Recipients to be honored at Feb. 3 gala dinner
Recipients to be honored at Feb. 3 gala dinner
n By Tony Burchyns
Staff Writer
Morgan Hill – Gene Guglielmo and Carol O’Hare have been named “man” and “woman” of the Year for 2007 by the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce.
The pair will be honored along with other winners of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s annual community service awards – also known as Salute Morgan Hill awards – at a Feb. 3 dinner at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center.
The dinner starts at 6pm and costs $80 to attend. The ceremony also marks the installation of new board members for the chamber, which has been a presence in Morgan Hill dating as far back as 1950.
Since 1958, the chamber has in one way or another honored local residents for community service. The award was expanded about 30 years ago from “citizen” of the year to “man” and “woman” of the year, according to the chamber. Other categories have also been added.
Other Salute Morgan Hill winners include: Donna Walton, a third-grade teacher at Nordstrom School, who is Educator of the Year; Isela Banuelos, a junior at Sobrato High School, who is Student of the Year; and Ramona Etchebarne and Ida Williams, who are Volunteers of the Year. Additionally, Johnson Lumber has been picked Business of the Year.
As is normally the case, this year’s winners were selected by a jury consisting of last year’s recipients. More than 15 people and businesses were nominated, according to the chamber. Each winner will receive a plaque and a certificate signed by Morgan Hill elected officials.
Guglielmo, a Morgan Hill native who was a star athlete at Live Oak High School, is best known today for helping run the local winery that bears his family’s name.
His affiliations with organizations and community involvement include the Spirit of Morgan Hill Softball, Pony Baseball, Morgan Hill Unified School District activities and fundraisers, the Morgan Hill Historical Society, Gavilan College, the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, Mushroom Mardi Gras, Taste of Morgan Hill, sister cities and counties programs, Rotary Club of Morgan Hill and the Morgan Hill Centennial Committee.
O’Hare, a long-time advocate of education and literacy in Morgan Hill, is president of the Friends of the Morgan Hill Library and chair of the group’s Beyond Books Campaign to raise money for furnishings at the new library opening in 2007. So far, Beyond Books has raised nearly $100,000. O’Hare is past co-president of the American Association of University Women in Morgan Hill, a former docent at the Hiram Morgan Hill House, a member of the Morgan Hill Historical Society, a member of the chamber’s education council and a volunteer at the Poppy Jasper Film Festival.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@*************es.com.
