In contrast to the lavish parade of 2002, this year's Founders' Day celebration will be based at the Sept. 6 farmer's market at Willow Glen Elementary School and will consist of guided tours of historic neighborhoods and a booth containing brochures and fliers about neighborhood services.

Representatives of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, which has organized the event since 2001, say that organizing another big Founders' Day event this year would detract from the association's duties to the community.

Initially, the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association and the neighborhood association were to cooperate in driving Founders' Day. Cara Finn, president of the business association, said that too much time passed without hearing from the neighborhood association about what it had planned.

Margaret Hardy, treasurer of the neighborhood association, said the association's board members felt it didn't have the resources—in the way of time, leadership and people—to put together anything larger without jeopardizing its duty to work with residents and the city to resolve issues.

"We were concerned we would need to start at the bottom again," Hardy said. "We spent a whole year focusing on nothing but Founders' Day in 2002, even at the expense of focusing on our main priorities. But it was a fantastic 75th anniversary."

From the business association's perspective, Finn said, "We had hoped to be more involved with the neighborhood association but hadn't heard from them."

Founders' Day 2002 included a parade down Lincoln Avenue in which San Jose historian Leonard McKay was the grand marshal. San Jose District 6 City Council member Ken Yeager, San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, Santa Clara County Supervisor Jim Beall and Rep. Zoe Lofgren also participated in the parade.

"The parade is the most labor intensive," Hardy said. "This year there will be no parade. We couldn't find the leadership for it or form a committee."

In 2002, the neighborhood association hired Susan Cooney of Songman Entertainment as an event planner, but this year Cooney is unavailable because of other projects, said Ellen Santomauro, the association's second vice president.

The business association used to run Founders' Day as a promotion for Lincoln Avenue merchants using Business Improvement District funds and grants from the San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs grants.

The business association, undergoing internal turmoil regarding finances and leadership, cancelled the 2001 event, citing lack of funds and volunteers. With little time to prepare, Yeager's office and the neighborhood association opted to put on a "low-key" Founders' Day event anyway at Live Oak Adult Day Services.

The association requested a grant of $15,000 from the San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs but was granted only $2,837. Since that was hardly enough to pay for a parade, much less a permit to close off Lincoln Avenue for it, the association declined the grant.

Solinski, in a letter of response to the office, wrote: "As we looked at the prospect of our small workforce trying to raise money in our economic climate, even to present a smaller event, we concluded that it was not an appropriate way to spend our time and effort."

"We're not fundraisers or grant writers, so we figured we'd better reconsider what our priorities are," Hardy said. "We will always acknowledge Founders' Day in some way because we don't want the date to go by unnoticed, but it isn't necessary to go full board and try to top the previous year."

The almost 15-year-old Founders' Day event commemorates the years when Willow Glen was an independent city. Willow Glen incorporated itself in 1927 and was annexed into San Jose in 1936.

Janie Polizzi, a Willow Glen resident for 40 years, accepts the neighborhood association's idea.

"Hey, it's better than nothing," Polizzi said. "We need more heart in what we celebrate," Polizzi said. "Otherwise everything gets too commercial."

But resident Joyce Connelly said, "If it's too small, then why bother? If they're just going to have it at the farmer's market then I really wouldn't be all that interested."

Finn believes some residents may want more out of Founders' Day and that the two associations need to improve their communications with each other.

"An event like Founders' Day should meet the community's expectations," Finn said, "and in the future we're going to work harder to rise to the occasion."

At its July 8 board meeting, business association officers discussed taking more of an active leadership role for Founders' Day 2004.

"We're supportive of the neighborhood association," Finn said, "but they were calling the shots and we don't want to step on their toes."