Letter: Here’s to the valley

EDITOR,
As a lifelong resident of the San Lorenzo Valley, I am reminded through the years of what the phrase means one can hear while residing here: “That was so valley.” As a business owner who was directly affected by nature this week (admittedly, I cannot recall many or any downtown businesses in the four towns being hit by a tree before), I got to see first hand how great it is to live in this area.
When the fir snapped from across the street and struck the building that contains SLV Video and Hair Frenzy on Sunday morning, the opportunity for disaster in the form of a vehicle accident or bodily injury was prominent. The surveillance footage shows two cars and several pedestrians passing through the area where, seconds later, the towering tree came to rest on Highway 9. I arrived six minutes later to have my eyes fall upon what it means to live in this valley.
Three chainsaws were already in full operation cutting the tree and branches. Eight different bystanders had begun clearing the debris, and several people had already checked to make sure all of the occupants upstairs and downstairs were unhurt. Minutes after that, Jorah from the feed store had fired up his tractor and was pushing the rounds to the side of Highway 9. Ben Lomond Fire Department showed up shortly thereafter and secured the resulting dangerous situation with the building’s main deck being pierced, helped clear the remaining debris and provided us with their smiling faces.
The time stamp on the video footage showed that within 40 minutes, SLV residents had managed to clear a major obstacle across our main highway before the California Highway Patrol or Cal Trans had even showed up. I realized both how lucky we were no one was hurt and what it means to say “That was so valley.” Thank you to the long list of people who helped prove what kind of community this valley can contain.
Steve Kuehl, owner, SLV Video in Ben Lomond