The Willow Glen Resident

Around The Glen

Gardeners can get a head start on spring

It's starting to feel a lot like spring, and gardeners can get a jump on the season by attending a spring gardening workshop this Saturday at the Willows Senior Center.

Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County will hold the workshop on March 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be a choice of three classes on four subjects: shade gardens, underused perennials, planning and planting vegetables, and resources and sources and container gardens.

The fee is $20 for preregistration and $25 at the door. The senior center is located at 2175 Lincoln Ave. For more information, call 299-2635, ext. 1017 or 1004.

--Rebecca Wallace

City honors 'tough' WG cleanup effort

A group of Willow Glen residents who banded together to rid the Gregory Plaza neighborhood of drug and gang activities and the local park of beer bottles and graffiti was honored last month for its efforts.

In its cluster of fall 1997 home improvement awards, the city's San Jose Beautiful program selected the Gregory Plaza Neighborhood Association for the first-place Neighborhood Improvement Award.

The cleanup effort began with an event involving a dozen people--and its last event attracted about 100 people, said group representative Pamela Fitts in her award application. Fitts herself was also honored in the historic-home improvement category.

"The [park] is now a gathering place for children instead of homeless encampments. The phone booths were removed from a corner store, and now there aren't any more 'threatening' types making one not feel safe walking around the neighborhood," Fitts wrote.

"They did a lot of work in an area where it's tough to rally the neighbors," said Margaret Wagenet, San Jose Beautiful community coordinator.

Fairview Avenue resident Dee Dee Kiesow received a second-place award for landscaping improvement. Her landscaping includes hedges in the shape of a teddy bear and a swan, and new white picket fencing.

--Rebecca Wallace

Group offers help for the hard of hearing

The San Jose chapter of Self-Help for the Hard of Hearing, a national nonprofit group dedicated to helping those with auditory problems, will meet March 19 at Christ the Good Shepherd Church at 1550 Meridian Ave. at 12:30 p.m.

Discussions usually last two hours and focus on hearing problems and solutions. Past topics have included the upcoming California convention for state chapters and hearing aids.

For more information, call 249-0354.

--Christine M. Lias

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