Published in the January 4-17, 2017 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Belle McCormick celebrates 110 years on our planet with two of her great grandchildren.
With the New Year just beginning, let’s take a look back at 2016 and consider that episode in the ongoing saga we call the Morgan Hill story. Considering the lessons of local triumph and tragedy we learned in the recent past will help us make wiser decisions as we take footsteps into the future.
We began the year with a front-page story in our Jan. 6 issue about a father’s love for his daughter. Tara Romero, 14, was killed in a gang-related drive-by shooting as she was waiting with friends outside the Village Avante apartments Nov. 4, 2011. Joseph Romero began a project to place a statue of the young girl called “Everyone’s Child” in the plaza between city hall and the library. He needed to raise $33,000 for the project, we wrote, and since then the community has helped him. Fundraising is now close to complete and we hope to see the installation of the art honoring Tara sometime in the coming months.
In our Feb. 3 issue, our main story focused on local Uesugi Farms owner Joe Aiello receiving the Leadership Excellence Award from the Leadership Morgan Hill organization. The story outlined his involvement in the South Valley community and his generosity in helping schools and young people. Aiello told us a big part of the company’s success was the dedication of his wife Katie Aiello to working as a team.
Our Feb. 17 issue focused on the debate over the Southeast Quadrant, a 1,195-acre area of land that the city of Morgan Hill had applied to the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to annex. The city’s stated intentions were to preserve the rural ambiance of the SEQ, but some individuals and groups questioned the viability of the city’s application. In a controversial decision, LAFCO commissioners decided not to grant the annexation, placing the future of this land in question. The city wanted to develop the land for sports and recreational facilities, but now farmers and other property owners will face increasing pressure to convert to residential estate properties, with a potential of 100 new homes on seven- acre parcels being built in the coming years.
In the March 2 issue, we published a front-page story on the tensions that rose in the South Valley over the proposed construction by the South Valley Islamic Community of the Cordoba Center on a 16-acre property the Muslim group purchased in San Martin. At a packed meeting at the Morgan Hill Community Center Feb. 26, various speakers brought up their concerns about the Muslim cemetery on the property which they feared might pollute the aquifer as bodies decomposed. Leaders of the SVIC said the center will abide by all environmental requirements for cemetery safety.
Another controversial story was printed on the front-page of the March 16 issue about the 275-space downtown Morgan Hill parking garage, a $12-million project the city built as an investment in the growth of downtown businesses. A small group of residents complained about one of the art works commissioned for the structure, saying “The Tarantula” — a 12-foot spider lit by headlights — by world-renown artist Gordon Huether would make people afraid to come downtown. Some also balked at the $165,000 price tag for the artwork. It turned out people were not terrified by the colorful spider and many actually come downtown to view it and snap selfies.
In our April 13 issue, we wrote about longtime Morgan Hill resident and former mayor Dennis Kennedy who died on March 28. The political leader helped shape our city into the family-friendly community that we all now enjoy, with various projects including the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, the Centennial Recreation Center and the Aquatics Center, which was renamed December 2015 in his honor.
In our May 11 issue, we wrote about longtime resident Belle McCormick who celebrated her 110th birthday on May 2. The supercentarian still lives in the small ranch property along Edmundson Avenue where she raised her family with her husband Bill when they moved there with their three daughters in 1951.
Our June 8 issue included a story on BookSmart leaving the downtown for a new site, with owners Brad Jones and Cinda Meister saying a sad goodbye to the city’s central district. Nov. 12, BookSmart celebrated a grand opening to show off to the public its new store at 1295 E. Dunne Ave.
Our July 6 issue of Morgan Hill Life published a story about the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open golf championship coming to San Martin’s CordeValle Golf Resort, with an expected 100,000 visitors descending on the region to enjoy seeing the best female golfers.
Dr. Kathleen Rose was the focus of our Sept. 14 issue’s lead store as she took on the role of president of Gavilan Community College, replacing outgoing leader Steve Kinsella. Rose promised that under her administration, the college would see a “new attitude of openness.”
The Oct. 12 issue offered our readers a two-part in-depth analysis of the local growth-control ordinances on the November ballot. Both Measure S in Morgan Hill and Measure H in Gilroy passed with solid voter approval, demonstrating that residents care about regulating the growth in the region to maintain a high quality of life here.
The Loma Fire that broke out on Sept. 26 in the Santa Cruz Mountains worried many residents on the potential of the blaze destroying property in the canyons west of Morgan Hill. Our Oct. 26 issue focused on the volunteers of the Santa Clara County Large Animal Evacuation Team working to move horses to safe locations from the flames.
We ended the year with two stories on downtown construction projects. The Dec. 7 issue told readers about the $50-million renovation of Britton Middle School, with groundbreaking expected in June with a completion before the 2019 fall semester. And our Dec. 21 issue celebrated the re-opening of the Granada Theater thanks to new owner Frank Leal renovating the historic cinema and turning it into a dinner theater venue.
We wish everyone in our South Valley community a happy New Year and look forward to sharing the stories of 2017 with all our readers.
