How about a shake, rattle and roll for festival co-founder Don Christopher whose generosity is responsible for Shaboom's return for a swan song performance. Don daMan, who has been around the block, is picking up the tab for Shaboom's travel expenses since the band boys, now retired, are scattered around the country. How about a Don and Bill Christopher duet during "Help me Rhonda" on stage with Shaboom Saturday? - now there's a fitting 30th anniversary festival moment. Calling Rich Dellamaggiore to make it all happen ...

And that's not all folks, Christopher recently touted our fair city in a recent New York Times story about U.S. festivals. Here's the Gilroy snippet:

In Gilroy, once the aromatic apogee of garlic, the herb is now grown on only about 500 acres. Half of the garlic sold in the United States now comes from China; most California garlic comes from the Central Valley, near Fresno.

But boosters in Gilroy, southeast of San Jose on the fringe of Silicon Valley, point out that the city is home to the country's biggest dehydrator and shipper of garlic - not to mention the world's biggest garlic festival, where amateur chefs will compete starting July 25 for the top prize of $5,000 and 1,000 pounds of fresh garlic.

"No one else has said they want to be the garlic capital," said Don Christopher, 73, a founder of the festival. "So we're it."

Yep, we be it … and … should you apologize if you know what apogee means? You might tuck it away for the next summer afternoon Scrabble duel with your sweetie on the back patio … "Apogee, that's 36 points with the triple-word score." … "Apogee!?!*, what's that? That's not a word - I challenge." … "Ah, darling, you should read the New York Times …"

Mucho better than darling are the performances put on each year by the young artists in the Gavilan College STAR program. This year's show is the musical Suessical Jr. featuring the lovable Horton of Who fame and, of course, the Cat in Z Hat. Mark your calendar. Performances are Friday and Saturday, July 18 and 19 at 7 p.m. in the Gavilan College Theater. Lots of great memories from the days our girls were in the STAR plays. It's one program that makes Gilroy great.

Add this idea to the Gilroy is Great list from the city rec department: Friday night movies at the Gilroy High pool. Given the ridiculously hot days we've been having, it's perfect timing. Pool opens at 7:15 p.m. Bring a floatie and a chair, your swimsuit, a towel and something to eat. Enjoy the water with the kids, then kick back and watch the movie "Surf's Up." Very cool program - $4 to get in.

Zero emissions, er … zero admission for the Garlic City Fun Run Custom Car Show Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. in downtown Gilroy. The weather is cooling down a bit, perfect for showing off the hundreds of cool old hot rods. When you get hungry, there are Garlic Festival favorites, including peppersteak sandwiches to munch on, and with continuous music until 9:30 p.m. you can work off those calories. The Corvettes from the '50s always catch my eye …

The squirrel holes and mounds all over Christmas Hill Park are catching my eye, too, unfortunately. The park maintenance is shameful, and we're only two weeks away from hosting our big party. Besides the unchecked ground squirrel invasion, the amphitheater is a true civic embarrassment - grass only grows 10 rows up on the "seats" before turning to dust and the "benches" are crumbling in many places. It's unfathomable that after years and years of very healthy sales tax increases, our city leaders couldn't see fit to keep up Christmas Hill Park. Perhaps this City Council will take a much harder look at the capital priority list, and shelve some of those new computers for staff or new cameras for police cars in favor of revamping the amphitheater for the residents.

And while we're on the subject of parks, and gas seems to be going nowhere but up from $4.50 per gallon, what about Steve Bozzo's question: Since I drive to Morgan Hill to use an off-leash dog park facility I must ask, why are there no dog parks in Gilroy? Well, Steve, you see it's much better to have parks for the squirrels. That way the police officers who patrol Christmas Hill Park on horseback during the Garlic Festival have an obstacle course to teach their steeds how to avoid holes … all I know, Steve, is that Morgan Hill had its dog park up in a jiffy and there are plenty of people and pups using it daily.

Mark Derry Mark Derry is the executive editor of the Gilroy Dispatch. Reach him at (408)847-7010 or editor@garlic.com.