Visit ‘Gilroy’ author
GILROY – Author Claudia Salewske will be making an appearance at the Wize Owl Bookstore, 8060 Santa Teresa Blvd., today from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Forty percent of the royalties from all sales of her book “Gilroy” will go to benefit the Gilroy Museum’s special fund. Details: 848-9090.
GILROY – The Gilroy High School Band will hold its “Winter Concert” tonight at 7, in the Gilroy High School Theater. The musical evening will be directed by Joey Fortino. The band will be performing music by Alfred Reed, Johan De Meij, Elliot Del Borgo and many others including some seasonal classics. Admission is free. Details: 847-2424 ext. 2287.
GILROY – Pacific West Christian Academy will perform two Christmas musicals at the South Valley Community Church, 8095 Kelton Drive. Today, children in kindergarten through second grade will perform “The Christmas Story” at 7 p.m. On Friday, Dec. 12, children in grades 3 through 6 will perform “Meet Me at the Manger” at 7 p.m. Admission is free. Details: 847-7922.
Holiday wine boutique
GILROY – Fortino Winery, 4525 Hecker Pass Highway, will hold a Holiday Boutique on Sunday, Dec. 14, from 1 to 5 p.m. Barrel tasting, mulled wine, gift baskets and 14 vendors displaying items will be available for last-minute holiday shopping. Bring in a canned food item and Fortino Winery will donate it to help feed the hungry for the holidays. Details: 842-3305.
Songs of the season
GILROY – The South Valley Symphony will hold its holiday concert on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 4 p.m., in the Gavilan College Theater, 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd. Maestro Henry Mollicone will lead the symphony in the premiere of “South Valley Fanfare,” an original work by Mollicone, and “Swan Lake Suite,” which will feature dancers from the Morgan Hill School of Dance. The Gavilan College Choir will also accompany the orchestra.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 55 and up and $7 for students 12 to 18. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by a paid adult admission. Details:
842-3934.
Santa in the park
GILROY – The Gilroy Police and Fire Departments are hosting Santa at San Ysidro Park, located at the corner of Chestnut and Murray avenues, on Wednesday, Dec. 17, from 1:30 to 5 p.m., in the recreation room. Visit Santa, enjoy free goodies, music and meet local police officers and firefighters. Pictures with Santa are $1. Details: Rachel at 846-0524.
A festive symphony
MORGAN HILL – The Morgan Hill Wind Symphony proudly presents its annual winter concert. The public is invited to celebrate the season with them as they present “A Festive Affair” performed on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m., at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse. Details: 842-6130.
News Items: Please fax local news items to City Editor Jodi Engle at 842-2206, e-mail to ed****@ga****.com or mail to 6400 Monterey St. Gilroy.
240 Palo Alto employees take three unpaid days
PALO ALTO – About 240 city employees will have to take three days of unpaid furlough in coming months to help trim the city budget.
The group, composed of managers and professional workers such as engineers, had earlier fought City Manager Frank Benest for the right to take voluntary, rather than mandatory, unpaid leave. But the number of volunteered days fell $38,000 short of the targeted savings of $327,000. Some employees were unhappy with the council’s decision. Leon Kaplan, the city’s director of arts and culture and one of the affected employees, said “$38,000 is not a lot of money. … In my view, it would have been a bigger gesture to recognize that a good faith effort was made.”
Little-known meteor shower on Jan. 4
SAN FRANCISCO – A little-known meteor shower, caused by fragments from a comet that exploded more than 500 years ago, will soon flash across the predawn skies over California, a comet expert predicts.
The display will be intense, with as many as 150 flashes per hour streaking through the darkness between 1 a.m. and dawn on Sunday, Jan. 4. Although the meteor shower comes every year at about the same time, it is rarely noticed because bright moonlight usually interferes.
The meteor shower is the subject of an upcoming paper by NASA’s Ames Research Center astronomer Peter Jenniskens.
Meteor showers are the bits of dust and grit that the sun’s heat has stripped from normal comets when their long, looping orbits have carried them into the solar system.
Great vintage car race to end in Monterey
MONTEREY – A 4,000-mile vintage car race will end in Monterey next year, organizers said.
The Great Race is the country’s oldest and longest vintage car competition. Car owners will travel across 11 states from Jacksonville, Fla., to Monterey. The exact course hasn’t yet been announced, but racers will compete over 15 days with 14 stops.
The approximately 100 competitors are expected to arrive July 3, and the winner will take home up to $50,000 from a purse of $300,000, organizers said Tuesday.
“It’s the sensible thing,” said Rick Johnson, executive director of the Old Monterey Business Association. “You take a vintage car race and you end it in a vintage town.”
