Willow Glen residents might want to add a little something extra to their Cinnamon Spice Mocha.

In the spirit of the holiday season, Willow Glen Starbucks customers can also donate a gift to locally hospitalized children from Nov. 12 to Dec. 25. The Willow Glen Starbucks on Lincoln Avenue will display "Giving Trees" for individuals to donate books, toys, or video games for children served by the Starlight Children's Foundation.

Gifts will be delivered to seriously ill children at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto and the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Customers are also invited to donate money to Starlight.

—Alicia Upano

James Scharf elected
to the State Bar Board

Willow Glen resident James A. Scharf was recently elected to a three-year term on the State Bar Board of Governors, which is the governing body of the California State Bar Association.

In his new position, Scharf will represent District 3, which includes Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. He was sworn into office by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court on Oct. 9 at the annual State Bar meeting in Monterey. A reception at Lincoln Law School of San Jose was held on Oct. 21, honoring his election.

Scharf had taught torts to first-year Lincoln Law students for the past three years at the school. He is the in-house counsel for the California State Automobile Association. He is also the secretary and former treasurer of the Santa Clara County Bar Association.

—Moryt Milo

Association election
attracts new members

The North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association elected neighborhood veterans and a few new people at its monthly meeting in October.

Last year's co-secretary and treasurer Ken Eklund was elected president at the Oct. 26 meeting, and Harvey Darnell continued in his vice president position. Dana Rysavy will serve another year as co-secretary and co-treasurer, sharing the duties with Eklund's wife, Debbie Palmer, who was formerly a director.

Because of increased interest in the three director positions, the neighborhood association opened five slots this year. Four directors, formerly called members-at-large, are new to the board.

These individuals include longtime resident Judi McComak and new residents James Moore, Bill Halleck and Heidi LeVell, who have lived in North Willow Glen for less than three years. Dan Erceg, who has lived in the neighborhood for 18 years, will also continue on the board as director.

—Alicia Upano

Mazied withdraws his
liquor store request

Willow Glen residents' battle against a proposed liquor store at the corner of Willow Street and Bird Avenue is over before it even began.

Proprietor of First Liquor and Grocery Seth Mazied withdrew his application for a planned-development amendment in late October. The amendment would have allowed him, or any future owner, to sell liquor in an area that is overconcentrated with liquor stores.

Since Mazied withdrew his application, the item has been removed from the San Jose Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement's Nov. 10 director's hearing agenda.

Mazied, also a Willow Glen resident, had hoped to open a high-end liquor, cigar and organic grocery store in Willow Plaza, but found no community support for his project.

—Alicia Upano

Guadalupe River Trail
master plan is approved

After two years in the making, the San Jose City Council approved the master plan for the Guadalupe River Trail Reach 6, which extends from Willow Street to Highway 280.

In the master plan approved at the city council's Oct. 19 meeting, the trail will be divided into two phases. Phase 1 stretches from Highway 280 to Virginia Street and is ready for landscape design. Phase 2, south of Willow Street, will be ready for landscape design once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes flood-control work.

In the interim, San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services program manager Yves Zsutty said, signs will be posted through Willow Glen neighborhoods so bikers can ride from the downtown Guadalupe River Trail to the Highway 87 bikeway.

—Alicia Upano

Worms and scraps turn
the soil into black gold

Willow Glen residents who have longed to learn the ABCs of backyard and worm composting now have their chance.

The city of San Jose, in cooperation with the county of Santa Clara, is hosting a free "Composting Basics for Beginners" workshop on Nov. 6 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Willows Senior Center, 2175 Lincoln Ave.

Master Composter volunteers will demonstrate ways to recycle yard trimmings and food scraps into the fertile soil gardeners call "black gold."

For more information or to register for the class, call 408.918.4640 or email compost@pln.sccgov.org.

—Meghan O'Hare

New name, new owners:
Beaver's is now history

As owner Dierdre Haggerty so succinctly puts it, the Beaver is now extinct in Willow Glen.

On Oct. 22, Beaver's sign was removed, and replaced with a sign bearing the restaurant's new name, D's. Haggerty said she is in the process of exterminating all the lingering beavers lurking within the restaurant and wants to transform the place into a more family-friendly establishment.

The menu will also change, Haggerty said, and the innuendo-laced monikers of certain dishes will be renamed. The servers will wear traditional black and white attire, and bartenders will don solid black uniforms, she said.

Haggerty, who said she was unfamiliar with the connotation of the buck-toothed animal before she purchased the restaurant, said she was eager to change the name and image of the former Beaver's restaurant.

"I discovered how dissatisfied residents are with the name, and I agree with them," she said. "But despite the name, I always felt the place had a warm atmosphere. I want the restaurant to be a gathering place for Willow Glen residents."

—Meghan O'Hare

Can drive is a winner
for community, fans

Basketball fans seeking tickets to the annual Pete Newell Challenge should head down to their local Allstate office.

For every four cans donated to Allstate's annual food drive, local agents John and Connie Lozon are trading a "Buy One Ticket, Get One Ticket Free" vouchers to the game. The collected donations will be given to various service organizations in the community after the drive ends on Nov. 17.

Lucky donors will get to take a friend to the Pete Newell Challenge, where Santa Clara University, the University of San Francisco, Stanford University and the University of North Carolina face off on Nov. 19 at the Oakland Arena.

To drop off donations and receive a voucher, bring at least four cans of food to the Allstate office located at 1341 Lincoln Ave.

—Alicia Upano

Warm a heart and body
by donating used coats

Willow Glen residents who have extra warm clothing cluttering their closets can donate their surplus to aid people in need.

The Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County Service Unit 38 will host its first annual month-long One Warm Coat Drive to benefit Sacred Heart Community Service of San Jose. The drive runs from Oct. 31 to Nov. 30.

The Scouts will collect gently used coats, jackets and sweaters of all sizes at various collection stations around San Jose. Two of the locations are in the Cambrian School District and include Fammatre Elementary School at 2800 New Jersey Ave. and Bagby School at 1840 Harris Ave. One Warm Coat coordinator Michelle Alaimo will also be collecting clothing at her home, 2919 Julio Ave.

For more information, contact Michelle Alaimo at 408.266.6777.