Employees also plan toy drive for December
Morgan Hill – The Main Street Bagel staff tweaked their craft Wednesday, using their ovens to bake 11 turkeys for the shop’s first ever “Main Street Thanksgiving Feed.”
Potatoes, corn, salad and a variety of homemade pies, each mirroring “mom’s” best efforts, made up the free holiday meal, which was available to anyone in the neighborhood who wanted to stop by.
“A lot of people these days have to work … they don’t get a full meal,” said David Trinh, 22, owner of the bagel joint at 17300 Monterey Road. “I wanted to give something back to the community.”
“Giving back” has been part of Trinh’s business strategy since taking over the shop in June. His parents owned Donuts and Things on Monterey Road before the family moved to San Jose in 1996, and Trinh’s always known Morgan Hill as a place where prosperity goes hand-in-hand with amity.
“I was fortunate to grow up here,” said Trinh, who attended El Toro Elementary School while his parents ran their business. “If it weren’t for the people here, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”
Trinh’s co-worker Mattie Smith, a student at San Jose State, said the bagel shop’s employees are brainstorming more ways to build community spirit around the store on the corner of Third Street.
“The staff is already talking about doing events for Christmas and New Year’s,” said Smith, who with her mother-in-law baked 12 pies for last week’s dinner. “Everyone would like to see it happen.”
That’s because Trinh and his co-workers want Morgan Hill to keep its small-town roots. The crew’s philosophy is that independent businesses should continue to define the city’s downtown core and foster solidarity among residents.
“We don’t want to be like the other cities everyone is looking up to, like Saratoga and Los Gatos,” Smith said. “Morgan Hill’s got a unique feel to it. We want people to think, ‘We wish we were like Morgan Hill … We wish we could (have a downtown like that).’ ”
Employees served two of the turkeys Wednesday and donated the remaining nine to women’s shelters through Community Solutions on Thanksgiving Day.
While Main Street Bagel wasn’t packed to the gills for its experimental holiday feast, the staff expects to build a future following.
“This is just the trial run to see how his outcome is going to be,” said Asako Esheim, another co-worker. “By next year, we’ll have it flowing.”
Meanwhile, the store’s launching a holiday toy drive Dec. 16, promising to exchange breakfast bagels for donations.
“It mostly took David’s heart and his energy as an individual” to put charity at the heart of his business, Esheim said. “He wanted to take the first step.”
Employees said the community’s positive response to the Safe Trick-Or-Treat event last month inspired the free turkey dinner.
“We thought it would be cool to get the community involved in a turkey feed,” Smith said. “We wanted to feel like we were really giving back … not just donating, but seeing where our efforts go.”
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tburchyns@morganhilltimes.
