business association board about having a 10K run in Willow Glen, the board thought it was a perfect opportunity to resurrect Founders Day. Previous Founders Day events have also featured 10K runs.
The idea grew, with Maurer spearheading the event.
The 79th Founders Day event on Sept. 24 will include a 10K run, followed by a 5K walk and a 125-yard kids dash. In line with the health-conscious morning run, the parking lot behind Jamba Juice will house a Health Expo. The lot will also be the location for the morning's Kid Zone, coordinated by Willow Glen business ArtHouse Kids and the Fraternal Order of Eagles No. 8, which will serve a pancake breakfast.
"The Founders Day run has become the base for a healthy morning," Maurer says. "Our goal is to make it as family-and community-oriented as possible."
Afternoon festivities include art, music, wine and food, headed by Swanson. Beginning at 2 p.m., 500 people who purchase $35 tickets can dine in the food-and-wine pairings tent in the Jamba Juice parking lot. Six restaurants will serve food, including: DiCicco's, John's Xlnt Foods, Le Boulanger, Pizza My Heart, Siena a Mediterranean Bistro, and Taiwan Restaurant. The participating wineries include Cinnabar, Solis, Clos LaChance and Martin Ranch Winery.
Proceeds from these events and a silent auction at the Thrift Box will be divided among Willow Glen middle and high schools, the Lucile Packard Foundation and the business association.
The organizers are also collaborating with the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, which will hold historic home tours at 11 a.m. The group recently received a city grant to revamp its walking tour guidebook, which is full of Willow Glen architecture, history and anecdotes. The neighborhood association history committee hopes to have it completed by Founders Day.
Palm Haven also planned to work with the downtown event by scheduling its annual homes tour the same day and shuttling residents back and forth in antique cars. However, the homes tour has been canceled this year after several homeowners pulled out and organizers didn't have sufficient time for others to ready their houses.
The business association's goal is to build on the event each year and grow it organically.
"We'd like Founders Day to be a piece of Americana. We'd like to have the parade again, the pie-eating contest and what you see in small towns," Swanson says.
Business association executive director Norma Ruiz agrees.
"We felt this was a solid place to start," she says. "Once we get our feet wet, we'll continue to focus on celebrating the community to honor a time that's unique to Willow Glen."
To help make the day a success, Willow Glen Middle School parents are chipping in.
Melinda Gedryn, past president of the Willow Glen Middle School PTA, is recruiting volunteers to monitor the running course, water stations, registration and cleanup. In return, any monies the PTA receives from the event will benefit middle and high school classrooms, and the athletic and music booster clubs.
"The business association has always supported us, and now we have the opportunity to support them," Gedryn says. "It's what the Willow Glen community's always been about, everyone supporting each other."
For more information on the 2006 Founders Day celebration and to purchase tickets for the afternoon food and wine tasting, visit www.downtownwillowglen.org.
Event Schedule
7 a.m. Same-day registration and packet pickup
7:45 a.m.: Pre-race briefing and line up, drum corps send-off
8 a.m. 10K run
8 a.m. Pancake breakfast begins, Kids Zone and Health Expo opens
8:15 a.m. 5K run/walk
9 a.m. Stage performance
9:45 a.m. Kids Dash lineup
10 a.m. Kids Dash
11 a.m. Awards ceremony for overall and division winners
11 a.m. Willow Glen Neighborhood Association historic walking tours
11:30 a.m. Race raffle
Noon Health Expo and Kids Zone closes
2 p.m. Food-and-wine tasting tent opens, including art, music and a silent auction to benefit the Lucile Packard Foundation
5 p.m. Afternoon event closes
Organizers are still looking for sponsors and volunteers. For more information, contact event chair Lance Maurer at lmaurer@sbcglobal.net.
