The speeches are being memorized, the silverware is being polished and the bar at San Juan Oaks Golf club is being restocked. It’s time to tip our hats to the 2013 “Spice of Life” awards recipients.
On Saturday night, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce will honor the people, businesses and nonprofits that have put their hearts and souls into making their communities the best they can be.
The 2013 Man and Woman of the Year have been in Gilroy for significantly different amounts of time, but both stand as role models for the wider community.
Man of the Year: Sig Sanchez
It’s hard to imagine what can be written about Sig Sanchez that hasn’t already been put down on paper. His life story reads like an American classic: Spanish immigrant parents, working the land with his family, a pivotal conversation with a mechanic in Gilroy who persuaded Sanchez to join him on the City Council, and more than five decades of public service for Gilroy and its environs.
At 92 years old, Sanchez still cuts a dashing and imposing figure. His dual success in agribusiness and politics are legend. It’s almost a surprise he hasn’t won “Man of the Year” already.
Sanchez, however, doesn’t see it that way.
“I was a little surprised. It’s an honor and I respect the fact that they nominated me, and that they’re going to recognize me,” he said.
The former Gilroy mayor joked, “all these accolades are being issued because I’ve been around so long. If you want to be recognized, just live a long time,” he chuckled.
Sanchez’s self-deprecating humor does nothing to lessen the impact of his 55 years serving Gilroy and the south county region.
At the age of 89, Sanchez retired from the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board after a 30-year career. He served on the Gilroy City Council for five years and was also mayor for five years. If that wasn’t enough, he also served on the county Board of Supervisors for 15 years.
In light of his lengthy and impressive resume, however, Sanchez underlines his greatest accomplishment in Gilroy.
With five children of his own and 150 relatives, he values his family “as one of my greatest assets and greatest accomplishments.”
When asked about his work legacy, Sanchez highlights his time in office, work with water management and highway transportation. He worked on getting the bypass around Gilroy in the early 1950s, and helped lobby for the Morgan Hill/San Jose stretch of US 101.
But for Sanchez, being in office meant more than just dealing with the daily grind of lobbying and politics.
“What I really enjoyed when I was in office was assisting people,” he said.
Sanchez explained that one of the first things he told his staff was to treat everybody who came through the door with equal importance. It didn’t matter whether they were rich or poor; they all had a right to be helped by his office.
“I think I made a lot of friends along those lines, because I was a service-orientated person,” he said. “I never left my office without trying to return every phone call that had come in that day.”
Woman of the Year: Barb Granter
Sat in a conference suite at Gilroy Gardens, where she is Vice President and General Manager, Barb Granter, 55, beamed at the prospect of picking up her 2013 Woman of the Year award on Saturday night.
“I’m very excited. The first time I was aware of the ‘Spice of Life’ awards was very early in my time here when our chairman of the board, Bob Kraemer, was made Man of the Year,” she recalled.
Last year, Gilroy Gardens won the Nonprofit of the Year award, and now it’s Granter’s turn to step up on stage solo.
“I’m very honored, I think of it more as a responsibility. Once someone has said, ‘you’re a member of the community that we respect, or that ‘we appreciate what you’ve done,’ it puts you on notice that you better continue doing that,” she laughed.
Granter comes from Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the far eastern coast of Canada. She attended Queen’s University in Toronto and during her time there, became associated with a theme park called “Canada’s Wonderland.” She’s been with that same parent company, which operates Gilroy Gardens under a management agreement, since she was 25.
The parent company moved her to Las Vegas and then ultimately on to Gilroy. Since she arrived in 2002, Granter has been unstoppable in her drive for community betterment.
Though unmarried with no children, to her, all of Gilroy’s younger residents are her kids.
“I have 800 teenagers on property and that will do just fine,” she smiled.
Marketing Manager Daniel Martinez with Gilroy Gardens agrees the accolade is going to the right person.
“She’s a busy lady,” he said, of Granter. “She’s involved not only in Leadership Gilroy, but she’s here at the park putting in her long hours.”
“Weekends and holidays, she’s here with us as well,” added Martinez.
Eva Trenberth, HR operations manager at Gilroy Gardens seconded Martinez’s opinion.
“As soon as she came into Gilroy Gardens, she became very active in the community. She cares not only about the park, but also about what she can do for everybody else.”
To Granter, the award won’t be the pinnacle of her achievements; it’s a springboard to greater things.
“There’s a lot of work to be done on this property,” said Granter, “so that it’s here 15 to 20 years from now.”
Many people in Gilroy will be excited and relieved that Granter is staying around to continue working for the future of the community she now calls home.
