Community

Gilroyans hoping for a break from wintry weather could be in for

Lobo, the service dog and companion of 14-year U.S. Army veteran Jeff Wilson, was found dead on Interstate 680 Wednesday night after having gone missing earlier in the week.

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.”

This past month Eliot Elementary School on the eastside of Gilroy has been celebrating “Career Month.” I had a great time visiting as a guest speaker on the topic of writing. I was reminded of the TV show, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” as I interacted with the fifth-grade class.

Dustin Wolf was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for January.  Calgary Flames goalie Wolf won the award for a stellar month, in which he won seven games and racked up statistics of a 7-3 record, a 2.32 Goals-Against-Average and a .922 Save Percentage....

When local taxidermist Darin Filice received a phone call

There are thousands of dollars just waiting in a “community savings account' to be given to those who do good work in Gilroy.

Ever since Jenn Majdi went to Disneyland as a young child and saw the dazzling lights she wanted to find a way to bring the magic home.

The first Calabash Gourd Festival will be held on Oct. 6 and 7 at Uesugi Farms, 14485 Monterey Highway, San Martin. The festival is sponsored by the Calabash Club of Silicon Valley, a gourd patch affiliated with the California Gourd Society.

GILROY