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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.

Could this bull market last with less help from the Federal Reserve? Is it propped up by the Fed's stimulus, or strong enough to sustain itself if the central bank reduces its efforts? Some factors hint that the economy and the market may have a bit more strength than assumed, even with Q2 GDP projections being tempered.  

Last December in this column, I laid down the Clouds Rest Challenge. I invited readers to join me on a tough 13.2-mile hike from Tenaya Lake (8,150 feet) to the top of Clouds Rest (9,926 feet), an iconic Yosemite peak. Back then, the July 13, 2013 date of the Challenge was a long way off. Not anymore.

The Morgan Hill Freedom 5K Run/Walk and 1-Mile Kid's Run is coming up on Thursday the Fourth of July. At 3.1 miles, the 5K, can be a challenging distance for many people, but veteran long-distance runners sometimes dismiss the 5K--it's even shorter than their normal warm-up. But the 5K is a challenging distance in its own right. It requires that the runner push him or herself faster than any other long distance race, yet it's very easy to over commit in that first mile to a mile and a half and have little or nothing left at the end of the race.