Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Ralph Van Heerden, who recently moved from Saratoga, spent many a day cleaning debris along Quito Road.
Saratogan enjoyed keeping Quito Road clean and tidy
By Shari Kaplan
Not only is longtime Saratogan Ralph Van Heerden a friend indeed to those he cares about; he is also a friend in deed, especially when the beneficiary of those caring deeds is Quito Road.
Although he and wife Betsy recently moved to San Jose--he's already thinking of organizing a clean-up effort on his new street--Van Heerden was a 37-year resident of Saratoga's Ravenwood Drive, located just off Quito. Last summer, Van Heerden was driving near the Highway 85 overpass when a sign reading "Friends of Quito Road" caught the ever-sharp eye of the retired structural engineer, who worked for 33 years doing bridge design with Nolte & Associates.
In smaller print, the sign listed a phone number people could call who were interested in "adopting" and cleaning a small portion of the road. Although the original number lead him to a handful of other numbers and contact people, Van Heerden persevered and eventually hooked up with Saratoga's maintenance department, which gave him the go-ahead. One of his inspirations for becoming a "friend," he says, was an unsightly stand of weeds about four feet tall he saw growing from a Quito gutter.
"That really caught my eye, and that was the first thing I cleaned up," he recalls. "Then I saw a lot of scraps of paper and I thought, 'these need sweeping!' so I got out my old broom and swept them."
Decked out in an orange safety vest and gloves and toting a broom, rake and garbage bags, Van Heerden became a familiar fixture on what he calls "his patch" of the road, which runs between Sousa and Montpere roads.
He says he scheduled his volunteer work for Saturday mornings because it's a safer time--not as many commuters whizzing by. However, he has had to move quickly to avoid the many silent bicyclists who often shoot past on the shoulder.
Among the most unusual items he's picked up during his rounds was a brand new automobile registration sticker. Fortunately, it was with other registration materials that included a name and address, so Van Heerden hand-delivered it to its thankful owner.
"It's interesting that he is able to tell what sports are currently active," wife Betsy says. "In the spring, he has found numerous baseballs, and in the fall there is often a football or related items."
"So much is discarded that I know it can't all come out of pickup trucks," Van Heerden adds of refuse such as soda or beer cans and bottles, fast food wrappers or cigarette butts. "I know some of it just gets tossed out of car windows. You name it, and you can see it along the roadside!"
Van Heerden isn't sure where to attribute his "neat streak," but suggests it may come from his Dutch ancestry.
"When we've gone to Holland, everyone is always out sweeping their walks, washing down the driveways and washing the windows. I think there's something in my background that says, 'tidy it up!' "
Saratoga, California Since 1955
