Published in the January 20 – February 2, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Robert Airoldi
Houdini
Maybe you’ve heard about the little white dog that has been running around Morgan Hill for months that has captured the attention of an entire community. We heard this from several members of the community and can now tell the story.
Several months ago, residents started posting sightings of the dog. The reports starting getting frequent and near the end of November, a small group of people started focusing on trying to help. It quickly became obvious that all the regular ways to capture him were not going to work. He would appear and disappear, hence earning the name “Houdini.”
After trying to track him on different Facebook pages, the efforts got more organized and funneled into one Facebook page “All Animal Morgan Hill.” Residents were asked to report every sighting in that one thread so a pattern/routine could emerge. The goal was to figure out where a trap could be set. A pattern was starting to emerge and then he disappeared. Not a single sighting for weeks. Everyone feared the worst.
On Christmas day, he reappeared, this time in a new area so everyone was asked to start reporting sightings again. The team wanted to move quickly as more storms were coming and Houdini was looking even more frail. Then on Dec. 27, he accepted food from a human hand, but he never got close enough to be caught. On Jan. 2, he was seen near the doorway of a gas station market. He had been accepting a nightly treat from them just inside the doorway of the store. Once the rescue team heard this, a plan was made to lure him into the store and to close the door behind him.
On the evening of Jan. 4, he was slowly lured into the market following a bacon trail and as he inched further inside the store, the door was quickly closed behind him. His rescuers slowly embraced him and he did not fight. He was finally safe.
He was given a bath and a warm place to sleep and then taken to a doctor to treat his injuries. A fundraiser for his expenses raised enough money to not only help him, but others in the future as well. Houdini is now in loving foster care and learning how to be a pet instead of just trying to survive. In the coming weeks, he will be ready to find a forever home. If you’d like to follow his story, you can find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Houdinithedog. What a great shaggy-dog story!
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Bill Tindall as “Truman Capote”
Bill Tindall is a hit in his one-man show “Tru” now playing at the Morgan Hill Playhouse. A unique production of the South Valley Civic Theatre, the producers decided to give the popular Morgan Hill actor a chance to do something new with the performance. The 1989 play by Jay Presson Allen was a runaway success that ran for 297 performances on Broadway. We got a sneak peek of Tindall’s embodiment of the strange and brilliant American writer Truman Capote. The set is a brilliant representation of Capote’s New York City apartment the week before Christmas 1975. A rear-screen projection brings it all to life with a panoramic “live” view of the New York skyline. Alone and lonely one night, Capote soothes himself with pills, vodka, cocaine, and chocolate truffles and muses about his life and career in a two-act monodrama.
“The emotional roller coaster the character takes the audience on is an actor’s dream — and playing this real person offers challenges that fictitious characters don’t,” Tindall told us. “Interpreting his appearance and physicality adds a whole different layer to the portrayal. And while I knew it wouldn’t be easy, I never believed it would be this mountainous a task.”
The play continues Jan. 22, , 23, 29 and 30. Visit South Valley Civic Theatre’s website at www.svct.org for details and to purchase tickets to see this entertainment and emotionally-vivid play.
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In a kingdom far, far away — and nowhere near Camelot, Shrek’s swamp or Santa Cruz – lives a king that is struck dumb, wizards past their prime, court jesters, battling sibling minstrels and a score of proper knights and ladies, all characters in the zany and festively fun ride that is “Once Upon a Mattress.” And this fractured fairy tale — based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Princess and the Pea” — plays at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday Jan. 22 and 23, and at 2 p.m. Sunday Jan. 24, at Hawks’ Nest Theater, Mount Madonna School.
Tickets are on sale now and are available at (408) 847-2717. Prices are $15 for adults, $10 for 18 and younger. Check out this great production.
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Morgan Hill residents showed their true spirit for the upcoming Super Bowl 50 game by braving the inclement weather and showing up at the Outdoor Sports Center to participate in a group spelling the words “MH (HEART) SB 50” on the main field. About 150 people were arranged in the letters and numbers and held their smart phones set to the color yellow above their heads. A drone flew overhead and took a photo from a bird’s-eye view of the people.
Pat Campbell and Claudia Rossi display smart phones in preparation for the Super Bowl 50 event
Participants were entertained by Motown-style singers “The Soul Sisters” and also the singer Sonic from the TV talent show “The Voice.”
The city of Morgan Hill collaborated with the Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance which runs the OSC.
Rich Firato booked the talent and told us it was a success in terms of the entertainment value.
“Morgan Hill received some great media coverage on the local news,” said Jeff Dixon, president of MHYSA. “KRON-4 did a great job covering the event and putting our great town on the map.”
