Downtown business association to present resiliency awards
The Gilroy Downtown Business Association will present its Making Lemonade out of Lemons Resiliency Awards at its virtual Feb. 3 mixer.
New this year, the awards will recognize the efforts downtown business owners made in response to the many obstacles they had to endure over the last nine months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We typically just have a few award categories. This year we felt it was important to recognize and celebrate many of the amazing accomplishments and changes our downtown businesses have undergone in order to survive in this post-pandemic era,” said Nancy Maciel, the Downtown Association’s event coordinator.
While previous quarterly mixers planned for 2020 were canceled, the association decided that rather than cancel the mixer, it would host its first mixer of 2021 virtually on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 6pm.
Members of the GDBA board will be making a short presentation on the current plans and visioning for Gourmet Alley as well as presenting awards to recognize and celebrate the resiliency of downtown businesses.
To join the mixer, visit tinyurl.com/y52d683v. Attendees can also call in at 1.408.419.1715 or 1.408.915.6290 and enter meeting ID 180 074 032, followed by “#.”
For information, contact na***@do************.com or 408.842.0005.
Gilroy Assistance League accepting grant requests
The Gilroy Assistance League is now accepting grant requests that will benefit Gilroy youth organizations, programs and schools.
In 2020, GALs gave out $21,037 to various youth services, such as One Giving Tree, Community Solutions, Shining Star Prom, St. Mary School, Sportsman Chef, One Heart to Another, Gilroy FFA Boosters, DreamPower Horsemanship, Ascencion Solorsano Middle School and Parents Helping Parents.
A formal grant request proposal must be completed and returned by Feb. 26. Forms can be downloaded at gilroyassistanceleague.org.
The grant funds must be used only for schools, programs and youth organizations in Gilroy.
Funds will be distributed in late April.
For information, email Paula Goldsmith at pa*******@ch*****.net.
Gavilan College’s Children’s Theater performances now online
The Gavilan College Children’s Theater has released its fall productions for free online.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Children’s Theater was unable to allow audiences to view their performances in public.
Performances include “The Tortoise and the Hare, “The Oak and the Reeds,” “Hunter Maiden” and more. A how-to video is also included, so children and parents can learn to sing and dance along with the performers.
The list of free videos can be viewed at youtube.com/user/gavtv/videos.
Silicon Valley Reads kicks off Jan. 28
The Silicon Valley Reads virtual kickoff event will take place Jan. 28 at 6:30pm in partnership with the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley.
The featured panel includes Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Public Health Officer; Dr. James Doty, Clinical Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and Founder/Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University; and Usha Srinivasan, President of Mosaic Silicon Valley (formerly Sangam Arts).
There will also be an appearance from Dr. Vivek Murthy, author of “Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World” and former Surgeon General.
Registration for the Zoom event is required and available at siliconvalleyreads.org/events.
For the past 18 years, Silicon Valley Reads has encouraged people of all ages in Santa Clara County to read books and join conversations relevant to a theme. The theme for this year is “Connecting.”
The 2021 featured titles address relationships, nature, art, music, food and animals.
From late January through March, Silicon Valley Reads will offer more than 100 free virtual events for all ages including author visits, cultural conversations around art and music, children and teen events and more.
For a schedule of events, visit siliconvalleyreads.org/events.
