The Willow Glen Resident

Only the squirrels haven't changed

By David Cohen

Every fall the squirrels get busy. "Black squirrels, gray squirrels, squirrels running across electric wires, jumping onto tree limbs and then charging halfway across the street, stopping prairie dog-like to look around, and then running up another tree." That was the beginning of my first "Publisher's Notebook," in the first edition after Metro Newspapers took over the reins of The Resident from Joe Guerra five years ago. I bet my sons are still tired of my pointing out every squirrel acrobat and highwire artist in the neighborhood.

Though the squirrels are still here, much has changed in Willow Glen and in my household in the past five years. Both my sons are in their teens, and one is old enough to drive around town, stopping for smoothies at Manhattan Bagel and visiting with friends in the local coffeeshops. Both occasionally accompany me and my wife, Barbara, to the myriad restaurants we have here.

I used to drive to South San Jose for a bag of bagels early Sunday morning. Now I have two choices on Lincoln Avenue and soon will have three. When I'm on Meridian Avenue, I can feast on Fratello's outstanding personal-size pizzas and get to see owners Vince and Pasquale make everyone feel at home. I never know who I'll bump into when I head to Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza for my favorite, spicy angel hair pasta with prawns. Jeff and David's White Dove Cafe next to the Garden Theater satisfies the bistro-loving gourmet in me. And Cafe Primevera's Jeff Hanson is always ready to pick out a wine for us from his fine selection. When the urge for the best salsa verde creeps up on me, I head to Umbaldo's Tlaquepaque at Lincoln and Curtner and dab the creamy sauce on the finest soft tacos this side of Alvarado and Sunset in Los Angeles.

I get my hair cut at Hank's Barbershop on Franquette and go to Amato's on Lincoln Avenue to get my shoes brought back to life. Not only did my son play baseball for the Family Pharmacy-sponsored baseball team, but we get our prescriptions filled there, too. When I feel like "antiquing," I head down to Victorian House Antiques.

I know if my wife isn't home, there is a good chance she is working out or playing tennis with her friends at the San Jose Swim and Raquet Club on Pedro Street. Maybe she's at Details, buying a new denim dress.

My point to all this is that we really do have a vibrant little community here in Willow Glen. I wish I could include everyone's stores and shops, since so many are part of our daily lives. I will leave that task to the writers at the Willow Glen Resident. We promised five years ago that we would cover Willow Glen's life and times and in so doing create a "town green" within the pages of the paper--a place to debate and discuss the issues of our community. I think we have done this pretty well, though we have heard from you when we have not met your expectations.

In the next decade, Willow Glen will see more homes remodeled (why move somewhere else?) and more stores and shops started as our community becomes an ever-better place to live. In the next decade we'll work to make The Resident an even better newspaper.

See you around town.

David Cohen is the publisher of the Willow Glen Resident.

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