However, Anderson has put her offer on hold after the city council asked for changes to the proposed lettering on the signs.

The Heritage Orchard, which surrounds the Saratoga Library and fills most of Central Park, is currently identified by a wooden sign on Fruitvale Avenue, which reads: "Central Park, Heritage Orchard, City of Saratoga."

Anderson lives across the street from the Heritage Orchard. "People don't realize it's an orchard," she said. "It's what the whole valley used to look like at one time. It was glorious. I wanted to have a proper sign large enough so people can see it's an orchard, a working orchard, not just some land with trees on it."

The Historic Foundation and the Heritage Preservation Commission had agreed to support Anderson's plan to raise money for the signs. Her proposal entailed designing, building and paying for two signs made of redwood with lettering composed of steel painted black to give a wrought iron appearance. Each sign was to be 4 ¹/2 feet high and 14 feet long and illuminated by enclosed floodlights. Longtime Saratoga resident Warren Heid volunteered to design the signs, with Anderson leading the effort to raise money to pay for construction.

The lettering on the signs was to be six inches high and read, "Saratoga Heritage Orchard," with a second line three inches high reading, "A Glimpse Of The Past--Preserved For The Future."

At a city council meeting on Dec. 22, Councilman Nick Streit stated that he did not like the motto on the proposed signs. "I'm not in favor of this sign because it does not speak to the Central Park," he said. He explained that the Heritage Orchard was part of Central Park, which should be acknowledged on any new signs. Streit said that there was enough land in Central Park for the orchard and for additional uses in the future. "That park over time is going to change," he said.

"Currently we do have a Central Park with an orchard in it and also a library in it," Mayor Norman Kline said. "I'm pretty comfortable identifying it as a heritage orchard and a central park."

Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith proposed that the new signs should read, "Heritage Orchard" with "Central Park" written underneath.

The council agreed to send Anderson and Heid back to the drawing board for a compromise sign that reads, "Central Park" on the first line, with "Heritage Orchard" written beneath in equal-sized lettering.

Anderson said that she and Heid were disappointed with the council's changes. "At this point the plan is on hold," she said. "I'm not interested in raising money for a city park sign, which is what this might be."