Who would think a military career would lead Alex Kennett to a
life of active conservation, community improvement and Democratic
principles? But it did. It also led him to a starring role as
Chamber of Commerce Showcase Volunteer of the Year.
Who would think a military career would lead Alex Kennett to a life of active conservation, community improvement and Democratic principles? But it did. It also led him to a starring role as Chamber of Commerce Showcase Volunteer of the Year.
When Sunday Minnich, Chamber executive director, takes over the microphone Saturday night at the Showcase awards dinner, she will reel off the retired Army colonel’s volunteer résumé. It will take some time.
The list will include president of Independence Day, Inc. (IDI) for many years, chair of the Chamber of Commerce board in 2002 where he and Minnich worked to develop the Chamber’s economic plan to market the city, and now of the Chamber’s Economic Development Committee, an on-going effort to bring new business to town and keep those already here.
“Alex gives a lot of his own time to Chamber activities,” said Minnich. “Besides chairing the board and the economic development committee, he also chairs the government review committee and attended many offsite meetings and conferences. Basically, he was available whenever we needed him.”
Looking outside Morgan Hill, Kennett is the South Valley representative to the Open Space Authority, president of the Jaguar Associate Group, a Bay Area pride of Jaguar owners and friends, president of the South County Democratic Club and, looking further still, a member of the county and state Democratic Central Committees.
“I’m fairly busy,” Kennett said recently. Besides working towards a better community, jokes are his second favorite entertainment.
The question every volunteer award winner is asked is “what made you want to volunteer?”
“Nothing made me want to volunteer,” Kennett said. “But when I see something I can help with or fix, I give it a try. I’m a fixer kind of guy.” Kennett said he is “pretty picky” about what he chooses to tackle.
“It has to be something that does the most good for the most people.”
Chamber work and, before that, IDI filled the bill. Under Kennett’s lead, the pieces of IDI (parade, festival, street dance, patriotic sing, fireworks, golf tournament) were brought together into an impressive all-volunteer organization that puts on the Bay Area’s biggest Fourth of July celebration, and focuses an optimistic spotlight on the town.
“IDI is in its second generation and now has a solid future,” Kennett said. “To me that’s the real success; an organization that runs after you’ve turned it over.”
Kennett’s successor Bruce Tichinin is about to turn the reins over to Daryl Manning, being honored as Showcase Woman of the Year.
One tricky bit for IDI is that July 4, 2004 falls on a Sunday. When the date and day converged a few years ago, low-grade war threatened to erupt between IDI and local churches who insisted that the 10 a.m. parade be rescheduled to the afternoon (deemed too hot by IDI) or to another day (done on an earlier Sunday fourth and not at all successful).
“This time there is lots of good communication,” Kennett said. “We learned the last time when we got to be the whipping boy. Now everyone is cooperating.”
Kennett considers himself an environmentally sensitive citizen and has spent time and money to back up his convictions, installing solar and wind power on his house; he plans to add them to his office building.
“Sometimes it makes enough power to sell back to PG&E,” he said.
“If everybody put one or two panels on their house, there wouldn’t ever be an energy crisis in this state again,” Kennett said.
It is Open Space Authority directorship that takes up most of Kennett’s time.
“Since it’s an elected position, I make that the priority,” he said.
Kennett said that, while being named Volunteer of the Year is an honor, there is a slight down side.
“Being designated Volunteer of the Year means people now know that I work for cheap,” Kennett joked.
KENNETT BEGINNINGS
A Morgan Hill resident since 1979, Kennett grew up in San Francisco, graduated from George Washington High School and moved on to Southern Oregon University in Ashland. In the normal course of things, he would have graduated and got on with his life.
However, it was 1965 and the draft had just arrived in the lives of young men across America.
“My mother was one of the original anti-war protesters,” he said. She thought she was doing him a favor by not registering her 17-year-old son for the draft as was required – he was out of state at college.
“Guess what?” Kennett said. “I got a draft notice.”
Choosing the National Guard instead of the regular Army, Kennett found himself oddly comfortable there.
“I surprised even myself that I didn’t mind being in the Guard,” he said. “After I graduated (from college) I went back.”
Kennett spent most of his career in and out of the Army and the Guard.
“It got really exciting after I went to flight school,” he said. “I fought forest fires, rescued people and flew sick people to hospitals for years.”
Then, after coming out of retirement for Desert Storm, Kennett “met a guy with an offer I couldn’t refuse.” It was the job of liaison between the Department of Defense and FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“For the next five years I was a disaster relief expert,” Kennett said. After that he settled down to his food brokerage firm, Gavilan Kennett Roepke, which he just sold.
Kennett said he always gets his wife Yarka’s approval before taking on new things.
“She understands,” he said. “She’s a volunteer herself.”
Yarka is a member of the Architectural Review Board, the Morgan Hill Community Health Foundation and, formerly, the Planning Commission. During the day, she works as a residential designer for custom homes for the Stottler Design Group.
The Kennetts own so many Jaguars – for play – that they had to build an extra garage. Living out in the country, as they do, gives the couple room to run their 1961 Mark II, called Elizabeth, a 1966 XKE called Reggie, a 1974 XKE named Bubba and a 2000 XJR called Felix. Kennett did recently branch out with a 2003 Chevy Avalanche.
“I needed one off-road vehicle,” he said, for Open Space work.
Lately, Kennett keeps the wolf from the door with a new venture called “Solutions.”
“My clientele consists of professionals or businesses where the owner knows well what they do but can’t do the business part,” Kennett said. “I make it happen. I’m the organizer and facilitator bring variety of players together to get something done.”
Other new ventures include a fourth Kennett grandchild – by August the number will rise to five – and a cabin with a view of Yosemite’s El Capitan, which he has given a typical Kennett name.
“Everybody else goes to the ‘Ahwahnee,” he said. “If you visit the Kennetts you’ll visit The Ahweenie.” Being married to an architect, he said, means the cabin is an on-going building process.
It was in his capacity as retired colonel and chamber leader that Kennett spoke at Morgan Hill’s Sept. 11 ceremonies in 2002 and 03.
“Freedom has never been free,” he said, “and, as of late, it hasn’t even been reasonably priced; but it’s still there and ours for the keeping. Bless the USA and all she stands for. Bless this country in your own special way. Do you know why?
“Because you still can.”
Kennett’s favorite websites: www.morganhill.org, www.jags.org and www.openspaceauthority.org
