June 24, 2004

STREET SCENEThorntree Drive

When Almaden resident Karen Ryan was attending San Jose State University in the fall of 1965, she joined the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. Twenty-one years later she would meet a sorority sister in her Thorntree Drive neighborhood—a place where the 57-year-old homemaker has made some of her closest lifelong friends.

It happened when Karen was wearing an Alpha Omicrom Pi sorority shirt and her long lost college friend, unrecognizable because of the passage of time, noticed it and began asking her questions about her college years. Immediately, Karen realized her neighbor was Carol Redden, now Carol Shimizu, the sorority sister she loved to dine with on Monday evenings while attending the university and pursuing a degree in business administration.

“It was wonderful to get reacquainted with Carol after so many years. I didn’t recognize her at the beginning because I hadn’t seen her in so long,” said Karen. “It was an amazing coincidence.”

That’s just one of many pleasant and memorable experiences Karen and her husband, Mike, have of their Thorntree Drive neighborhood where they have lived since 1986 and where they purchased their beautiful 17-year-old ranch style 2,400-square-feet home in what was then called the Campton Chase home development.

The home’s high ceilings and big windows make it seem larger than it is. It has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The backyard has two gigantic oak trees and has a neatly manicured yard with camellias and many colorful potted plants. The homes on Thorntree Drive are valued between $900,000 to $1.2 million.

Karen is originally from Oakland, and Mike, who’s originally from San Rafael, is a retired banker for World Savings. They’ve lived in Almaden Valley for more than 30 years, where they purchased their first home in 1973 on Redmond Avenue, just about a mile from Thorntree Drive.

Another neighborhood friendship anecdote that Karen likes to tell is of childhood buddies Claire Wilms and Shira Straus, who struck up an enduring friendship at one of the street’s first block parties, despite attending different schools.

The friendships are what the Ryans celebrated most while hosting the sixth annual Thorntree Drive neighborhood block party the afternoon of June 13 on their driveway. They invited the 23 families that live in the original Campton Chase home development. About 30 neighbors representing 12 homes attended the celebration.

The tradition began in 1987 when families who had moved into the Shea homes of the Campton Chase development, the only homes built on Thorntree Drive at the time, got together to get to know each other better.

The annual party allows neighbors to bring their favorite hors d’oeuvres and drinks while the Ryans provide margaritas for the over-21-year-old crowd. Children are also invited and bring sidewalk chalk to draw and entertain themselves.

The larger homes on the other side of Thorntree Drive were built later. They are approximately 4,700 square feet and two stories high. The Campton Chase development homes are larger than the lots of the later-built homes. There’s one home in the development that features a tennis court in its backyard.

The neighbors on Thorntree Drive also have the kind of relationships that allow them to share information about electricians, roofers and plumbers.

The Ryan’s next-door neighbor, Bev Kerner, who moved to Thorntree Drive three years ago, has said that it’s the “friendliest and nicest” neighborhood she’s ever lived in.

The Ryans are also good friends with their other next-door neighbors John and Joan Winslow, with whom they have celebrated many Christmases. The Ryans host a Christmas party every other year and invite six of the Campton Chase development families. They also attend Maria and Andy Pecota’s annual Christmas party where the exchange of white-elephant gifts is much anticipated.

“We’re all good friends even thought we’re all different ages. They’re in their early 40s and we’re in our late 50s,” Karen said.

There are also three 40-something couples on the street that help each other consistently to raise their families, Karen said.

Thorntree Drive is located directly across from the beautiful 60-acre Guadalupe Oak Grove Park. “It’s a diamond in the rough,” said Karen of the park. “When we lived on Redmond we didn’t know the park existed. Prior to our homes being developed this was a cattle ranch with horses and cows roaming around.”

Many of the Campton Chase home development residents have moved away and only six original owners remain on Thorntree Drive. Younger families with children have moved in. When the Ryans bought their house, their children were 10 and 12 years old—the youngest on the street. Now, they’re 26 and 28 years old and have moved away.

Alan Raineri, a self-employed businessman, and his wife, Theresa, a homemaker, have lived on Thorntree Drive since 1996. “I love this neighborhood,” said Alan, wearing a helmet and checking his bike gear to go cycling with his two sons on the Guadalupe Oak Grove Trail. “We’ve got a great group of neighbors.”

The Raineris love living close to the park where their boys can ride their bikes and hike and where they can take relaxing walks, exercise and commune with nature. Alan said the neighborhood loves to beautify their homes for Christmas. He and neighbor Chris Cabrera have started a program where they purchase small Christmas trees for their neighborhood’s front yards. About 30 homes participate every year. The trees are lit with the old-fashioned, multi-colored light bulbs that have become a tradition in some Willow Glen streets.

The street also has what one child described as “the coolest” neighborhood Santa who likes to visit homes Christmas Eve and have a glass of scotch. Rumor has it that Santa is Mike Ryan who owns his own Santa suit and likes to give children candy canes and presents.

Alan said the street also dresses up for Halloween with great trick or treating for children. The Pecotas turn their front window into a movie theater that delights costumed youngsters with their favorite Halloween movies. Others create scary haunted houses. “He brings a forklift to put up his decorations. He goes all out during the holidays. It’s well worth a visit to the neighborhood to get a glimpse of the Pecotas’ home,” Karen said.

The neighborhood schools are Los Alamitos Elementary School, Castillero Middle School and Pioneer High School.

—By Sheila Sanchez