Community

The Gilroy Police Department was out in full force Tuesday evening for National Night Out, an annual event that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make communities safer, better places to live.

Tuesday at Gilroy Rotary, The Long Riders gave a wonderful presentation. The Long Riders Hepatitis C Project was created by Vic Ferrari, a HCV survivor, Frank Collison, an actor, and Steven Ferrari, Vic’s brother. They will ride the entire 2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail on horseback from Mexico to Canada. The mission of The Long Riders is to educate, inspire, and empower those who are suffering from Hepatitis C to get tested, treated and cured. They have partnered with the HCV community and formed an advisory board of Dennis Simon, the Founder and Secretary/Treasurer of the Hepatitis C Association and managing partner of Help.4.Hep, a non profit peer-to-peer help line with counselors; Ryan Clary, Executive Director, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHP); Wayne Gosbee, Founder, Linkage to Health, Inc. Emalie Huriaux, Direct of Federal & State Affairs for Project Inform. They’d like to raise funds to increase testing since 75 percent of patients don’t know they have the disease. They’ve created “Miles Per Test” program. Every mile ridden, they will raise funds to get 20 more people tested. Each test is $25 a test and their goal is 53,000 people. For more informationwww.longriders.org.

The first thing to catch your eye when you walk into the showroom of Checkered Flag Classics might be the sleek 1966 Corvette, or that yellow-with-orange-flames paint job on the 1940 Ford pickup, but the second thing is bound to be the price tag.

Fresh off multiple events that drew thousands to downtown Gilroy, a group of Silicon Valley tastemakers descended on the district Monday to walk back alleys and discuss opportunities while excitement runs high.

If ever there were a saint of abandoned and feral cats, it might well be Jill Rowlette.

Gilroy draws thousands of visitors for its garlic, but now virtual reality monsters are literally putting it on the map.

Saccullo’s Glass and Discount Surplus in downtown Gilroy was recently the site of a Hollywood film shoot. Producer Jordan Foley and his 50-person crew filmed scenes for Desolate, a dystopian tale about life after a severe drought. Owner Mary Saccullo said that Foley and his crew were nice and polite, but she was surprised to see how they transformed the store.

Not content with just “leaning in,” a new program launched in Gilroy this summer aims to close the success gap and equip young women and girls with critical leadership skills long before they send out their first resume.

Downtown Gilroy was packed with people on July 8, all hungry to sample from 10 food trucks at the inaugural Moveable Feast event at Fifth Street Live.Moveable Feast is a food truck collective based in San Jose. Making the trip to Gilroy last Friday were Akita Sushi, BBQ Kalbi, Brothers Gow Chow, H. Butler’s BBQ, Ketch It Seafood, Los Jarochos Grill, Siam Loco Wraps, Treatbot, Waffle Amore, and Grilled Cheese Bandits.“We were in line for a long time for the Korean barbecue,” said Yvonne Isles, who came with her family all the way from Los Banos. She said she’d heard of the collective because she works in San Jose, and got wind of the event through Facebook.“The Facebook Event page said that about 2,500 people were interested,” said Gilroy Downtown Business Association event coordinator Melanie Corona. “I think we ended up getting about 4,000.”The long lines didn’t deter attendees from enjoying the Fifth Street Live festivities.“It was like a massive block party,” said Moveable Feast founder Ryan Sebastian. “Families brought their chairs out, enjoyed great food, great music. A real sense of community. It was the best block party I’ve ever been to.”Food trucks were parked in Gourmet Alley and on Fifth Street between Monterey Road and Eigleberry Avenue. Morgan Hill-based band the Emphatics performed live while the crowd ate, drank and danced.According to Sebastian, Gilroy is the furthest south Moveable Feast has been in Santa Clara County.“It was the perfect storm for downtown Gilroy,” Corona said. “Amaretto had their annual fashion show, which is always a well-attended event. The District had a great band playing that night, and something was going on at Old City Hall. There were lots of complementary events happening.”Sebastian met some of the local restaurateurs and business owners downtown and said everyone was excited about the event.Corona said that the GDBA is always concerned with how the downtown businesses are doing.“We don’t want to take away from their success or their Friday night, but I don’t think that was a problem at all,” she said.Moveable Feast wasn’t the only business to turn a crowd. Restaurants like Old City Hall, the Milias Restaurant, and Garlic City Cafe were full houses—maybe too full?“I think it’s a good thing for Gilroy, but it’s on the wrong day,” said The Milias restaurant owner Adam Sanchez.Sanchez said that every Friday is busy downtown, and that parking is packed as it is. The long wait times at his restaurant caused frustration for all parties.The event could have significant economic potential for downtown Gilroy. And while there’s talk of continuing Fifth Street Live and Moveable Feast after the summer, nothing has been finalized yet.“We just had our first one so, we’re going to look at the first one or two to see, ‘Is this making sense? Is this making the live music series more successful?’” Sebastian said. “The answer is absolutely yes.”Corona is happy with how the inaugural event turned out. She said that two City Council members came out to help.“Roland Velasco was pouring beer and wine for us at our beverage booth, and Dan Harney brought his family down.”Corona is also grateful for how the community embraced the event.“People want downtown Gilroy to thrive,” she said. “That means we have a thriving and successful community.”If you missed it, you have another chance. The Feast returns Friday, July 15, starting at 5 p.m.

Nearly 20 years after plans for Gilroy’s largest housing development were first discussed, houses for the first four neighborhoods at the 309-acre Glen Loma Ranch are now up for sale.“It has been a very long process and we are really glad to see it’s becoming a reality,” said Augie Dent, project director for Glen Loma Ranch. “All the hard work is paying off to create a beautiful community.”Model homes for the first four of 17 distinct neighborhoods, named Ambrosia, Mataro, Zinfandel and Vista Bella, are now available to view. A grand opening was held June 19, featuring a Father’s Day pancake breakfast and guided tours of the glamorous, single-family homes.There are a total of 274 units in the first four neighborhoods.Starting prices range from the high $600,000s to the high $700,000s.Featuring spacious open plans, flexible room options, energy-efficient features, the homes range in size from approximately 2,113 to 3,740 square feet.Residents are expected to move in by July or later this summer, according to representatives from Brookfield Residential North and CalAtlantic Group, the project’s homebuilding partners.At full build-out, expected to be by 2020, Glen Loma Ranch will have 1,643 homes in all.“We are moving as quickly as we can to get more neighborhoods online,” said Dent.The economic downturn stalled the overall development. A Dispatch article from 2005 quoted Tim Felice, whose family has owned the majority of the land that is considered Glen Loma Ranch since the 1930s, as saying the first houses would go on the market by 2007.Nine years later, Dent said the downturn definitely had an impact.“It took time to get things back on track once the market started to recover.”The Glen Loma Ranch development has come with traffic improvements, including a new roundabout at Thomas Road and Luchessa Avenue, which was completed during the initial building phase.Work continues on the extension of Luchessa Avenue to existing Miller Avenue and a new roundabout at Santa Teresa Boulevard and Miller Avenue.Construction of some of the improvements is still ongoing, said Dent, including Cydney Casper Park, named after the former city planner who died in a motorcycle accident in 2007.Work on the park will begin later this year, he said.“It will be a big amenity for the whole city,” said Dent. “We have retained a whole bunch of open space [up to 150 acres] and trail network.”Looking back at the last 17-plus years of planning, which involved working with everyone from biologists and home builders to city staff and members of the local school district, Dent said: “It was really important for the Glen Loma Ranch team to make the plan something we can be proud of. With community outreach, working with various agencies, we are doing our best to benefit Gilroy as a whole and to make Glen Loma Ranch a special place to live.”