Gilroy
– Richard Nicholls, whose attention to detail and calm, humble
demeanor were perfectly suited to his role at the helm of the
Garlic Festival, died Wednesday after a two-month battle with
pancreatic cancer.
Nicholls, who friends and family knew as
”
Dick,
”
was at the forefront and yet behind the scenes of every Garlic
Festival from 1985 to 2004, as executive director of the non-profit
Garlic Festival Association.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Richard Nicholls, whose attention to detail and calm, humble demeanor were perfectly suited to his role at the helm of the Garlic Festival, died Wednesday after a two-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
Nicholls, who friends and family knew as “Dick,” was at the forefront and yet behind the scenes of every Garlic Festival from 1985 to 2004, as executive director of the non-profit Garlic Festival Association.
When it came to festival planning, Nicholls did not leave anything to chance, said Joann Kessler, the festival’s assistant director who worked with Nicholls for 15 years.
“He followed through on pretty much everything, and he was just really good at that,” she said Wednesday. “He knows so much about the festival, things that no one else knows. He would know from day to day what to expect, especially on the grounds: where there’s going to be a lot of traffic, and when there’s going to be a lot of people in line for the shuttle bus, and he was anywhere he needed to be.”
A parade of volunteer festival presidents who worked with Nicholls through the years echoed the sentiment and shared a fondness for the man who loved to meet for lunch to talk about family or recent investments.
“He made the job very easy. He stood behind me the entire time – stood beside me the entire time. He kept track of the details and didn’t let anything fall through the cracks,” said John Zekanoski, president of last year’s festival.
Zekanoski said Nicholls had an easy and graceful style that allowed him to consider the needs of the entire festival community in decision-making. That community includes roughly 4,000 volunteers who show up each year to serve up garlicky pesto, mix smoothies or direct traffic.
When asked about his favorite part of the festival or whether one year made an impression, Nicholls would shrug off the question and say that it all stands out to him.
After growing up in Morgan Hill, Nicholls lived in Gilroy until he moved to Salinas several years ago. He first volunteered at the inaugural festival in 1979, parking cars. He was hired as executive director for the sixth festival in 1985.
During his tenure, the festival has raised about $6.5 million for local charities and community groups and put Gilroy on the map as “Garlic Capital of the World.”
“He has been the festival,” Police Chief Gregg Giusiana said. “He’s been the one person that’s been there through it all. He’s going to be very sorely missed. He was sort of the rock there.”
Nicholls was diagnosed with cancer March 21. At the time, he said he planned to continue working as much as possible while undergoing treatment. He followed through, Kessler said.
“If he was not going to treatment or had a doctor’s appointment, he was in this office,” she said. “Even after chemotherapy, he would work 9 to 5. Up until the last month, he has been here more than not.”
He was admitted to Salinas Memorial Hospital last Friday, and died there Wednesday afternoon at the age of 60. He is survived by his wife, Brigitte, and 20-year-old twin sons Justin and Jerrod, who just graduated from Hartnell College.
Nicholls always had time for those who would stop by his downtown office, regardless of the stresses or strains of the day, said Sam Bozzo, a past president and part the goofy Saka-Bozzo cooking team, with Gene Sakahara.
He recalled a dinner at a down-home crab restaurant when Nicholls stooped to the level of the off-the-wall team amidst the atmosphere of paper-covered tables piled high with crab legs.
“Gene and I were kind of acting up that night,” Bozzo said, “and I remember there was this loaf of bread that just sailed across the table. And it was just so out of character for Dick.”
Gloria Melone, the widow of co-Garlic Festival founder Rudy, said she admired Nicholls for his ability to work with the different chairs of numerous festivals, and the 4,000 ground-level volunteers who help run the three-day event.
“There are thousands of volunteers in the Garlic Festival and it takes a special kind of person and character and personality to be able to bring together these people, where they can willingly volunteer hours of hardship, time and money and effort – and to get them to move together smoothly,” Melone said.
In his career, Nicholls, received accolades from his peers, most notably being inducted into the International Festivals and Events Association’s Hall of Fame in 1996. The association’s members nominated him for making significant contributions to the festival and events industry. Nicholls also was one of the founders of CalFest, the California and Nevada Festivals and Events Association, and a past board member.
But those honors would likely mean little to the man who stressed the importance of the festival to community groups.
The Gilroy Garlic Festival Association has donated $700,000 to students and the arts, with a $250,000 donation for a cafeteria at Gilroy High School, a $250,000 donation to build an arts center downtown, and a $200,000 scholarship endowment for students at GHS and Gavilan College.
Past president Sakahara said helping to create that scholarship in Rudy Melone’s memory is one of his proudest moments. Nicholls was always willing to listen to suggestions from past presidents, he said.
When Sakahara was president in 1991, he was No. 2 on Nicholls’ speed-dial, he said.
“When I was past president, I asked ‘Am I still speed dial No. 2?’ He said, ‘Of course, you’re my No. 2’,” Sakahara said. “As time would go on, he would say, ‘Uh, uh, you’ve dropped to No. 29.'”
A former school principal – and former principal of Nicholls’ sons – Sakahara would tell Nicholls their jobs were very similar because they have to work hand-in-hand with many different people through the years.
“He was very good at working through issues and taking a very calm view of things,” said Giusiana, also a past president.
Some wondered Wednesday what tricks Nicholls had up his sleeve that were unknown even to seasoned veterans of the festival.
“What don’t we know that he used to take care of?” Zekanoski said. “He did so much of the little things. … Who did he call that we don’t know he called?”
The festival’s board members have already dedicated themselves to making this year’s festival on July 29, 30 and 31 as successful as if Nicholls were attending.
“For his sake, we need to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks,” Kessler said.
The loss of Nicholls comes just five months after the death of Bill Lindsteadt, who was executive director of the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation for nine years. Nicholls’ GFA office is across the breezeway from the Chamber of Commerce, where Lindsteadt’s office was located.
Susan Valenta, the chamber’s executive director, said Nicholls wanted the Garlic Festival to create a culture of volunteerism in the city.
“Wherever you go in Gilroy, it’s a given that people participate actively within their community, and you can see that in many places,” said Valenta, who has been with the chamber nearly 16 years. “I believe very strongly that this is something that has evolved from the culture that the Garlic Festival has set within Gilroy and Dick Nicholls was key to that. He has always had a strong belief in the power of people giving and another belief I have is that the Garlic Festival and what it has accomplished has always been a life goal of his.”
