Love lights up retired teachers' lives, street

Some call it Pic-ardy Drive, others say Pic-ar-dy Drive, but most know it as the cute street in East Oakland that goes all out for Christmas. This holiday season, thousands of people drove the two blocks of this historic development to ogle the 70 Storybook homes heavily festooned with twinkling lights, flashing Santas and festive candy-caned fences.

Inside one of these charming houses, retired schoolteachers Janice and Curtis Crum seriously enjoyed their favorite season, despite the drone of the traffic.

"We absolutely love it here," Curtis says.

"This neighborhood is like a family," Janice says. "We all look out for each other." A very diverse family: Picardy Drive's residents hail from nearly every ethnic group, sexual orientation and religion. "There are even a few folks who don't decorate," Curtis says, "but that's OK, too."

Having grown up in Oakland, Janice, now 64, met her husband, now 66, back in 1964 at a picnic in an Oakland park. Curtis, an Oakland resident then back from college in Texas, could tell that the San Francisco State-bound high schooler was a catch. They began dating that summer and never stopped.

The Crums have now lived on Picardy more than 30 years, but they've been married longer, since 1969, when Curtis was on leave from the military into which he had been drafted. After serving time in Korea, he finished his education, and then taught middle school for decades.

Meanwhile, Janice continued her education to become a reading specialist, and she taught grade school. The couple's move to Picardy came after Curtis was in a car accident in 1974 that left him in a wheelchair. Picardy homes, developed by architect Walter Dixon and builder R.C. Hillen in 1926, were built on very flat lots. For Curtis, getting around this neighborhood in his chair was easy.

Both lifelong educators retired in 2005 and - of course - have certain opinions on current problems in education. "Politicians use education as a political football," Curtis says. "There's so much paperwork required now, there's no time left for the kids."

"And parents don't take enough responsibility," Janice adds. "Schools can only do so much."

Now the couple keep busy with house projects and cross-country road trips. Their son, who loved growing up on a protected block where the whole neighborhood played volleyball in the street, lives just a few blocks away.

Soon, ladders will come out and Picardy's tangles of lights will be put in storage until next year. Janice remembers that as a young girl growing up in Oakland, her favorite thing was to dress up and go downtown to marvel at the lights and window decorations in the then-opulent Oakland department stores.

Now all that is just out her front door.

Louise Rafkin has contributed to the New York Times and NPR's "All Things Considered." Couple suggestions? Send a story to onthecouch@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle