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There is no doubt that even our generally pleasant South Valley communities are impacted by the presence of juvenile gangs. Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Hollister all suffer from varying degrees of violence, intimidation and graffiti. Perhaps a strategy being used in a neighboring city could help alleviate this situation here.

The audience at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse received South Valley's Civic Theatre production of “Fiddler on the Roof” - the final production of the season - with well deserved kudos. If this is an example of what is coming next season, run – don't walk – to purchase next season’s tickets. This was an extremely well done show with an excellent cast. This wonderful piece of theatre is reincarnated with exuberance and energy, and is a joy to watch.

On our little cul-de-sac we have a Fourth of July parade that harkens back to “the good old days.” Young and old participate, and multiple generations of families show up. At eight years in the neighborhood, we’re the newbies on the block. But my grandchildren have participated the last few years, so even the newbies are spanning the Independence Day ages. Decorated vehicles, animals and people – accompanied by decked out wagons, bikes, horses, donkeys, tractors, tricycles, scooters, dogs, chickens, Big Wheels, roller skates and more – show up to socialize, enter a category like “Bikes Under 5” and parade the street led by Master of Ceremonies Nick Zukowski. It’s a blast, a hoot, a slice of Americana pie and it reminds me of how proud we all should be to live in this great country.

Something new is coming to South County. The United Methodist Bishop for our area, Warner Brown, has decided to try a co-pastoring experiment with Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Pastor Eric Cho of the Gilroy United Methodist Church (founded in 1853) was recently transferred to serve the Fresno Korean Fellowship in Clovis, CA, where a bilingual Korean-speaking pastor was needed.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has a large presence in the South Valley. With multiple wards (congregations) in South San Jose, Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Hollister, the LDS Church plays an important part in the local communities. Recently, the Gilroy location of the Gavilan Spanish branch was announced, giving more opportunities for Spanish-speakers to take part in LDS worship and other activities.

What makes the Gilroy community attractive to so many artists? Almost every artist I have spoken with has mentioned the beauty of our land and our family friendly atmosphere. After living in Santa Cruz for four years, artists David and Dyanne Hofstad looked for a place to raise their two young sons. They settled in Gilroy and have lived here for more than 20 years, their sons now 24 and 28.

“A Minister’s Wife” has been transposed from Bernard Shaw’s “Candida” into a musical that makes for interesting theatre.