They’ve got some awesome stuff, including hotel stays, cool electronics, sports collectibles, tickets, certificates, dinner parties, and two once-in-a-lifetime airborne opportunities:

One Hour Ride in Vintage WWII plane: Here is your chance to indulge your Walter Mitty fighter pilot fantasies. Up for auction is a 45-minute flight in one of the few remaining BT-13s left in the world. (Approximately 35 airworthy BT-13s remain of the 11,537 that were made at the time of the war.) You will be flying with a highly experienced airline pilot and flight instructor who has approximately 25,000 hours of flight time.

Helicopter Flight Over San Jose with SJPD: Bid to fly over San Jose in a once-in-a-lifetime helicopter ride in the Police Department’s patrol helicopter!

You can bid even if you aren’t normally part of the Booksin community. Just stop by this Saturday!

This WWII plane is the real deal!

Similar flight experiences in more common single-engine World War II aircraft such as the AT-6 trainer are typically valued at approximately $300, and rides in P-51 fighters range from $950 (20 minutes) to $2,200 (1 hour). The operating cost for this flight, including the pilot, exceeds $200. The aircraft is based at the San Martin Airport, which is located off of Highway 101 between Morgan Hill and Gilroy, and the highest bidder must have some flexibility with respect to scheduling of the flight as weather and pilot availability are factors.

About the BT-13: Army Air Corps pilots received their initial flight training in “primary” trainers such as the Stearman PT-13 biplane or the Fairchild PT-19 monoplane. After mastering the primary trainers, Air Corps Cadets moved up to the “basic” trainer aircraft. The Vultee BT-13 was the “basic” trainer that was flown by virtually all of the American pilots during this phase of their flight training. The BT-13 had a more powerful 450 horsepower radial engine, a variable pitch propeller and was faster and heavier than the primary trainers. In the BT-13, the student pilot learned two way radio communications and formation and instrument flying skills. Following basic training, cadets moved on to the “advanced” trainers such as the AT-6 and AT-11. From these aircraft, the next step was into frontline fighters and bombers such as the P-51 and the B-17.

About this particular aircraft: This particular aircraft is unique in that it was built in October, 1941, approximately 6 weeks prior to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. It is also unique in that it retains much of the original World War II equipment that was often stripped out of military aircraft as they began to fly in civilian life. During WWII, this aircraft trained cadets at Greenville Army Air Base in Greenville Mississippi. Following WWII this airplane was sold surplus at government auction and went through a series of owners who flew it during the 1950’s. The logbooks indicate that this aircraft was not flown during the 60’s and 70’s; however, in the late 80’s it was returned to the air and flown intermittently during that and the following decade. The current owners purchased the aircraft in February, 2004, and maintain it in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. As time and finances permit, the owners plan to strip the aircraft of the existing faded gray paint and return it to the blue and yellow colors it wore when it rolled out of the factory and into history.

Here’s the opening sortie from Charley at last year’s Thursdays at the Theater “Clean Comedy” festival:

Willow Glen High Junior Charley Guptill throws out a few 3-pointers toward Principal McGee at last year’s Thursday at the Theater Clean Comedy show. Here are the highlights:

Ms. McGee rebounds and says “Game On!” - Thursday Oct. 16th.

Clean Comedy — Thursday, Oct 16, 2008
Time: 7:00pm-8:00pm
Prices: $7 General Admission / $6 Students-Seniors / $25 Family
Tickets are sold at the door only
Where: Willow Glen Little Theater

In addition to McGee and Guptill, the official headliner is comedian Tim Lee. All three will be joined by two other local high school students. Proceeds benefit the Willow Glen Middle and High School music programs. Hilarity will undoubtedly ensue.

Don’t Wait in Line … Because you can’t!

First they introduce a lovable mascot. Then they make you embrace him. Voters in Precinct 1671 — and quite possibly others in WG — have no choice but to vote by mail for the November 4 election because there are not enough regular poll-going walk-up voters left. The Registrar convinced 434 of the 644 registered voters in the precinct (southern WG, east of Lincoln) to become permanent mail-in voters, triggering the mail-in only threshold.

Precincts with fewer than 250 walk-in voters are now mandated “Vote-by-Mail” precincts, and you may live in one. Check your sample ballot, which arrived in many mailboxes this week. In years past, the Registrar has combined precinct voting locations in Willow Glen, but requiring mail-in voting is a new phenomenon here.

The non-partisan SmartVoter.org website (sponsored by the League of Women Voters) lists numerous polling locations across WG, but you can’t tell whether they’ll be yours or not just yet.

The Registrar of Voters website also hosts a Mail-In Vote FAQ page, but there are apparently only three frequently asked questions. The WGx Executive Summary: Yes, your vote will count; yes, it’s secure; no you don’t have to actually mail it.

WGx would like to humbly ask a Fourth Q: “Why did you spend all that money asking if we wanted to vote by mail, only to tell us we had to anyway?”

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By the way, our friends at SJ Metblogs have offered two voting-related reminders last week. October 20 is the last day to register to vote for the next election. And they also published a thorough list of non-partisan resources on various ballot issues.

The Metro list is an interesting glimpse into how the rest of Silicon Valley sees us … through the local merchants that help define our neighborhood. Here are the WG businesses that made Metro’s “Best of Silicon Valley.” Metro published the top-three in each category, so the actual ranking is shown here in parentheses:

Best of Food & Sustenance

• Taiwan Restaurant — Best Chinese (#1) … Lincoln Avenue in Downtown WG
• Sushi Kazoo — Best Japanese (#1) and Best Sushi (#1) … Multiple South Bay locations, including one inside WG’s Garden Theater
• Tlaquepaque — Best Mexican (#2) … Multiple WG locations, including Lincoln & Curtner, Willow Street
• El Rancho — Best Taqueria (#3) … 1401 Almaden Road (at Alma) … close enough to WG
• Bill’s Cafe — Best Breakfast (#2) … Willow Street near Lincoln, although the Rosegarden location is probably pretty good, too.
• Aqui Cal-Mex — Best Patio (#3) and Best Margarita (#3) … Original location is on Lincoln Avenue in Downtown WG
• Pizza My Heart — Best Pizza (#3) … Lincoln Avenue near Minnesota, and everywhere else too.
• Mojo Burger — Best Burger (#1) again … Bird Avenue at Minnesota/Alma
• Dick’s Bakery — Best Bakery (#1) … Meridian Avenue at Hamilton
• Flour Flower — Best Desserts (#2) 896 Willow Street, near Bird
• Willow Glen Frozen Yogurt — Best Ice Cream (#3) … corner of Lincoln and Willow in Downtown WG
• La Villa — Best Deli/Sandwich Shop (#1) … Lincoln Avenue Downtown
• Cardinal Lounge — Best Late-Night Eats (#1) … Meridian Avenue at Hillsdale

Best of Shopping & Services

• Willow Glen Bicycles — Best Bicycle Shop (#1) … Willow Street at Lincoln Avenue
• Scott’s Super Video — Best Video/DVD Rental (#1) Willow Street at Bird Avenue
• Hjinx Comics — Best Comics Store (#1) … Lincoln Avenue at Malone Road
• Alchemy Hair Studio — Best Hair Salon (#3) … Metro says they have “multiple locations” without mentioning that both of them are on Lincoln Avenue, one at Broadway and the other close to Minnesota
• Peninsula Beauty — Best Beauty Supply (#2) Lincoln Avenue downtown
• Grapevine — Best Wine Shop (#2) Lincoln Avenue near Minnesota
• Willow Glen Dentistry — Best Dentist (#3) … on Lincoln Avenue attached to Bank of America
• Willow Glen Hardware — Best “Home Depot Alternative” (#3) aka ACE Hardware, on Lincoln at Curtner
• Fleurish — Best Gift Store (#1) … loving their newish location on Lincoln Avenue in Downtown WG
• Domus — Best Kitchen/Cooking Store (#1) and Best Gift Store (#3) … Technically awarded to the Los Gatos location, but now also located on Lincoln at Minnesota
• Hicklebees — Best Local Bookstore (#2) … Lincoln Avenue near Willow Glen Books
• Willow Glen Books — Best Local Bookstore (#3) … Lincoln Avenue near Hicklebees

Hicklebees and WG Books are still battling each other in the same category for Metro. Other, more sensible publications long ago separated these two combatants.

Best of Love & Romance

• Mann’s Jewelers — Best Jewelry Store (#2) … Lincoln Avenue

Whew! we just made it in to his category … no thanks to Dan Mokma.

Interestingly, there were several whole categories where WG went completely unrepresented, including Arts & Culture and Fashion, the latter of which was devoted entirely to worshiping to Santana Row, despite the presence of several quality retailers in WG. Whatever.

And while Aqui’s Best Margarita shows up in the Music & Nightlife list, but that was probably thanks to their other locations where there is actual nightlife.

Fundraising Walkathons are nothing new to WG, but a strange convergence has many of them taking place this week across the neighborhood.

Things kick-off Saturday, October 4, with the 6th annual Walk’n Wag fund raising event benefiting the Silicon Valley Humane Society. To be clear, you probably shouldn’t take your pets to the other events.

Kids at three local schools have their walkathons next week, too, including the granddaddy of them all, the Booksin Walkathon on Saturday, October 11. Students at the school are strolling around campus for the 21st year in a row, hoping to raise more than the $150,000 they raised last year.

The kids at Galarza Elementary School (and the co-located Hammer Montessori School) will also be circling their field on October 11 for their walkathon.

Schallenberger students get a bit of a head start on their walking, with the modest hour-long strutting set for Tuesday, followed by the huge Harvest Festival on Friday, October 10. The Home & School Club has posted a list of their Silent Auction items online, to whet your appetite. Booksin’s list is coming soon.

If you wanted to walk to all four of the fund raising events, by the way, you’ll need good shoes … and a little help from Google’s Walking Directions (currently in beta).

The trip would be a modest 7.7 miles (10.1 if you want to make it a full loop), both of which are far shorter than the average participant will walk in any one of those Walkathons!

Good luck, everyone!

The SJ Mercury News confirmed this week what WGx has seen as inevitable: People don’t want to buy a view of the San Jose skyline, especially one that turns its back on Willow Glen.

Upscale condo sales have slowed to a crawl, and developers in desperation are turning their for-sale homes in the downtown into rentals, in hopes of seeing some return on their multimillion-dollar investments. …

The latest project to convert to rentals is Barry Swenson’s Skyline, an 11-story, high-rise tower near Highway 87. The San Jose City Council approved the conversion Tuesday after Swenson closed his sales office and ceased marketing the 242-unit project because he couldn’t attract buyers. …

… [D]evelopers are being allowed to rent the units for up to five years. They are banking on the housing market coming back to life, allowing them to sell the units down the road.

So, mark your calendars for September 2013 … your second chance to buy a fancy view of Downtown SJ!

For most of his high school career, Lema ran behind talented teammates Mohamed Abdalla and Marcos Corona. On Saturday, Lema emerged as an elite runner, winning the Division III race at the Stanford Invitational. Lema covered the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 38 seconds, the best time by a CCS runner in any division. “After running in the shadow of Marcos and Mohamed the last few years, Nohe needed a breakthrough race like that to build his confidence and help him reach his true potential,” Willow Glen Coach Victor Santamaria said. After tiring and falling back to third with three quarters of a mile to go, “he seized the lead and took it home,” the coach said.

Congratulations, Nohe!

They are identifying trees that need trimming in proximity to power lines, and neighbors will soon see crews out trimming those trees (suspected trees are getting blue paint dots on their trunks near the curb and homeowners are getting notification fliers).

While some readers on the WGNA eList have wondered if something nefarious may be afoot, it is just a precaution against a repeat of last year’s power outages caused by trees falling during storms.

SeniorNet Willows to Hit a Milestone

On Saturday, October 4, when SeniorNet Willows has computer class registration for the upcoming session, it will sign-up its 10,000th student for class. This Learning Center began in March, 1994 and since then has gone on to have 10,000 students take a class from the program.

To celebrate this event, we will give student number 10,000 a free SeniorNet membership and a year’s worth of free classes at SeniorNet Willows.

So, if you have been looking for a reason to take a computer class, here is another one.

SeniorNet’s Willow Glen “Cyberschool” sign-up for the next session will be held this Saturday, October 4, beginning at 9:00 am at the Willows Senior Center. Prospective students can enroll for all classes except the “Intro to Computers” classes (registration for the Intro class begins Saturday at 10:30 a.m)

Topics offered this session include primers on Photoshop Elements,word processing, genealogy searches, Windows XP, Google searches, email, file management, digital photography, and iPods & iTunes. They also offer something called the “Best of Internet” … which undoubtedly includes WGx, right?

The once defunct event is a big draw downtown this weekend, and Saturday’s parade was noticeably more crowded than last year — both in the marching units and along the sidewalks. The combination with the Italian Festival has been powerful, and the event is clearly a driving force in downtown business schedules.

Despite a parade of store closures this summer, this weekend produced some suddenly quick grand openings. The new restaurant Opa! opened to good preliminary reviews this week, even if it is Greek instead of Italian.

The Treehouse in the Glen toy store took several months to open despite original predictions that it would open its doors in May. It opened just two weeks ago — and not even early cash register computer glitches could keep the store from having its own unit in the parade.

Most curiously, though, is the lightning-fast opening of the Athletic Performance, which replaced Urban Sports almost overnight. The WG Resident on September 16 that landlord Michael Mulcahy had not confirmed rumors that another athletic store was in the works. But on September 18, he published the name of the new store online:

Athletic Performance from Los Gatos will open a new athletic footwear and clothing store in the former Urban Sports …

As one of the building’s owners, I am very excited to have AP come to WG. So if you have athletic shoe needs, especially running shoes and attire, get in their soon. They hope to be open by September 27 when the Founders Day Parade and Italian Family Festa hit WG.

That was quick … although the store is open with very little stock on its first weekend.