Monthly Archives: October 2015

GILROY—A rosy picture of caring Gilroy school officials eager to assist handicapped kids just ain’t so, say two mothers who have spent years and thousands of dollars in legal fees to secure help they say is required by law but is like pulling teeth to get.

GILROY—Dozens of workers at Saint Louise Regional Hospital, from its chief of staff to its nurses, along with citizens and elected officials spoke of the need to keep the Gilroy hospital open at a hearing hosted by the California Attorney General’s Office. The Oct. 16 session at Gilroy City Hall was one of a handful held in California as Attorney General Kamala Harris reviews the proposed sale of Saint Louise and five other hospitals to New York-based private equity firm BlueMountain.

What a beautiful fall, everything shimmering and golden, beautiful soft light, warm days and cool nights.

GILROY—The annual Northern California Golf Association was the first large tournament David Dockendorf had ever played in, but he sure didn’t play like a rookie.

It was day two. Deep in the wilderness of Sequoia National Park, we stood with a ranger on the small entry porch of her backcountry cabin looking down at a map discussing alternatives to our original itinerary.

I was floored recently to read that Americans are likely to spend almost $7 billion on Halloween this year. Only $2 billion of that will be spent on candy, the rest for costumes and decorations. Adults are way more involved in Halloween festivities these days than when many of us were kids.I cannot recall a parent back then who bothered to dress up or do much more than greet trick-or-treaters at the door, pretend they had no idea who was hidden behind a mask or garish makeup, and then hand out big Baby Ruth or Nestle Crunch bars.I was lucky to grow up in a small town much like Gilroy, when about 20 neighborhood kids would go trick-or-treating together each year. We usually raided our parents’ closets for old clothes or costume jewelry so we could dress up as gypsies or ghosts, but nothing too elaborate. Then we would head off, excitedly determined to stay out way past our bedtimes even if it was a school night.One year for reasons I don’t recall, we all used big brown grocery bags for our candy and, sure enough, it rained buckets that night. We spent the next few hours picking up wet candy off the street as the soggy sides and bottoms of our bags split open. After that we switched to pillowcases.One year my little brother decided to carefully ration his Halloween candy so he could make it last until Easter, and then he would make his Easter candy last until Halloween. He actually succeeded, despite my pathetic whining around mid-November that if he really loved me, he would share some of his candy with me. Naturally, he refused. We still laugh about that.We also remember the Halloween when a big group of us arrived at a house several blocks away and were greeted by a sweet elderly woman who told us that she had just run out of candy. “I just got a color TV, though, and you can all come in and watch ‘Flipper’ in color,” she said. We were beside ourselves with excitement, since this was in the 1960s and none of our families could afford color TV at the time.We first discussed among ourselves that although our parents would not want us entering a stranger’s home, we outnumbered her by about 20 people. Surely we could keep one eye on her to make sure she wasn’t an axe murderer while we watched “Flipper.”The seniors here at Live Oak Adult Day Services all agree that their parents were only marginally involved in Halloween when they were kids and didn’t even accompany them when they went trick-or-treating. Gail recalls the excitement when a neighbor gave out pennies, because she could buy two pieces of candy for a penny. Others fondly remember when a large candy bar was truly large, and lament that the sizes have shrunk over the years.Susan says that one of neighbors handed out popcorn balls each year, and she would have to eat at least some of it before she got home again or her mom would eat it. Rob laughs and says his own stash of candy would dwindle after a few days once his parents and sister helped themselves to it. Some said they worry about giving out candy nowadays when so many kids seem to have food allergies.For many years we enjoyed a Halloween visit to Live Oak from the pre-school located right across the street. The kids, usually dress as princesses or superheroes, would be shy at first. Then we would break out rolls of toilet paper and tell the kids to wrap their teacher like a mummy. That always broke the ice. Before we knew it, the kids would be running around excitedly and joining us as we danced to “Monster Mash.”Sadly, the school’s owner retired this year and the school closed. We’ll be doing our own mummy-wrapping this year, but I’ll bet we still dance to “Monster Mash” with as much wild abandon as our little visitors have done in years past. We may be adults, but there is a kid inside each of us.  

GILROY—Citizens seeking to save and rehabilitate an old barn in Christmas Hill Park requested approval this week from city officials to hold two volunteer-led cleanup days in November.

A beautiful array of handmade scarves and hats, jewelry and crocheted and beaded clothing for babies, children and adults line the shelves of a shop tucked inside the Gilroy Senior Center.Although it’s been around for 30 years, not many people in the community know about the Senior Craft Store, which is owned and operated by senior crafters who also create much of the inventory.The store provides a place for seniors to supplement their incomes, according to Roberta Garcia, a longtime volunteer.“It’s all about the seniors and contributing back to the community,” Garcia said.Seniors 55 and older who want to sell their crafts in the store pay an annual membership fee of $25. But if they volunteer to help man the store at least two days every month, the membership fee is reduced to $5 and the annual fee is waived for subsequent years.“They can become a member here at the craft store, and that doesn’t mean they have to volunteer,” Garcia said. “But we would love it if they did.”Each crafter receives 90 percent of proceeds from the sale of their crafts with 10 percent going toward the maintenance of the store. But crafter Bonnie Riley said selling their items in the store gives she and other senior crafters much more than extra income.“It gives them a sense of worth that somebody loved their items,” she said.The craft store was born in 1985 when the senior center, which opened in 1972, underwent renovations. Well aware that a devoted group of crafters utilized the center, the advisory board insisted renovations included space for the craft store. Thanks to the generosity of the City of Gilroy recreation department, the space was donated to the center. The rest, as they say, is history.Thirty years later, the craft store still going strong and has expanded to include a “thrift shop” stocked with second-hand items donated by the community. In turn, all proceeds from the thrift shop are donated to local charities.“Last year we made over $2,200,” Garcia said. “One hundred percent of that money goes straight back to the community.”Some of the nonprofit organizations that have profited from the generosity of the Senior Craft Store are the National Guard Armory, Operation Freedom Paws, Live Oak Senior Center, and the store’s host—Gilroy Senior Center.Despite the store’s long history, volunteers say most of the community is still unaware of this hidden treasure. So they found a way to bring the store into the spotlight—by planning a community event. The result of those plans is the Winterfest Crafters Faire scheduled for Dec. 4 at the senior center.Twenty-nine crafters have already signed up for the fair, Riley said. They’ll be selling lots of gift-worthy crafts, including holiday wreaths and decorations, heirloom quality scarves, hats, baby items, doll clothes, pillows, afghans, quilts, baby items, jewelry, ceramics, books and toys.“All the people who do all this crafting for the store—the knitting and crocheting, the sewing, people who make jewelry and ornaments—they’ll be at the fair,” Riley said.Homemade tamales will also be for sale courtesy of the Women’s Club.Riley hopes the fair will help make the community aware of the Senior Craft Store and the talented crafters who fill the shelves and volunteer their time.“I hope it helps the seniors; I hope they make some money and it supplements their income,” she said. “Our senior citizen community is very viable and they have so much to offer.” 

Gilroy’s Monica Ruelas finished second in the Monterey Bay League Pacific Center Meet No. 3 at Pinto Lake, but not by much. The junior Mustang finished just 10 seconds behind the first place finisher, Leslie Oseguera of Monterey, to complete the course in 20:48.91

GILROY—Foothill snapped Gavilan’s undefeated conference win streak, handing the Rams a 3-1 loss Wednesday in Gilroy.