Farewell to some great local guys
Gilroy lost some great guys recently, here are some ways to keep your memory fresh.
Jack Sturla: They don’t come any more honorable or knowledgeable than Jack. The Gilroy Dispatch and the South Santa Clara Valley Memorial District have each posted a video about Jack’s World War II service—part of the Stories of Service films created by Darren Yafai’s students. Go to youtube.com/watch?v=J3gGbpQRq6s&feature=youtu.be or youtube.com/watch?v=8SUBvLmy27g. You can see still photos of Jack and his late wife, Dorothy at lifeingilroy.shutterfly.com/5100 (when the “album” opens, click on each photo individually to see descriptions).
George Besson: He was also a veteran of World War II as a member of the Gilroy National Guard. He was the top sergeant when I was in the Guards in the early 1960s; I thought he was pretty cool because he didn’t impose all the gung-ho military meanness on us. You can see photos from the unit’s 1941 yearbook, a record of their training at Camp San Luis Obispo. Go to lifeingilroy.shutterfly.com/5083
George Parrish: With a twinkle in his eye, George could always make people laugh; he was a one-man joke machine. Here’s a photo captured from the 1950 film, Life in Gilroy—it shows a very young George Parrish at a Rotary event with his insurance agency partner, Fermin Voorhies.
To see more of this film, go to lifeingilroy.shutterfly.com/2986. By clicking on “Back to Albums,” you’ll be able to view all six sections of the film; if you know someone who was attending school in Gilroy in 1950, perhaps you can find their photo.
Roger Anderson: I didn’t get into his psychology class, but I was lucky enough to have him as my counselor and neighbor. He made school a more welcoming place, and it was always a pleasure to talk to Roger when we’d meet over the years. Most recently, I saw him at a reunion of the classes of the 1960s. When I was a college freshman unsure of what classes to take, Roger suggested anthropology—“What’s that?” I asked—it turned out to be one of my two favorite subjects and a lifelong interest.
Phill Laursen, Gilroy
Vote no on Measure F
I take offense at the article written on Sept. 19 by Chris Foy with the header “Mayor: Sales tax measure could help Gilroy prosper.”
Reading this, I thought the article would speak to the benefits of this 1/2 cent sales tax (Measure F on the ballot). But, it does not address how Gilroy could specifically prosper. On the other hand, it brings up opposition by a majority of the Chamber of Commerce and when I spoke with Eric Howard, owner of Bruce’s Tire in Gilroy, he explained to me what was written was taken out of context. He told me that regardless of if he trusts the city council or not is irrelevant and that any city council that would follow would not be beholding to how the previous council spends the annual revenue of $7,000,000.
Eric then stated “he is definitely against this tax, that it is bad for Gilroy, it’s bad for business, it’s bad for working families, it’s bad for the unemployed, it’s bad for everyone across the board except for the politicians that need more money.”
I agree that the money generated by this 15-year tax will need to be addressed annually by the city council … and all the city councils and mayors to follow. Mayor Gage says in the article that he wants flexibility to determine the public’s priorities and give the community what they want. Does this mean some of this tax money will be spent to annually survey the public about their priorities? At what cost? Keep in mind, over $100,000 of taxpayer’s money was spent on consultants to survey only 400 Gilroy residents and the result is this tax that will be on the November ballot. VOTE NO!!
Susan Mister, Gilroy
Porchfest Gilroy a success
The first ever Porchfest Gilroy was last Saturday. If you weren’t there on Hanna Street, you missed a chance to listen to several varied musical groups. And it wouldn’t have cost you a dime.
The grounding principle of Porchfest is that it is free. No tickets are sold and no musicians are paid. So it comes as no surprise that there were many people who helped.
A big shout out goes to our Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 6309 who, when they indirectly heard that we were struggling to find a way to pay for the liability insurance mandated by the City permit process, came up with a donation.
David Porcella at Porcella’s Music Store was first to accept our announcement flyers, and to encourage us in this new idea of free music on porches. Marty Anderson at JaM Pro Web Design built a web site for us. Out and About magazine was very helpful; the Gilroy Dispatch generously covered our story and mentioned the event in their free space for several weeks before the event; BookSmart and Bay Sierra Properties provided signs; the Printing Spot helped; and the Gilroy Arts Alliance helped us manage a donation.
All these contributors are, for the most part, small businesses and Porchfest Gilroy is proud to be the recipient of their community-minded assistance. Thank you.
Eileen Cuevas, Barbara Bottini and Carol DeSantis
Porchfest Gilroy Committee
