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The History of the Los Gatos By Alastair Dallas The Children's Holiday Parade has been a tradition in Los Gatos for nearly fifty years and for decades, (lie parade has assembled on Almendra Avenue on Saturday morning and proceeded down North Santa Cruz Avenue and across the Main Street Bridge. Hundreds of children — many in costume and holding or leading their pets and floats and marching bands bring enjoyment to tens of thousands each year. The community pride and holiday spirit shared by those on the crowded sidewalks is (lie work of dozens of dedicated volunteers representing local service clubs and organizations. The Fifties Los Gatos merchants and their Chamber of Commerce celebrate the Christmas shopping season, perhaps never more enthusiastically than during the Eisenhower presidency. In 1956, Santa Claus arrived in town aboard a well publicized helicopter,' landing to me cheers of hundreds of admirers on the Los Gatos Union High School football field at two in the afternoon on Tuesday, December 8th. From the field, he was whisked away on the town’s new long, red fire engine for a parade of sorts up North Santa Cruz Avenue. With a majorette on either side, Santa tossed candy to children on the sidewalks. Los Gatos was in transition in 1956. The construction of Highway 17 was nearly complete, along with the new bridge at Main Street, and Lexington Dam had only erased the towns of Alma and Lexington a few years before. The town's beloved Memorial Park was a victim of the freeway, and the remodeling of the town dump into Oak Meadow Park was a few years away. Today's Civic Center had not yet replaced the aging 1913 Town Hall, and the Lyndon Hotel and Southern Pacific Depot surrounded the little town plaza.'> A huge fir tree planted there by the History Club in 1923 was apparently used as a backdrop for a more conventionally-sized Christmas tree in those years. Traditions in Los Gatos included the Fiesta de Los Gatos, the Blossom Festival, and elaborate pageants performed against the hills behind Town Hall. All were coming to an end in 1956. Gene Goldberg of the Los Gates-Saratoga Recreation Department recalls a casual conversation in October with Floyd E. "Bus" Benson, talking about a community event to take the place of the Blossom Festival. We came up with an idea," Goldberg said in an interview on television at the end of the century, "Why can't we have a parade?" Although it went unrecorded in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Times-Observer, apparently Goldberg followed up on the notion by leading a group of ten or twenty costumed youngsters down North Santa Cruz Avenue one chilly Friday night, perhaps December 11, 1956. The streets were not closed and they had no banner or publicity explaining the event. They simply walked behind a slowly-moving police car, lights twirling, with Goldberg at the rear. "What are you doing out there?" Goldberg remembers pedestrians calling out. In 1956, Santa was available for public appearances throughout December at individual downtown stores and he handed out candy at a free matinee at the Los Gatos Theater on December 19. The Chamber of Commerce was the prune organizer of holiday activities, with Paul Straub and Gene Rugani co-chairmen and Mrs. Marguerite Powell the secretary-manager. Mayor Alberto Merrill, Chief of Police Ralph Plumps, Fire Chief Dick Wall and many other civic boosters, including all the local service clubs such as the Optimists, were supportive and ready to create some new traditions. But for a Holiday Parade tradition to take hold, it had to incorporate some of the rituals of previous years. The First Parades Gene Goldberg became the Director of the Recreation Department in 1957, and apparently followed up on his conversation with Bus Benson, because the two" marshaled resources throughout the year. With a lot of help, they presented the first annual Christmas Parade, labeled "Santa's Christmas Ride," on December 6, 1957. Two hundred children and dozens of pets participated and there were eight floats. Traffic was prohibited during the Friday night parade from 6:30 to 7:30—mountain traffic was re-routed onto the new freeway. The American Legion Auxiliary (that is, the wives of American Legion members) proffered a float featuring ten accordionists, aged eight to thirteen, and Santa's sleigh was drawn by four reindeer on loan from Mr. Bellack of Santa's Village in Scotts Valley. Other floats included the Camp Fire Girls, Rainbow Girls, De Molays, Sea Scouts, the Junior Recreation Department Drama Group, the League of Women Voters and the Native Daughters of the Golden West. Gordon Wallace, the parade announcer, led caroling around the community tree in the plaza from the cupola of the Lindon Hotel across the street. The lights on the Christmas tree were lit when Santa arrived. The parade assembled at St. Mary’s schoolyard, remembers Reed Graham." Graham marched with Cub Scout Pack 12 that night and now, some forty years later, coordinates the entire parade. The behind the scenes activity was managed by Mrs. Powell of the Chamber of Commerce and a parade committee led by Helen Billington. Oran Slaght, Jr., was the liaison to Santa. Paul Straub, a Pacific Gas and Electric manager, provided lighting for the night time event. The Southern Pacific railroad, within a few vears of abandoning the depot anyway, slopped (lie 7:00 p. m. train at Vasona for (lie parade, and halted after- noon freight trains.- George McDonald was described in the newspaper as the "head elf,- and Jeanne Partridge. Arch Menard and Mr. and Mrs. David Carter formed the floats committee. The volunteerism before the parade at Bus Bensons Live Oak Inn (now Double D's), which is probably why the route begins where it does. Awards were presented in two categories, "Miniature Motion" and "Pet Frolic." Ten gift certificates were handed out, redeemable at any store in Los Gatos. The remaining Los Gatos Fiesta funds were formally turned over to the Chamber of Commerce's Christmas Decoration Fund shortly after the successful parade. Mrs. Billington reported to the Chamber of Commerce that, of the budget of $150 allowed for the first parade, only $68 was spent." The second annual parade, still on Friday night, marched on December 5, 1958. Everything was bigger and more. About 350 boys and girls participated in four divisions. Three bands and six choral groups joined thirteen floats, some of which featured their own music. Parade marshals George McDonald and Randy Hinds were sup- ported by at least fifty volunteers."" Helen Billington and Dick Wall were co-chairmen. Floats in The second parade included a nativity scene by the Ming Quong House, the Lexington School Bookworms and the Redwood Estates Women's Club. Frosty (he Snowman and Mrs. Santa Claus also participated, and the Junior Chamber of Commerce built Santa a reindeer and sleigh float. Costume and theme divisions were added, doubling the awards to twenty gift certificates. Judges represented various organizations, including St. Mary’s School, the Ladies' Auxiliary, Rotary, B P W, Kiwanis, N D G W, Junior C of C, Jaycette’s, Optimist, and Lions. Billy Jones, (lie retired Southern Pacific engineer whose miniature steam train drew children and charitable donations to his nine-acre prune orchard north of (own, led the third annual parade. Florence Bryant, Miss Los Gatos joined him in the lead car. "Christmas in Alaska" was the Los Gatos Street Department float's theme, fitting because the 49th stale was less than a year old on December 4. 1959. Children from Saratoga were invited to participate for the first time and the Saratoga High School Band joined the Los Gatos High School Band. Dick Wall drove the fire engine and Dr. Charles Kirkish served as Master of Ceremonies at the Lyndon Hotel corner. Judging was held in the town plaza at 8:30 p. m., and parents were advised that they could retrieve their children at the Southern Pacific depot afterward. The Sixties Saturday, December 10, I960 saw the first daylight parade, the Fourth Annual, held at 2 pm. "Because of the daylight timing," the Times-Observer wrote, "a larger number of elementary school children are expected to take part.11" Dave DeMars and Walt Mattoch were co-chairmen of the first Saturday parade, assisted by more volunteers than ever from twenty-two local clubs and organizations. The parade proceeded despite an occasional light rain. The Los Gatos High School Band led the parade, following Grand Marshall Billy Jones driving the Marine Corps "Toys for Tots" train. Pre-high schooler’s, the University Avenue Pep Band and pom-pom girls (Fisher Middle School was not quite open) also participated. Santa Claus, riding a special float built by the Optimists Club, brought up the rear of the parade, took up a position at the Town Plaza to greet children and then played host at a free matinee at the Los Gatos Theater at 4:45." Santa was impersonated by Bus Benson. The Fourth Annual parade established the pattern for the next several years. The parade was held Saturday afternoon, followed by quality time with St. Nick and a free matinee at the theater. In the meantime, the town was changing. The high-rise Penthouse Apartments were the most visible aspect of an apartment complex boom in town. Farms and orchards were becoming housing tracts all over Santa Clara Valley, including Blossom Manor in Los Gatos. Daves Avenue and Blossom Hill Elementary Schools joined Fisher Middle School to handle the growing population, even as the venerable University Avenue School was converted into the Old Town shopping center. More children than ever were available for parade duty. The Eighth parade, held on December 5. 1964, demonstrates the steady growth of (lie event. Eighteen hundred people participated in sixty-six entries. There were eighteen floats, eight high school bands and ten baton units. There was no Grand Marshall that year because Billy Jones was traveling in Egypt.'" For the first time, police cleared all parked cars from the parade route. "Freeing North Santa Cruz Avenue from Saratoga Avenue to Main Street of parking was made necessary by the increased size of the parade," the Times-Observer wrote.1" Parade chairman Mark DiDuca, who would become mayor in 1973, credited Police Chief Phillips with making the unobstructed view of the parade possible. "With the larger crowds which the parade is attracting," DiDuca said, "it is important to provide opportunity for everyone to view the parade. Dick Wall and Gene Goldberg were parade marshals. Santa's float was sponsored by thirty Bay Area Optimist Clubs. The Great Pyrenees Club entered a wagon drawn by four of the dogs. Mayor and Mrs. John Lincoln rode in the parade, and Chamber of Commerce President Bus Benson and his wife traveled the route in a one hundred year- old Concord stagecoach, "The Ben Holladay," sponsored by Wells Fargo, and there were several equestrian entries.18 Paul Straub played Santa Claus, as he did every year until the Twenty-second parade in 1978. In 1967, Bonnie Sue Aldag was Miss Los Gatos and Mark DiDuca was again parade chairman. The Happy Dragon, named for Ming Quong's thrift shop, "walked on human feet" in the parade. Mayor Egon Jensen paraded, and Dick Wall and Gene Goldberg were again marshals. The entries were judged from a stand in front of the Penthouse Apartments. Frank Bonacorsi, a longtime Los Gatos telephone company employee, became parade chairman for the Twelfth Annual parade, held on December 7, 1968, the 27th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Saratoga High School Band received the honor of leading the parade.20 Billy Jones passed away in 1968, and the parade entered a new era: Frank Bonacorsi would chair die event for the next twenty-five years. "Best Christmas Parade Ever," gushed the headline in the December 20,1969 Tunes- Observer. The paper reported that twenty thousand people had lined the parade route to watch three thousand participants in over one hundred entries. Mayor Roland Perry accompanied Miss Los Gatos before the Los Gatos High School Band. Chamber of Commerce President Clayton Bruntz was included, and the parade's announcer was former Chamber president Bill Graham. Parade chairmen were Dick Wall and Al Block. The Seventies and Eighties Frank Bonacorsi made gradual changes in the parade over the years. He began using professional, paid judges instead of local dignitaries. He established a different Grand r Marshall for each year, beginning in 1971. The Grand Marshall’s selected through the 1970s honored former town and parade officials: Ralph Phillips, former police chief (1971); Paul Straub (1972); Alberto Merrill, former mayor (1973); Bill Mason, the leader of the project to bring the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad to Oak Meadow Park (1974); Dick Wall (1975); Gene Goldberg (1976); Russ Cooney (1977); Bus Benson (1978); Rosalie Lincoln (1979); and Knowlton Shore, Boy Scout leader (1980). In 1978, the year that the original parade Santa, Bus Benson, was Grand Marshall, Brother Norbert Korte of Sacred Heart Novitiate began impersonating St. Nick and he has been doing it ever since. Brother Korte is the treasurer of the Novitiate and a member of the Lions Club. Playing Santa is "a tremendous feeling," he says "especially when the float rolls out onto the street and the people yell, 'Here he comes! Commemorative buttons were distributed during the Twenty-fifth Annual parade, held December 5, 1981. Frank Bonacorsi himself was Grand Marshall that year and the event was broadcast live by KRVE. The next year, the Los Gatos lions Club became the official co-sponsor of the parade with the Chamber of Commerce. In planning a picnic, you might worry about insects. In planning a huge parade during the winter months, the unspoken concern is rain. "We've been very lucky over the years," current parade chairman Reed Graham says regarding the weather on the first Saturday in December. "We've only been rained out once or twice, and I can remember a few occasions where I worked the parade in shorts." December 3,1983 was not a sunny day. In fact, it rained so hard in such a short period of time that very few had to be persuaded by parade officials to return home. Some were willing to inarch, but various musicians, worried about their instruments, made cancellation of the Twenty-seventh parade necessary. Councilmember Joe Prazynski, then a member of the Disaster Aid Rescue Team, remembers greeting some soaking wet horses from Almaden. Four or five hours later, when the sun peeked out, a convertible was rounded up for the Grand Marshall, Bill Stephens, and a much abbreviated parade was held in spite of the weather.26 (Mr. Stephens returned as Grand Marshall in 1984.) In order to ensure the funds to put on the ever-growing parade, a Los Gatos Christmas Foundation was formed in 1984, with twenty-two founding board members including Gene Goldberg, Bill Cilker (one of the founders of the Second Harvest Food Bank), Congressman Norm Mineta, and Mayor Terry Daily. Donors of more than a thousand dollars were specially recognized. They included Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bonacorsi, Ed and Shirley Burke, founders of the Los Gatos Athletic Club, and Steve Wozniak, one of the inventors of the personal computer. The foundation staged the first annual Christmas Ball (now called the Cotillion) on' November 23,1985 at Villa Felice. For the next ten years, attendance at the Christmas Cotillion, traditionally scheduled for the week after the parade, was so enthusiastic that venues in San Jose, particularly the San Jose Hyatt, had to be found. The 1993 Cotillion was held at the Fairmont Hotel. In 1995, the event moved to the newly remodeled La Rinconada Country Club, now large enough to accommodate 270 civic supporters. Grand Marshals in the 1980s included Olympic athlete Ed Burke (1985); the first female mayor of Los Gatos, Ruth Cannon (1982); Los Gatos High School football coach Charlie Wedemeyer (1986); former mayor and perpetual Christmas parade supporter John Lochner (1987); and long-time lion John Smart (1988). On October 17, 1989, a strong earthquake damaged buildings along the parade route as well as other buildings in Los Gatos and around the Bay Area. As December approached, chain link fences barricaded the buildings on either side of North Santa Cruz Avenue at Main Street. Parts of town looked like a war zone and many in the Santa Cruz Mountains were still without running water. Frank Bonacorsi and the other volunteers would not let the disaster stop the parade. The route was modified to cut over from North Santa Cruz Avenue to University Avenue on Gray's Lane in order to avoid the damaged buildings. Mary Foster, a beloved character who visited schools as Mother Goose, was the Grand Marshall of the Thirty-third Annual parade. During the event, an aftershock measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale rattled the audience. Recent Parades The last decade of the century saw the management of the parade pass from Frank Bonacorsi to Reed Graham. Graham had been involved with the holiday event through the Lions since 1976, and had marched in the very first parade. Graham's most significant achievement (so far) was to computerize the planning of the order of march in 1993. He and his assistant, Butch Lumby, used the computer and programming staff at Reed & Graham, Graham's family asphalt business. The same software is in use today Parades throughout the 1990s have developed a few new traditions of their own. The Los Gatos lions Club and (he Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation Department now co-sponsor the parade. The event is huge, typically involving two to three hundred entries and thousands of participants. Recent parades have been televised by KCAT, Los Gatos' cable access channel, as well as HCU-TV, San Jose's channel 36. The parade begins with the Grand Marshall and concludes with Santa Claus, as it always has. Various town dignitaries follow the Grand Marshall, led by three specially chosen High School students called "whistle blowers," who officially start the parade. Long-time resident Gary Ehlert drives the lead car, a vintage Thunderbird convertible said to be first of that model delivered to Santa Clara County. The world-renowned insouciance of the Stanford Marching Band has become a staple of the parade, along with the Italian Gardeners Cacuzzia Squash Drill Team. Parade aficionados still lament the lack of the Pygmy Goat Herders, last seen at the Fortieth parade in 1996. The parade always has a surfeit of marching bands, pre-schoolers, scouts and pets, but the most memorable entries are often grown-ups who don't take themselves too seriously. "Every year it gets bigger," exults parade founder Glen Goldberg. Memorable recent parades include the Thirty-fifth, which marched on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1991, with local hero and Pearl Harbor survivor Vie Collord as Grand Marshall. The Fortieth parade honored the 100th anniversary of the Los Gatos History Club, an organization founded to study world history rather than be doomed to repeat it. Ted Simonson, who served the town's children for forty- seven years at Los Gatos High School, was Grand Marshall of the Forty-first parade in 1997. The last parade of the century, the Forty-third, honored Dru Barth, one of the local volunteers that built A Place for Teens at the high school. For almost fifty years, the Los Gatos Children's Holiday Parade has had children, the promise of the future, as both its theme and its goal. "After all," says parade chairman Reed Graham, "it's all about children." |
