Astoundingly generous to both comprehensive high schools in our community
Dear Editor,
I read the recent letters to the editor about the differences in scholarships awarded at Gilroy High School and Christopher High School in June. I wanted to provide some additional information that may be helpful to your readers.
The total scholarships awarded to GHS seniors in June (2013) was about $400,000 not $66,000. The latter number was reported out at the senior awards ceremony as the amount distributed that evening. The total scholarships awarded at CHS was around $500,000, which included $100,000 from the Christopher family for CHS seniors.
Also mentioned in the prior letters was the generosity of the Christopher family to CHS which has included; annual donations, scholarships to students, and most recently, more than $2 million for the first phase of the new football stadium (which will be completed by August 2014). Their generosity is absolutely incredible and greatly appreciated by the CHS school community and the school district.
What your readers may not know is that Christopher family has also been very generous to Gilroy High School. In just the past few years, they have funded more than $60,000 in renovations to the GHS tennis courts, purchased two new vans for GHS (more than $75,000), funded 100 E-readers for the English Department ($3,000), and provided more than $25,000 for other needs identified by the principal. Also, for many years, they have hosted the Cioppino Feed which raises money for GHS athletics program.
It’s wonderful that through the generosity of many in this community, including the Christopher family, that more than $900,000 was awarded to seniors at Gilroy High School and Christopher High School this June. Equally amazing is the generosity of the Christopher family to both of our comprehensive high schools.
Finally, seniors from GECA and Mt. Madonna also received scholarships from generous members of our community. In particular, I want to single out the Merriman’s for nine $1,000 scholarships to Mt. Madonna seniors in honor of their son.
Thank you for sharing this information with the Gilroy community.
Deborah Flores,
Superintendent, Gilroy Unified School District
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.
Downtown car show super success credit to all those who started their engines
Dear Editor,
I would like to thank all the sponsors, volunteers, businesses, groups and individuals who made the 12th Annual Garlic City Fun Run Car Show such a huge success on July 13. Special thanks to our planning committee: John Tomasello, Tom Valenta, Larry Mangono, Harvey Blodgett and Richard Lopez for your tireless dedication to ensuring the success of our event and to Downtown Gilroy in general.
Thank you to Katherine Filice and Jason Raby of Articulate Solutions for their help with our marketing campaign. Thank you to Susan Valenta and Sue Thurman from the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce and Candace Van Sambeek from the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation, for their help on the day of with all that needed to be done. Thank you to the ladies from Operation Interdependence for organizing and producing a successful raffle that yielded over 75 prizes for our attendees! All raffle ticket sales benefit one of the great non-profit organizations in Gilroy.
Thank you to our title sponsor and event partner, The Gilroy Garlic Festival Association. Executivve Director Brian Bowe and the GGF Board of Directors are tremendously supportive of this event and have been since its inception. Thank you to the Garlic Festival Queen and her Court for joining us for the day. Our event is thrilled to help kick off Garlic Festival weekend.
Thanks to our other sponsors: Gilroy Chevrolet Cadillac, Pinnacle Bank, Heritage Bank of Commerce, Gilroy Nissan/Hyundai, Gilroy Napa Auto Parts, The James Group, Recology South Valley, Cresco, Mission Valley Ford, The Gilroy Dispatch, Union Bank, Z Graphics, Nor Cal Portables, Bonfante Collision, South County Chrysler/ Jeep/ Dodge, Rabobank, Bruce’s Tire and Bank of the West.
A special thank you to all of the volunteers who helped the event run so smoothly. Thank you to Police Chief Denise Turner and the GPD officers who continually offer their support to the GDBA and our community events. Thank you to our emcee and DJ for the day, CJ Wallace, who helped with our PSAs and raffle prize awards.
Thanks to the car owners who come out because they are the people who make it such a classy event. It is nice to see so many supporters of a GDBA event in Downtown Gilroy. We hope to see you all again at next year’s show on July 12, 2014.
Brian Dauenhauer, Event Chair, Gilroy Downtown Business Association Vice President
Looking for some historical help to document Dr. Paddock’s ’65 Corvette
Dear Editor,
Not sure if you can help me, but here goes. My name is Roger Carlson and I live in Hudson, Wisconsin. I recently purchased an original 1965 Corvette. I am the fifth owner of the car, and have recently spoken to three of the previous four owners.
I believe the first owner, a Dr. Robert Paddock, has passed away. The documentation with the car indicates it was first delivered by Chevrolet to Duff Chevrolet, Gilroy California in January, 1965.
The car was purchased in January 1965 by a Dr. Robert L Paddock and his wife (I believe her name was Stella). I am told that the current Gilroy Chevrolet dealership is the successor of Duff Chevrolet.
I’m wondering if you could look back in the newspapers archives and see if there is an article, hopefully with pictures, of when the dealership first opened their doors. I would very much like to have a copy of any available articles. I would also like to track down Dr. Paddock’s next of kin.
The information I have indicates he lived in Mountain View, CA at the time he purchased the car. If you know of any of his relatives still living in the Gilroy area I would very much appreciate it if you could pass along their contact information. I am trying to get a picture of every owner of the car with the car in the picture.
I am doing all this in an effort to more fully document the history of the car. I would very much appreciate any help you can provide.
Roger Carlson, Hudson, WI
ro***********@gm***.com
URM property owners downtown being bullied by out-of-control government
Dear Editor,
Are owners of URM property downtown out of luck? That’s the question raised in the last edition.
What rights do owners of property have when government takes property? “Just compensation.”
And the most recent decision from the U.S. Supreme Court last month tells us that regulatory taking is taking, and that if government takes, then it must pay.
“Ah shucks, folks, we just want to condenm your property any way we want to and we don’t want to be bothered giving any respect to what the Constitution says because we are the Gods at City Hall, and we can do no wrong …” is the philosophy of local government.
Joseph P. Thompson, Gilroy
