Published in the Sept. 3- 16, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Robert Airoldi

Sad news as we just heard cancer took two of Morgan Hill’s finest resident leaders last month. Donna McIntosh, 49, wife of Del Foster and mother to Kiley, Moira, Kaden and Molly, passed away Aug. 19. Friends and family celebrated her life at Mount Madonna County Park late last month.

And local high school English teacher and philanthropist Brooke Bailey, 67, died at her home Aug. 22. A celebration of life tribute concert featuring the band Proxima Prada will be held at the Morgan Hill Downtown Amphitheater for Bailey starting 5:30 p.m. Sunday Sept. 7.
More than a decade ago, Bailey played a role in suggesting an amphitheater for Morgan Hill as plans for the Community and Cultural Center were being prepared.
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Morgan Hill Toastmasters is an active group in town dedicated to building leadership and communication skills. And Aug. 28 the local club held its annual speaker evaluation contest.
Club president Stuart Witter gave an eight-minute “test speech” on the subject of empathy, and club members Margo Hinnenkamp and Jim Carrillo followed up with giving feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the speech. Carrillo came in first place, and will compete in the Toastmasters Area Evaluation Contest Sept. 30 evening at the Santa Clara Valley Water District headquarters in San Jose.
The club invites any interested Morgan Hill Life member to attend the contest and cheer him on. And if you’re interested in finding out more about Toastmasters, stop by BookSmart 7:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning and get to meet the local club members.
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Morgan Hill is building bridges to Beijing. At the pre-show of a Friday Night Music Series concert last month, A.J. Taylor, a 34-year-old resident of the Chinese city, sang three songs in Mandarin, Cantonese and English at the Downtown Amphitheater. Taylor was Vice Mayor Marilyn Librers’s interpreter during her bridge-building trip this summer to China and they developed a fond friendship. During his visit to Morgan Hill, he wanted a traditional American meal and Librers and friends took him to one of the newest restaurants in town — MOOYAH Burgers.

“He loved it along with his milkshake,” Librers tells us. “A life-long friend from across the ocean,” she calls him.