Welcome to Willow Glen’s “Backfence”,

Welcome to "the Willow Glen Backfence"

This website is dedicated to community communications in the Willow Glen area,

and is home of "the eList": click >here< for details.

[For the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association (WGNA) website, click >here<]

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Updating the eList

update, January 23, 2026

The new eList is up and running!

It works like before, with the same online community and same neighborly culture

-- about the only thing that changed is the address to which one posts:

WillowGlenElist@GoogleGroups.com

(oh, and now it also works with Yahoo and AOL accounts, and one can post photos and graphics*)

It will take another week or two to get everyone moved over, and you can use it as soon as you get the welcome message.

* We will roll out some additional eList rules to cover the use of photos and graphics: basically “be polite”:

· do not post inappropriate images;

· do not commercialize or politicize the forum; and

· don’t flood us with mundane trivia (“this is my dinner tonight”).

It is okay to include a small photo of lost pets, personal items you’re selling or giving away (e.g., a photo of your car that you’re selling), or informational flyers (like maps of street closures or notices of upcoming events at a school or library). If in doubt, please contact the moderators.

update, January 16, 2026

We are transitioning from the webhost’s “ezmlm” software to the more robust Google Groups.

This will take some time: there are nearly 2,000 members of the eList, and the software allows us to add only 100 names a day.

We can also “invite” another 100 or so, but those invited need to “accept the invitation”: if you get an invitation, please click the blue button at the bottom of the screen.

Once we get folks set up on this new site, we will provide the new email address: hopefully it will be a fairly painless transition.

Thanks for your patience!

update, January 15, 2026

Our webhost has offered a couple alternatives, and we are exploring them and others as well.

update, January 4, 2026

The eList seems to be working properly for now.

Our webhost, Superb.net, implemented a “temporary fix” and said that they’d get back to us soon with details on a more permanent solution: more details as they become available.

update, Dec. 18, 2025

The eList since 2005 has been hosted by the Superb.net internet provider.

The eList has nearly 2,000 members and typically about a dozen posts a day.

Over the years, the internet has evolved in response to various threats like viruses, hackers, and spammers.

To reduce spam, email server companies -- the software you use to read your emails -- are beginning to block emails that come from sources that send out excessive numbers of emails.

To avoid being blacklisted by these email companies, Superb.net recently decided to limit the number of emails any one account could send to about 800 a day, which is far fewer than the 24,000/day for the eList. I’m not clear on all the details: we were not alerted to this change and there were no error messages: it appears that many messages simply did not get sent to many accounts, but a few messages did go through and so we just thought the eList was quiet due to the holiday rush.

When we discovered the problem, we contacted Superb’s tech-support team who confirmed the problem and relayed the details above, and since then we’ve been working on a solution.

They have temporarily waived the 800/day limit, so hopefully this message will reach everyone.

We might have to transition to another service provider or another type of service: we hope to hear from Superb within a week or so, and we will try to inform you on the path forward.

It is hard to communicate with the eList community when the eList is not working! I keep a backup copy of the member roster, but I too am limited to how many emails I can send a day!

However, I am able to post updates to the WGBackfence.net website, so,

>> If you notice a disruption in the eList, please check back here for updates. <<

Thank you,

Larry Ames, eList

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Here’s a link to a Video recording of the SJ Council D6 Primary Candidates’ forum 1/23/24

at the Westminster Presbyterian Church (along with transcripts in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese)

and the video of the Water District candidates’ forum 9/30/24 (with English, Spanish & Vietnamese transcripts)

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Be sure to see our

Community Recommendations webpage!

(and also check out the archives to find old favorites.)

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→ And check out the FAQ section! ß

Answers to all your Frequently Asked Questions!

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an Oral History of Rod Diridon by Larry Ames, recorded January 15, 2019:
a ~40 minute video on the history of the Los Gatos Creek Trail;
and a ~80 min “extended cut” version with Mr. Diridon talking about the Park Charter Fund and transit,
and Mr. Ames talking about ideas for completing the Los Gatos Creek Trail.

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check out past "Photos of the Week"

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>> for information about the former Willow Glen Trestle, see website <<

click >here< for YouTube video of the trestle

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go on a self-guided tour of the future Three-Creeks Trail:

here’s the map and route instructions.

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For historic perspective, here are the 1984 plans for Willow Glen.

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~Larry Ames