November 10, 2005

STREET SCENEMontoro Drive

The residents of Montoro Drive lead busy lives.

One neighbor rushes off in her SUV delivering her teenage daughter to cheerleading practice. Down the street, Randy, wearing a facemask, is refinishing his front door. He and his family moved to the quiet street from Evergreen five years ago, needing a bigger house in a safe neighborhood.

Montoro Drive is a good place to live in Almaden. The most recent home sale was a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house with 2,033 square feet that sold in March, 2005 for $860,000. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

“The best thing about living on this street is the neighbors,” said Randy. “It’s full of nice folks.”

Dick and Norma Faulkner moved to Montoro Drive 35 years ago when the Montevideo tract built by Blackwell was brand new. Their first daughter Laura was 5 and they added another girl, Barbie, a few years later. The kids went to Simonds, then Los Alamitos, Castillero and then off to Pioneer High School. Now the Faulkner’s baby-sit their grandchild in the house where the raised their children.

There were a lot of open spaces when the young couple moved to Almaden. The Albertsons shopping center was just a spark in a developer’s imagination and Meridian Avenue ended at Blossom Hill Road. The tracts that cover the suburb called Almaden Valley were just beginning to be built. The Faulkners remember parties with neighbors and swimming lessons with other kids on the block.

“Everyone had children and we did things together,” said Norma a former educator who still volunteers her time teaching school children art. “It’s nice to see the young families move in. There’s a new baby down the street. The best thing is the warm, friendly neighbors on the street. And I enjoy being so close to the mountains and hiking at the Quicksilver Park.”

The Faulker’s excuse themselves as Norma volunteers at Montalvo as an usher and Dick is joining her tonight. The people on Montoro Drive lead busy lives.

Santa Man
Don and Janine Carlson have lived on Montoro Drive for 11 years and love the sense of community on their street and in the whole Almaden area.

“The kids go to school together,” said Don. “And you run into neighbors at church or the store. It’s a good feeling to have such a healthy community spirit in the neighborhood.”

At Christmas time, the Carlson’s would pack the kids in the car, pop in a Sinatra CD and tour Willow Glen neighborhoods which were lined with decorations and beautifully adorned trees. This sparked an idea sparked in Don’s mind. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could do the same thing in Almaden?”

Five years ago Don began his plan of delivering Christmas trees to his street and the two courts nearby. The tradition has grown every year and now 700 homes participate in the annual event of the lighted and colorfully decorated pines in every front yard.

“I call it my empire,” laughs Don who is a firefighter when he’s not delivering trees in a Santa hat. “Each year it has become bigger. We have block captains who help pass out the forms of who wants trees and they also help with delivery.”

Don’s Christmas tree lane covers Camden to Redmond and Meridian to Coleman, quite a large area for someone who just wanted to celebrate the season and make his “neighborhood special.”

“I keep my Santa hat in the trunk and the first Saturday of December we deliver the trees,” said Don who brings his children, 11-year-old Jack, 9-year-old Max and 8-year-old Madeline along on deliveries. “But I think one of the best things is when the trees are delivered. Their piled high in my garage and the pine smell is wonderful.”

Montoro Drive is full of busy moms, home improvement aficionados, volunteers and even a wannabe Santa.

—By Jeanne Carbone Lewis