Say it ain’t so, Gilroy … is it really true that the city
employees who have volunteered for years (at least I thought they
were volunteering) to stage the Special Friends benefit golf
tournament the first Friday in June are attempting to move the
tournament date because the first Friday is a
”
Furlough Friday
”
at City Hall?
Say it ain’t so, Gilroy … is it really true that the city employees who have volunteered for years (at least I thought they were volunteering) to stage the Special Friends benefit golf tournament the first Friday in June are attempting to move the tournament date because the first Friday is a “Furlough Friday” at City Hall? Seems to me that would make it easier to volunteer … Moving the event to the third week in June from the date it’s been held on for 30 or so years puts the whole event in jeopardy. By June’s third week, students are out of school, graduations are over and many are on the vacation trail. Moving an event that has been stable for that long also jeopardizes past support, since it’s easy to drop something off the radar screen. Hopefully, folks will keep all that in mind while weighing a “Furlough Friday” against the $10,000 or so raised for a good, charitable cause.
Much better golf story is Dave Perez’s first hole-in-one. No. 9 at Gilroy, 180 yards uphill into a stiff wind. Dave hit an easy driver and it burrowed into the cup. Danny Wallace and Eric Kuwada were among the witnesses. The ace cost Dave dearly since it came during the league championships and plenty of duffers were more than happy to collect the traditionally free brewski paid for by the man of the hour.
Woman of the garden hour is Gilroy Landscape Architect Judy Hess who really took the sunflower by the seeds when it came to bringing this year’s great idea from the Leadership Gilroy Class of 2010 to fruition. Stopped by the Community Demonstration Garden downtown for a few minutes the other day with a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito from El Charrito Market in hand, and enjoyed the transformation. It’s quite impressive, well laid out, flowers and vegetables all over the space and volunteers busily pruning, weeding and growing. The whole concept, potentially, has “legs” – fresh food for St. Joseph’s Family Center, vegetables to sell to local restaurants, demonstrations for schoolchildren and local gardens and perhaps even the impetus for a successful farmer’s market downtown …
It’s the type of community project that longtime social advocate Dina Campeau, who is moving to Austria for a few years very soon, would be thrilled about. Dina, the type of person you’re always happy to see, stopped by the office to say farewell this week. She’ll soon receive a well-deserved award, the Gavilan College Community Spirit Award for being “a tireless force in the community, providing leadership to the South County Collaborative, spearheading the Substance Abuse Prevention Partnerships in both Morgan Hill and Gilroy, facilitating the Gilroy Homelessness Task Force and the South County Community First 5 Partnership, and representing South County on the Santa Clara County Homeless Collaborative Board.” She is indeed a positive force to be reckoned with and we’ll miss her in South County.
Hard not to miss is the ugly, the dilapidated, the pitiful, the horrendous pit of blight that has stood – well, not really stood, but rather crumbled for seemingly ever – at the corner of Fourth and Monterey streets. What a putrid eyesore it is, a chain-linked fence around a half-demolished building that looks like it was moved from Berlin to Gilroy just after the bombing in WWII. How ironic is it that the city has red tagged buildings all over downtown, but this abomination that detracts unmercifully from our downtown image is allowed to “stand” and sting our eyes and senses for years and years. Tag it, bulldoze it, pass a law to deal with such blight if necessary, but do SOMETHING. If a City Council candidate knocks on your door this weekend, ask them about it.
Asking the school district to do a little bit more when it comes to due diligence. When considering making a significant school attendance boundary shift, don’t just provide a map, provide a map that has street names on it. If a high-priced consultant is preparing the maps, insist on street names. If it’s a do-it-yourself project, take the time and trouble to place the street names. It makes for a far friendlier public when the information is easily understood.
Easy to understand while on the Passport Weekend trail Saturday why they make Spanish wines at Monte Verde Vineyards off Watsonville Road. Co-owner Alexia has Spanish blood and thus there’s a fine Albariño white and a big, mouth-smacking Tempranillo blend labeled Tres Amigos. The stop at Monte Verde epitomized what’s great about our wineries – super friendly hosts, interesting, well-made wines, beautiful setting in the foothills, unpretentious as a Chevy and reasonable prices.
Price is always right when the St. Mary’s School Men’s Club Bi-Annual Spaghetti Dinner comes around. There’s a whole lotta Italian behind that sauce that cooks all day. Mark Friday, Oct. 15, on the dinner calendar and head for the school gym at 15 First Street. Take out service – if you want to take it home and watch the Giants in the playoffs – begins at 4:30 p.m. Dinner from 5 to 8 is $8 for adults, $6 for children up to 15, Under 6 is free. It’s one delicious bargain. Tickets at the school office: 842.2827.
