Search to replace former executive director won’t begin until
after July event
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – He will not be in attendance this year, but Richard “Dick” Nicholls will be in the hearts and minds of many at the Garlic Festival.
The 27th annual event will be dedicated to Nicholls, who served as executive director from 1986 until his death June 15 from pancreatic cancer.
Festival President Jen Speno said the dedication will honor Nicholls in a subtle way. She said the festival needs to strike a balance between recognizing Nicholls for his indefinable contributions to the festival over the years and Nicholls’ own modesty. He was known for crediting the volunteer board and 4,000 volunteers on the ground for the festival’s success.
The dedication to Nicholls also must be sensitive to his grieving friends and family, and to thousands upon thousands of festival visitors who will be attending the festival this year, most of whom do not know Nicholls’ name, Speno said.
“We realize that this is still very painful for the family and (are) trying to find a balance for the family and for our guests who are coming from out of town,” she said.
During opening ceremonies shortly after the first guests come through the festival gates, several speakers will be invited to share memories of Nicholls, who grew up in Morgan Hill and was a longtime Gilroy resident.
Speno herself will kick off the festival at 10am Friday, July 29, at the Cook-Off stage with her own comments about the man who presided over the festival for nearly 20 years. Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage also will speak, and the opening ceremony committee may select others, Speno said.
A page in the Garlic Festival program will be dedicated to Nicholls, titled “Farewell … Garlic 1,” that features his picture and a brief biography.
Also, the Chamber of Commerce and one anonymous business have reserved space near Gourmet Alley in which they will place a tribute. Speno said she and the groups are currently designing the poster-sized space that will be located on barricades near the alley. Portions of the barricades were made available for advertising space this year.
“We don’t want to make it a memorial, and I know that Dick wouldn’t want it to be a memorial,” Speno said. “But we want to remember Dick as well.”
Nicholls was one of three paid employees of the non-profit Garlic Festival Association, and during his tenure saw the festival grow from a local draw to an international one, securing Gilroy as the Garlic Capital of the World.
He died following a three-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
Speno said the association is not yet preparing to look for its next executive director.
“Right now our focus is putting on the festival,” she said.
Speno herself is one of many volunteers who have been working year-round to prepare for the three-day festival. From July 29 to 31, more than 4,000 volunteers working to benefit local non-profit groups will collect tickets and hand out food to the more than 100,000 expected visitors.
Each year, the association holds a dinner to celebrate the festival’s success and the work of its volunteer board of directors.
“We will have a more formal dedication at the annual association dinner,” Speno said.
