One of the harder working volunteers each year at the Garlic
Festival is Jim McIntosh, even though he only resides in Gilroy
part-time.
One of the harder working volunteers each year at the Garlic Festival is Jim McIntosh, even though he only resides in Gilroy part-time. During the week, he lives in Campbell closer to his work as a printer. But right now, he is very busy here in Gilroy getting others signed up to work the Festival. During the festival itself, he is available to answer any and all questions as part of the “host” corps, and he has helped many a lost tourist.
The Garlic Festival brings many different people together, and a lot goes on behind the scenes before the festival even begins. One example of group cooperation occurred as part of a gag gift. When Jim was signing people up as volunteers for the festival, he inadvertently told them they would be wearing vests that read, “Help Me.” The host volunteers are asked everything from “How high should you set the oven to bake garlic,” to “Why is the sky blue?” So in what was perhaps a Freudian slip on his part, Jim used the words “Help Me,” rather than “Ask Me,” which is how the vest actually reads. So a lot of joking began among garlic volunteers about how Jim McIntosh should actually wear the words “Help Me” on his back while working as an information volunteer for visitors to the Garlic Festival.
Finally, one time when Jim wasn’t around, volunteer Sue Sottilare had an idea: “Wouldn’t it be funny if we got Jim a bright yellow vest that actually said ‘Help Me’ on it and gave it to him for the festival!” All the nearby volunteers agreed it was a good idea, but no one knew where to get one. So expert seamstress, Monica Love, plotted to handmake the vest secretly while she was away camping, just before the Festival began. Only problem was, she hadn’t brought all the tools she needed for attaching the “Help Me” felt lettering. That meant a call home for delivery of some necessary supplies, but Camp Monte Toyon (in the Santa Cruz mountains) was out of reach of cell phone signals.
So a conventional phone had to be used, but on the night that Monica was going to call, Jim just happened to plant himself right near the phone. What to do? Then someone suggested that there was an outside phone that she could use; however, Monica didn’t have a phone card handy for calling. Just then, volunteer Don Londgren remembered that his calling card still had a few minutes remaining on it, which he offered to donate. So Monica went outside to call, only to discover that the phone was located in a darkly wooded area, where she couldn’t read the numbers on Don’s calling card. So then Katherine came out and stood ten feet away under an outside light and loudly shouted out the numbers (for all the camp to hear?) from Don’s calling card so that Monica could dial them and get her husband Andy to bring up the things she needed for Jim’s vest. Then local craftswoman, Jan Kubik, helped finish the vest, which was a big success. It took the cooperation of a lot of people behind the scenes to make this surprise gift come true, but it just goes to show the fun that is possible when Gilroy garlic volunteers get together. If you see a big teddy bear of a man at the festival who reminds you a little of Santa with a “Help Me” vest on, be sure to say, “Hi, Jim!” And don’t forget to ask him a question.
