Poets celebrate
In February 1995 about 15 persons, including children, gathered in Gilroy’s Garlic Festival Store and Gallery to read poetry to each other and chat about what was read. That was the first of 240 open poetry readings that have been held once a month under the rubric of Garlicky Group of Poets.
Over the years, readings venues have varied – coffee shops, bookstores, and for many years the Gilroy Library. The procedure though has remained fixed. Participants sit around a table and take turns reading, if they feel like reading, whatever poetry they have brought with them. Often it is poetry they have written themselves.
Often it is not. In either case, comments and related conversation are in order as people see fit. The atmosphere remains relaxed and cordial. After an hour and a half the group disbands.
In the late nineties, there was a period in which the group’s founder, Ed Nauss, enjoyed little company beyond a few stalwarts. San Juan Bautista’s Carroll Briggs, actor, playwright, poet, proved a supporter par excellence until his demise in 2011. Today the number of people being reminded of the next scheduled meeting is in the teens.
For many years Nauss was solely responsible for advertising, then “chairing” open readings. Today that responsibility is in the hands of three other South Valley poets –Brenda Cherami, Sue Guist, and Ed Ferri. Their group effort is dedicated to making the second Saturday, 3:30 – 5:00, a special part of each month.
The 241st meeting is at 3:30 Sat., Feb. 14, at the Gilroy Library. There is no fee and people of all ages are invited to participate.
Edward Nauss
Morgan Hill
Thank you
I wanted to take the opportunity to extend a huge thank-you to the Gilroy community for their support of the 2014 Gilroy Holiday Parade. What an outstanding finale to our fantastic downtown event calendar! We are so grateful to our wonderful sponsors for their generosity and support, especially our major sponsors: Recology, Pinnacle Bank and S.L.E. (Structure, Leasing and Engineering, Inc.). Without their support, this community event would not be possible. The planning committee and Downtown Association must also thank our other event sponsors: the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, Lisa Faria/ Coldwell Banker, the Hilton Garden Inn and Heinzen Manufacturing for their commitment to our community and our event. We also had support from a number of other businesses and organizations within our community: the City of Gilroy, Petco, Mango Street Kids, NorCal Portables, Out and About Magazine and Cresco. And thank you to the Gilroy Dispatch for all of the coverage leading up to, and after the parade as well.
In addition, the volunteer roster needed to produce an event of this magnitude is phenomenal. Special thanks to Sue Thurman, Lisa Cassara, Mark Turner, Jane Howard, Mayor Don Gage, Dr. Greg Martinez, Dr. Eric Cohen, Dr. and Mrs. Phil Buchanan, and Larry Mickartz for their tireless efforts and unending smiles through a long day.
Many thanks to the Gilroy Youth Commission for being part of the crew who pulled Santa and our special Grand Marshall, Johnathan Spencer, and his family.
A million thanks to our special Santa and Mrs. Claus for their patience and hearts of gold. We are looking forward to your visit from the North Pole next year!
We had wonderful vendors, including the Parent Clubs from Antonio Del Buono, GECA and Pac Point, as well as the CHS Interact Club, who worked so hard on behalf of their school organizations.
I have to send a personal thank you to the Spencer family: Rebecca Spencer White, Keith and Jennifer Spencer, James White and Elijah Lopez. We are so blessed that you’d share your precious family with our community, and Johnathan was the perfect Grand Marshall. Thank you for including the City of Gilroy on a little bit of your journey.
We had 36 community groups and organizations participate in our Gilroy Holiday Parade this year and we were thrilled with the effort put into each and every entry. In addition, we had six incredible acts perform on our Main Stage, as well as a record 15 Doggie Dress-Up participants! Thank you to each participant, organizer, parent with a camera and all of our supporters. You are exactly what makes this community great!
Lastly, the efforts of our planning committee need to be highlighted. Thank you to Albert Lambert, GDBA Board Members Elsa LeDon and Brian Dauenhauer, and volunteers extraordinaire Geri Zerbini and Kersty Daniels. You are important pieces of our Gilroy puzzle.
We are so thankful for this community.
Melanie Corona
Downtown Business Association
Watchdog press
I am looking forward to watching the Gilroy Dispatch newspaper as it grows under Jack Foley’s guidance and leadership.
It is my opinion that local newspapers have an important purpose. It not only provides local news and advertisements, but as the 3rd rail of our governance, it is considered the community watchdog over “City Hall”.
Over the last couple of years, we have seen communities such as the City of Bell, whose elected officials were corrupt to the tune of millions of tax dollars; some who now reside in prison.
Unfortunately (and in my own opinion), over the last few years in Gilroy, I believe we have had to suffer an out of control and politically corrupt press.
It was a great concern of mine that “us” citizens of Gilroy had to be watchdogs over the watchdog, if only to insist on having a level playing field during the course of the last few election cycles.
Also, as candidates begin expressing talking points, I hope the Gilroy Dispatch will fully inform the voters of them; including an honest critique for the voters to consider
An example of this would be: Should a candidate suggest that he/she wants to reduce the percentage of the cost for public safety from 80 percent to say 60 percent, I would hope the Gilroy Dispatch will press for a full accounting for how the candidate intends on doing so.
I feel that there are very limited means for doing this and just saying this to the voters might be a good sound bite, but the folks need to understand all the ramifications.
In this case, I can see three ways to reduce costs:
1. Increase taxes to increase the proportion of money in the general fund relative to the costs of public safety.
2. Reduce the cost of public safety by eliminating jobs and benefits or reducing services (which I feel would put our city in a very precarious and dangerous position).
3. Do nothing—because it was only a talking point to get votes.
I mention this above example only because it was recently commented on in the Gilroy Dispatch; but there will be many others and I hope attention will be paid to them for the voters to consider; under the wary eye of our “watchdog press”, the Gilroy Dispatch.
Ronald L. Kirkish
Gilroy
Boondoggles galore?
We should add to (the) list of bankrupt boondoggles:
County Transit, “Free Lite Rail Shuttle,” Big Boondoggle
Lite Rail, Big Boondoggle Caltrain, and Bigger Boondoggle
Amtrak. Why do taxpayers have to pay for all these politicians’ wasteful, bankrupt, insolvent transit fiascoes?
Joe Thompson
Gilroy
Unions or no?
American voters and Republicans want to do away with labor unions, the groups that brought Americans the eight-hour day, living wages, 40-hour week, the weekend, sensible pensions and more safety in the work place. The GOP believes that employers always use the Golden Rule when dealing with employees, so unions are not needed. Voters and the GOP want to destroy unions for the same reason: “unions help the middle class and the poor.”
Frank Crosby
Morgan Hill
