When single mom Dolores Kirchner decided to paint her house, she
asked a friend to help her remove the huge lemon tree that had
grown too close to the house. He came over and began working to saw
off a very large branch. After cutting the fruit from that one
branch, they had filled 11 bags of lemons!
I need to make a correction to my 3/9 column about Velzoe, the 96-year-old jazz musician who still plays each week. Penny Hanna, a member of Velzoe’s group, e-mailed me to let me know that Velzoe and the Upbeats play the last Sunday of each month at 222 Market St. in Santa Cruz (off Water & Ocean) from 2 to 4:30pm. Velzoe says, “If you get a chance to stop by, please introduce yourself!”
Now, back to today’s column. When single mom Dolores Kirchner decided to paint her house, she asked a friend to help her remove the huge lemon tree that had grown too close to the house. He came over and began working to saw off a very large branch. After cutting the fruit from that one branch, they had filled 11 bags of lemons!
The tree was too much for her to handle on her own, but now an overwhelming project doesn’t seem quite so unmanageable. Rather than cutting it down, they can give it the trim it needs. It’s great to see neighbors helping neighbors.
As I wheeled my basket through the aisles of Nob Hill, I ran into someone I knew, and we stopped to chat. Before I knew it, another acquaintance came by, and then another. Soon there was a whole group of us blocking the meat and seafood section. Other shoppers had to wheel around us. Shopping took a back seat to catching up on all the latest news with each other. But that’s my Gilroy.
Later as I sat waiting for a prescription to be filled, I listened to a customer complaining to a clerk named Arciela about the dead battery in her hearing aid. She was an elderly person, hard to understand, and was clearly feeling very angry as she yelled at Arciela. What impressed me most was the way Arciela was handling the situation.
She was unfailingly polite and positive as she spent about 20 minutes calming the customer, finding a new battery for her, and getting management’s okay to give out a free replacement battery (even though the woman had no receipt).
Good service these days has become more and more rare, but Arciela was giving the kind of service you always hope you’re going to receive.
“Anger never solves anything,” Arciela said cheerfully as she finished waiting on the customer, and the customer apologized. That’s my Gilroy.
Jan Kubik left a worried message on her pastor’s answering machine when she noticed a number of people going into a friend’s house dressed in black. She thought there might be something wrong, especially since she recognized two of the people as pastors.
It turned out that they were in formal attire on their way to attend the Chamber of Commerce Dinner at which their friend Janice Krahenbuhl was being honored as Educator of the Year. Only in a place like Gilroy do neighbors still take the care to look out for each other. In spite of the way we’re growing, we still retain that small-town feeling of community.
It was local Running Man columnist Bill Flodberg’s idea recently to form a group of older singles who call themselves “The Lunch Bunch.” So far, they consist of divorced, widowed, and separated folks who might not want to go out to lunch alone.
They also plan outings to the symphony and various other activities. They stress inclusiveness, saying that all are welcome. They truly mean it. At their most recent outing to Fresh Choice, they invited a homeless man named Bobby to join them. He was clearly enjoying himself. When he saw the cake they were having for dessert, he said in a loud voice for all to hear, “That’s beautiful!”
That’s my Gilroy.
