GILROY
– In the midst of moving her family and home from Hood Lake,
Ore., to Vancouver, Wash., 1994 President Susan Guardino will put
everything on hold and head back to Gilroy for the 25th anniversary
garlic festival celebration.
GILROY – In the midst of moving her family and home from Hood Lake, Ore., to Vancouver, Wash., 1994 President Susan Guardino will put everything on hold and head back to Gilroy for the 25th anniversary garlic festival celebration.
After her husband, Leonard, retired from social work in 2000, the couple left South County with their now 10-year-old daughter Megan.
“It’s amazing how time flies,” Guardino said. “I remember being president and carrying Megan around with me to board meetings.”
During her presidency, Guardino’s daughter was named the “youngest volunteer” because of all the hours she clung to her mother’s side.
“It’s funny because other than mama and da da, her first word was ‘gar-leec,'” Guardino said.
During the Fourth of July parade that year in Morgan Hill, Megan got to ride along in a convertible with her mom and wave at the fans along the curbs of Monterey Street.
“It was so great having her in the parade with me,” Guardino said. “She got to wear this tiny little festival T-shirt and have a garlic wreath on her little head.”
Being a mother of 1-year-old and having the title of President of a world-renown food festival was a lot of responsibility, but it wasn’t too much for Guardino to handle. With a credential in school counseling and a masters in psychology, Guardino has excelled in many challenging situations.
Before climbing the ropes to her presidency, Guardino was chairman of booths – and a very pregnant one.
“People could see me across the park,” she said. “I was huge.”
Guardino got involved with the booth committee by doing what most people do – working her way up.
As an employee of the Bridge Counseling Center for 12 years, Guardino volunteered her time through work, helping out with booths and loved it so much that she didn’t leave for years.
“The first time I saw this park it was just a park,” Guardino said. “After watching it go through the transformation into a festival I was absolutely hooked.”
After volunteering for the center, Guardino met up with Dave Bouchard, who was then in charge of booths and became a “lackey” – someone who was there to help out with what ever needed to get done.
From there she worked her way to assistant chair and finally chair of booths before claiming her seat on the Board of Directors.
“Being in charge of booths really prepared me for my presidency,” she said. “With booths you are running around the park all day long and you get an opportunity to see all the different things that go on at the festival.”
When she heard the news that she would be president, Guardino said she would have never imagined it.
“Just being a chair was a huge honor,” she said. “I never would have imagined I would’ve had the opportunity to be president.”
Instead of tooting her own horn, Guardino gives much of the success of her festival to the teamwork and support of the whole organization.
“These people are very admirable,” she said. “It is because of their cooperation and support that the festival has continued to be such a huge success.”
While most people think it’s the food and entertainment that keep the crowds coming, Guardino credits the community.
“The way everyone comes together and pulls this thing off is absolutely amazing,” she said. “Everyone works so tirelessly and keeps such high spirits. And they do it with a smile on their faces – it’s incredible.”
Guardino said one of the highlights of her presidency was attending the International Festival Association Conference, which was held in St. Paul, Minn., that year.
“We had won so many awards and, it was amazing to see how people held our festival with such high regard,” she said. “We were sort of the creme de la creme of the seminar.”
