By Mary Anne McCarthy
Black ties all around, Saturday night at the Morgan Hill
Community Center.
South County socials and dignitaries gathered to honor George,
Gene and Gary Guglielmo. Leadership Morgan Hill, a charitable
organization created to inspire leadership in the community,
recognized the Guglielmos for their spirit of community and giving
by honoring them with the 2004 Leadership Excellence Award.
By Mary Anne McCarthy
Black ties all around, Saturday night at the Morgan Hill Community Center.
South County socials and dignitaries gathered to honor George, Gene and Gary Guglielmo. Leadership Morgan Hill, a charitable organization created to inspire leadership in the community, recognized the Guglielmos for their spirit of community and giving by honoring them with the 2004 Leadership Excellence Award. Most of the 225 attendees had experienced some level of generosity from the Guglielmo family and toasted the family with both Guglielmo labeled wines and Pedrizetti champagne.
The evening began with a silent auction of 50 generously donated items to help underwrite the Leadership program. Bidding on some items became competitive but mild compared to the underhanded techniques I’ve witnessed at Home and School Club auctions. Perhaps it’s the formal clothing that civilizes some.
Speaking of civil … obviously seated at three corners of the banquet room were Hedy Chang, Bruce Tichnin and city manager Ed Tewes, all of whom displayed amazing amounts of decorum. It must be the formal clothing.
DeAnna Miller added to her ensemble by wearing her auction item home. Miller won the bid on an elegant Carol Spence Carr evening shawl. Not afraid to show her colors was Mary Perkins of Morgan Hill, wife of Jeff Perkins, a South Valley Bank executive. Perkins was encouraged by her daughter not to wear her usual black but opt for a beautiful orange/pink gown. The color set off Perkins’s “Irish colleen” black hair exquisitely.
Not hired as the evening clown, but always entertaining, was fellow vintner Thomas Kruse. During his tribute to the Guglielmos, Kruse spoofed a misinterpretation that Gary wanted to marry the mayor of Morgan Hill’s Italian sister city San Casciano (in reality, Gary was just married by the mayor of San Casciano to his wife Ginger). Kruse went on as the Italian operator exclaiming, “This isn’t California, paisano!” Kruse explored the many facets of the relationship he has had with South County’s first family of vines. “They have been friends, mentors, creditors … creditors … did I mention creditors?”
At this point Gene yelled out before sipping more wine, “Don’t take a check from him, George!”
Music for the evening was provided by The Marotta Band with an awesome jazz violinist. The entertainment sponsor was a group known as the FBI – or Full-Blooded Italians. Mark Derry, Dispatch editor, and I are contemplating starting our own HBI – or Half-Blooded Irish (don’t ask which half).
Fresh from her encounter with a Diablo Range Mountain Lion was Davlyn Giovanetti, fiancée of Dr. John Quick. When asked when they are to marry, John smiled and replied sometime in February 2005 … on a beach in Costa Rica … naked. This constitutes way too much information, John.
First on the dance floor in his black Stetson hat (I heard whispers of men saying they wanted one just like it) was Joe Zanger of Casa de Fruita fame.
Laura Perry said what a lot of South County women have thought for years about the Guglielmo brothers, “They’re just good lookin’ Italian guys.” Perry attended the event with local real estate agent Gary Dickson or otherwise known to Perry as the “flavor of the month.”
Seated with Perry was Jodi and Ric Heinzen of Gilroy. “We’re terribly, terribly fond of the Guglielmos,” explained Mrs. Heinzen. Twenty-eight year residents of Gilroy, the Heinzens have experienced Gene Guglielmo’s hard work for the Gilroy foundation and the Rotary wine tent at the Garlic Festival.
John Laird, 21st District Assemblyman, attended the event as a local dignitary. Shutterbug Anita Mason and I fought for photo opportunities and finally snapped one of each other. Mason, many don’t know, is a descendant of the founding family of Murphy. Another candidate for our HBI club!
Proud to announce the expansion of the family, Mama Madeline Guglielmo beamed when she told the crowd her granddaughter Cristina Guglielmo-Maggetti is due in March with her first great grandchild. (Marrying a Maggetti I’m guessing the baby will be a candidate for the FBI’s)
The only drawback to a wonderful evening was the poor -tasting entrée of lukewarm swordfish, tough beef (no steak knives) and burned beans. My suggestion is to forget about hiring the Los Gatos caterer and treat us to the cuisine of Tony Garcia, the new owner of Giancarlo’s (he does cater). Just to reboot my taste buds, I went to Garcia’s quaint little Morgan Hill restaurant and found extreme satisfaction in his filet special with prawns. It had a scrumptious reduction sauce – and a steak knife!
At the close of the auction, Bob Martin, president of the Leadership board, announced a net profit of $48,000, $10,000 of which would be targeted for the permanent endowment. Congratulations to the Guglielmo family for winning the 2004 Leadership Excellence Award. Salute!
Ciao for now.
