People get ready: Friday the 13th is ahead and we’ve got a
couple of interesting local ghastly ghost stories planned if we can
get the ghosts to speak on the record …
People get ready: Friday the 13th is ahead and we’ve got a couple of interesting local ghastly ghost stories planned if we can get the ghosts to speak on the record …
On the record, Cy Mann, a maybe candidate for the Santa Clara Valley Water District seat, received numerous fines for not paying his district water bill. Well, as a poorly appointed director, Mann got his money back and more by charging the premier iPad to the water district ratepayers and having the you-know-whats to suggest other directors consider doing likewise. Mann shouldn’t file papers to run, but this Mann’s ego likely will get in the way of that decision.
Bill Ayer, former parks and recreation director, made an extremely good decision hiring Donny DeLorenzo oh so many years ago to run the Gilroy Golf Course. That became evident at DeLo’s charity tournament/dinner event Saturday at the course, not just by the kind words of thanks DeLo offered to Ayer, but by the parade of golf course pros, superintendents, attendants and players DeLo introduced as people who started at Gilroy’s course and went on to other jobs in the industry. That’s a wonderful tribute to Donny in itself and a testament to his character as a boss.
Konni and Kassi, mom and daughter owners of First Street Coffee, are the same way, and I say that from observation over the last few years and from once-removed experience since daughter Mariah works there. Miss Mariah (see photo) turned 18 (gosh, it’s hard to believe) on Thursday and Konni and Kassi threw her a little 9 a.m. coffeehouse par-tay. Such a nice warm touch from a pair of upbeat bosses who treat their employees and their customers with care. The atmosphere there really is like a neighborhood “Cheers” – the famous TV-show bar in Boston where “everyone knows your name.”
Pasquale Greco wants everyone to know his name. The candidate for City Council wasted no time in putting up two large campaign signs on Wednesday, Aug. 4, just a wee bit before the Tuesday, Nov. 2 election. The out-of-the-gate move reportedly ruffled the feathers of two candidates, but Greco simply put up the signs on the first allowable day. So, while it is early, the guy clearly wants to win and knows the rules of the game …
The rules of golf go out the window in scramble tournaments where everyone on a four-man team hits the ball, heads for the best shot of the four and repeats the procedure until the ball is in the hole. My point: You don’t have to be a great golfer to sign-up for the inaugural Tee-off for St. Joe’s Golf Tournament, a benefit for St. Joseph’s Family Center which truly assists local people in need with everything from baby food to emergency cash to keep the lights on. Lunch, dinner, golf, beverages and more for only a $100 donation on Friday, Oct. 8, at the Gilroy Golf Course. Give Lili “Bubbles” Armenta a jingle at 842-6662 to sign-up. MayorAl and his lovely wife Vilma have donated a Portuguese dinner for eight to the auction. The menu includes: São Jorge cheese, Alcatra, Terceira Style (a slow roasted meat cooked in a clay pot from the Azores) and Cataplana, (a variety of fish, clams, scallops and shrimp cooked with a broth in a copper domed pot from mainland Portugal.) Definitely going to be in on that bidding war.
Oh, almost forgot … Steve Costa daintily upped my silent auction charity bid for a dinner offered by Dave Bozzo and Donny D at DeLo’s anniversary golf tournament by $1 … calling the Rotary Club sheriff – that’s a fine!
Fine, absolutely classic few minutes from a High Speed Rail meeting transcript devoted to Gilroy … featuring a Rod Diridon discussion …
44:00 Mark Ashley discusses problems in Gilroy with permissions to enter. Quite a few properties we’ve received the permissions to enter to do the environmental surveys but quite a few we have not. Some of these are very large properties – 50-60 acres ranches in the Pacheco Pass. There are big voids in the environmental survey, so we may need to come up with a way to cover that or regress that in lieu of permission to enter, and to otherwise be able to do those surveys or figure out how to make do without them.
Diridon: is the permission to enter due to delivery or lack of cooperation of the land owners?
Daniels: I don’t know but I will find out.
Diridon: I know from attending some of the meetings down in the Gilroy area, there’s some – not animosity – I wouldn’t use that word – but there is some concern from the landowners that they perceive that the permission to enter letters – maybe that those are nothing other than to inspect, but to cause something more serious than inspect. It may be that we’re not communicating that to the landowner, and if we did we’d get their cooperation.
Note to Ron: Animosity is the right word. Suggestion to Ron: C’mon down, drop the meeting facade and go out to the farms, ranches and homes of those concerned about losing their land. Then you’ll at least have credibility.
There’s credibility in the growing effort to create synergy at the Garlic Festival between the outstanding signature dishes and our great local wines. It’s what Gourmet Alley should be all about.
