Merchants participating in this tradition will display orange posters on their windows to welcome trick-or-treaters.

"We normally get hundreds of kids," said Cara Finn, president of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association. "There's an amazing amount of kids."

Finn stresses that parents need to supervise their younger children and keep them on the sidewalks. "We've had some near-misses before with kids darting across the street," Finn said.

Some merchants will have someone waiting outside their business' entrance distributing candy; others may require children to come inside.

Linda Waltrip of Park Place, 1318 Lincoln Ave., said she's going to prepare for this year's Halloween by decorating her front window and the sidewalk beneath her awning with a haunted house theme.

"I've been wanting to do something like that for years, and finally I'm going to do it," Waltrip said.

For more information, call the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association at 408.298.2100.

—William Jeske


Books for Treats needs book donations

The nonprofit Book for Treats program is soliciting donations of "gently read" children's books. The books will be distributed to children on Lincoln Avenue on Halloween.

The Friends of the Willow Glen Library will hold a book sale Oct. 19 and will be able to provide advice on appropriate books for various age levels.

For more information, call Rebecca Morgan, founder and executive director of Books For Treats, at 408.998.7977, or visit www.BooksForTreats.org.

—William Jeske


County educators seek public input

The Santa Clara County Office of Education has created the Blue Ribbon Task Force to meet the office's goal of making sure the county's public schools have teachers and educational opportunities that are among the best in the state and the nation.

The task force will hold a "solution forum" at Willow Glen Middle School, 2105 Cottle Ave., at 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 to to gain public input about the county's teacher shortage, lagging student achievement and funding problems.

Attendees may fill out comment cards to speak publicly.

County Superintendent Colleen B. Wilcox announced during her "State of the Schools—Silicon Valley" speech in May that she had created the task force.

The members of the task force are Carl Guardino, president/CEO, Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group; former San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, who is now the vice president of the state board of education; San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales; Jim Cunneen, president/CEO, San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce; San Jose Councilwoman Pat Dando; and U.S. Rep. Mike Honda.

—William Jeske


Event to benefit new Mitty theater

Thomas Kinkade, known worldwide as the "painter of light," has created a Christmas scene set in a Willow Glen neighborhood.

Proceeds from the limited edition print will be used for the construction of the new Archbishop Mitty High School Theater. Kinkade has made this fundraising opportunity available in conjunction with the Thomas Kinkade Foundation and Art for Children Charities.

Kinkade, whose daughter attends the school, drove through Willow Glen with the school's principal, Tim Brosnan, also a Willow Glen resident, to get ideas and inspiration for the commemorative painting.

Kinkade's work is collected through the media of prints, books, calendars and other collectibles. He infuses his paintings with a radiant glow that is described as both tranquil and inspiring.

Unframed 20-inch-by-24-inch prints will be available for $99 per print (plus tax) on Nov. 2, from noon to 5 p.m., in the Mediterranean Room at the Hyatt Hotel in San Jose, 1740 N. First St. Kinkade will be available to sign prints from 2 to 5 p.m.

For more information, contact the Archbishop Mitty Development Office at 408.252.3923.

—Amy Jenkins