A scary story written by my brother: We were riding around with my DAD and Marty's daughter Vanessa and she asked him to "tell her a scary story". He told the basic story and I remembered it and typed it onto my webpage...
LOS GATOS FANTASMOS (fiction) If you drive over highway 17 from Los Gatos Ca. to Santa Cruz you will see the statues of two cats on the right. Most of the time they just sit there but on moonless nights they ooze out of their concrete shells and HUNT. They used to go up stream past Lexington reservoir to eat pigs but recently there aren't many pigs left. (humans killed them off) Nowdays they roam downstream and look for "long pigs" near Vasona. One night a little girl named Vanessa was picnicing at the lake when Leo & Leona crept up."what do you want?" said Vanessa. "Lunch" said Leo. "You're lunch" said Leona. "Well, Help yourself. I've got burritos and salsa verde" said Vanessa. "No, You ARE lunch" said Leona. "Oh! That makes no sense. Beans and rice are much better for your figure. DUH!" said Vanessa. "Who cares? We're dead!" said Leona and she pounced. Moving quickly Vanessa jumped onto Leonas' back, dug her heels into the cats ribs and shouted "Yeeehaw! let's go!" They run upstream past lexington and down the old Santa Cruz Highway to the ocean."Fish" commanded Vanessa and they all feasted on the gifts from the sea. The cats took a nap and Vanessa caught the light rail trail home. THAT'S how Vanessa made the world safe for little girls! If you are ever in the Santa Cruz Mountains on a moonless night, notice how foxy Leo and Leona look. That fish diet really makes their coats shine! But be careful, They move quicker now and YOU'RE LUNCH! The End NEXT WEEK ! Yehudi Menuhin adds a mind melting violin solo and the cats meow backup vocals to "Cats under the stars" (Jerome Garcia de los muertes agradecidos)It goes platinum. By Greg and Martin Vanderlaan
This airplane was recycled from a military graveyard. It is a popular toy for children to climb on and pretend that they are pilots. I grew up in Los Gatos and played on this airplane myself.
This bandstand is a new addition to Oak Meadow Park. It is situated in the corner of a large lawn so that there can be plenty of seating for people with blankets and picnic baskets.
The Billy Jones Railroad travels in a loop between Oak Meadow and Vasona County Park. This miniature railroad was privately owned by a prune farmer. It ran at the corner of Daves Avenue at Winchester road and was used to transport the fruit from the orchard to the drying shed. Mostly, it was a hobby for the farmer, but it did serve as a working railroad. As a child I rode this railroad for a penny. Eventually, the orchard was cut down and homes were built on the property. The railroad was donated to the town of Los Gatos and people enjoy a ride for a mere $5.00 USD. Inflation... from a penny to 500 pennies...
next to the train is a merry go round. Vasona and Oak Meadow form one giant park on the Los Gatos creek. There is plenty of room for sailboats on the lake formed by the flood control dam. No swimming allowed. No powerboats.
another silly story...
THE ORIGIN OF POPCORN by greg vanderlaan
Way out in the Ozark mountains Sandy Chapin built a house out of rocks.He found an old farmers fence that had fallen down and he just moved it onto his land and stacked it up. Near the front door he put two abalone shells. Here in California, abalone shells are quite common but out there in the Ozarks they caused quite a fuss. The hillbillies came from miles around to see the "pearls as big as a possum". Pretty soon rumors got around that the "pearls" were magic. Folks said that they helped the old folks with their bones on rainy days. You know how people talk around the stove in the general store. Tall tales indeed. They said it was a cure for Rheumatism and arthritis. Then the shepherds got into the act. When they get to talking the stories get exagerated all out of proportion.
Pretty soon animals were lined up down the road all the way to the creek. A mooing and a quacking like you never heard. Barking dogs and oinking pigs. But the old dog 'zeke just lay there on the porch. Night fell and the moonshine appeared. Who brought it? The moonshiners, of course. They cooked it in a still and squeezed the goodness out of the corn. By the light of the moon the corn sparkled. A wind came up and the stalks moved like they were dancing. Waves of motion like they were dancing to a string band. Somebody started a fire to bar b-q a pig and that's when things really started popping. You see, the wind blew the glowing coals out into the field and the cornstalks caught on fire. Pretty soon the whole field was in a conflagration and presto chango ... POPCORN!