GILROY
– The organization that had its hand in creating the Garlic
Festival, the Visitors Bureau and other mainstays of Gilroy culture
is celebrating its own creation Friday.
GILROY – The organization that had its hand in creating the Garlic Festival, the Visitors Bureau and other mainstays of Gilroy culture is celebrating its own creation Friday.
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce turned 50 years old in 2003. At its annual start-of-the-year dinner Friday night, the chamber will pay special recognition to its benchmark age as new officers and board members will get installed and last year’s citizens and businesses of the year will be honored.
The event is being held in San Juan Bautista at the San Juan Oaks Golf Club. Champagne, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction to benefit the chamber’s scholarship program kick off the evening at 5:30 p.m. The night will be emceed by Jon Voorhies, a former Gilroy Chamber of Commerce president whose late father, Firman Voorhies, was the group’s first president when it incorporated in 1953.
“I think it’s nice having the son of our first president guiding the night along,” Executive Director Susan Valenta said. “It adds a historical touch.”
Jon Voorhies is playing down his role in Friday’s event.
“I’m really just starting things off, handing off the mic and wrapping things up at the end,” Voorhies said. “But I’m happy to be involved. My dad was always involved in the community and he got a lot out of that. I’ve tried to do the same thing.”
Voorhies not only followed his dad’s footsteps into chamber leadership, the two men both found success in the insurance business under their firm Voorhies, Parrish & Hussar, Inc.
After dinner is served Friday night, the chamber will install its executive officers and board of directors. Later, winners of the 2002 Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Large Business of the Year and Small Business of the Year awards will be recognized.
Man of the Year winner and Gilroy City Manager Jay Baksa is being honored for his dedication to the personal and professional development of youth and adults. Baksa has volunteered in more than 1,000 youth sports contests, is an active member of Rotary and was a founding member of Leadership Gilroy, another chamber offshoot which develops and educates budding and current leaders.
Jodi Heinzen will be recognized as Woman of the Year. Heinzen, a new member of the Gilroy Garlic Festival board and 10-year volunteer for the event, owns and operates an engraving company. She also volunteers for her church and Gilroy theme park Bonfante Gardens.
Greg Edgar is the Volunteer of the Year being honored. Edgar is a longtime Garlic Festival volunteer who usually is the lead person managing the safe operation of the beer booths, which fund more than 50 percent of the chamber’s operations. Edgar also has served on the Gilroy Unified School District facilities committee.
Energy giant Calpine Corporation is the Large Business of the Year recipient. The chamber is honoring the company for its clean and safe operation and donations to the Boy Scouts of America, the Gilroy Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Gilroy Gang Task Force and many other non-profit and charity groups.
Baskets by Design is the Small Business of the Year. Owner Sherry Allen, a retired dental hygienist, will be recognized for growing her home-based part-time venture into the incubator business at the Gavilan College Small Business Development Center.
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce incorporated in 1953, but the group had been promoting Gilroy as an agricultural center decades before, taking over the role filled by the Gilroy Promotion Society in the early 1900s.
Even though nostalgia figures to be most prominent Friday, Valenta said the event also is an opportunity to look toward the next 50 years.
“Every year we set priority goals. The Visitors Bureau, the Economic Development Corporation both grew out of the chamber’s priority goals,” the seven-year executive director said.
Valenta said the chamber’s biggest long-term focus is on promoting the revitalization of downtown.
“We’re great visionaries and we’ve been fortunate to carry our ideas into fruition,” Valenta said.
A shorter term goal, 2003 President Brigitte Nicholls said, is to improve communication with chamber members.
“We’re going to make a concerted effort to identify how to best meet our members’ needs,” said Nicholls, a vice president at South Valley National Bank. Among the ways of doing that, each board member will visit with chamber members one-on-one throughout the year to gather input, Nicholls said.
