Gilroy
– When Kurt Chacon moved to Gilroy 15 years ago from San Jose,
he didn’t know a soul in town. He just wanted a quieter lifestyle
for his young family.
Gilroy – When Kurt Chacon moved to Gilroy 15 years ago from San Jose, he didn’t know a soul in town. He just wanted a quieter lifestyle for his young family.
Years later, Chacon may still complain about there being too many stoplights, but thanks to the Gilroy community and its yearly festival, he is proud to call Gilroy his home.
Chacon, a project manager for an electrical contractor in San Jose, moved to Gilroy in 1988 and decided to volunteer for the festival to meet people and become a part of the community when his neighbor, 2002 Garlic Festival president Jim Habing, encouraged him to get involved in the Garlic Festival Association.
“I didn’t know one soul in Gilroy,” Chacon said. “That year I poured beer for the Chamber of Commerce.
“Transportation, assistant utilities … the next thing you know, you’re spending all your time at the Garlic Festival.”
And then, all of a sudden, Chacon found himself named festival president for 2002.
“I had a great time,” he said. “Met a lot of people. Worked with a lot of great people.”
It was something that Chacon probably never would’ve done in any other community.
“Absolutely not. … I think part of the problem is it’s not as easily accessible as the Garlic Festival,” Chacon said about being involved in a major community event. “I think (the festival) is a fast-track to being a part of the community,”
Not wanting to mess too much with the festival’s successful recipe, Chacon only made a few minor changes, but they made for positive results.
“I relocated half of the art vendors to the park side,” he said. “Trying to look down the road a little ways, I thought it would create flow to the park side. It created a draw into the south. It also allowed the two large shade tents on the ranch site.”
Chacon also opened up more parking for festival guests by grading fields and providing foot access. Parking is always a big concern for presidents, he said.
Volunteering for the festival is a good way for newcomers to the area to make friends and become part of the Gilroy community, and Chacon said he knows this from personal experience.
“It’s very self-rewarding. You feel good about being part of something,” he said. “I would love to have more of the new residents get involved somehow. You move into a small town that is already a close-knit town, you tend to feel like an outsider. Getting involved in the Garlic Festival is one way to get involved in the main stream.”
And the festival helps foster camaraderie among the citizens, he believes.
“I think the Garlic Festival and how it’s getting everyone involved is what’s great about the community of Gilroy,” he said. “It allows people to go out and work beside someone and make friends with people you wouldn’t generally get involved with.”
Chacon’s family always likes to participate, he said. His wife Tina helps with the cook-off stage along with his daughter. And their three boys help with preparing the park for the guests.
But Chacon was OK with handing off all the responsibility of putting on the festival to someone else.
“I did my term, I gave my best, and I was ready to pass it on,” he said. “It was a blast.”
This year, Chacon has a whole host of different responsibilities during his tenure as past president.
The festival has created a pride in Gilroyans for their community and a fame that reaches around the world for the Garlic Capital, he said.
“I’m going to guess that most people would never had the opportunity to hear of Gilroy if it wasn’t for the Garlic Festival,” he said. “The yearly event brings national and world attention to it – and it’s positive. It’s never a negative story.”
As for the future of the festival?
“I don’t think the festival will ever leave Gilroy,” Chacon said. “I think with Christopher Ranch being a huge producer of garlic products, while they’re in town, there’s a coalition of Gilroy and garlic.”
Assistant Editor Dave Steffenson contributed to this story.
