Published in the December 10-23, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Cheri Devlin
Cheri Devlin
If there’s one thing the Morgan Hill Downtown Association is known for, it’s the great events that are planned throughout the year. Now that’s not to say the MHDA isn’t striving to provide the downtown businesses and residents more than just a good time, but when you look back at 2014 you have to commend the MHDA board, its members and volunteers for the countless hours they’ve invested to make the events the successes that they were.
The Wine Stroll, hosted in April and preceding the festivities of Wine Week, is always a solid way to welcome the comfortable spring weather. This year featured a number of exceptional local wineries including: Aimee June Winery, Aver Family Vineyards, Clos La Chance, Creekview Vineyards, Dancing Creek Winery, DeRose Winery, Fortino Winery, Guglielmo Winery, Hecker Pass Winery, Kirigin Cellars, Leal Estate Vineyards, Lightheart Cellars, Mann Cellars, Martin Ranch Winery, Medeiros Family Wines, Morgan Hill Cellars, Sarah’s Vineyard, Sunlit Oaks Winery, Tank House, Thomas Kruse Winery and WildEye Winery.
This year’s Brew Crawl was quite the scorcher, but the hot afternoon Aug. 2 certainly didn’t detract the hundreds of locals and out-of-towners who lined Monterey Road to sample the 20 premier craft breweries that participated. Next year’s crawl will be moving to October, so you can expect the Indian summer heat, but nothing like what we experienced in the heart of summer this year.
The Sept. 14 Bites of Morgan Hill partnered with the British Car Classic car show and gave attendees the chance to experience a variety of downtown restaurants, while perusing the selection of cars that were showcased along Monterey Road. Next year’s event will be slightly reworked to make it more of a “foodie” affair, with an added emphasis on pairings of local, seasonal ingredients.
Safe Trick or Treat got drizzled on but the MHDA and city committed to providing its youth with a fun and a safe place to celebrate. Although there are always a couple of downtown businesses that are not thrilled about the street closure, the tradition of kids trick or treating along Monterey Road without the fear of passing cars is priceless.
For the first time is several years, the MHDA quarterly mixer locations rotated among downtown businesses who were gracious to host the networking events, including Huntington Station, the Granada, Rosy’s at the Beach and Mama Mia’s, as well as the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at The Hill Bar and Grill.
Ladies Night Out on Dec. 4 where women — and a few men — shopped downtown and enjoyed local restaurants and cafes provided a great excuse to spend some time with the girls and take advantage of the specials offered by sponsoring businesses.
The MHDA is always trying to keep a pulse on what’s being planned downtown, including the support of programs hosted by other local nonprofit organizations such as 4th of July related activities and the Holiday Parade. This year the MHDA featured a float in the Holiday of Lights … and strolled in class thanks to The Ford Store of Morgan Hill that donated a vehicle for the evening.
We appreciate how our community came out during 2014 to enjoy our fantastically fun downtown. And we look forward to seeing local residents enjoy our events in 2015.
Cheri Devlin is a Morgan Hill resident and president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association Board of Directors.
