Published in the July 23 – August 5, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Marty Cheek
Chocolate serves as the uniting theme of two events that occurred July 12 in Morgan Hill. On that Saturday late afternoon, children gave a performance at the Morgan Hill Playhouse of the musical “Willy Wonka.” Across town at Castillo’s Hillside Shire Winery, about 280 guests gathered to honor local farmer George Chiala who would receive that evening Leadership Morgan Hill’s prestigious 2014 Leadership Excellence Award.
The previous afternoon, I enjoyed the first of two performances of “Willy Wonka,” a musical based on the classic children’s novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The story tells the adventures of five kids who find golden tickets in bars of chocolate that allow them to have a tour of a strange confectionery factory operated by an eccentric candy man.
All of the children are seduced by various temptations Wonka has set up for them in his factory. Four of the kids end up in rather unpleasant circumstances. Augustus Gloop hardens into a chocolate statue. Veruca Salt is tossed into a nut rejection machine by worker squirrels. Violet Beauregarde explodes as a giant blueberry after eating a piece of chewing gum that definitely was not approved by the FDA. And Mike Teavee gets miniaturized by Wonka’s television equipment. Little Charlie Bucket and his grandpa are seduced by soda pop that contain bubbles enabling them to float. By burping, the pair avoid being chopped up by spinning blades.
At the end of the play, Charlie confesses his transgression to Wonka. The sweets manufacturer is so impressed by the young chap’s candor and apology that he gives Charlie and his poverty-stricken family the chocolate factory as their new home.
So what does “Willy Wonka” have to do with George Chiala’s recognition? Like I mentioned, chocolate is the connecting theme here.
After accepting his LEAD medal, George Chiala related a story to guests about himself when he was eight years old living in Cupertino and getting ready for school one morning.
“I had made my lunch and packed a candy bar,” Chiala told guests at the LEAD event. “At that time, we didn’t have many candy bars, my mother didn’t allow it. But I wanted to show my dad that I had a candy bar. My father looked at me with a very serious look … and he said, ‘Don’t eat that candy bar, unless you share it with everyone. Or if everybody has a candy bar.’ My father was an orphan. I believe he was in a situation in a younger life when someone had something as simple as a candy bar and he didn’t. I believe this was a lesson in life, to be considerate of others and share what we have.”
I saw a mischievous grin form on Chiala’s face as he made his next announcement, which drew a heavy round of applause from the guests.
“Tonight, I’d like to be considerate of you,” he said. “I brought you all a very special candy bar!”
Chiala’s four children handed out Hershey’s Gold Almond Chocolate Bars wrapped in gold-colored foil paper that the candy company had shipped overnight for the occasion.
Chiala and Charlie Bucket both learned at an early age a lesson from a bar of chocolate. Too many children today act too much like the four nasty children who come to odd ends as they toured Wonka’s chocolate factory. Spoiled by their parents, these children forget that the world is not at their constant beck and call to fulfill every desire. They have not received from their moms and dads the guidance to think of others and share some of the simple pleasures they are lucky to receive in life … such as a bar of chocolate.
One of the things that makes Morgan Hill such a golden ticket place to live is the characteristic among many of its residents to share of their time, talent and treasure in adding to the quality of life here. At the end of the LEAD gala, I chatted with Chiala about this simple fact of Morgan Hill and the region. He observed that there are so many people in our community who are generous in helping others get the most out of their lives.
So why do people like Chiala give of themselves in acts of philanthropy? I have a hunch it’s because doing good for other people sweetens their own lives far more than any chocolate bar ever can. And, unlike chocolate, doing good is non-fattening.
