Monthly Archives: June 2016

Gilroy’s urban growth boundary (UGB) initiative has more than the required number of signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot.

Gilroy Library is running a reading program that will make kids feel like they are on a gameshow.

Nathan Bonsell is living the dream of every young baseball player: To stay up late playing ball and no one—not parents, not school and not work—telling him he can’t.

Ariane Lussier thought about taking up field hockey when she entered Gilroy High School until a little advice from her older sister Alexia put her on a different path.

Looking for love? Hitting the poker tables in Vegas this summer and want some extra luck? A shop in downtown Gilroy has got you covered.S.M. Mexican Imports, a botánica shop at 46 Martin Street, a few doors down from O.D. Café, carries powders, scented oils, candles, amulets, lotions, and even shampoo designed to do everything from bring good luck to protect you from bad spirits. But before you go out and buy the candle and powder that promises virility and great wealth—please note—there is a correct method to follow before you get the intended results.“It’s not just about lighting a candle, but how you light it,” says proprietor Carlos Mascoro, who moved the store from another building on Monterey Road to its current location in February. His first botánica in San Jose’s Berryessa neighborhood has been open for 16 years. “You need to prepare the oil—there is a whole process.”Some regular customers are given shopping lists by healers or spiritual teachers with directions to follow.Traditionally a place to buy medicinal plants and herbs, botánicas have exploded in popularity in the last 10 years and can now be found anywhere with a significant Latino community.“Some of my customers have been coming back for over 10 years,” Mascoro says, as we take a stroll through the shop, the front graced by a row of statues of Roman Catholic saints, the walls decorated with crucifixes.In indigenous parts of Central America, the mix of long-held beliefs with Roman Catholic traditions and iconography are a part of everyday worship.Mascoro points out an ominous, skeletal figure holding a scythe in one hand: Santa Muerte or “Holy Death,” a prominent female folk saint in Mexico who personifies death and, according to Wikipedia, is associated with healing, protection and safe delivery to the afterlife.While the worship of Santa Muerte is not necessarily condoned by the Roman Catholic Church, the melding of Catholic traditions and figures with pre-Columbian beliefs have persisted and flourished since the days of Conquest.Mascoro carries an assortment of the “Holy Death” statues in a variety of sizes and colors.“Red is for love, rainbow is money and purple is for good health,” he explains.Many of the products follow similar color lines or are grouped together to produce a particular effect, so if it’s riches you are seeking, you can buy the soap, lotion, perfume and candles, which come with or without special powders already included.The shop also carries amulets, incense, bracelets and packets of dried herbs. One, “Witchcraft Breaker,” is labeled as an aromatic herb bath with instructions to “stay in tub about 7 minutes while bathing & reflect on desires.”Burning a candle in the shape of a black hen is supposed to remove bad luck. A powder sachet illustrated with a woman holding down a bare-chested man by the back of his neck promises the bearer dominion over their man. There are also dried rolls of tobacco and sage used to cleanse homes of bad spirits.A pair of miniature hand-woven dolls in rainbow threads—boy and girl—called “fetiches” come with directions on how to use them to inspire love in another person. Interestingly, in France during the WWI, as German warplanes dropped bombs overhead, the residents of Paris were reported in an international newspaper at the time to have taken up wearing miniature fetish dolls around their necks for protection from the evils of war. The dolls, named Nenette and Rintintin, represented two Parisienne children who, the story went, were found wandering on the side of the road alone when a villager came upon them and invited them inside her house. The children were discomfited inside and begged the woman to go outside, as the house reminded them of their home where their mother had been killed by “bad soldiers.” They had not gone 20 feet, when a German shell fell from the sky and destroyed the house.Card reading is also available at the shop—currently in Spanish only.Picking up a bar of soap that reads: Quita or “sales” on the label, Mascoro smiles. “This is my favorite,” he said. 

I had just passed the 16-mile marker in the Utah Valley Marathon on June 11, and the reality of setting a personal-record (PR) was slowly going by the wayside. The 3-hour, 25-minute pace runner faded out of view, and with that so did my main pre-race goal of producing an all-time best in the marathon.

SpeakeasyMorgan Hill Historical Society wants to build community at its historically inspired Annual Speakeasy: Prohibition Party fundraiser. Join in on the fun with dinner, a no-host bar with prohibition-era drinks and live music by the Zinfandel Stompers. Get out the suspenders, feathers and lace on Saturday, June 25 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Villa Mira Monte at 17860 Monterey St., Morgan Hill. Tickets are $59 per person. Call (408) 776-1060 or visit mhhistoricalsociety.org. Blues festivalThe Annual Fountain Blues Festival all started 35 years ago with names like Ron Thompson and Charlie Musselwhite. Through the years you’ve heard the sounds of John Lee Hooker, Sista Monica and even a few locals known to the South County such as John Garcia, Shane Dwight and Lara Price. This year you’ll find The Delgado Brothers, The California Honeydrops and Otis Taylor. The art of the blues taps into all demographics on Saturday, June 25 from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez, located at 170 South Market St., in San Jose. Admission is $20. Get your tickets at Poor House Bistro at 91 South Autumn St., or online at fountainblues.com. Bacon blissFind your bacon bliss at the Monterey Bacon Festival with Chef Todd Fisher, host of TV’s United States of Bacon, and Tony Baker as they pay homage to all things bacon. Discover for yourself some of the most delectable bacon concoctions presented in both sweet and savory dishes such as bacon dipped in chocolate or bacon nachos. Those of age can stop by the “BaconBar” and check out a bacon margarita or bacon bloody mary. Both days include a great lineup of musical entertainment on the Garden Stage. Bleacher seating is limited so bring chairs or blankets on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, 26 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Monterey County Fairgrounds and Event Center at 2004 Fairgrounds Rd. Find out more at montereybaconfest.com. Motorcycle rallyThe Hollister Independence Rally has been a tradition since the 1930s, known then as the Gypsy Tours. After World War II, motorcycling became a substitute for wartime experiences such as adventure, excitement, danger and camaraderie despite the negative impact from the 1947 “riot” that put Hollister on the map. Today the event has grown to include bike shows, live music, poker runs and vendors selling all things motorcycle. Start the weekend off with an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at United Methodist Church at 521 Monterey St. All are welcome for this three-day, free event starting Friday, July 1 until Sunday, July 3., from dawn to dusk, beginning on San Benito Street in downtown Hollister. For details go to hollisterindependencerally.com. Sister citiesMorgan Hill Historical Society’s Villa Mira Monte House will be commemorating the 10-year relationship and cultural exchange with one of its sister cities, Mizuho, Japan. The goal of the Sister City program is to “promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation one individual, one community at a time” The public is invited to attend the celebration and listen to Mayor Steve Tate and Mayor Ishizuka and other dignitaries recount memories and achievements made between these two cities. Adding to the celebration will be a special presentation of both countries’ national anthems and a Taiko drumming performance. The celebration is Saturday, July 2 from 10 a.m. to Noon at Villa Mira Monte, 17860 Monterey Rd., in Morgan Hill. To learn more go to morganhillsistercities.com.

Everywhere he went, people kept asking Andrew Brinton, 38, of Gilroy, the same question: ‘So, when are you going back to work?’