Scores of Gilroy residents and business people gathered at San
Juan Oaks Golf Club Saturday to celebrate local heroes and pay
homage to their hometown.
Check out a photo slideshow of the Chamber awards at the bottom of this story.
Scores of Gilroy residents and business people gathered at San Juan Oaks Golf Club Saturday to celebrate local heroes and pay homage to their hometown.
Honoree speeches at Gilroy Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Spice of Life” Awards event ranged from thank yous to calls for community advocacy, but all focused on the attributes that make Gilroy a tight-knit community.
“The spirit of Gilroy is the American can-do attitude,” Woman of the Year Libby Lai said.
Lai was one of four people, two businesses and an organization that were honored at the chamber dinner. The event attracted 264 attendees in formal attire, including city and county leaders, local residents and business owners and friends of honorees.
Bowls filled with garlic and hot peppers served as table centerpieces for the spice-themed evening awards event. Short documentary-style videos accompanied each of the honoree presentations, and every honoree received standing ovations.
A video on John Tomasello, Gilroy’s man of the year, included an old photo of him in an apron proclaiming, “Sicilians are Sensational,” at one of the early Gilroy Garlic Festivals. Tomasello – owner of Tomasello Flooring and Window Coverings and contributor to various community events over the years, including the Gilroy Downtown Business Association and the Downtown Specific Plan Task Force – described his passion for downtown as he gave his acceptance speak.
“Our goal is to promote positive awareness of downtown and to make it a place for everyone to enjoy,” he said.
Similarly, Lai was vocal about her passions and glad to see that the community was passionate about them as well.
Lai was instrumental in starting the Costco reading program locally, and she has been involved in the Gilroy Exchange Club, the Gilroy Visitors Bureau and the Gilroy Sister Cities program among other activities. She also has served on library boards at the city, county and state levels.
Lai touted her local community during her speech, saying Gilroy is amazing for hosting the Garlic Festival and for the way in which people have lined the streets to honor local deceased soldiers.
“Gilroy is just a really small-town community that has a lot of good feeling,” she said.
Karen Riso, the Firman B. Voorhies Volunteer of the Year, also focused on Gilroy’s positive attributes as she accepted her award. Riso, whose red jacket matched her dyed bright red hair, owns The Engraving Company and has designed the Good Egg award and Youth High Five award plaques. She also co-chairs the Garlic Festival’s chicken-stir fry event.
She said she has enjoyed living and working in Gilroy and San Martin for more than 20 years.
“(Gilroy) is just a hometown community,” she said.
A spirit of volunteerism also helps Gilroy’s nonprofit of the year, St. Joseph’s Family Center, stay afloat.
David Cox, executive director of the St. Joseph’s Family Center, said volunteers donated more than 20,000 hours of service last year to the organization, which offers food and various services to local homeless and low-income residents.
Cox generally kept things light as he accepted the group’s award, joking that he was honored to receive the Man of the Year award. However, the tone was quite serious when he discussed Gilroy’s poverty issues.
“We can’t become immune to the realities facing our community,” he said. “Only by facing these issues with a unified approach, coupled with strong advocacy and determination for systematic change, can we ever hope to make an impact into solving the vicious cycle of poverty.”
Likewise, educator of the year, Las Animas Elementary School Principal Silvia Reyes, brought up local concerns when giving her speech.
Regardless of the cuts to the local school district budget, “the most important thing is how that is going to impact the children,” she said.
Reyes, who grew up as a field worker and formerly served as principal at San Ysidro School before taking her current post, had parents and teachers stand with her as she received the awards.
“I think we’re all educators,” she said.
Gilroy’s two business honorees both shared a concern for the community as well as financial success.
Small business of the year Blossom Valley Foods regularly donates items to local organizations including Gilroy Rotary Club, St. Joseph’s Family Center, Gilroy Exchange Club and Hope Rehabilitation. The company, which bottles private-label vinegars, salsa and salad dressings and creates nonalcoholic cocktail mixes, received cheers from attendees Saturday as a video mentioned its famed Pepper Plant sauces. The hot sauce has become a staple at many Central Coast restaurants and also can be found at many stores.
Company owner Bob Wagner dedicated the business’ award to his employees.
“The good news is that we were named Small Business of the Year,” he said. “The bad news is that we’re a small business,” he added in jest.
By contrast, Gilroy Premium Outlets, named Large Business of the Year, provides a substantial amount of sales tax revenue to the city and draws millions of visitors to the community.
The business also has contributed to the community in other ways, supporting nonprofit fundraisers such as Leadership Gilroy and the Tee Off for Tourism tournament, which benefits the Gilroy Visitors Bureau.
Although general manager Jeannie Omel could not attend Saturday’s event, she said in a video documentary that she was thrilled that the outlets could bring people to the area and direct them to other tourist attractions, such as local wineries.
Operations manager Kelly Woodall said Omel was the reason for the company’s success despite budget cuts, and he said the company strives for success.
“If anybody can make ‘Black Friday’ sound good, it’s the outlets,” he said with a smile.
Susan Valenta, president and chief executive officer of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, said after the awards dinner that she was pleased with the event and its community focus.
“This evening is a reflection of the Gilroy community to the people and to its businesses,” Valenta said. “It’s hard to create the words around it because Gilroy is such a great place and a great community.”
