“We are here for you Morgan Hill.  We will get through this together.”

By David Dindak

David Dindak at Bubbles

Greetings, Morgan Hillians. It’s me again. Gosh, I wish there was wonderful news to report. But we’re still not out of the stay-in-place woods as restrictions have now been extended through May in Santa Clara County.

On the bright side, many of our restaurants and our beer/cider businesses continue to provide curbside, take-out and delivery service. However, I’ve been told sales are off as much as 90 percent. They are all doing their best to serve customers in the most healthy and safe manner, asking the community to continue to support them by visiting as many and often as you can.

So now that it’s hot and who wants to cook, please consider your downtown AJ’s, Betto’s, Bubbles & Brew, House Of Siam, Jonty’s, Maurizios, Mo’s, My Pizza, Mr. Falafel, GVA Café, Odeum, Opa!, Prova, Rosy’s At The Beach, Sinaloa, Tac-Oh, and Trail Dust for your lunch and dinner meals. Huntington Station is serving take-out family-style dinners Saturday only — call during the week for reservations. Many establishments are offering deep discounts on wine, beer, and cocktails.

Downtown TenFiveOne, Kelly’s Brewing Company and The Running Shops and Hops are still serving beer and growlers to-go. Many of our wineries are open for retail, club pick-up and some delivery with deep discounts as well. BookSmart is ordering books every day. They also have Mother’s Day and graduation cards, as well as gifts and lots of puzzles coming in. Bike Therapy is ready to tune up your bike or help purchase that new one you have been eyeing. You can shop on-line and order gift cards at Maison-A.

As always, check their websites or call for more information.

My guess is by now, unless you have a bootleg hairdresser, you have been wearing a lot of hats. Beauty salons and barbers are one of the hardest hit industries. So reach out to Rebecca at Three Red Heads — [email protected], Cherisse’s Hair Salon — [email protected] and  A Visionary Salon Beauty Salon and Hair Restoration Center at (408) 979-1195 and text (408) 422-7198, to see how they can help.

Realtors are at your disposal for buying and selling.  This could be a great time to get a deal or find buyers due to lower than normal inventories.  Prices are steady and interest rates are quite low right now.

It goes without saying, that the city is financially challenged as well due to revenue loss of sales and hotel taxes. As a result, they’re at skeleton crew numbers and are really putting forth a major effort to meet all of our community’s needs. Among them are some downtown projects in the pipeline to help keep pedestrians safe. These include in-ground pedestrian lights at First and Fifth streets, median safety fencing between Second and Third streets, and studying for the potential of stop signs on Depot at First and Fifth streets. More details on those to come.

Finally, here’s some news about MHDA events, all of which are in holding patterns as the result of SIP and it’s hampering of fundraising this year. Wine, Art and Music Stroll, MHDA’s largest fundraiser, is still calendared for Saturday, Sept. 12, so we’ll see what happens there. The Brew Crawl is TBD. Until we know more, the expected 1,000-plus attendance restriction as well as financial support from the city has Safe-Trick-or-Treat in abeyance.

Freedom Fest team is eager to once again organize the world (or at least state) — renowned 4th of July events. The “go – no go” decision will be made soon. Don’t give up and cross your fingers they can proceed with this much cherished Morgan Hill event.

Kiwanis will continue planning for the Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting in December. They are financially stretched as well, so hopefully something will be worked out there.

We are here for you Morgan Hill.  We will get through this together.  Keep praying it ends soon and make a difference wherever you can.

Again, I want to sing praises of our city officials and staff for their never-ending support, as well as our doctors, nurses, police officers and other first responders for their unwavering dedication to the Morgan Hill community.

Lastly, give your kids and spouse a hug and be safe and healthy. Cheers!

David Dindak is the Morgan Hill Downtown Association’s board president.