You know it’s the holiday season when: Gloria Garcia already has
orders for more than 105 dozen tamales
– and it’s not even December.
You know it’s the holiday season when:
– Gloria Garcia already has orders for more than 105 dozen tamales – and it’s not even December. Ring her up on the Tamale Hot Line at Heavy’s Grill at the friendly Gilroy Golf Course – 847-2857. Troy, the proprietor who is Gloria’s son, will answer and make the delicious connection. Order at least a dozen more than you think. Gloria’s tamales are that good – and you can have lunch at the grill when you pick them up.
– When concerts dot the calendar like Christmas lights on the tree. Mark Dec. 5 down for the South Valley Symphony and Gavilan College Choir at the college theater. Christmas spirit carols for the whole family beginning at 4 p.m. Kids free, adults are $20.
– When the City Councilmembers start working out to make sure they can pull Santa’s sleigh at the annual downtown Holiday Parade. Festivities begin on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 5:30 in the heart of the city.
– When Phillip Robb’s outstanding high school choirs are gearing up to sing carols to raise money for whatever spectacular and well-deserved trip is on this year’s calendar. The 2012 itinerary includes Chamber Choir tour stops in Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest this April. The cool thing is you can book the carolers for your holiday party or just for a nice break for employees. Call GHS at 847-2424 and leave a message, you’ll get a call back from a student “booking agent.”
A booking agent is what 49ers head coach Mike Singletary needs. Week 11 49ers’ performance: pathetic. As I wrote weeks ago, Jed York ought to get busy and hire Jim Harbaugh away from Stanford. If you can win down on The Farm, you can win anywhere. Harbaugh has passion, smarts and the ability to motivate. He’s articulate, especially in the football vernacular and, perhaps most importantly, he’s great at evaluating talent and putting players in the right places to succeed. Plus, he has just enough “gunslinger mentality” to keep the opposition guessing.
Hard to guess which Oregon State team (hopefully, the one that beat the pants off USC last week) will show up Saturday down on the Farm when the Beavs take on Stanford. Back in the day when parents actually let their kids ride bikes to places, I used to ride mine to all the home Stanford football games. Section AA. All the games, save the Big Game with Cal, for $1 with the coupon from the back of the milk carton. So, it will be strange to wear the OSU orange-and-black to the game Saturday. But daughter Mariah’s in school there, and the loyalty, ultimately, lies with your family. Go Beavs!
That’s one of the things I’m so thankful for this year: Mariah having a great start to college. Corvallis is a wonderful college town, the grades are good and she’s happy and making the adjustments to a new life. That’s what it’s all about, wings for your children to fly.
There’s fly and there’s soar. Got this note from Jackie Stevens that caused one of those happy pauses in the midst of a crazy day: “After an excruciating three and a half month wait, the California Bar results were posted last night and I am overjoyed to announce that Megan’s name was on the “Pass” list. She has an offer with a law firm in Oakland and will be starting her new position in January.” Gilroy’s own Megan Stevens, who wrote a student column for us for a couple of years – is delightful, bright, motivated and now certified to practice law. That makes for a great Thanksgiving.
Having a first Thanksgiving with your first grandson, Jackson Sawyer, a healthy boy born on April 8, tops my 2010 thankful list. It puts a whole different perspective on things when your grandson is in your arms laughing as you playfully dance your way around the kitchen. Can’t wait to play whiffle ball with him in the backyard and teach him how to throw the jaw-dropping submarine pitch.
Speaking of submarines, thanks to former Gilroyan David R. Basch Sr. who lived here for 31 years. He sent me a short item from our sister paper, the Hollister Free Lance headlined: How a Japanese Submarine Cruised Through Gilroy During WWII.
(Q) Did a Japanese submarine travel through downtown Gilroy during World War II? (A) The day was Nov. 19, 1942. Called a “Tojo Cigar,” the 2-man sub on top of a flat-bed truck stopped for a few hours in front of Gilroy’s City Hall. The Imperial Japanese Navy’s midget submarine Haramaki 19 was captured by the U.S. Navy on Dec. 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor. It was in good enough condition for the U.S. Treasury to send it on a tour across the nation to encourage Americans to buy war bonds. After World War 2, the submarine spent the next 24 years as an exhibit at the Key West Lighthouse Museum.
After a chilly 29-degree morning, a visit to Florida’s Key West Museum sounds great. But since that’s only going to happen in my mind as a passing fancy, how about taking in the exhibits at Gilroy’s new Interim Center for the Arts at 7th and Monterey streets downtown. Hollister artist John Robrock, as well as an exhibit of works by Gavilan College art students, are on display through Saturday. It’s a whole new focal point for arts in Gilroy, so stop in and check it out before you wander over to lunch at the Garlic City Cafe and do some Christmas shopping at the Nimble Thimble and Gracie’s Antiques.
