The three dark green columns in the Diablo Road median are easy to miss now. They're painted the same "Danville Green" as the town's traffic light poles, which was the plan when they went up in April 2001. The steel weighs 40,000 pounds, and it holds up the valley oak that sits between West El Pintado and the I-680 freeway.
On Friday, November 27, the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Danville will host the 50th annual Lighting of the Old Oak Tree. The count works backward from there. Last year was the 49th, so the first lighting held after the braces went in was the 25th. That makes this year's ceremony the 26th one held on a braced tree. More than half of the tradition's history depends on a choice the Town made a quarter century ago, when the easier choice was to take the tree down.
The year the oak was condemned
A few months before the braces went up in April 2001, arborists diagnosed root rot in the tree and gave it what the San Francisco Chronicle called a death sentence. On November 21, 2000, the Town Council met to discuss the tree. Town staff had called it "structurally deficient" and proposed a support frame costing about $75,000. The frame would use 16-inch-wide steel columns on concrete foundations, forming a structure 16 feet high.
The tree was already more than a roadside oak by then. In a November 2000 SFGate column, Chronicle urban design critic John King pointed out that it appeared on the town seal, was lit for the holidays, and had painted signs taped to its base to mark birthdays and graduations. He described it as 65 feet tall and 100 feet wide.
King's column was satire. He suggested Danville skip the brace and commission a fake tree, and he called firms that build artificial trees for casinos and hotels to get quotes. One estimated a quarter million dollars. Another said a version with realistic leaves could cost seven figures, with "a quarter-million on the leaves alone." He closed with one more option: accept that a 300-year-old tree may be at the end of its life and let it go.
The Town did neither. Danville's official chronology lists 2001 as the year a "steel support frame [was] constructed around heritage oak tree on Diablo Road."
What $69,000 bought, and what people said about it
The contract came in at $69,000, below the figure discussed in November. JR Engineering Inc., a Danville firm, engineered the structure. Its project engineer was John Ehlert. AJ Vasconi General Engineering spent about two weeks welding the frame in place.
The reaction while the work was underway was mixed. The April 2001 SFGate column that covered the installation compared the beams to "three giant parentheses or, maybe, staples." It quoted people who worked near the median, some of whom wanted the money spent on sidewalks and a sound wall. Others said they would choose the braces over losing the tree. The engineer explained his priorities in that same SFGate piece:
"We were hired to provide a structural solution and safety was our No. 1 one priority, not aesthetics."
Steve Lake, Danville's development services director at the time, told SFGate the braces had to stay. Asked whether the Town would hide them with vines, he said, "We'll see what the reaction is in town over the next couple of months." The frame is still on Diablo Road, painted green.
Twenty-five years of upkeep in the median
The brace bought time, and the tree has needed care since then. The record has a few public moments:
- April 2001: Crews weld the steel frame in place and paint it "Danville Green."
- November 1, 2008: Crews trim excess branches, and the inside lanes of Diablo Road close during the work, according to DanvilleSanRamon.com.
- November 2011: The 35th lighting goes ahead with local choirs, Father Christmas and the Snow Angel, and merchants handing out seasonal treats, as DanvilleSanRamon.com reported.
- October 27, 2019: During a PG&E planned power shutoff, high winds bring down a large branch that blocks Diablo Road.
- November 2019: An arborist assesses the tree and a tree service prunes the remaining branches so it can heal on its own. An electrician repairs the lights damaged when the branch fell.
The 2019 storm came one month before the lighting. The Mercury News quoted the Town's spokesman: "The tree is now in stable condition, the lighting is working, and all systems are go for the annual event." The same article said the event draws thousands of people from across Northern California.
An age that keeps changing
No one has an exact age for the oak, and published estimates have moved around over the past 25 years:
| Year | Source | Estimated age |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | SF Chronicle column | About 300 years |
| 2019 | Mercury News | About 400 years |
| 2025 | Town of Danville press release | More than 350 years |
| 2026 | Danville Area Chamber history sheet | About 350 years |
All four estimates are centuries, so either way the tree was standing long before the town or the freeway. The Chamber's 2026 history sheet is direct about why the steel is there. It says the tree "was discovered to be in jeopardy of weakening and possibly falling down" and that the community supported installing a metal structure to keep it up. The same document calls the oak the landmark that "represents the neighborhood and community of Danville better" than any other.
What November 27 looks like
The 50th lighting runs from 5 to 8 p.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving. According to the Chamber's event history sheet, the Monte Vista High School and San Ramon High School chamber singers and the Danville Girls Chorus will perform first. Father Christmas and the Snow Angel will follow. After the lighting, a procession will head down Diablo Road and through downtown to entertainment and holiday treats.
The Town has not posted the 2026 street closures yet. Last year's notice gives a good idea of what to expect. In 2025, the program started at 5 p.m. near the tree, and the countdown to the lighting ended by 6:30. Parts of Hartz Avenue, Diablo Road, Prospect Avenue, El Pintado, Front Street and Linda Mesa Avenue closed from 4 p.m. to about 9 p.m. One section of Diablo Road closed earlier, at 1 p.m. Parking was free on nearby public streets and in all downtown municipal lots. If you usually take Diablo Road to the freeway on Friday afternoons, check the Town's 2025 notice for last year's pattern. The 2026 version should be posted closer to the event.
Downtown is part of the evening. The Town's business registration form defines the event area as Hartz Avenue from Linda Mesa Avenue to School Street, plus Prospect Avenue from Front Street to the Clocktower parking lot entrance. Each participating business has to offer an activity or promotion, and businesses must register by November 16 to be guaranteed a spot on the event map. The 2026 map will be published after that deadline. The 2025 map included Danville Chocolates, Lottie's Creamery, Incontro Ristorante, Locanda Ravello, Nick the Greek and Essence BJJ, with offerings such as cocoa, treats, discounts and live music.
Hartz Avenue has changed a little since last year's lighting. In September, Rancho Cantina opened its second location at 501 Hartz Avenue, in the former Cocina Hermanas space, according to Patch.
In 2025, the Town followed the lighting with Small Business Saturday events the next day: live music at Prospect Park Plaza and the start of the Auggie Elf Holiday Hunt. The Town's Swing into Danville page is where it posted that holiday schedule, so check there for this year's.
The 2026 countdown will light the same tree the Town decided to brace in 2001. The steel frame is still in the median, painted the same green as the traffic light poles.
Questions about downtown Danville that you'd like answered on this blog are always welcome. The same goes for stories or memories of the Old Oak Tree you'd like to share. At AJ Cohen Homes, we pay attention to how this town takes care of what it values, and the oak is a good example of that. Let's Connect.
