The “Barn Raisin” Barbecue to Save the Miller Red Barn, held June 29 at Gilroy’s Demonstration Garden, was a resounding success. Attendance was exceptional for the Miller Red Barn Committee’s first event.
The barn in question is on the ranch side of Christmas Hill Park, and was slated for demolition, but a grassroots group sprang up and convinced the City Council to grant a year for the group to investigate the barn’s heritage and condition.
In addition to preventing destruction of a barn the group strongly believes belonged to famous “cattle king” Henry Miller, they want to raise funds to repair the hole-plagued roof and collect ideas about potential uses for the barn and surrounding land. (Read about this, as well as other local barns by visiting the newspaper’s website, clicking on “Blogs” then on “Barn Again.”)
One of the guests at the barbecue was Stuart Scott, a local structural engineer, who joined Miller Red Barn Committee members on a city-led tour of the barn’s interior last month. He has completed a report that confirms the barn’s structure is in very good shape. It was likely built of locally-harvested, first-growth redwood.
More local talent was tapped to aid in raising funds and awareness.
Artist Scott Lance donated a beautiful painting he did of the Miller Barn. A limited run of 25 “giclée”—a special computer-driven process for fine-art prints—copies of the painting means several Gilroyans will have an opportunity to own a personal copy signed by the artist—three were auctioned at the barbecue. Scott is not only a very talented artist—samples on his walls show a mastery of styles from Impressionistic to photorealistic—he is also very civic-minded, previously donating an exquisite painting of Gilroy’s 1910 Carnegie Library, now the Gilroy Museum.
Delicious tri-tip and marinated chicken were accompanied by corn-on-the-cob, beans, garlic bread, salad and watermelon—all provided by Jeff Raby’s Fire 4 Hire.
“Sagebrush,” a trio of country/bluegrass local musicians, kicked off the entertainment with an array of tunes that kept toes tapping and kept alive the spirit of Gilroy’s legendary KFAT radio station. Following dinner, nine young musicians known as Mariachi Estelar came to the stage—schooled by Felipe Garcia of the Mariachi Academy of Music on Monterey Street. Many contributed when someone in the audience placed a bucket to gather funds for an upcoming statewide mariachi competition.
Live and silent auctions netted money to help save the Miller barn, with support from downtown merchants and donations from businesses such as Clos La Chance, Fortino’s and Rapazzini wineries, the Bike Center and Garbo’s Antiques. A surprise note was when Richie Chavarria of Garlic City Auction sold a desk from the long-gone Adams School to John Adams, descendant of the school’s namesake.
