HOLLISTER
– San Juan Oaks Golf Club played host Saturday night to a
jam-packed banquet celebrating Gilroy’s finest citizens and
businesses of 2003.
The Chamber of Commerce held its 51st Annual Meeting Saturday,
installing its new officers and formally recognizing the recipients
of the 2003 people and businesses of the year awards.
HOLLISTER – San Juan Oaks Golf Club played host Saturday night to a jam-packed banquet celebrating Gilroy’s finest citizens and businesses of 2003.
The Chamber of Commerce held its 51st Annual Meeting Saturday, installing its new officers and formally recognizing the recipients of the 2003 people and businesses of the year awards.
More than 300 people – members of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce and other high-profile Gilroyans – attended the Mardi Gras-themed event that included a champagne and hors d’oeuvre reception, dinner and dessert inside the San Juan Oaks main clubhouse.
After receiving standing ovations upon their introduction, winners of the awards focused much of their acceptance speeches on the family, colleagues and fellow volunteers who helped make their success possible.
Man of the Year recipient Bob Kraemer gave an emotional thank you to his wife of 42 years, Joanne.
“She has many achievements of her own but less obvious is her handling the almost total load of raising our family,” Kraemer said. “Thank you for playing nurse and chauffeur to me following Vietnam. Thank you for making me look like I deserve to be here tonight.”
Kraemer is a former vice president for Gilroy Foods who has not slowed down in his retirement years. He is involved in numerous community organizations and activities. Among his more notable positions, he is on the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees and he is president of the Bonfante Gardens Board of Directors.
Woman of the Year Janie Mardesich spoke with humor and humility, two qualities she has become known for.
Mardesich said she was overwhelmed when she arrived at the country club Saturday night to find friends and loved ones gathered in one place and expressing their love and appreciation for her.
“The next time this happens, you’ll all be sitting in pews,” Mardesich quipped, bringing the room to laughter.
In addition to serving as president of the silver anniversary Gilroy Garlic Festival, Mardesich is a 17-year veteran festival volunteer. She also does fund raising for St. Joseph’s Family Center and is president of the Gilroy Foundation – the community’s premier scholarship and charity endowment.
Before award winners were introduced, the chamber formally installed its officers for 2004.
They are: President Greg Edgar of Morgan Stanley; Past President Brigitte Nichols of South Valley National Bank; President Elect Tim Day of Beneficial Life; Secretary/Treasurer Georgia Garfink of Container Consulting Service; Vice President of Public Affairs Jan Peat of McDonald’s; Vice President of Business Programs and Services Vilma Pinheiro of Caravelle World Travel; and Vice President of Special Events Erwin Boggs of A.E. Boggs Training.
Edgar, who was the 2002 Volunteer of the Year, said he will work to improve the chamber’s use of technology and its Web site as well as increase membership retention during his presidential term.
The chamber currently has more than 700 members, Edgar said.
As for the other award recipients, they were: Volunteer of the Year Tom Valenta; Large Business of the Year Ruggeri-Jensen-Azar & Associates; Small Business of the Year Mama Mia’s Ristorante Italiano; Business & Arts Partnership Award winner Calpine; and Educator of the Year Jenny Belcher, a seventh-grade teacher at South Valley Middle School.
Valenta, the husband of chamber Executive Director Susan Valenta, was honored for his year-round dedication. Valenta is a regular jack-of-all trades for the chamber when handy work needs to be done. He also runs the chamber’s beer concessions at the Garlic Festival and performs a variety of duties during the chamber’s Christmas tree lighting celebration.
During his acceptance speech, Valenta told the crowd how he got started in volunteering back in the early ’90s when his wife became executive director. During the Garlic Festival, Valenta was asked to pick something up in San Jose and return it to the festival. When he arrived, he was given a beer concession chairman’s shirt and was told he could stay for free. Later, when the chairman had to leave, he was given his name tag and put in charge. He has been volunteering ever since.
“Sometimes when you’re a volunteer it doesn’t really feel like you’re volunteering because you’re having such a good time,” Valenta said. “All of my closest friends are volunteers.”
Senior Vice President Arminta Jensen accepted RJA’s Large Business of the Year Award. Jensen said she was asked in her speech to address why the planning and engineering firm decided to come to Gilroy.
The bottom line, Jensen said, is that “Gilroy embraces its heritage while not shying away from its potential.”
The Annual Meeting does double duty for the chamber as a major fund raiser. Throughout the evening, silent and live auctions were held, with Christopher Ranch’s Don Christopher as auctioneer for the live portion.
Thirty-six products and services were sold in the silent auction. Four items and services, including four San Jose Sharks tickets from Chicago Title, were auctioned off live. The hockey tickets brought in a $700 bid, nearly double their actual value.
Total amounts of funds raised were not available.
