Monta Loma

Everyone enjoyed sharing smiles and finding bargains on a warm sunny Saturday, making our third annual neighborhood garage sale another huge success.  More than 30 households participated, some registering on the Monta Loma list and map, others on the citywide site, and still others on both lists.

A multi-family sale raised over $740 for a local scout troop, and a set-your-own-price sale to benefit CHAC (Community Health Awareness Council) raised $727.

Perhaps because our neighborhood had the most dots on the city’s citywide garage-sale map, a TV film crew visited Monta Loma. You can see the footage here.

The text of an article published in the Mountain View Register Leader in June 1958 that describes how Monta Loma residents helped construct Monta Loma Park is here.  A photocopy of the actual newspaper page is here.

Dotty Calabrese and Marleen Nyst organized an exhibit of Monta Loma Neighborhood artists, craftspeople, makers, and tinkerers.  They opened their studios and workplaces to showcase their crafts, demonstrate their processes, and/or sell their products on the weekend of November 13/14.

John Bianco ran his dad’s model trains at the Bianco home on Adele for six evenings every week between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

Karla Valente’s efforts resulted in donations of $746 to Second Harvest Food Bank, and a treasure hunt for neighborhood kids, searching for stuffed animals displayed at homes.

Thanks to everyone who organized and participated in these events.  You helped make our holidays special.

The Ice Cream Social, held at Monta Loma Park on Sunday, September 5, was a huge success.  With the exhibits widely spaced for Covid safety, the crowd spread all the way to Thompson Avenue.  We didn’t realize until later that the welcome-table volunteers had signed in almost 300 attendees, who enjoyed a selection of packaged ice cream treats while meeting their neighbors.

Tee-shirt sales totaled 35, but some shirts (and logo items) remain available for purchase.

Neighborhood participants were CERT members (safety information), Gary Heyman (balloons), Bill Lambert (Friends of Mountain View Parks), Tom Purcell (Monta Loma history and bike-registration stickers), Alan Whitaker (monarch butterfly and native milkweed info and plants), Gloria Jackson (cotton candy), Jill Rakestraw (plant exchange), Karla Valente (gardening information), and Victor Brilon’s band, Nobody’s Girlfriend. Marty Pulvers staffed the tee-shirt and logo-items sales tables, Jim Cochran took photos, and Bill Cranston provided the A-frame signs that reminded us to attend.

Other participants were Monta Loma School’s PTA, Mountain View Educational Foundation, Canopy, Recycling and Zero Waste, and a MV police officer and dog.  The Bookmobile and the Fire Department were unable to participate, due to Covid and wildfires.

Mayor Ellen Kamei returned early from a trip in order to attend, and stayed for 90 minutes.  MVWSD trustees Laura Berman and Ellen Wheeler also came.  They all appreciated the opportunity to meet Monta Loma residents, and their appreciation was echoed by the neighbors.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s event such a huge success.  Photos are here.

Show your pride in our neighborhood by wearing a Monta Loma tee shirt. Some red shirts and gray shirts ordered for sale at the Ice Cream Social are still available. Three adult styles are available, but only in gray or red. Click on each style for a photo.

One gray Youth shirt, size Extra Small (2-4), is also available.

To inquire about any of these remaining shirts, open an email message to Marilyn.  If you’re using a webmail service, send an email to marilyn@gildea.com.

It’s time to plan a block party for this summer or fall.  Begin now if you will block off a street, because it takes up to 30 days to have your permit application approved.  Information is on the Block Parties page.

Please participate in our virtual Annual Meeting and Board Election on Wednesday, June 16, to meet your board candidates and hear the invited speakers.

The weather on Saturday, May 1, 2021 was perfect, and helped make our garage sale a huge success.  More than 50 people had registered to hold a sale or set out their free items in their driveway.  In addition, many others also posted their addresses and for-sale or give-away items on the MLN email list.  Others just set their no-longer-needed items out at the end of their driveways.

Messages of appreciation included these:

R:  Thanks for organizing… a great turnout!  Much of our long-unused stuff is now in new hands.

N:  We met some new neighbors, and it was fun.  I got rid of some things I never use.

D:  We walked around for 2.5 hours, viewing goods, but mostly chatting.  It was wonderful to see old friends and meet new people.

L:  I had the best emotional day in a very long time!  To see people, converse, see them find treasures that lit up their faces, and to simply give things away, all contributed to a memorable day.  This was way more than a neighborhood garage sale.  This was a glimpse of normal.  The timing was perfect. Thank you for the hard work to make it happen for all of us.

A group of neighbors is organizing, in agreement with the Monta Loma Neighborhood Association, a campaign to inform and mobilize the neighborhood to oppose the building of a fence around the Monta Loma Park and maintain access to the park.

You can find a fact sheet with details of the campaign here.

The group offers several ways to get engaged:

From Tom Purcell, Monta Loma Neighborhood Watch Captain:

I encourage everyone to register a bike of any value, but many police departments no longer offer this service. Instead, they direct people to https://bikeindex.org/, a non-profit online bike registry.

The bikeindex site offers easy, step-by-step instructions for registration and provides a QR sticker to place on the bike. If the bike is found, anyone with a smart phone can quickly determine whether it has been reported as stolen, and reunite the bike with its owner.

But if you prefer not to create an account yourself, I have created a Monta Loma group account to register bikes. The MLNA has generously purchased a supply of the QR stickers, and I am offering them free to any residents who would like to place one on their bike(s).

I’ll also give stickers to those who can register bikes themselves, or who have already registered their bikes with bikeindex. Just log onto your bikeindex account on your smart phone, scan the QR code, send me your address, and I’ll leave you a sticker. At the URL encoded by the sticker, you can then click a link to register the sticker to your specific bike.

If you would like some help, or join our Monta Loma bikeindex account, contact me at MontaLomaNBC@gmail.com and I will help you through the process.

BTW, to see “10 bicycle protection tips to secure your bike from thieves” go to https://velosock.com/blogs/blog/10-bicycle-protection-tips-to-secure-your-bike-from-thieves.