Saratoga’s Village volunteers challenge neighbors to decorate

“This year,” Saratoga’s Laurel Perusa said, “the neighbors should do the same.”

She means decorate your town in patriotic colors leading up to the Fourth of July.

The longtime volunteer and stalwart civic beautifier has been one of the volunteers decorating Saratoga’s Village on Big Basin Way in patriotic colors for the last eight years. While you can often find the Saratoga Village Community Development volunteers either watering the flowers along the lane, or optimizing any season to show their dedication to their town, it’s July 4 that is particularly special to Perusa.

They call the project “America The Beautiful,” started by Perusa and Patrician Himel in 2011. The women pay for their own decorations or borrow some from friends.

“The city has offered us a budget,” Perusa said on a break from decorating on June 15. “But I consider this my contribution to my beautiful city. It doesn’t cost much to find the decorations and put them up, and it makes me feel too good. Why accept city money to do it?”

The development group lobbies businesses in the Village starting in May to join in, and most do. Perusa is hard to say no to.

This year, however, Perusa said their joy for their own town shouldn’t stop at Saratoga.

“I want to see my neighboring towns join in,” Perusa said. “I want to see Campbell and Los Gatos put up their decorations along their main streets. I challenge them to.”

Perusa said that she knows citizens of her neighboring towns love our country as much as she does and she wants to see that on display.

Need inspiration? Visit Saratoga’s Village to see all that red, white and blue on display. They’ll leave the decorations up until the Saratoga Car Show on July 22.

The only question now is will Los Gatos and Campbell take up the challenge?