Neighbors Rally to Restore Beloved Love Creek Memorial
A cherished roadside memorial along Love Creek Road in Ben Lomond — a weathered red toy box honoring two young brothers killed in the devastating 1982 Love Creek landslide — has fallen into disrepair, and neighbors are doing something about it.
Photos show the “Toy Box,” as locals call it, collapsed and beginning to scatter across the forest floor, its red wooden panels broken apart and the toys that once overflowed from it strewn among ferns and redwood duff. The hand-painted sign bearing Grandma Olson’s plea — “Somewhere in this area lie my two grandsons Trevor, 7, & Kelly, 5. Please do not dump any trash” — now leans against the debris at an angle, weathered but still legible.
Moved by the sight, a group of neighbors and community members, spearheaded by Ben Lomond resident Julianne Bonnet, have formed a Facebook group to coordinate a restoration effort. The goal is straightforward: rebuild the toy box, restore the sign, and replenish the collection of toys that has long made the memorial a poignant landmark for hikers, cyclists, and longtime valley residents who remember the ’82 slide. Organizers are asking community members to donate gently used children’s toys, help with carpentry, or simply show up to lend a hand.
Bonnet said, “So far, community members are interested in helping keep the memory of the McKlusky boys alive, and also seem to feel it is important to remember the ’82 slide and all who were affected. Three community members have offered to fully-fund and/or donate to the project, while others are offering their time. We have a design ready to go. Once we have everything, we can schedule a work day for anyone interested in getting their hands dirty!”
Join the Facebook group at Toy Box Rebuild 2026
Toy Box 2000 and 2026. Photos by Julianne Bonnet.
The tragedy that the Toy Box honors unfolded on January 5, 1982, when a catastrophic atmospheric river — one of the most destructive storms in California history — unleashed torrential rainfall on the Santa Cruz Mountains. In a matter of hours, the saturated hillside above Love Creek Road gave way in a massive debris flow, burying several homes beneath tons of mud and timber. 22 people died across the San Lorenzo Valley that night; ten of them perished along Love Creek alone.
Among the dead were the McCluskey family. Trevor, 7, and Kelly, 5, were killed alongside their parents when the mountain swallowed their home whole. Their grandmother, identified on the memorial simply as Grandma Olson, placed the toy box near the site in the years that followed.
The 1982 storm remains a defining moment for the San Lorenzo Valley, a reminder of how quickly the beauty of the redwood mountains can turn. The Love Creek slide alone caused millions in damages and reshaped how California approaches hillside development and storm preparedness. For those who live in its shadow, the little red toy box has long served as a profound remembrance.
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