Work begins on Sports Park playground surfaces
The playground surfaces at the Gilroy Sports Park will be getting an update over the coming days as crews will be working to replace the rubberized surface located underneath the play structures and picnic areas.
To accommodate this work, the playgrounds, picnic tables and benches located within the playground area at the Sports Park were closed June 12.
The goal is to reopen the playground area on June 24, according to city officials.
All park visitors are asked to avoid the work areas to allow for crews to work and for the new surfaces to cure properly.
ABC Supply Co. opens Gilroy location
ABC Supply Co., Inc., the largest wholesale distributor of roofing and other select exterior and interior building products in North America, has opened a new location at 8211 Swanston Lane in Gilroy.
The location’s hours are 7am to 3:30pm Monday through Friday. Alexandrea Dionne will manage the new branch.
Since joining ABC Supply in 2021, Dionne has worked in inside sales in the company’s Santa Rosa location and completed the Branch Management Training Program. In addition, she has mentored and coached associates in the West Region.
Dionne holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Colorado State University.
“Alexandrea’s education and experience have prepared her well to lead the great team we have in Gilroy and give area contractors the excellent customer service that ABC Supply is known for,” said Matt Cooper, ABC Supply’s West Region vice president. “She and her team are excited to connect with contractors and make it easy for them to complete their projects by providing the knowledge, support and materials they need to grow their businesses.”
The branch’s phone number is 408.427.0570.
Local author pens new book on California’s pirate raids
Few Californians are aware that the state was once the target of a series of pirate raids. This overlooked period of early 19th century history is the subject of a new book by regional author William Briggs, entitled “That Pirate, Bouchard.”
The book recounts the adventures of the French-born privateer Hipolito Bouchard, who sailed for Argentina during the South American wars of independence from Spain. Privateers practiced a form of government-sanctioned piracy and Bouchard sailed around the world searching for Spanish ships and coastal seaports to plunder. In 1818, he attacked and burned Monterey before raiding Santa Barbara and sacking the mission at San Juan Capistrano.
According to Briggs, a former California State University communications professor and dean, Bouchard’s California raids didn’t yield much plunder, but they did demonstrate the weak hold Spain held on Alta California in the last days of the empire. Bouchard is revered as a national hero and Father of the Navy in three South American countries. But to Californios, he was “Ese Pirata, Buchar” (“That Pirate, Bouchard”), said with fear and scorn.
“He’s well-known in Argentina, Chile and Peru, as well as France. This may be the most comprehensive English language version of the story,” Briggs said.
The book follows Hipolito Bouchard from his early days as a seaman in the Napoleonic Navy, to his disillusionment at the French attempts to put down the slave revolt on St. Domingue (Haiti) and his decision to join the independence movement in Rio de la Plata (Argentina) as both a soldier with Jose de San Martin and as a privateer. Following his around-the-world voyage and raids on California, Bouchard returned to South America expecting a hero’s welcome, only to face charges of piracy. He found redemption serving the cause of liberty in Peru with Simon Bolivar, eventually becoming Admiral of the new Peruvian Navy.
“It’s a fascinating story of global revolutions with an important California connection and a very human central character,” Briggs said. “He was one of the last great privateers in the Age of Sail. For one week in 1818, the flag of Argentina flew over California.”
The book follows another of the author’s books of less-well-known episodes of the state’s history, “Badass Lawman,” the story of 19th century sheriff John Hicks Adams, published in 2022.
“That Pirate, Bouchard” is available online on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at local book sellers. The author will hold a book talk at BookSmart, 421 Vineyard Town Center in Morgan Hill, on June 24 from 11am to 1pm.
Moen named to UA Dean’s List
Allaena Moen of Gilroy was named to the University of Alabama Dean’s List for fall semester 2022.
A total of 12,791 students enrolled during Fall Semester 2022 at the University of Alabama were named to the Dean’s List with an academic record of 3.5 (or above) or the president’s list with an academic record of 4.0 (all A’s).
Lei named to Bucknell University Dean’s List
Jonathan Lei of Gilroy was named to the Dean’s List at Bucknell University for the Spring semester.
A student must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a scale of 4.0 to receive Dean’s List recognition.
Lei is studying chemical engineering at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa.
