Community

The grand marshal of Monday’s Memorial Day parade in Gilroy is Korean War veteran Robert Diaz, who served two tours of duty with the Marine Corps.“I enjoy the parade and have watched it every year,” said the Gilroy native and commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6309. “It’s a real honor.”Diaz has been a regular at the parade and he’s humble about serving his country.“It was the right thing to do,” he said of his decision to enlist in 1951. He joined his brother and other Gilroy classmates in military service.During the war, Diaz worked as a photographer and lab technician, producing maps that were used by fighter pilots to locate enemy targets.Still reticent to share details of his military service decades later, Diaz said specially modified planes fitted with cameras would leave base in the early morning hours to take pictures of enemy territory. Returning some hours later, Diaz and his team would develop and print the film. The images were then used to create detailed maps of enemy targets.Diaz’s two tours were from 1951-1952 and 1953-1954.He was discharged at Treasure Island and within months, met his wife, Teresa.“I got out in March, met my wife in June and got married in July,” he said.They would go on to be married for 42 years, raising four children together. When he returned from the Marine Corps, Diaz worked in the local canneries.“Everyone worked in the canneries,” he said. Diaz later worked at the FMC plant for 19 years before retiring.Teresa passed away and Diaz lives with his son Gary and grandchildren, Teresa and Garon—a soon-to-be Gilroy High School graduate who has already voiced interest in joining the military.On Monday, his family will join thousands of spectators as they watch Diaz, escorted by the VFW honor guard, lead the solemn Memorial Day procession.“Our family is always there,” Diaz said.

Rich and Linda Sotelo’s love of classic cars brought them more than a room full of trophies—it led to romance.The San Martin couple, who will have their 1955 Chevy Bel Air in Gilroy’s Memorial Day parade and on display at Christmas HIll Park, met 34 years ago driving in their cars and talking on CB radio.For those born after Jimmy Carter was president, citizens band radio was the chat room of choice before internet chat rooms. It was a walkie-talkie-style radio where strangers communicated while driving. Now, they are mostly seen in old Burt Reynolds movies and still used by long-distance truckers.Rich and Linda talked on the radio before they met in person. They were among a group of Gilroyans who chatted on the commute up Highway 101, getting traffic reports from a man who was in a tractor baling hay on the side of the road in Morgan Hill and would alert CBers, saying, “Traffic backed up way back there.”Rich, 73, went by the name “Slapstick,” after the candy bar of the same name. Linda called herself “Nicky,” just a random name taken from her upstate New York upbringing. They would talk on their commutes from South County to Silicon Valley. She was a quality control engineer at Memorex and he was a facilities manager for companies including GE and Quantum.What they call retirement, some might call work. Rich spends three hours a day taking care of his collectible cars, which include a 1941 Chevy Special Deluxe and a 1970 Volkswagen Beetle convertible. No water from a hose has touched them. He cleans and shines them all with a water-free compound.Both travel to car shows all through the summer, everywhere from American Graffiti gatherings at the Kohl’s parking lot in San Jose to big shows in Reno. Unlike some collectors, who are so fussy they won’t even drive their cars, Rich and Linda use them them to get around, round, round.Rich bought his 1955 Bel Air when he turned 55 because that was the first car he ever drove and he was nostalgic for it. He’s also had a 1923 bucket Model T, a 1931 Model A and a 1957 Chevy pickup.“You can’t keep them all,” he said. He stores them in portable tent structures on his property, he said, because it’s too hard to get a permit to build another garage.Everywhere they go they meet other car lovers.“We’ve met so many people who have become such good friends, like brothers and sisters,” said Rich. “It’s not about the trophies. It’s about having people look at the cars who love cars.”What’s different about classic car lovers?“They have personality, they are a lot friendlier,” said Rich. “We congregate a bit more. If we talk to someone and find out he has a car and we have a car, that’s a real bond. Even a wife won’t tear us apart.”In this case the hobby brought this wife and husband closer as they travel all summer, often to shows that benefit veterans. Rich served in the Army Airborne Division as a drill instructor in 1964 and 1965. When she asked for air conditioning, he put it in. When she wanted power steering, he did the same. He was more interested in comfort than authenticity.“There is something different about car people,” said Linda. “They sit around and they appreciate what you have because they know what it takes to get it looking like that. We’ve gone to some car shows and people were in the trunk of our ’31 Chevy. No appreciation. They were sitting in the car, playing with the radio. You don’t do that.”They do have some more recent cars, including a Honda SUV, but they don’t hesitate to drive the classics around town and around the state.“If we wanted to go to Ukiah, we go,” said Linda. “If you want to go to Oakhurst, we go. You want to go down to Paso Robles, we go.The say the old bench seats are much more comfortable than today’s buckets. And they love the metal construction of the old cars, as opposed to the plastics in today’s.They’ve added other artistic touches, including pin stripes, hand etchings, a commando mascot doll and dream catchers, which is a theme Rich likes.“Chasing dreams is important to people,” he said.

Gilroy’s Memorial Day is a family tradition that draws thousands to a series of events throughout the day; it’s also a labor of love for the handful of volunteers who put it on each year.

Star in a Local Movie: Gilroy’s Children’s Musical Theater is holding auditions for a summer program to teach students to make a movie and then to make one. They are casting local youth ages 8-21 to recreate Broadway's greatest moments on film in "Broadway Movie Musical." Thursday, May 26th, 4-6:30pm. at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center 17000 Monterey Rd. Rehearsals are 4-7:30 p.m. Thursdays June 2 – July 28. Filming is August 11-14.

Of the seven Gilroy school board trustees, Patricia Midtgaard has perhaps the finest of lines to walk when it comes to Measure E, the $170 million school bond proposal on the June 7 ballot.

Hundreds of people got their wine on celebrating the fruit of the vine in Gilroy Saturday.

More victims of Gilroy High School’s alleged sex-texting teacher have come forward, says the attorney for a teenage girl whose mother filed suit over school officials’ alleged failure to report and fire him in 2014 when obscene messages were sent to the daughter’s cellphone.

GILROY—Marilyn Gonzalez pushed her walker across finish line on the Gilroy High School track as she completed the 50-yard dash.

Gilroy's first chili cook off between police and fire departments set Gilroy ablaze Saturday as hundreds of people turned up to sample 21 types of chili.

Forget Garlic. Back in the 1950s and 1960s Gilroy was officially called “The Home of the Prune” and Chamber of Commerce publications urged people to “Eat More Fruit.”