Thanks so much for the wonderful article on JW's wristbands in the Feb. 23 issue of the Willow Glen Resident. The article caught the attention of Channel 7 news and the station sent a news crew down to interview Dr. Wong, JW and family and me at the Willow Street Pizza JW night on Feb. 23.

JW was so happy that night. Unfortunately, the next day he was admitted to the hospital once again. Thanks again for making our community aware of JW and his wonderful dream.

Debra Weed

Willow Glen

It's difficult to shop
in a negative place

I wanted to respond to A. Lyndon's letter in the March 2 issue of the Willow Glen Resident about "The Enforcer."

Yes, I too have had an unpleasant encounter with that man. That is the whole reason I don't use that post office anymore. Who wants to go shopping or run a few errands and be interrogated before you even get out of your car? It's almost like the people who manage the mall don't want you to do your shopping or errands in their building.

Lynn Clendenen

Coe Avenue

Palm Haven history is
still being researched

Having performed in-depth research on Palm Haven over the past few years, I would like to clear up some items mentioned in the article on Palm Haven in the March 2 issue of the Willow Glen Resident.

Palm Haven opened in 1913 with city sewer connections. It was one of the many modern amenities included to entice buyers. Prior to opening, the land was farmland and a nursery--neither was likely to leave any major sewage problem.

Lot sales were sluggish after it opened in the 1910s, but that was due to World War I. All real estate sales across the country came to a near halt during those years. Palm Haven lot sales recovered after the war and nearly all the lots were developed between the 1920s and 1930s.

Even though Willow Glen was not annexed into San Jose until 1936 and was slowly added to the city sewer system afterward, nearly all the lots in Palm Haven were sold before then. So buyers were not deterred by what might have been any Willow Glen sewage seeping into Los Gatos Creek. Today residents can rest assured their vegetable gardens are not contaminated.

The homes in Palm Haven were not built by the developer Eaton, Vestal & Herschbach. The lots were sold with development guidelines in the deeds.

These houses had to cost at least $2,500 to construct (high for the time) so it generally resulted in a buyer hiring an architect to design a custom home. Many different builders constructed custom homes in Palm Haven, and, having seen most of the permits, I can say that none were built by Thomas Herschbach. Credit for the design and concept of Palm Haven is still under research.

Local architectural historians have suggested the pillars and missing trolley wait station may have been designed by celebrated local architect Frank D. Wolfe. Others have suggested Palm Haven's layout was designed by John McLaren, the same landscape architect who designed Hanchett Park in 1906.

There are a lot of theories about this. But there is a document that likely answers these questions, and I am searching in California and other states where families have moved to locate it.

Details about other Myths of Palm Haven and its history can be found on www.palmhaven.info and hopefully one day, the missing document will be there as well.

Michael Borbely

Palm Haven

Turning movie house
into a mall was awful

As a former San Jose resident who grew up in Willow Glen, I was horrified to see what happened to the Garden Theatre.

Whose god-awful idea was it to destroy the movie theater and turn it into an empty shopping mall? Growing up in Willow Glen, the Garden Theatre was like a home away from home for me. I watched countless movies there and have many fond memories of double features, bargain matinees and, of course, the luxurious seats.

When I found out what happened to the theater, it confirmed my suspicions that San Jose has always been and will always be an unsophisticated cowtown that pays tribute to that which is flashy and unsubstantial while ignoring or destroying all that is historic or memorable.

Mark Carbonaro

Monterey