Community

As a rock band performs Green Day’s 1995 hit song “Brain Stew” outside of a garage on Second Street July 15, people passing by slow down. A woman walking her dog across the street stops to listen as the drummer—his hair shaped into a mohawk and dyed metallic blue—bobs his head in rhythm with the song. A few teenagers whizzing by on bikes and skateboards stop dead to watch.

Thirty-three DNA slides. A roll of duct tape. Textbooks outside a shed. Clothes mashed up in a bag found nearby, covered with dirt, floor mat fibers, urine, skin cells and “little glass beads,” the kind used to paint reflective safety markings on roadways. Then there’s the rope, which had some of her hair attached.

The City of Gilroy Recreation Department and Gilroy Children’s Music Theater recently presented the production of “Disney Spectacular!” at Christmas Hill Park amphitheater.

Gilroy party-goers rang in the early evening Friday, July 11 at San Ysidro Park to the sound of deejay music, undulating zumba dancers and a cacophony of police sirens.

When Terry and Brit Ratto purchased Santa Clara County franchise rights for Texas-based custom burger joint MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, the local couple was determined to open their first location in Morgan Hill.However, convincing the lone star state big wigs at corporate headquarters that South County’s quaint, up-and-coming hamlet was the right spot was no easy task.“I thought it was absolutely perfect for the community because there’s a real need for it,” said Terry, sitting at a table alongside his wife inside the nearly completed MOOYAH restaurant located at 255 Vineyard Town Center. “Morgan Hill has some really nice restaurants and then fast food chains, but there’s not a lot of options in between.”The Rattos—who fell in love with Morgan Hill after moving south from Los Altos more than three years ago—will open the doors to their very first MOOYAH locale with a July 14 grand opening. The restaurant hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.“We love this community,” said Brit, a self-proclaimed gym rat who was turned on by MOOYAH’s healthier options of turkey and black-bean veggie burgers along with a variety of salads. “This is a great community. We love it, so we were adamant about opening our first one here.”The Rattos were so “bound and determined” that they put together a presentation—which included a Google image aerial view of Morgan Hill and the surrounding area—and then flew to Dallas, Texas to convince their corporate partners.They were given the go-ahead in August 2013 and signed their lease four months later at the 2,100-square-foot site located next door to Starbucks Coffee Company. Terry—who worked the previous 25 years as a commercial general contractor—acquired the proper building and health permits, and they started “Mooooooving in,” as the sign on their storefront reads.“We’re starting to get more excited each day,” said Terry, an horse-lover who owns nine competition cutting horses at his home that includes a small acreage off Watsonville Road. “Two weeks ago, we were more nervous than excited. But people keep stopping by asking when we’re going to open.”After opening the Morgan Hill store—where they have employed a local crew of 35 workers—the Rattos plan to open a second MOOYAH restaurant in Los Gatos by December and then a third location in South San Jose.“We really wanted to hire locally. We’ve got a great crew of young adults,” said Brit, who first had to eat at MOOYAH before allowing her family, which includes four children and six grandchildren, to be part of the franchise. “It had to be a restaurant that I would eat at.”Brit’s favorite is the veggie burger on a wheat bun (freshly baked daily) with lettuce, tomato and MOOYAH sauce, while Terry’s preference lies in a MOOYAH burger with Pepperjack Applewood Bacon, MOOYAH sauce, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos and fried onion strings as well as a side of sweet potato fries.“Nothing is pre-made. Everything is made to order,” said Terry, describing MOOYAH as a custom-burger place that provides a fast-casual, family-friendly experience. “Even the french fries, nothing stays more than two minutes.”MOOYAH, which has its own satellite radio station and short-circuit television channel inside all its locations, welcomes its younger patrons to draw with colored chalk on a “Moodle Doodle Board” while parents wait for their meals. There is a MOOYAH smart phone app and customers can place orders online for pick-up.The franchise, which opened in Plano, Texas in 2007 and now has close to 60 restaurants, is also known for its 100 percent real ice cream shakes that come in a variety of flavors, including Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms, Cookie Dough and Strawberry Banana.“We strive that this is going to be a great experience for you as a guest and for the people who work here,” said Terry, who also invested in a five-star San Francisco restaurant called Spruce. “We researched different businesses and about a dozen franchises before we visited a MOOYAH in Texas and decided that it was the business for us.”

Attendance was light for the first screenings of “Rocky IV” at the newly reopened Granada Theater July 3, but the nonprofit that recently reopened the downtown Morgan Hill venue has no shortage of plans to draw film, art and culture enthusiasts to the theater over the coming months. The Morgan Hill Granada Preservation Society is determined to show that the once thriving movie house can become “Morgan Hill’s cultural center” before the city and other regulatory agencies make a final decision on the former Redevelopment Agency property’s fate, according to the nonprofit’s film advisor Ed Milkow. The volunteer-run organization kicked off this effort just before the Fourth of July with screenings of 1985’s “Rocky IV,” which continued throughout the holiday weekend. The group chose the Sylvester Stallone boxing flick not only because its patriotic themes coincide with the celebration of America’s birthday, but also because it’s a “comeback movie.”“The Granada is kind of like that,” Milkow said. This week, the theater will present screenings of the 2013 international independent art film “Ida.” Future plans include renovating one of the Granada’s two theaters to accommodate a stage for live acts, a dance floor and improved seating, according to MHGPS General Manager Don Wapenski. The live side of the theater will include upgraded sound and lighting as well, and could feature musical acts, comedy shows or even live theater productions. The only currently active theater was recently upgraded with a 9.2-surround sound system and a digital projector, Wapenski said. The theater’s operators plan to keep the venue “fun and festive” with theme and costume events, such as a “zombie night,” where those dressed in costume get special treatment for a showing of a classic zombie movie. “And all the humans come in after the zombies,” Wapenski said. They plan to open the theater for seniors’ events, community and corporate events, screenings of other culturally iconic films and even a “bad movie night,” Wapenski said. Milkow added, “The main thing is we want people to come in and have a blast.” With an integrated audiovisual system that can give audience members or live presenters control of the picture and sound, the venue could even be used for school or other educational presentations, Wapenski explained. Churches could use the Granada on Sundays. “We’d like to support the community like that,” Wapenski said. The MHGPS has a temporary lease on the Granada Theater, which was closed as a full-time movie theater in 2006. The theater and the property on which it sits, including the Downtown Mall and Morgan Hill Cigar Company, is owned by a trust controlled by Santa Clara County and other taxing entities. The Morgan Hill RDA purchased the property in 2008, but it transferred to the trust when the state shut down the RDA in 2012 and forced local agencies to dispose of its property and other assets in a structured manner. The city plans to begin requesting proposals from developers for the Granada and Downtown Mall property later this year. City officials are in the process of marketing the property to a developer who will build a project in accordance with the Downtown Specific Plan—a multi-story development with retail or dining on the ground floor, with residences and offices upstairs. For more information on the MHGPS and to see a schedule of upcoming events, go to morganhillgranada.com.

Fifty-eight teenagers from around the world converged on the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. in June to experience something most law enforcement professionals only dream about: training where the nation's top federal agents train and learning in their classrooms.

When current inventory is reduced, Orchard Supply Hardware in Gilroy will close its doors to the public, according to marketing strategy director Roxanne Joe.

If there was one race that Tiffany Verbica wanted to win this year it was the Henry Coe 10K. She was determined to make her family proud.