The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association is sponsoring the event again but this time is working with the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association, which had previously sponsored the event for several years.

In 2001 the business association was in the midst of internal turmoil and announced a week before that year's event that it needed to cancel, but the neighborhood association and San Jose District 6 City Council member Ken Yeager came to the rescue.

During 2002, the business association was still in the process of restructuring itself, so the neighborhood association took on the daunting task of managing the 75th Founders' Day.

At its Feb. 12 meeting, the WGNA board voted to draft a grant application to be sent to the city's Office of Cultural Affairs. The grant would stipulate that Founders' Day organizers would anticipate closing off Lincoln Avenue for a parade and using the Willow Glen Elementary School campus as well as the Washington Mutual Bank parking lot to stage the event's activities.

The Office of Cultural Affairs is part of the city's Conventions, Arts and Entertainment Department, which requires that the organization sponsoring an event submit a "letter of intent." The department also stipulates that the city will not support "events that are conducted solely or primarily as fundraisers." But the Founders' Day event falls into a gray area.

The business association's cooperation with WGNA creates this gray area since its "primary goal is to bring customers to Lincoln Avenue," said business association president Cara Finn.

Because Founders' Day has traditionally been a community event celebrating Willow Glen's short life as its own city, it hasn't typically been considered solely a money-making campaign like the annual Dancin' on the Avenue.

At the recent WGNA meeting, board members discussed Founders' Day 2003 and what made last year's Founders' Day a success. Members discussed where, if at all, to have a pancake breakfast, and whether to include another car show.

The big issue was whether to have a parade down Lincoln Avenue.

"The harsh reality is that expenses warrant a smaller event," Finn said. "Sponsorships are harder to get, and the city is cutting back on finances. But the parade is the most expensive element—that's just a toughy."