Editorial
Generations find they have much in common
There are those who would have us believe that communication between the generations is difficult at best. Some would say impossible. And then there are those who contend that young people don't appreciate community values.
In Los Gatos, however, the generations have found common ground by rolling up their sleeves, wrapping their hands around brooms, rakes and paint brushes, and committing themselves to a generous application of elbow grease to beautify and enhance the town and the school that they love.
On Nov. 6, the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee joins forces with Club Live, a Community Against Substance Abuse club at Fisher Middle School, for a sunrise sidewalk sweep downtown.
Some 60 parents, students and residents are scheduled to pull weeds, pick up trash, sweep parking lots and clean sidewalks throughout the N. Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street areas of town.
A week later, the LGHS Interact Club joins up with its parent organization, the Los Gatos Rotary Club, for a fall cleanup day on the campus. Activities will include landscaping, weeding and raking around the flagpole circle and rose bushes at the front steps, painting the announcement board, painting garbage cans and washing the interior windows of classrooms.
Steam-cleaning of the front steps and walkways is also planned. Meanwhile, the Los Gatos Town Council was scheduled at its Nov. 1 meeting to discuss steam-cleaning of downtown sidewalks a week after the Nov. 6 sunrise sidewalk sweep.
Los Gatos is going to be fresh as a whistle when all of these volunteers are done. And that's not all.
Business owners, town officials, service club members of all ages, middle and high school students, parent volunteers and LGHS faculty are linking arms in pursuit of a single goal--to make their community a nicer place to be.
Our hats off to those volunteers who saw a need and realized that the best possible way to make the community look better would be to bring together people from various walks of life--young people, old people, students, teachers, shoppers, shopkeepers--and prove that community isn't just about appearances.
It's about how people in a community come together to share goals and to make things happen by working together. It's about older people working side-by-side with young people, and at the same time serving as role models.
The phrase "sweat equity," most recently popularized by the Habitat for Humanity organization, has applications in community as well as in houses. Inviting young people to invest some sweat in their school and their town is a good way to ensure that they will place a high value on their community.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
