GILROY
– One man’s devotion to his wife of nearly 20 years helped her
fulfill a dream she’s had since she was 16: To go to the Gilroy
Garlic Festival.
Growing up in New Jersey, Eileen Waddell was always a garlic
lover.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – One man’s devotion to his wife of nearly 20 years helped her fulfill a dream she’s had since she was 16: To go to the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Growing up in New Jersey, Eileen Waddell was always a garlic lover.
“It’s her essence,” said her husband, Kevin, who actually doesn’t eat much of the pungent herb.
A self-described news freak, Eileen’s eyes grew wide when, at the age of 16, she read about what would have been the 2nd Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. She made it her mission to some day make the trip out to California, if only to savor the stinking rose in late July. The dream was no secret to her husband.
“We met in ’82 and I’ve been saying, ‘We’ve got to go’,” Eileen said.
She’s even quick to spread the word about Gilroy, Garlic Capital of the World, to acquaintances and strangers. Friends Craig and Jean Miller said that while other people will talk about visiting Hollywood or San Francisco, Eileen talks about Gilroy.
So it’s no surprise that Eileen was giddy Friday, bouncing up and down and grinning from ear to ear as she recounted how her husband surprised her with a 3,000-mile trip from Maryland to Gilroy to attend this year’s Garlic Festival.
“I have looked forward to this – you don’t even know,” Eileen said.
“Just keeping it a secret was tough,” said Kevin.
He started planning his wife’s first trip to California in February. It would be an early 40th birthday present for Eileen, who will officially celebrate on Nov. 12.
By mid-afternoon Friday, Eileen was gushing over the festival fare, although she was a little reluctant to recount all that she’d eaten.
“Everything” was her favorite, she said. More specifically, Eileen said she couldn’t get enough of the escargot, garlic scampi, garlic bread and bruschetta. The garlic ice cream could use some more garlic, she thought.
Hearing of Eileen’s dedication to the stinking rose, festival organizers bestowed upon her one of the greatest Garlic Festival honors around: A chance to do a calamari flame-up.
As Kevin and the Millers watched with the Gourmet Alley crowd, Eileen shook the frying pan, dumped in the calamari and laughed as flames shot up toward the sky.
“That was exciting,” she said afterward, her eyes sparkling.
Eileen said she’s been to garlic festivals before, but Gilroy’s was always top-notch in her mind. And it lived up to the hype.
“This one is so well-organized: The trash pick-up, the recycling, the community,” Eileen said. “It was just great, the people were great.”
So is it safe to assume this Gilroy and garlic fan will be back next year?
“It’s not ‘if’, it’s, ‘When are the plane tickets available?,” Kevin said.
