Resident works tirelessly to ensure seniors enjoy their golden years
Published in the Jan. 22, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
2014 Man of the Year John Tarvin in front of the Senior Center.
John Tarvin has a passion for senior citizens. He and his wife Linda Tarvin’s dedication to this segment of our community’s population earned him the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 Man of the Year honor.
The Tarvins moved from Garland, Texas, to Morgan Hill in April 1979 when John was transferred to California while working as an engineer for Silicon Valley company Avantek. Tarvin and Linda were impressed with the quality of life in the South Valley community, even though it meant a daily 30-mile commute to his Santa Clara office. In 1988, he left the high-tech world to start with his wife a local printing business called Hot Spot Printing. About that time, he and Linda became more active in Morgan Hill.
“We got involved with the Chamber about six months before we opened our business,” he said. “I got on the board, and Linda became an ambassador and we got really active. I was chair for a year.”
Because of their two children, Jay and Jennifer Tarvin, the couple also became involved with the local YMCA and Tarvin was on its board of managers for six years. He also joined the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill where he was on the board of directors for five years. Last fall, Tarvin joined the Morgan Hill Community Foundation’s board of directors.
After the Tarvins sold their printing company and retired in June 2009, they found that they had more free time to be involved with the local community. The couple visited the Senior Center at the Centennial Recreation Center and were impressed with the quality of programs and services available through the partnership between the city of Morgan Hill and the Mt. Madonna YMCA. Unfortunately, at this time, the decline in the economy forced the County of Santa Clara to cut funding for various senior services. The YMCA formed a committee to look at ways to keep the center’s services available for local seniors. The Tarvins became involved just as the city cut the budget for senior services. At one point, about 100 seniors held a protest rally in front of the Senior Center.
To spotlight the cutbacks and their impact on people, the Tarvins produced a short video that was put on the Internet and broadcast on Morgan Hill’s public access TV station. “In the process, we interviewed 12 seniors,” Tarvin recalls. “When we sat down and talked with these people, one of them goes, ‘I get up every morning because I know we’ve got the Senior Center and I can go down there and see my friends. It gives me a place to go and something to do.’ And a lot of them come for just the nutrition program. We see seniors who will eat half their lunch and they’ll pack the other half away and take it home for dinner.”
To fill the gaps in funding for the Senior Center, the Tarvins, along with local resident Cricket Rubino and city and YMCA staff, formed a strategic planning group to develop a five-year sustainability plan which they presented to the Morgan Hill City Council. One fund-raising idea that came up was a weekly bingo game. A nonprofit group called the Friends of the Morgan Hill Senior Center (an umbrella group of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation) was set up to run the event. The first bingo night was held Jan.3, 2012 at the Community and Cultural Center. The popular Tuesday night bingo games have contributed thousands of dollars to financially support the Senior Center.
Susan Fent, director of programs and services at the Senior Center, said Tarvin has made a considerable contribution to helping thousands of seniors in the Morgan Hill region and he well deserves the 2014 Man of the Year recognition.
“The thing with John is that he has a perseverance that most people don’t have,” she said. “They’re not gifted with the amount of perseverance he has. And I think it’s because of his perseverance and his commitment to what he’s doing that he’s been able to make the progress for our seniors that he’s been able to make… He doesn’t do it for the fame. He’s the kind of person that likes to be under the radar.”
