Every January, the residents of Morgan Hill honor their own with the Celebrate event organized by the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce. The volunteers of Morgan Hill Access Television (cable channel 19 in Morgan Hill) will help with the Celebrate 2013 event that takes place at the Morgan Hill Community Center Saturday.
This year’s “Man of the Year” is Bob Snow, one of MHAT-19’s most active members and a founder, who owns Design Factory Graphics based in the South Valley. When he’s not building websites and creating graphics material for customers, he is giving his time to causes in the Morgan Hill community, including Leadership Morgan Hill, the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, the annual Toys for Toys drive and other organizations that make Morgan Hill’s quality of life exceptional.
Morgan Hill resident Cricket Rubino will be honored as the “Woman of the Year.” She serves as the facilitator of the Leadership Morgan Hill organization. She also is active in the weekly bingo games fundraising activities to help support Morgan Hill’s Senior Center.
Morgan Hill’s 2013 “Educator of the Year” is Bonnie Tognazzini, an administrator with the Morgan Hill Unified School District who has helped to keep schools fiscally balanced.
This year’s “Student of the Year” is Jennifer Gonzalez, an Ann Sobrato High School senior who is involved in the South Valley, including the successful annual Project Roadmap event that helps young people – especially those first in their families to attend college – learn what is required in the often bureaucratic process of getting into a four-year university.
The 2013 “Volunteer of the Year” is Persis McGinn, an employee of WG Construction, who is active in giving of her time and energy in making Morgan Hill a better place.
Rounding out the honorees is Smart Products of Morgan Hill, which is this year’s “Business of the Year.”
MHAT-19’s volunteers will be active in making sure all the guests of Celebrate 2013 have a fun time. At the 2012 event, the Chamber allowed us to try something different – video presentations of the honorees projected onto the large screen at the Community Center’s Hiram Morgan Hill Room. We did this to control the amount of time presenters had to introduce the honoree – keeping the presentations to about two minutes long. It also enabled people in the back of the room to more easily hear and see the presenters.
This year, MHAT-19 volunteer Teresa Widdowson recorded six presentations: Amy Osako-Aochi introducing Snow; Theresa Kiernan introducing Rubino; Superintendent Wes Smith introducing Tognazzini; Claudia Rossi and George Flores introducing Gonzalez; Leonette Stafford introducing McGinn; and Mark Jernigan introducing Smart Products.
Morgan Hill resident and businessman Jim Carrillo, an active MHAT-19 member, will serve as the master of ceremonies of this year’s Celebrate event. Carrillo is a member of the Morgan Hill Toastmasters and the National Speakers Association. He brings a light-hearted style to make the spirit of the Celebrate event as entertaining as possible. If you’re attending Celebrate 2013, you’ll no doubt enjoy his quick wit and some fun surprises he has planned.
Guests arriving at this year’s gala will get the “red carpet” treatment much like the Academy Awards night in Hollywood. Morgan Hill residents Barbara Ristrim and Marty Cheek will do short TV interviews with arriving guests to help create an ambiance much like celebrities arriving for a grand event. Look for these interviews on the MHAT-19 station in the future – or online.
Many people in the Morgan Hill community give generously. The six honored at Celebrate 2013 represent the spirit of Morgan Hill. We at MHAT-19 congratulate them.
