September 15, 2005

STREET SCENEBelder Drive

There are many attractive, well-landscaped streets in Almaden Valley. In fact, one San Jose resident who lives elsewhere in the city recently referred to Almaden as “Pleasantville.” But what makes the suburb so special are the people who live on those streets. And Belder Drive is no exception.

The annual Belder Drive block party brings out about 70 neighbors in the area. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

For the past four years, Belder Drive residents and a few neighboring streets plan a block party. Five friendly women, Shirley Estrella, Debbie Fagundes, Dodi Gemette, Colleen Lombardo and Yuri Kuechle, plan and invite their fellow neighbors in the area. They all bring a side dish.

The Grill Sergeant BBQ Company’s Leon Gervin lives in the neighborhood and handles barbecue duties. This year’s main course consists of rows of neatly cooking sausages and hot dogs. But what is most important at the gathering in front of Estrella’s home are the families catching up with each other’s lives and building closer friendships with the expected 70 guests.

“The neighbors seem to appreciate it a great deal,” said Estrella as she set up tables in her front yard where she and her husband David have resided the past 11 years and raised daughters 15-year-old Kelly and 19-year-old Kimberly. “And they are all wonderful people. We’re respectful of each other and there never have been any problems. It’s really very quiet.”

The Alamitos Creek runs nearby and Dodi Gemette remembers catching crawdads there with her kids. Her husband, Lance, and their family have lived in the area for 12 years and close friendships have been made in the serene area of New Almaden.

“I know how long I’ve lived here by how big Shirley’s kids are,” said Colleen Lombardo who lives across the street from the Estrella family. “My husband Gus knows the neighbors more as he’s out in the front yard a lot. I wish we [Almaden] were our own city. When we first moved out here there were orchards. Now they’re gone. The people are really nice here and it’s a great area but we do miss the orchards.”

There are a handful of original owners on Belder. Many others have lived there over a decade in the shadow of the mountains of New Almaden. They’re a friendly, likable crowd who look forward to the annual block party. New friendships are developed and the old ones nurtured.

Jeff and Carol Luebbers are original owners on Belder Drive.

“We’ve seen children grow up and new families move in,” said Carol. “There are a lot of people we don’t know so we like to come to the party. We have a pool and I used to have the kids over for parties when my son was growing up. We’d have winter get-togethers for New Years Eve and Halloween we’d serve hot cocoa to the kids. My son said he had the greatest childhood growing up here.”

Faye and Hal Careway have some unusual memories of living on Belder Drive. Hal remembers looking out the bedroom window one night and a seeing a spotlight shining in his eyes, startling him. The mystery was solved when he found out the city was spraying for mosquitoes. Another time, they woke up and saw a house burning on a nearby street.

“But that’s really all the excitement,” said Hal, now retired from GE. “It’s usually very quiet. I do remember a family of skunks that ate the cat’s food. There must have been eight or nine of them that the kids were playing with. The critters were well behaved; no one was sprayed. We used to see peacocks on the roof and turkeys. A farm close by used to have a rooster crowing. I used to walk in the morning and once I saw a coyote. We still see raccoons, possums and the skunks. I do miss the peacocks though.”

The McKean homes on Belder Drive were built 26 years ago. The most recent sale was in October of 2004, garnering a sales price of $850,000 for a four-bedroom, two-bath home with 2,000 square feet of living space. Many of the homes are larger and have been remodeled through the years.

Ray Ghafari has lived in the area since 1983. He and his family first lived on Scaletta Lane and liked the neighborhood so much they moved to Belder Drive in the same tract when the family needed a larger home for their children. They plan to stay and have just remodeled the kitchen.

But for now it’s back to the block party. The sausages are sizzling on the hot grill. Small children scamper and play with family dogs. Teenagers quietly chat among themselves. The adults laugh sharing a yarn or two. Belder Lane is all about the people enjoying the friendship of one another.

—By Jeanne Carbone Lewis