Around Town: San Martin resident honored by supervisors

Congratulations to San Martin resident Dan Keith who was honored by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors for his dedication to community service that inspired others to make a positive impact for families in South County.

Keith, a San Martin resident and chairman of the board for the Morgan Hill Mushroom Festival (formerly the Mushroom Mardi Gras), raised money in partnership with Rocca’s Market in San Martin to purchase and distribute turkeys for families in South County.

He also supported families during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing the most vulnerable families with food assistance and distributions.

“Dan Keith has shown his commitment to serve the community by hosting numerous community-run, clean-up events in areas heavily affected by litter, further beautifying and inspiring the San Martin community,” read the commendation signed by all five board members.

Way to go, Dan. You are an inspiration to us all.

Hundreds brave the rain in annual Wildflower Run 

Also inspiring were the 1,200 runners who braved a constant light drizzle as they participated in the 42^nd annual Wildflower Run, a sold-out event, March 30. Runners, with undampened spirits, could be heard cheerfully reminding each other, “This is great running weather!”

The Wildflower Run, sponsored annually by the Morgan Hill branch of the AAUW, features six events, ranging from family friendly All Age 2K and 5K Walk options to competitive 2K, 5K and 10K races. Adding a little more competition to the mix is the annual “School Team” challenge, with Morgan Hill schools competing for the most participation. 

This year, a record 11 schools took up the challenge, with 306 student, staff and family member participants. The winners were Nordstrom (Elementary School), Charter School of Morgan Hill (K-8) and Martin Murphy (Middle School). PA Walsh received the Spirit Award for the highest percentage of student participation.

An all-volunteer-run event organized by the Morgan Hill Branch of AAUW, the Wildflower Run would not be possible without the support of more than 200 volunteers as well as the City of Morgan Hill, MHUSD, CERT, the Morgan Hill Police Department and corporate sponsors.

The run nets about $65,000 annually for local scholarships, community grants and leadership programs for women and girls. These funds are raised from runner registrations, corporate sponsorships and individual donations.

Winners of the March 30 Wildflower Run are:

• 10K Men’s Run: Juan Rivera, of Seaside (1^st place); Christian Raslowsky, of Campbell (2^nd place); Bartosz Ciechanowski of Woodside (3^rd place).

• 10K Women’s Run: Anna Conca of Morgan Hill (1^st place); Jessica Larsen of San Jose (2^nd place); Alyssa Bruno of El Dorado Hills (3^rd place).

•  5K Men’s Run: Joseph Palacios of Gilroy (1^st  place), Kai Lambdin of Morgan Hill (2^nd place); Joseph Aubuchon of San Jose (3^rd place).

• 5K Women’s Run: Cali Barberi of Morgan Hill (1^st place); Juli Barberi of Morgan Hill (2^nd place); Brooke Davis of Morgan Hill (3^rd place).

• 5K Men’s Stroller: Colin Bailie of Morgan Hill (1^st place); Mike Baron of Morgan Hill (2^nd place); Daniel Chilcott of Morgan Hill (3^rd place).

• 5K Women’s Stroller: Madeline Bailie of Morgan Hill (1^st place); Christina Buckovic of Gilroy (2^nd place); Olga Hernandez of Morgan Hill (3^rd place).

• 2K Kids’ Run (Boys): Gavin Williams (1^st place); Casyn Clark (2^nd place); Nandon Menon (3^rd place).

• 2K Kids’ Run (Girls): Bianca Ferretti (1^st place); Calixta Brito (2^nd place); Valerie Butler (3^rd place).