With approximately 70 residents watching on Aug. 8, the electric lights inside the new hanging lanterns were turned on, after an extensive renovation effort by the Palm Haven Restoration Committee.

"My heart almost stopped," said longtime resident Joan Bohnett after the lights came on at dusk. Bohnett has a photograph of her father and uncle playing on the pillars in the 1920s when the original lamps were operating.

Palm Haven is a "residence park" that was developed in the northern corner of Willow Glen in 1913. It is distinguished by 356 palm trees, a landscaped park, Mission-Revival-style homes and gateway pillars with lamps.

While accounts differ on when the lights ceased to be used, the pillars' decades-long state of disrepair was "deplorable," Palm Haven Restoration Committee treasurer Martin Delson said.

Mike Borbely, who was nominated president of the restoration committee, said it was the neighbors' realization that they could restore the pillars back to their original beauty that galvanized Palm Haven residents into action.

"I'm sure every resident thought, 'When is the city going to get those lights fixed?' " Borbely said. He noted that it was Palm Haven homeowner Rosemarie Delson's initiative, organizing the first meeting in March 2002, that gave the residents the "kick in the pants" to organize themselves.

"The pillars are so much a part of our history that we said if we are going to restore them, we need to fully do it," Palm Haven Restoration Committee Secretary Chuck Frascone said.

With 30 to 50 supporters at the first meeting and hundreds of volunteers over 2 ¹/2 years, the residents organized home tours, held yard and plant sales and gave private donations to fund the pillars restoration. The Palm Haven Restoration Committee also received grants—Community Action and Pride grants from the city and a $10,000 grant from District 6 Councilman Ken Yeager's office—which helped raise the $117,000 to fund the project.

Bohnett said that more than 50 percent of the neighborhood participated in getting the pillars restored.

The committee's continuous dedication is what propelled the project to completion, even through all the funding hiccups and construction delays, Borbely said.

"Nothing about these pillars was normal construction," Borbely said. He added that the contractors had to replicate the fixtures from a 1920s photograph and adhere to the U.S. Secretary of Interior's restoration standards because the restoration committee voted to bring the pillar back to their original condition.

Yeager said he was impressed with how the restoration efforts brought the neighborhood together and created leaders.

"People in Willow Glen are self-starters," he said. "Because of the community, it was able to happen."

The community is also the reason that the urns, which flank the pillars, are now overflowing with rosemary.

The night before residents planted the rosemary in the urns, a small group sealed the containers with pitch to prevent stains as recommended by the urn manufacturer, Bohnett said.

"Four of us were up to our elbows in pitch, with our heads in the urns with flashlights so we could plant the next day," she said.

Bohnett added that the committee voted on rosemary because it will drape down over the urns and attract bees, which may deter children from climbing the pillars.

But some residents weren't sure that would be a deterrent.

"Everybody has always climbed on them," said Julia Tranchina, who grew up in Palm Haven and has lived there 40 years. Tranchina's mother, Norvelle Benevento, also remembers climbing the pillars during her childhood.

These pillar-climbing childhood memories are one of the many community links from the past to the present.

"I remember the lights when I was young," Bohnett said. "What's amazing is it's not just this occasion, but they'll be on every night."

Borbely said the lights have sensors, like those in streetlights, that turn them on at dusk, and he added that the city will maintain the lights.

At the ceremony, the lights coincidentally began shining a moment after the committee handed a certificate of appreciation to Borbely, who has been the driving force for the project, eliciting the crowd's applause.

"The timing was so perfect," Bohnett said.

Borbely added that seeing the finished product was rewarding.

"We had visions of what it would look like and had seen photos, but it's so hard to describe. It was a new piece of architecture from another era."

The city designated Palm Haven as a conservation area in 1987 and voted to include its 356 palm trees on San Jose's Heritage Tree List on Aug. 10.