"Live Your Life As If Every Action Was Going To Be Printed On The Front Page Of The Newspaper."
~~~~~~ Favorite Saying ~~~~~~
The Story of How the Airplane got to Oak Meadow Park.
Dear Greg:
Nothing long lasting is told quickly. A short time after I was appointed to the Park Commission the Park Superintendent, the Mayor (Ruth Cannon), and the Town Manager (Russ Cooney) decided that the town needed more parks. We only had Oak Meadow. So they and the Town Council decided to build some more. This took a lot or money, because we had to buy most of the land also. The smart manager, decided to go for a straight property tax increase (which only needed 50.1 percent of the votes to pass), instead of a bond issue, (which took 66 2/3rds of the votes to pass). Harder to pass because the voters start paying a lot more sooner; but easier to pass because it needs less votes.
We ran a spirited election, and we won by 75 votes! They then decided which parks to build and when, after we acquired the land. Included in the plans was the upgrading of Oak Meadow. I was on the Park Commission 12 or 16 years, and we were building these parks all the time I was serving. A few years after we won the tax election, Ruth Cannon was again Mayor, and we were in the process of upgrading Oak Meadow. At this time Ruth Cannon's husband, I forget his first name, was a big shot in the management of Lockheed in Sunnyvale. Many of the airplanes from World War 2 were retired to a huge Airforce base in Arizona. Lockheed either owned them, because they still had not been paid in full, or was hired to manage the property on the base. Anyway, the Cannons had the proper connections to get one of the planes donated to the Town of Los Gatos. However, the U.S. Government was not going to deliver the plane, and it could no longer fly
The Town Council allocated some of the Park Tax funds to hiring some company that could transport it to Los Gatos, which was done. They even installed it properly. It was decided that to avoid any possible law suits; because some kid got hurt fooling with the engine, that the engine would be removed and the front part filled with concrete to a level for kids to enjoy; which was done. The plane is still there, and I just went down and looked at, and there were kids sitting in it, and pretending to fly. A series of happy coincidences. Any more questions, e-mail me. Dad
Subject: A little family history.
I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about "The Famous Trailer Trip", so I thought I would share it with family and friends, before I go along. This may be new to most of you, so here goes.
In 1951 Marguerite & I sold our house in South San Francisco (where Martin lived when he was born), and bought a one axle house trailer. We started off on a 3 month trip around the 11 western states, with Martin only 2 1/2 years old. My wife, Marguerite, had only been on one trip away from her home in San Jose, in her lifetime, to Yosemite, of course we eloped to Carson City, Nevada also. Everything went well for the 1st half of the trip. (Boulder Dam, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Durango, Colorado, Pikes Peak. Colorado Springs. Then we started driving on a Sunday from Colorado Springs to Denver. (Everyone in Denver takes a Sunday drive to Colorado Springs in nice weather} It was only a two lane drive, at that time.
That's where the trouble started. We pulled off on the shoulder for lunch. (We never drove with Martin alone in the trailer, always in the car}. We stopped, and I looked in the rear view mirror, and the trailer was gone. Actually the part of the shoulder on which the trailer sat had slipped down the hill, into a canyon. The trailer; however, remained attached to the car, and did not pull us over the edge. Luckily a highway patrol car came along then, in the crowd, and called a tow truck, from Castle Rock CO. that was open Sundays. He stayed with us, to assist. It took a second tow truck to pull the trailer back up to the portion of the shoulder that remained, as they thought one tow line might flip the trailer. An all afternoon job, back to the garage to pay and then on to Denver. We stayed in a City
park for the night, and explained to a guard, what had happened, and he allowed us to stay the one night.
From then on, wow! apparently, the frame was sprung, just enough so that one of the wheels (the traffic side one] got hot enough to cause flat tires when the pavement was warm. All told we had either 13 or 17 flats during the rest of the trip, and every one was an ordeal. One axle on the trailer! This involved pulling off somewhere, leaving the trailer alone, driving either forward or back to the nearest garage, leaving my drivers license as security, borrowing a big jack, driving back to the car, removing the wheel , returning to the garage, getting the tire fixed, returning and putting it back on, driving back to the garage to return the jack, and retrieve my driver's license. and then going on.
This always seemed to happen at the worst places. Entering Yellowstone Park, overlooking Grand Coolee Dam, in the station entering California from Oregon (That time we had to leave it in the station overnight, luckily they had two others). One time was on the top of a grade of a two lane road, which caused a blind spot from the rear. This time the flat was on the car, so Marguerite could direct traffic, while I changed the tire. We did continue on, (no flats on the Golden Gate Bridge), and finally arrived at Marguerite's parents home,in San Jose, where we parked in the driveway for a while, while we got our act together. No wonder I still remember this 60 years later.
Van Vanderlaan
~~~~~~
Dear Greg:
Nothing long lasting is told quickly. A short time after I was appointed to the Park Commission the Park Superintendent, the Mayor (Ruth Cannon), and the Town Manager (Russ Cooney) decided that the town needed more parks. We only had Oak Meadow. So they and the Town Council decided to build some more. This took a lot or money, because we had to buy most of the land also. The smart manager, decided to go for a straight property tax increase (which only needed 50.1 percent of the votes to pass), instead of a bond issue, (which took 66 2/3rds of the votes to pass). Harder to pass because the voters start paying a lot more sooner; but easier to pass because it needs less votes.
We ran a spirited election, and we won by 75 votes! They then decided which parks to build and when, after we acquired the land. Included in the plans was the upgrading of Oak Meadow. I was on the Park Commission 12 or 16 years, and we were building these parks all the time I was serving. A few years after we won the tax election, Ruth Cannon was again Mayor, and we were in the process of upgrading Oak Meadow. At this time Ruth Cannon's husband, I forget his first name, was a big shot in the management of Lockheed in Sunnyvale. Many of the airplanes from World War 2 were retired to a huge Airforce base in Arizona. Lockheed either owned them, because they still had not been paid in full, or was hired to manage the property on the base. Anyway, the Cannons had the proper connections to get one of the planes donated to the Town of Los Gatos. However, the U.S. Government was not going to deliver the plane, and it could no longer fly
The Town Council allocated some of the Park Tax funds to hiring some company that could transport it to Los Gatos, which was done. They even installed it properly. It was decided that to avoid any possible law suits; because some kid got hurt fooling with the engine, that the engine would be removed and the front part filled with concrete to a level for kids to enjoy; which was done. The plane is still there, and I just went down and looked at, and there were kids sitting in it, and pretending to fly. A series of happy coincidences. Any more questions, e-mail me. Dad
Subject: A little family history.
I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about "The Famous Trailer Trip", so I thought I would share it with family and friends, before I go along. This may be new to most of you, so here goes.
In 1951 Marguerite & I sold our house in South San Francisco (where Martin lived when he was born), and bought a one axle house trailer. We started off on a 3 month trip around the 11 western states, with Martin only 2 1/2 years old. My wife, Marguerite, had only been on one trip away from her home in San Jose, in her lifetime, to Yosemite, of course we eloped to Carson City, Nevada also. Everything went well for the 1st half of the trip. (Boulder Dam, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Durango, Colorado, Pikes Peak. Colorado Springs. Then we started driving on a Sunday from Colorado Springs to Denver. (Everyone in Denver takes a Sunday drive to Colorado Springs in nice weather} It was only a two lane drive, at that time.
That's where the trouble started. We pulled off on the shoulder for lunch. (We never drove with Martin alone in the trailer, always in the car}. We stopped, and I looked in the rear view mirror, and the trailer was gone. Actually the part of the shoulder on which the trailer sat had slipped down the hill, into a canyon. The trailer; however, remained attached to the car, and did not pull us over the edge. Luckily a highway patrol car came along then, in the crowd, and called a tow truck, from Castle Rock CO. that was open Sundays. He stayed with us, to assist. It took a second tow truck to pull the trailer back up to the portion of the shoulder that remained, as they thought one tow line might flip the trailer. An all afternoon job, back to the garage to pay and then on to Denver. We stayed in a City
park for the night, and explained to a guard, what had happened, and he allowed us to stay the one night.
From then on, wow! apparently, the frame was sprung, just enough so that one of the wheels (the traffic side one] got hot enough to cause flat tires when the pavement was warm. All told we had either 13 or 17 flats during the rest of the trip, and every one was an ordeal. One axle on the trailer! This involved pulling off somewhere, leaving the trailer alone, driving either forward or back to the nearest garage, leaving my drivers license as security, borrowing a big jack, driving back to the car, removing the wheel , returning to the garage, getting the tire fixed, returning and putting it back on, driving back to the garage to return the jack, and retrieve my driver's license. and then going on.
This always seemed to happen at the worst places. Entering Yellowstone Park, overlooking Grand Coolee Dam, in the station entering California from Oregon (That time we had to leave it in the station overnight, luckily they had two others). One time was on the top of a grade of a two lane road, which caused a blind spot from the rear. This time the flat was on the car, so Marguerite could direct traffic, while I changed the tire. We did continue on, (no flats on the Golden Gate Bridge), and finally arrived at Marguerite's parents home,in San Jose, where we parked in the driveway for a while, while we got our act together. No wonder I still remember this 60 years later.
Van Vanderlaan
~~~~~~
What did you do in the Shipyards?
When Marguerite and I left Permanente and went to Richmond, they were hiring various categories. I had met a friend, before I applied to the Kaiser shipyards, who worked as a rigger (doesn't require any specialized training), so I asked to be a rigger. Basically you attach a cable to something, and the man in the crane lifts it, and puts it someplace. Then you uncouple it and go to something else We also marked important things for someone else to do something, like marking the depth marks on the front of the ship so someone could put a little metal weld showing the depth that the ship was in the water, after it was launched. You are working with heavy equipment, and another Rigger in Yard #4 (where I worked) got hurt. Marguerite was working in an adjacent shipyard, as a secretary in the safety department; so her boss told her I should transfer to another job in the shipyard.
I was able to transfer to the engineering department, and they made me a surveyor. (hold the back end of a chain,( a metal marking thingy, not unlike a cloth tape, but 100 feet long). Also I learned to use the transit and level. A good trade. All my life I have had fortunate things like that, which helped me succeed in life, with no formal training. There were unions of every trade in the shipyards. (An agreement made by President Roosevelt and the Building Trades Unions, and Henry J. Kaiser, was that he would run all the West Coast shipyards (a good deal for him), and all the employees would be union (helping Roosevelt get union support for reelection).
After a while I became one of the Business Agents of the Surveyors Union. After I got back from the Phillipines in World War 2, the head of the surveyors union, where Marguerite then worked, said "I have done this long enough, I am old enough to retire, You take over" Another good break. A job one day after I got out of the service. A long story of breaks in my life,; (but, having the ability to take advantage of them. Dad
Some thoughts on Almaden:
When the white men came to this area, Spaniards primarily, they discovered that the local indians had colorful paint on their skins. This was traced to the Almaden Valley, up in the hills, where mines of red substance was discovered. When gold was discovered in the Sierras it was determined that the colorful material in the Almaden foothills was mercury. Mercury had the capability of extracting gold from the rocks, so was greatly used in gold mining. This led to miners living in the Almaden valley, and the nearby valley floor.
The Valley floor was mainly developed into ranches, orchards and vineyards, as well as strawberry fields from 1850 to after World War 2. T hen The Santa Clara valley became the home of manufacturing of mechanical and electronic equipment, and then "Sillicon Valley", with the coming of IBM to the south Valley. During my working life here, the valley floor was slowly developed into housing tracts, Shopping centers, schools, etc. Lots of work!
This ultimately extended into the Almaden Valley. I worked as a surveyor and at a Title Company during this period, and it still continues; but not at that frantic pace. Japanese farmers would buy a parcel of land in the outskirts of Willow Glen. Plant strawberries, for 5 years, when the soil was over-used. Sell the 20 acres to a homebuilder, at a big profit, move 5 miles further south, and repeat the process. How fortunes were made in those days. Marguerite and I were also able to buy a small parcel here and there, which enabled us to build this house. Van
~~~~~~
Here is an Email About the Economic Depression in Los Gatos.
Fellows:
Here is another example of how the depression we are in hits close to home. I have been playing bridge at the Los Gatos Senior Center for 7 years, and it is something I really appreciate. The Center was run by the Town of Los Gatos. About the 1st of the year the Town entered into some kind of agreement with the West Valley Recreation District, wherein the District took over the operation of the Town's Senior Center. I don't know the details, but it made some
sense, as the District only served Saratoga, and Monte Sereno in addition to Los Gatos, and there was a duplication of management personnel. The manager of the Center was let go.
Our bridge program, which is 1/2 a day once a week, was run by a very capable and pleasing person. She ran some other programs, but it was a part time job. Today she announced that she was being let go, and someone from the District would take care of us( Arranging for the tables to be set up, the coffee brewed, and seeing that there was always a full table of players, at each table. Quite a job since there about 60 oldsters playing, and someone is always falling down or something, and can't play. Everybody loves her, and she also had us do some stretching exercises about 11 a.m. She leaves July 1st. Too bad, even though she is close to retirement age. Dad
~~~~~~
There is an article in today's Wall Street Journal about the Iceland volcano. It says that there was another eruption in Iceland in 1783. It lasted 8 months, killed off most of the livestock in Iceland and 25% of the population, It also engulfed Europe. That year was described as "The year with no summer". Ben Franklin was in Paris that year, and was one of the first to connect the eruption with the collapse of European agriculture. which led to a long period of poverty. The French Revolution in 1789, may have been spurred by the results of this eruption. Interesting
Different article. Syria is reported to have transferred Scud Missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon. These missiles can reach every part of Israel. Terribly worrisome. Dad & Grandpa
~~~~~~
HI Friends and Family, [Written by My Brother Martin]
Today we went over to Big Basin Redwood State Park and met Linda of the Sempervirons Fund (http://www.sempervirens.org) to dedicate the Marguerite Vanderlaan memorial redwood. Van gave a donation to the fund, which was founded in 1902 and raised the initial money to buy the land for Big Basin State Park. They continue to invest in preserving the redwood forests of Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. For his donation they have named a tree for Marguerite. They have a nice label on a stake, and Vanessa drove the stake to set it up.
The photos show the events. Linda was a trip, quite good a schmoozing major donors to a non-profit. The weather was great. And of course, the tree is inspirational.
Enjoy the photos,
Marty
 |
| Patti, Van, Vanessa and Martin |
Greg:
You probably don't remember, but I took you to a stockholders meeting when you were about 14. I don't remember what company, but the meeting was held in Burlingame. Here is what you do. Go to the Chamber of Commerce and find out the biggest Company in Eureka Area that has public stockholders meetings. Arrange with your Broker Andrew Howard, (408-354-5336) to buy 10 shares or so. Then, over time they will have a stockholders meeting that you can get to. Once you have the shares, you can call them up and find when the next stockholders meeting is. The you won't have to go to Pokeepsie or some other place on the East Coast. What you get from GE will tell you where they are headquartered. Dad
[It Was Kaiser Aluminum]
Dear fellows:
I am spending your inheritance like a drunken sailor. I had the back ramp replaced, also built a holding device by the front door exit so people will have something to hold onto when entering and leaving the front door. I remember many years ago when some relative of Jo's fell trying to enter the house. I am now having the driveway
replaced. Hopefully it adds value to the property. Dad
Electric, I believe. Watch and see. Dad
Again I have pursued my favorite New Years Day activity. Watching the Rose Parade. I think I have done that every year that we had a television. Of course I marched in it when I was 18 in the Cal Band . Marguerite and I went to the parade one of the years that Marty was in Santa Barbara. A special promotion by Greyhound, leaving from Santa Barbara about 5 a.m. having excellent seats to watch the parade. We stayed overnight in Adrienne's apartment, as she was home for the Xmas break. We watched it the last day Marguerite was alive, and enjoyed the program. Dad
Fellows:
I had 3.78 inches of rain in my rain gauge for yesterday. Nice now, however; for my trip to San Francisco. Didn't stop all day yesterday, thought I was in Eureka. Dad
If only the weather would break!! Dad
[Long Ago, Mom, Dad and I went to see a Harold Pinter Play at Foothill Junior College and That was a Significant line of Dialog]
Dear Kids:
I just received a humungus box of food goodies. Thank you! I certainly have a choice as to what to use first every day. Dad
[Eureka Trip]
Dad and I met at the Bear River Casino where he was staying at their hotel. It is on a hill overlooking the Eel River Valley. Home of many dairy farms... Mild climate and plenty of rain makes this an Ideal place to live if you are a cow or a Dairy Farmer. We drove around the Eel River Valley looking at the cows, mountains and Victorian Ferndale. My new Ford Winstar Van is a great place to sit and view the world passing by. BIG windows in front and warm. It's too cold outside to walk around comfortably.
Then we visited the Loleta Cheese Factory. The vast majority of out time was spent talking. We went out to lunch at Eureka's Village Pantry, my favorite restaurant. Then viewed some construction sites. Federal funding has allowed the city to build many new buildings on the waterfront. Then we met up with the bus and he re-joined his tour.
They went to The Trucker's Christmas Parade... Lights on 18 wheeler trucks...
Greg: [Eureka Trip]
Here is an interesting result of your reporting that the Sea grill is closed on Saturday. I called the director of the trip and advised her. Today I got a letter from the City of Campbell, which is
the official sponsor of the trip, saying that The bus will park somewhere where there are several restaurants, and the passengers are on their own. Good work. Doesn't affect us. Dad
Greg: [Eureka Trip]
While there I went on two bus trips with local guides. The one after we left company toured all the old houses in town, and the guide explained who had lived there and why the architecture was unique.
Quite enlightening. Then the guide dropped off in town. This might be something you and Vic would find interesting. I sure the Chamber of Commerce knows when trips are available for locals. The other went to Lolita, and basically told me what you had already commented on, with some additional comments on a flood a few winters ago. Then it
went on to the Redwoods , with a good lecture on the trees. The guide dropped off in some small town just South of there. Dad
Greg: [Eureka Trip]
I am home safe & sound. Everything we went well. We saw the parade across from the Safeway parking lot. Safeway full, but, our bus driver persuaded to gas station owner to let us see it from the bus, (good view) Were we ever lucky that you saw the bus at the bay front parking lot. We might have hell of a time finding it, because they left shortly thereafter and roamed around Eureka looking at the old houses. You might have ended taking me back to the hotel. God guys get the breaks sometime. At 93 (the 19th), one never knows how long we have together. Enjoyed my visit with you. Dad
[2012 Election]
With the upcoming election for President there is good News. I just received my absentee ballot and there are 6 candidates for President. I was afraid that the new California election laws would limit the
list to the two highest vote getters. Since the Democratic candidate will get the most votes, A vote for either Obama or Romney is a wasted vote. Join me in giving your vote to one of the minor party
candidates. I intend to vote for Roseanne Barr of the Peace and Freedom Party. I have voted in every Presidential election since 1944. Beat that if you can, and take this recommendation seriously.
Good Old Van
Dear fellows:
Old age has nothing to recommend it . I have misplaced my gold watch. I wear it all the time, except when showering or washing the dishes; when I put it in my pocket, or leave it on my dresser At night I leave it on my dresser on a handkerchief. Friday morning it was not there. I don't have any recollection of leaving the house on Thursday, except to work in the yard. I have had that watch since
about 1970.I have looked in every pocket; but, will have to keep looking. I still have a silver, wind up, watch which I wore to the Philippines in
World War II, and before and after. Still works! Dad
Hi all,
Shorty after dinner, on a cloudless clear sky, we saw the attached plum of oily black smoke. News reports describe this as a fire at the Cheveron refinery in Richmond - advised to shelter in place if you live in Richmond. Flames are supposedly 100 ft. high. These pictures were taken after about 20 minutes of blaze.
Marty
Here is an interesting biological fact. This year your buckeye tree had the most number of blossoms I have ever seen. Almost blocked out the leaves. Must have been the weather at the right time. Second fact. Almost no buckeyes coming, probably too many blossoms for the bees to fertilize. Dad
Dear fellows:
In today's Times there is a letter quoting a letter to the writer from Olivia de Havilland, living in Paris, expressing her concern about the passing of Ted Simonson, former principal of LG High. You fellows may remember Simonson, as he was at LG High, for a long time, probably when you were there.
I did not know him but she was a Senior when I was a Freshman there. I did not know her then (Senior Girls do not have anything to do with Freshman boys); however, I saw her in the Senior play (I believe your grandmother was also with us); she had the lead. Unbeknown to the audience there was a talent scout from Hollywood in the audience. The rest is history. She appeared in some play in San Francisco, immediately thereafter; and then on to Hollywood. Interesting that she is still alive at 94, and keeps up with Los Gatos happenings. Dad
Dear fellows:
The sun is just setting here. I trust the fog is not going to obscure your local fireworks show.
Bruce McClelland called me yesterday and said he wanted to go to the local band concert etc. on the Los Gatos High School lawn. He also said he had had his drivers license revoked, but would get a ride to
my house. I said I would be glad to take him, and would drive him home. I'm sorry to say he is not in too good shape. We met the McClellands when his son Kirk and Greg were in the San Jose Nursery
School together. He also worked for me for many years. He is quite deaf, and I didn't see any hearing aid. Probably too cheap to buy one. We went to the show 45 minutes late because the public service, which the County provides ,was late. The music was
great and I found a bench nearby. He now uses a wheel chair, and a cane; but, can walk around OK, to the bath room,and to the car. I had told him on the phone I would take him home, but I guess he didn't hear me; because, he had arranged for the County to pick him up. Again 45 minutes late. Too bad.
Last year we went to the Tahoe Cabin together, and he drove the whole trip, including a solo ride around the lake while I took an afternoon nap. He insisted on coming home by way of Yosemite, and I
was exhausted by that long drive. We'll see what happens. Dad
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