Drivers traveling along Hopyard Road last week saw Mark Glines hovering above the archway on Stoneridge Drive, marking the entrance to Hacienda Business Park, as he set about giving the Park a new face for the 1984 holiday season.

The two sixty-foot pine trees were brought down from a lumber forest in Oregon to be adorned with a complete set of "traditional holiday ornaments!' says Mark. "Last year they just had white doves and bows, but this year it's much different!'.

Mark, a safe dealer by trade, and his assistant Tim Collins are well-known for doing "all kinds of crazy jobs",  as Tim puts it. So the two men were perfect for the task at hand. "It's fun because it's sort of creative - unlike what I usually do!' claims Mark.

"The original design, used last year, was developed by a landscape architect. But a lot of that just didn't work out very well!' Mark explains. "This year I was able to play around with it and change what hadn't worked before!' Mark claims that this year's attempt is much more intricate.

This year's decorations include colored orbs, yards of  of lighting  and garlands, wreaths, bows, and various other entrapments draped upon the two live Christmas trees.

Each tree is encased six feet deep in a 12-foot steel pipe. The pipe is then buried into the ground with dirt and concrete in and around it for optimum stability. All of the decorations, including the trees, have been designed 'to face any and all adverse weather conditions'.

Mother nature posed the only real obstacle in the week-long decoration process. "It was terrible being up on the ladder, trying to hang all the lights on the trees, with the wind coming up and nearly blowing us right off!" says Mark. As for being 60 feet above the ground in a man-lift, he says, "I don't necessarily like it, but that's what I'm getting paid for! Besides,”  he proudly says, “it really looks great, doesn't it?"

You can drive by to see Mark and Tim's handiwork at any time during the day, or at night if you prefer to see them illuminated. The beautiful holiday scene will mark the entrance to Hacienda from now until January 3, 1985.

To see a reproduction of the original article and edition of Pleasanton Pathways, visit: December 03, 1984.