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The couple of hundred people who gathered at dusk in the parking lot near Diridon Station — which was once the processing plant Stephen’s Meat Co. — were in a mood to celebrate Thursday. The iconic Dancing Pig was restored, relit and hoofin’ it once again.
The party thrown by the Preservation Action Council had a band providing music, free hot dogs and ice cream and even an appearance by S.J. Sharkie. Speeches were made by PACSJ Board President Andre Luthard, who was the driving force behind the sign’s restoration, historian/preservationist Heather David, Deputy City Manager Kim Walesh and San Jose City Councilwoman Dev Davis. Morgan Hill resident Stephen Morrison gave a brief history of how the company started in 1942 by his grandfather, Stephen Pizzo.
After a New Year’s Eve-style countdown, the neon sign was relit to loud cheers and countless smartphone photos.
Yes, this was all for a sign.
But, of course, it’s much more than that. The two-year fundraising effort to restore the Stephen’s Meat sign, believed to have been installed in the early 1950s, was about a community coming together to preserve a piece of its history amid a tidal wave of change that will soon crash into downtown San Jose.
PACSJ kick started the effort with a $5,000 grant that was matched by Bassian Farms, the company that currently owns the Stephen’s Meat brand. Dozens of people bought T-shirts and donated cash to the $35,000 fundraising effort. The Young Electric Sign Co. did the restoration work, and San Jose glass artist Kevin Chong meticulously recreated the neon signage. “Most jobs take a day or two, but this took four weeks,” Chong said at the celebration.
Google, which owns the Montgomery Street property where the sign stands, has made a commitment to keep the sign publicly visible regardless of how its development plans in the area turn out and is also taking measures to keep the sign protected now that it’s been restored. Thank goodness for that.
Keeping San Jose’s history around has been a struggle. We’ve lost many historic buildings to development, fire and neglect and longtime businesses to rising rents and changing tastes.
The Century 21 theater was saved from the wrecking ball and is now a city historic landmark, but it sits empty and vacant and with a murky future, so it’s a half-win at best. Its sister domes on Winchester Boulevard, and the former Bob’s Big Boy on the same site, will soon be swept away by the Santana West development. And who knows if the Willow Glen trestle still will be around in the fall. Wing’s and Harry’s Hofbrau have gone the way of Paolo’s and Lou’s Village.
Gary Dillabough and Jeff Arrillaga‘s Urban Community are working to restore and repurpose historic downtown structures like the Bank of Italy building. But, if everyone’s plans and financing hold together, there will still be a parade of construction cranes dotting downtown’s skyline over the next decade.
But even in the face of such a daunting prospect, the Dancing Pig sign was not only saved but restored to its former glory. It’s a glimmer of hope that we can hold onto our heritage even as we bound into the future.
POLITICAL SPOOF RETURNS: Now that the city budget has been passed, San Jose’s politicians can turn their sights onto something important like rehearsing for this year’s “Monday Night Live” show at San Jose Stage, which takes place June 24. The guest host for the 26th annual fundraiser is Michael Van Every, president of Republic Urban Properties and a frequent performer in the skit show, which will include performances by the cast of San Jose Stage’s production of “Mamma Mia!”
City Councilmembers Raul Peralez, Dev Davis and Magdalena Carrasco, all veterans of the show, will be joined this year by one of their newer colleagues, Councilwoman Pam Foley. Developers Case Swenson and Chris Neale are also going to ham it up for the crowd, and comedian Will Durst will amp up the humor quotient.
A limited number of tickets are still available for $75 ($150 for preferred seats). The show starts at 5 p.m. with a no-host cocktail reception outside San Jose Stage’s theater at 490 S. First St., followed by the performance at 7ish. Call 408-283-7142 or go to www.thestage.org for tickets.
STAR TOUR: Gerrye Wong recently led a group of 18 Silicon Valley women, who dubbed themselves “Crazy Poor Asian Americans,” to Singapore to tour the sites featured in “Crazy Rich Asians,” the hit movie directed by former Los Altos Hills resident Jon Chu.
Along the way, they met Selena Tan, who played the Singapore “auntie” excited about the rare night-blooming plant that supposedly can be seen only once a year. Wong says Santa Clara County’s weather must be exceptional because the “tan fa,” as the Chinese call it, actually flowers at least twice a year around here (but, she sadly concedes, it can only be seen in full bloom for one night.) The highlight of the film for the California Girls was swimming in the outdoor infinity pool on the 56th floor of the Marina Sands Hotel, where the movie’s flashy engagement party was held.
CREATIVE CHAMPIONS: SVCreates will honor some of Silicon Valley’s best creators June 27 at this year’s SVArts Awards at Forager Tasting Room & Eatery in downtown San Jose. This year’s ceremony, emceed by KQED’s Michael Isip, will honor scenic designer Andrea Bechert, visual artist Renee Billingslea, visual artist Pantea Karimi, musician Ray Furuta and poet Nils Peterson. Performance poet Jarvis Subia, the winner of the 2018 San Jose Poetry Grand Slam, is the recipient of the Content Emerging Artist Award, and interdisciplinary artist Mel Day will receive the SVNexus Award.
The awards presentation begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a party for Content Magazine subscribers. More details about the laureates, as well as tickets to the event, are available at www.svcreates.org.
