Wife Jenny, daughter Cayla, her friend Matt and I hosted a charity dinner Saturday night - one of those sold at one of the many Gilroy auctions. It benefitted the the Mexico mission trip that St. Mary's youth and parents go on every year to build homes for needy families in the Tijuana area. Good cause, and a good time we hope for Scott and Kathy Dockendorf, Cat Tucker and her husband Sean Geiger, Afonso and Clorete Almeida, Larry and Terri Naskrent and Father Dan. The fiesta theme was built around celebratory ideas from Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, and a cookbook/storybook penned by Frida's stepdaughter. Highly do I recommend a visit to view the current exhibit of Kahlo's captivating work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Her paintings are intensely personal, many are heartbreaking self portraits. Yet there's a determined, underlying joy that emerges in her work, born of a spirited soul which struggled with physical and emotional hardships. The message is to live, find love and fend off the bitterness yearning to claim your soul. Frida's husband, Diego Rivera, also a famed Mexican artist and muralist, has four treasured murals adorning San Francisco walls. The most famous is at The Art Institute of San Francisco: "The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City." Another is the Pan-American Unity mural in the Diego Rivera Theater on San Francisco City College's main campus. So, enjoy a day or a weekend in the City. You have until Sept. 28 to catch the Kahlo exhibit at SFMOMA and my favorite work of hers, "The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth."
Sticking with the arts my favorite summer books have been: "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein featuring heartwarming narrative from the point of view of Enzo, a mutt perhaps of terrier and golden lab mix, owned by an aspiring race care driver who slams into a wall of tough family challenges; "The Shack" by William Young, an engaging confrontation with the Christian Trinity (God) that delves deeply into faith questions in a very personal way via a story about a father and the tragic loss of his daughter; "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, a labor of love penned by a young dying professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has pancreatic cancer and is determined to live each precious moment and leave a life-lesson legacy to his children via his "last lecture" which, ironically and yet fittingly, will live on for quite a long time.
Speaking of books, and pardon the abrupt turn, but I just don't get it when we hear reports of students - sixth grade in this case - without books starting at one of our schools. Brownell Middle School parents have reported no books for many students more than a business week into the school year. That's kind of a basic, right? … no books, no homework, no early expectations. Who's accountable? We'd like to know. Every Gilroy student should have books on the first day of class. Period. End of story.
Labor Day will tell the story … the long weekend will test whether it's the end of a long, sad, stupid traffic tale on Highway 152 east of Gilroy at the Don Pacheco Y where for years Good Samaritan drivers have slowed to a crawl to allow other cars to make a left toward Hollister. The flyover fix opened Thursday - six weeks early - so the awful Pacheco Pass traffic, particularly messy on holiday weekends, choked the highway all the way to Gilroy and even backed up U.S. 101 should be alleviated. Cheers to Supervisor Don Gage and the VTA for getting this key project done … BART to Los Banos next - naw, just kidding …
All kidding aside, my neighbor Andy Ordons grows delicious tomatoes which have graciously ended up on our doorstep. These beauties, unlike those on grocery store shelves, taste like tomatoes and take me back to the summer days when I'd pick the vines with my Italian grandparents. Fresh-sliced tomatoes, mayo, good bread - nothing like a juicy tomato sandwich. Mangia …
And a second mangia to the relatively new Cafe 152 operated by partners Bruce Haller and Joe Marques. Good spot for a good meal with some inventive, but not expensive twists on American favorites. A nice spot for breakfast on the weekends - especially good biscuits and pancakes.
Not sure if you "pancake" the ball in cricket, but in answer to a reader's question I do know that we have cricket fields at Kirigin Cellars Winery off of Watsonville Road. Kind of cool to see the players out in their pearly white uniforms batting it around on weekends. Definitely worth a stop for a glass of wine and a look. The reader didn't ask, but no I don't think they could hit San Francisco Giants pitcher and Cy Young Award candidate (did I really write that in the same sentence?) Tim Lincecum … and I have to say it's a joy to root for the Giants sans Barry Bonds.
Don't think there will be any signed BB baseballs up for auction at the Gilroy Foundation soiree set for Saturday, Sept. 6, but the evening is always a marquis event. This year's theme, "An Evening with the Rat Pack," means live music and dancing at the beautiful San Juan Oaks Country Club, plus a great auction. Contact Leighan Perales at 842-3727.
Mark Derry Mark Derry is the executive editor of the Gilroy Dispatch. Reach him at (408)847-7010 or editor@garlic.com.
Although the Gilroy Dispatch does not have any obligation to monitor this board, the Gilroy Dispatch reserves the right at all times to check this board and to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to the Gilroy Dispatch in our sole discretion and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. The Gilroy Dispatch also reserves the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions. All threats to systems or site infrastructure shall be assumed genuine in nature and will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. Submission of any comments will be considered permission to use online or in print.
Stories of Service: Jeramy Ailes
