For two weekends in May, they came together to promote another kind of growth in the neighborhood--cherry trees.

The weekend of May 14, neighbors found 20 flowering cherry trees--which have pink blossoms in spring but no fruit--were delivered to the street, and neighbors spent the following week planting them in front of their homes.

Association President Monica Draganowski-Davis said she hopes the tree plantings are just the first of many positive community events in the neighborhood.

"Because we're next door to so much concrete with the Mozart buildings, we thought it would be nice to bring some flowers and greenery back to the neighborhood," Draganowski-Davis said.

The Mozart office buildings are a complex topic for the neighborhood, because they've brought a number of problems into the area since they were built in 2002. Their size has blocked residents' view of the sunrise. Once the sun passes across the sky in the afternoon, the building's windows reflect a glare onto Charles Street, turning homes into ovens. At night, lights left on as security measures in the buildings act as an unwanted night-light to nearby residents.

And just as the Mozart buildings stand as vestiges of Sunnyvale's recent past as a the center of the Silicon Valley boom, cherry trees are a symbol of Sunnyvale's more distant past as an agricultural town full of orchards and fruit stands.

Draganowski-Davis said she also chose the flowering cherries because they're easier to take care of than trees that produce fruit. The trees were planted on the homeowner's property, not on city property.

The trees were purchased with a $1,000 grant from Community Foundation Silicon Valley's Neighborhood Grants Program. The foundation is a nonprofit started in 1954 that works with donors and community groups to provide funding for community projects and programs.

Community Foundation Silicon Valley spokesman Steve Fine said neighborhood events like this are common recipients of foundation money.

"These events foster community and help bring people together behind common causes," Fine said.

Draganowski-Davis said the foundation taught her how to write a grant proposal for the cherry trees and showed association members how to set up accounts to handle donated funds. She originally applied for the grant at the end of 2004.

Each tree cost $35, and it cost $100 to deliver the batch. Draganowski-Davis said the neighborhood ended up with about $100 left over, which could go to a cherry festival they're thinking of holding in the spring.

"Once these trees start blossoming, we'll hopefully be able to get out and celebrate them," she said.

Draganowski-Davis said that because of the ease and success of the tree planting, she hopes to get more programs going within the association in the future.

"We're going to try to do some more street building and community building events," she said. "We've always gotten together when something bad happens, so now we can get together for something positive."