Published in the November 22 – December 5, 2017 issue of Morgan Hill Life

Photo by Susan Brazelton
U.S. Army veteran and organizer of Morgan Hill’s Veterans Day celebration Eddie Bowers raises the American flag.

Thank you, Eddie Bowers. For more than two decades, the U.S. Army veteran has organized a Veterans Day celebration at the Veterans Memorial in downtown Morgan Hill, and this year could have been the best. Why? For one, Morgan Hill police blocked both lanes of northbound and southbound Monterey Road, which allowed everyone to hear the singers and speakers clearly and without the revving of motorcycles and trucks passing through. Second, since Veterans Day fell on a Saturday, the celebration coincided with the annual Veterans Day run.

Run organizer Charles Weston said it was fun and met all his expectations.

“But the most important thing was it maintained its reputation as a good, solid run,” he added.

Weston said final numbers won’t be in for a few weeks, but the group raised $12,000 in sponsorships and included 161 runners who paid anywhere from $15 to $55. The profits will be split between Freedom Fest (40 percent), Operation Freedom Paws (25 percent), a fundraiser in Taji, Iraq (15 percent), Wounded Warriors (10 percent), and Dreampower Horsemanship (10 percent). Great job, Charles and team.

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Angelia Guglielmo

The Guglielmo Family Winery announced that Angelia Guglielmo, the great-granddaughter of founder Emilio Guglielmo, has joined the winery. She is the fourth generation to work at the winery. This decision comes after Angelia spent some time studying abroad followed by five years of living on the East Coast. She will be taking on the position of Customer Relations and Sales Development where her love of people and her strong hospitality background will help her create a unique experience for winery guests visiting from throughout the world.

The homecoming is a special moment for the family and Angelia, as she grew up playing at the winery with her brothers, sister and many cousins.

Morgan Hill has been home to Angelia since she was born. After graduating from high school in 2001 she moved to Switzerland.

Despite the country’s beauty, she missed home, and moved back to San Luis Obispo.  But the travel bug hit her again, so she moved on to Boston with her soon-to-be husband Isaac and their dog Lucky.  But after battling the harsh East Coast winters for five years, Angelia and Isaac agreed to return home for good. Welcome home, Angelia. Looking forward to meeting you soon!

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One local resident enjoys all the art Morgan Hill has in and around downtown. So much so that he has created a gofundme page to raise $10,000 to $20,000 to refurbish the “Waiting for the Train” statues at the train station.

With the city unable to fund the project, Frederick McKay got the OK from the city Planning Commission to raise the money. Donations can be made both on gofundme.com under the name, Frederick McKay and then Waiting on the Train and also on his Facebook page, Frederick McKay.

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Morgan Hill Life file photo
Margaret Johnston rests on “Margaret’s Bench.”

Our columnist Mike Monroe received a letter from Margaret Johnston, for whom a bench was installed along the Mummy Mountain Trail at Coyote Lake County Park by her children for Margaret’s 90th birthday.

She recently moved to Michigan and will enjoy Thanksgiving with three of her children and their families. She wrote a short poem for Mike to read to hikers who will walk the trail the day after Thanksgiving:

“I want to extend a warm welcome to our Santa Clara valley with this outstanding view

This area was always special to me as a child, and this is what my children knew!

So for my 90th birthday, they honored me with this wonderful gift

Visiting here often in my youth, I was always given a spiritual lift!

We hope that many of you will return often and experience this special charm

As this was always my special refuge when I grew up on a nearby farm!”

Thanks, Mike, for sharing this with us — and thank you, Margaret. Enjoy Thanksgiving with your family!