Played a round of golf at Eagle Ridge recently with an out-of-town fellow in a funny hat, a real talker as it turns out. We shook hands, introduced ourselves and he said, “Do you fish?” Then I noticed the fisherman-style boots and pegged the hat. I have fished, mostly with a fly-fishing guide, but I’m not a fisherman. Never played golf with someone who yakked about fishing so much that I thought he was going to pull out a pole when we were teeing off on No. 12, the hole that runs around Santa Teresa Boulevard. Indeed, he went over, gazed across the pond and looked deeply into the water before proclaiming, “Yep, there’s bass in there, I’m sure of it, big bass, too.” In case you’re wondering, yep, he smacked a low liner right into the water – bait for the lurking bass. Saturday morning, you can do better. There’s the Third Annual Jeramy Ailes Fishing Derby to honor our own hero, Corporal Ailes, who was killed in Iraq. It’s at McAlpine Lake in San Juan Bautista. Registration begins at 6 a.m. with the derby from 7 to 11 a.m. followed by a BBQ and prizes. Cost is 13 and up $35, 12 and under $25, day pass with no fishing $17, 2 and under free. Funds go to the Jeramy Ailes Memorial Scholarship. All the fishy details are available at: mcalpinelake.com/jeramyailesmemorialderby.html. Get up early, bring the kids and honor Jeramy’s sacrifice.
No fishing to find a commuter train to the Garlic Festival this year. The Garlic Train will be running down the Peninsula to Gilroy once again, reports G-Fest Director Brian Bowe who says there are just a few details to work out. Mayor Don Gage gets the lion’s share of credit on this one, says Bowe, for working his relationship magic with the folks at CalTrain. The Garlic Train is a bonanza on a number of levels: big-time positive publicity, ticket sales, traffic reduction and a captive audience that spends all day on the grounds. Word is, even Gilroy Unified School District is going to pitch in with the transportation crew driving the buses from train station to the G-Fest grounds. Nice. Choo-choo, all aboard for a good time at the Garlic Fest ... oh, yeah, and having a few more glasses of local wine at the Rotary Club’s tent is no problem when there’s a conductor waiting to take you back to San Francisco.
Speaking of which, why not get some volunteers to sell train/G-Fest tickets with the Square One iPhone swipe-and-pay application – used so successfully at the Rotary Flower Show – at the Giants Garlic Fest Game on Friday, June 21 against the Marlins. Last year was a blast with the smell of Garlic Fest in the air at gorgeous AT&T Park. Could there be a better pre-game party? Get your special event ticket early and garlic down in McCovey Cove with fellow Giants fans a couple of hours before game time.
Garlic country music game on, too. Heartthrob Charlie Worsham, who has a top country charts hit titled “Could it Be”, will grace the stage at the G-Fest Saturday courtesy of KRTY country radio. That’s a real coup. For me, it falls into the “ain’t it a small world y’all” category. Miss Jenny, daughter Cayla who resides in Nashville and I, enjoyed Worsham at the small and famous Bluebird Cafe in Tennessee two years ago where he played in the round with a few other artists. Miss Jenny and Cayla tabbed him a sure-fire star right away and here he is climbing the charts and appearing right here in Garlic City USA. Undoubtedly, this will be the hottest stage appearance ever at our festival … just watch, country music fans, especially the ladies, will flock to the stage.
Since we’re on the music beat, don’t miss Reporter Carly Gelsinger’s wonderful front-page story today on our own Gilroy treasure, music teacher Phil Robb, who is retiring this year. Loved this former student quote in the story: “He makes people join that you would never see as the ‘choir type’,” Jake Day said. “At CHS and GHS, there was no choir type. It was full of jocks and all kinds of people. Mr. Robb made singing cool.” Now there’s an idea for a career-ending Pops Concert choir t-shirt fundraiser – a photoshopped likeness of Mr. Robb decked out in a tuxedo with shades on over the saying, “Mr. Robb made singing cool.”
Cool that the South Valley Running Club is hosting a low-key 5K/10K Run/Walk event Saturday at the Coyote Creek Trail just north of Morgan Hill. (Details: www.svrchome.org). Proceeds go to The One Fund Boston to benefit the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. Kelly Ramirez reports that numerous members of the local running club have participated in the Boston Marathon which prompted this effort. Runner check-in is at 7:30 a.m. Cost is a $10 donation and the club will match all donations up to $500 total. Sounds like a good Saturday plan.
My Saturday plan: to head down to Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero Day downtown, then head to the Latino Family Fund Tequila Tasting event. Cheers!
Reach Editor Mark Derry at ed****@ga****.com
