Nine straight Central Coast Section wrestling titles for Gilroy
High. That’s an absolutely amazing accomplishment that truly is one
of the things that makes Gilroy great. Running a program for
student athletes that teaches discipline, sportsmanship and
striving for excellence is something the community should be proud
of. How about the Chamber Good Egg award for Coach Greg Varela for
continuing an amazing tradition?
Nine straight Central Coast Section wrestling titles for Gilroy High. That’s an absolutely amazing accomplishment that truly is one of the things that makes Gilroy great. Running a program for student athletes that teaches discipline, sportsmanship and striving for excellence is something the community should be proud of. How about the Chamber Good Egg award for Coach Greg Varela for continuing an amazing tradition? A lot of hype was given to St. Francis gunning to take Gilroy down before last weekend’s CCS meet in the newspaper up north, but afterward St. Francis coach Matt Danna said, “They look at the big picture, which is the state meet. Second here is fine with me.” Really? Don’t think so. But that’s what you say, I guess, when the other beats you galloping away like Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes. Now, hopefully Gilroy Golf Course Grill owner Troy Garcia’s idea to hold a golf tourney to help get a new mat for the GHS wrestling program will come to fruition.
Fruition has come to Gourmet Alley. After an extensive taste-testing process, the Gilroy Garlic Festival will be featuring a new dish concocted by Adam Sanchez and his partner in cooking crime, Ann Zyburra, who is also his partner in the new Milias Steakhouse going in at the former Harvest Time locale downtown. What’s a lavosh? “Think of it as a square tortilla only fluffier,” says Fest Prez Brian Bowe. “It’s fantastic.” Spread garlic aoili on the Armenian flatbread, add tri-tip, shrimp, a garlic-seasoned rice base and roll it on up like a burrito. Lavosh will be sold at the Alley. Past Garlic Festival presidents will be served the oh-so-lavish lavosh (couldn’t resist) at a Lavosh B’Gosh affair at Pam and Jeff Martin’s home later this month.
Now is better than later to apply for a college scholarship and there are many to be given in our generous town including five through the Gilroy Foundation: the Julio Mata Family $40,000 Scholarship; the Doug Stevens Memorial $1,000 Scholarship; the Gordon Kusayanagi Memorial $500 Music Scholarship; the Stephen Michael Stramback Memorial $500 Scholarship; and the Erin Kinkel Memorial $500 Scholarship. Details at www.gilroyfoundation.org. Every little bit helps when you’re trying to squeeze out dollars to pay for college.
It’s not fun squeezing blood from a turnip, either, as the Gilroy Unified School District Board is doing, but this is a time where pinching pennies should be a shared pain. When music and physical education programs are in peril, so should hefty car allowances for administrators be under heavy scrutiny. No, cutting $3 million from the budget isn’t going to be accomplished by cutting Superintendent Debbie Flores’ $600 monthly auto allowance in half, but it is symbolic. Trustees should keep that in mind as the budget cutting process continues.
Continuing are the fun open jam sessions at Station 55 in downtown Gilroy every Wednesday at 7 p.m. says Kersty Daniels. Musicians and vocalists, shining in styles ranging from rock to blues to country are getting together to perform, share ideas, learn and network with a creative group. Besides all that, it’s a great place to enjoy a midweek beer.
More than a case of bottled beer is about what the Habitat Conservation Plan for Santa Clara County weighs. It’s a whole new bureaucratic species all by itself – 2,600 pages ostensibly intending to “streamline” the development process. The HCP is the legacy left by wildlife agencies that painted former County Supervisor Don Gage into a corner at the time in order to get the U.S. 101 widening project through the bay checkerspot butterfly roadblock. Right now, it looks like a “deal with the devil.” The Gilroy City Council should really take a long look at this before making an “agreement” to pile this on top of the city’s agricultural mitigation plan. Who on the Council has read the 2,600-page document? If you haven’t read it, and can’t explain it in detail, how could you vote to approve it? Any landowner in South County should make it a point to attend a Q&AQ session (that means more questions than answers) Wednesday, March 9 on the HCP hosted by the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau at 6 p.m. at the Morgan Hill Grange, 40 East Fourth St. Stay tuned for further details this fall.
Coming to the forefront was our story on the bunny rabbit rescue from the waters of Uvas Creek Friday. ‘Twas such a weighty forefront subject that it fetched a first-ever – a two-page letter to the editor from Police Chief Denise Turner. OMG, chief, we didn’t try to make the PD look bad on the wittle wabbit story. I’ve walked beside the Uvas plenty when the water rises and I think the two young men who waded in – regardless of how geared-up they were – are nuts. There’s so much debris in Uvas when the water rapidly rises it would be easy to become impaled and seriously injured. Not too many years ago, the SC County Sheriff’s helicopter and the sheriff’s Swift Water Rescue team were involved in plucking someone from the Uvas, quite a big to-do and expensive, too. So, I get it, I understand … yet, is it that big a deal?
Bad deal: Remember when the city spent $1 million of DeBell Family money to clear the bamboo from Uvas Creek and form the waters into a lovely “S-shaped” serpentine oasis. Farmers and old-time Gilroyans chuckled and shook their heads watching the busy bulldozers buzz around the creekbed that summer. Then a busty winter storm blew in and the rains washed away the $1 million like notes whistled into the wind. Ah, the beauty of bureaucracy.
Reach Editor Mark Derry at
ed****@ga****.com
