32nd Annual Festival of Lights Parade
Filed under Blog · Tagged: Downtown, Family Fun, Los Altos
Since 1977, the Festival of Lights Parade has brought “A Child’s Holiday Fantasy” to life for the entire Los Altos community. Originally a small gathering of a few costumed storybook characters and a jolly Santa Claus, the parade has grown over the years to a dazzling display of lighted floats, local High School marching bands, and glowing costumed characters – although Santa with his sleigh and reindeer remains the star of the show!
Today, 20,000 people of all ages gather the first Sunday after Thanksgiving to watch the Parade, one of the most popular Los Altos events of the year. It is a wonderful tradition for Los Altos.
Carol & I have have not missed a parade yet. Even before we had kids, we enjoyed the parade as a symbolic slice of Americana. Since then, both of our children have had a chance to be in the parade … one on a Fire Truck, and the other in a matching band. In 2005, we were lucky enough to ride in the parade as a family. This year, we are once again fortunate be able to ride, as a family, along the parade route in a convertible. It has been wonderful to have watched the parade for so many years, and to now share those memories with our clients and their familes.
Please note that there is a new start time for the parade. It is set to begin at 6:00pm on Sunday, November 30. So, mark your calendars. It is both a wonderful community tradition, and a great way to start the Holiday Season. We hope to see you at there!
Halloween Time In Los Altos – Enjoy
Filed under Blog · Tagged: Downtown, Family Fun, Halloween, Los Altos, Santa Rita
Throughout the year, many of our elementary schools have a variety of fundraisers. While Los Altos has a wonderful educational environment, in which the students flourish, the local Parent Teacher Associations (PTA’s) help to raise additional money to supplement the existing programs. Some of the most popular fundraisers include walk-a-thons and evening events with silent auctions.
I am always surprised by the creativity, and new ideas, that arise at the individual schools. Clearly, this is beyond our mothers baking cakes for a raffle. Auction items include weekends in Tahoe and Napa Valley, a yoga party for kids, tickets to the most popular concerts, and of course, an assortment of parent parties (e.g. gourmet dinners). In addition to the parent organizers, students also get involved with planning activities designed to welcome the whole community.
This Friday, a local elementary school in north Los Altos, Santa Rita, is hosting the 49th annual Witches Delight. It should be better than ever. The carnival rides are back for the second year and will include the Dizzy Dragons, Frog Hopper, Kite Swings and new Wild Raft ride. Other attractions include games for all ages, cake walk, obstacle course, cookie decorating, costume contest and more. If you stay late, you have the chance to enjoy dinner provided by the amazing “Santa Rita BBQers”.
Additionally, if you have the chance, we recommend that you take a stroll throughout the downtown village triangle. You will have the chance to take-in all of the hand painted windows with their various Halloween themes. It’s wonderful. Each year, just a few weeks prior to Halloween, the City of Los Altos sponsors a window painting contest. The contest, also in its 49th year, is open to all 4th – 8th Grade Students in the Los Altos area.
So, come on down, come on over, or come on up … and enjoy another slice of what makes Los Altos such a great place to live and raise a family.
Corvette Car Show – Downtown Los Altos
Filed under Blog · Tagged: Car Show, Corvette, Downtown, Los Altos, Santa Clara Corvettes
This years Corvette Spectacular was held September 20th on Main Street in Downtown Los Altos. There were over 200 Corvettes of all Make & Models, Live Music, and even a Raffle. The top prize in the raffle happened to be a 37-inch Hitachi LCD HDTV.
It was quite a sight to the all those cars parked under a gorgeously sunny fall day. Soft tops, hard tops, race cars (street legal of course), and highly modified super cars where the main attraction. It was wonderful to see so many families walking along, with the kids pointing with excitement at their favorite car.
Having Santa Clara Corvettes come to Los Altos, and host one of the biggest Corvette Car shows on the West Coast every year is just fantastic. This is quickly becoming a favorite fall event within the community. It’s outdoors, free to the public, well managed and fills the restaurants and shops downtown.
If you missed the show, I hope you can make it next year …
Los Altos Farmer’s Market – Organic Goodness
Filed under Blog · Tagged: Downtown, Farmer's Market, Organic, Urban Village
The Los Altos Farmer’s Market returns to State Street with the finest just picked local fruits and vegetables. You can find this wonderful community event between Second & Fourth Streets in Downtown Los Altos every Thursday, May 7th to September 24th, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm.The Market is now being managed by Urban Village, so you’re getting mostly organic food directly from the farmer and that’s good for the earth and good for you and good for the farmer. Parking can be found in nearby parking lots, parallel to the farmers market, behind the stores.
Opening day for the Farmer’s Market was great. Returning this year were several fresh flower vendors providing the best cut and potted flowers and plants. There were many fruit and veggie vendors with terrific displays, and fresh meat and fish vendors were quickly selling their items. Most vendors had umbrellas or shade tents, which was a good thing as the weather was wonderfully warm long into the evening.
A band played to the dancing feet of toddlers and small children while others dined on delicious, fresh and made-from-scratch Mexican food. Several restaurants opened for indoor or outdoor dining along with those set up temporarily on the street. Two new restaurants were debuting and a new martial arts school was also in attendance.
There are more food options here than at the morning markets in nearby cities. More importantly, it’s a great place to pick up dinner. The Farmer’s Market has rotisserie chicken, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and exotic cuisine among other delicious items. Additionally, a local restaurant can be found selling their goodies … make sure you get lots of napkins. Of course, if you need to pick up something not found at the Farmer’s Market, Safeway can be found at the end of the street.
At the end of the day, it was great to have all of the happy people, reconnect with friends, and enjoy a beautiful evening. Clearly, the Los Altos Farmer’s Market gets better each year. We recommend partaking in this wonderful tradition.
Note: This content includes edited yelp and urban village commentary.
About Us
Moving into Los Altos? We can help! We have lived in Los Altos for the past 35 years and love helping people buy and sell homes in this great city! We bring experience, knowledge, skills and professionalism to each of our client relationships. Our clients will agree they would not have had the same positive experience, at each step of the way, if they had not had us represent them.
David Casas Cell: 650-823-8920 or Email
(DRE#01116954)
Carol Casas Cell: 650-823-1434 or Email
(DRE#01123855)
