The Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe was founded Nov. 29, 1777, which means that the modern city of San Jose is blowing out 246 candles on its birthday cake. That also means the city’s 250th birthday is just four years away, and while that may sound like a long time out, it’s really not.
Planning needs to start now on how to mark the major milestone, especially if we want it to be an event the entire city can take part in and be proud of.
When San Jose turned 200 in 1977, the events included the dedication of Pellier Park (which, coincidentally, was rebuilt and re-dedicated this year) and a luncheon sponsored by Bank of America — then the LeBaron Hotel, which honored 56 companies and organizations that had been around for more than a century. More than 600 people gathered at the old City Hall on North First Street for the dedication of a plaque, and San Jose designated its first 10 city landmarks, including the East San Jose Carnegie Library and the Winchester Mystery House.
Events were attended by the president of Bank of America — remember, its founder, A.P. Giannini was from San Jose — and the Spanish consul general from San Francisco.
San Jose is a much bigger, bolder and diverse city than it was in 1977. The celebration in 2027 should be, too.
So how should the city celebrate 250? Without a doubt, it should reach way back — before 1777 to include the indigenous inhabitants of the Santa Clara Valley. That’s a concept History San Jose already has incorporated into its San Jose Roots heritage event every November. While most of the big events should rightly take place downtown, it’s important to make sure some take place in other parts of the city from Alviso to Almaden, Alum Rock to Willow Glen. It could include public service projects, art performances and food festivals that celebrate our wide diversity, our agricultural past and our tech present.
And how about a contest among bartenders to come up with the definitive San Jose cocktail?
Events could start in November 2026 and the celebration could run the entire year. Every regular festival — Cinequest, San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, the Rose White and Blue Parade and Christmas in the Park to name just a few — could be part of the festivities. The San Jose Giants, Sharks and Earthquakes should seek permission from their leagues to wear special “SJ250” patches.
Another reason to start the planning process early? Someone’s going to need to pay for whatever celebration happens, and the lion’s share should be covered by corporate sponsors not city taxpayers (who can do their part by buying lots of SJ250 merchandise.) And companies like Adobe, Cisco and PayPal are much more likely to sign on if there’s a plan in place.
But those are just the ideas that have popped into my head. You’ve probably got others, and chances are they’re as good or better. Send me your ideas at spizarro@bayareanewsgroup.com and I’ll share some of the best ones in a future column.
By the way, a 250th anniversary is known as a semiquincentennial, a sestercentennial and a quarter millennial. So let’s figure out what we want to call this thing first.
GIVING THANKS: Chances are you saw a lot of messages to help out nonprofits for Giving Tuesday, and Bay Area agencies were sharing their gratitude for donors before the day was through. One that stood out in my inbox, though, was the San Jose Sports Authority asking donors to support its REACH Youth Scholarship program ( I’ve been on its selection committee since its start in 1996). The pitch? Give money in order to not have a spaghetti dinner with Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone.
“Even my wife Carmen gave $500 not to have dinner with me!” proclaims the message from Stone, who is not just a good sport but a 20-year member of the San Jose Sports Authority board.
SEARCH PARTY: Sacred Heart Community Service is putting a fun spin on its holiday donation drive by creating “Winter Wonders of San Jose,” a charitable scavenger hunt. Here’s how it works: Through Dec. 14, you can make your way to different destinations around the city to make donations of food, unwrapped toys and other gift items or money. And at some of the locations, you’ll get a discount for your donation — like 10 percent off at Academic Coffee or Crema.
In the end, you’ll be helping Sacred Heart provide holiday meal boxes and toys for more than 12,000 people. You can start your hunt at sacredheartcs.org/holidays23.
Source: www.mercurynews.com