Tony Noceti was saddened by the canceling of the Garlic Festival at Christmas Hill Park and announced he’ll keep it going.
By Robert Airoldi
Robert Airoldi
After organizers of the Gilroy Garlic Festival said last month they would scale-down the traditional three-day food event to a series of smaller events, a San Joaquin Valley walnut grower vowed he would keep the world-famous festival going by moving it to Stockton in August.
Tony Noceti was saddened by the canceling of the Garlic Festival at Christmas Hill Park and announced he’ll keep it going. The farmer runs an events group called Tony Noceti Group Inc., which takes credit for reviving the Stockton Asparagus Festival and turning it into the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival.
“We’re farmers, also I farm walnuts but our friends with garlic, asparagus, cherries and other things we’re gonna keep it here, we’re going to bring that one here later this year and make it work too,” Noceti told KCRA 3 News based in Sacramento.
Tony Noceti
The Gilroy Garlic Festival organizers and its sponsors, including garlic grower Christopher Ranch, felt blindsided by Noceti’s announcement, which was first made on social media.
Festival board members said the promoter never contacted them about his plans. On its Facebook page, they said, “Stockton is not the successor of our community’s homecoming event to support our essential nonprofits here in Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the World.”
“If they want to have a garlic festival of their own we would’ve been there in a heartbeat to promote and support it, but the fact they kind of went around Gilroy’s back and using our name and our legacy to boost themselves it’s not great,” Ken Christopher, executive vice-president of Christopher Ranch, told KCRA 3 News. “It’s disappointing to see the organizers in Stockton almost prey on the Gilroy Garlic festival a bit like a vulture, because the Gilroy festival’s had a hard few years.”
The Gilroy Garlic Festival board canceled the annual summer event because of several years of financial losses as well as unaffordable insurance requirements as a result of the 2019 shooting that killed three people.
A demonstration of the AED donated to the Outdoor Sports Center. Photo courtesy Kyle J. Taylor Foundation.
An innovative life-saving device is available for emergencies at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center, thanks to the family of Kyle J. Taylor. An automated external defibrillator gives any person the opportunity to save a life by providing clear instructions if and when the time comes to provide this critical shock.
On Feb. 22, 2018, everything changed for Taylor’s family when the 18-year-old passed away from sudden cardiac arrest. They founded the Kyle J. Taylor Foundation, which works to provide awareness and education about SCA in youth, award scholarships, and prevent SCA-caused deaths through free heart screenings and AED machine donations. They donated a “SaveStation” — AED housing station — as the next step in the foundation’s ongoing mission to save the lives of as many youth as possible.
The first SaveStation to arrive in the South Bay was unveiled at a ribbon cutting Friday, April 22, at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center. Only one day after the ceremony, the AED was pulled for the first time.
“A man had passed out and was not doing well,” said Jennifer Sarmento, executive director, founder, and mother of Kyle. “Luckily he woke up and the AED did not have to be used, but the EMT at the scene said it was crucial they had the device on hand in case he went into sudden cardiac arrest before they arrived.”
Sudden cardiac arrest, a life-threatening emergency that occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating, is the No. 1 killer of student athletes.
“People often don’t know where to go and what to do when someone collapses,” Sarmento said. “The SaveStation allows the public to quickly identify an AED for delivering an electric shock to return the victim’s heart rate to normal.”
Congratulations to Jeff Grubb who retired April 30 from the Morgan Hill Library after more than two decades with the Santa Clara County Library District serving its patrons.
Grubb began his librarian career in 2001 as an extra help librarian who could be assigned to any public library in the local system. He especially enjoyed the Morgan Hill Library and the community where residents showed strong support for their local library and its resources. He worked there as supervising librarian for Adult and Teen Services.
In his 40s, Grubb went to San Jose State University and earned a master’s degree in library and information sciences. Previous to his new career, he worked in various businesses such as a record store manager, a restaurateur, and the program director of a radio station.
At Morgan Hill, he helped to initiate “honor book libraries” in local senior living services facilities and communities. He also developed the “community connection” program that assists local groups to bring their programs or services to library patrons or the overall community.
Grubb resides in Santa Cruz where he plans to spend time volunteering at the radio station KSQD. He’ll spend his retirement time traveling with his wife and working on their house.
