Community

It’s only six months old, but the San Martin Chamber of Commerce already has begun putting its footprint on the local community, with a Sept. 30 family fun day in the park that seconded as a canned food drive for Cecilia’s Closet.

A fund has been established to send contributions directly to community-based efforts to aid victims of this week’s catastrophic Sonoma and Napa fires.

Audience members could not contain themselves as the Latin grooves got them moving at the Oct. 8 outdoor concert, the final event of Morgan Hill’s celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Four-year-old Oliver Guzman bested the 6-and-under field to claim first place in the 11th annual Morgan Hill Get Fit Obstacle Course Challenge held Oct. 7 at the Centennial Recreation Center.

Join Mayor Steve Tate for relaxed, informal discussion about city business at the next Coffee With the Mayor, 10 to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 11 at GVA Cafe, 17400 Monterey Road. Newly appointed City Manager Christina Turner will be the mayor’s guest. Tate will supply the coffee. The monthly Coffee With the Mayor allows residents a chance to ask questions and offer comments about the city’s public safety, street maintenance and parks and recreation services, city finances, and any other aspect of city business.

Applications are open for Community Action Grants for 2017-18, funded by the American Association of University Women Morgan Hill chapter. The application deadline is Oct. 31, for grants of up to $1,000 each.

Santa Clara County is offering a new Partial Payment Program for property taxpayers, along with other new features such as email notifications and announcements related to their tax bills, according to an Oct. 5 announcement.

At first glance, a stroll down Lindo Lane in west Morgan Hill depicts a typical residential neighborhood with single-family homes and manicured front lawns.

With 22 percent of the local workforce dedicated to the trade, the City of Morgan Hill has partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to celebrate National Manufacturing Day Oct. 6 with a series of events.

Members of the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill couldn’t contain their excitement at presenting the City of Morgan Hill with the largest gift they have made since the local chapter of the nonprofit service organization was founded in 1955.At the Sept. 27 city council meeting, the club gave the city a check for $100,000, to be spent on features for two new public parks under construction in downtown Morgan Hill. The gift—the result of four years of fundraising—is specifically designated for a 56-foot “Rotary Slide” on the Hilltop Park at the top of West Third Street; and for a 30-foot “Rotary Peace Bridge” crossing West Little Llagas Creek, located between West Second and Third streets in the downtown Creek Park, according to Rotary Club of Morgan Hill members.“We’re ecstatic, we are thrilled, we are jumping out of our skin because we are so happy to make a donation to you,” Rotary Club of Morgan Hill Past President Theresa Kiernan told the council as she was surrounded by her fellow club members.The enthusiasm infected Mayor Steve Tate as well. “On behalf of the city and the council, we joyfully, and gladly, and wholeheartedly accept this donation. It’s outstanding,” Tate said upon receiving a poster-sized mockup of the $100,000 check in front of a crowded audience at the Sept. 27 meeting.Kiernan noted the club performed “due diligence” to determine who should receive the $100,000 donation and how it should be spent.“We decided on this project because when we looked at the benefit it would have to so many people in this community, and to people who come to this community in order to visit and support (Morgan Hill), this was the best place to land with our major gift,” Kiernan said.Randy Toch, the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill current president, noted that the effort to raise funds for the $100,000 has spanned the terms of four club presidents. He specifically identified club members John McKay and Jeff Perkins for their “leadership role in…dealing with the city” to identify possible ways to spend the donation.“The new parks will change the already evolving character of downtown Morgan Hill,” Toch said in a press release. “We wanted to make a substantial contribution and create a regional attraction that would make the downtown especially vibrant for children and the young at heart.”The city is in the process of building three new parks downtown—the Hilltop Park, the Creek Park and the Railroad Park (on Depot Street just south of the train station building). City staff said these parks are expected to be completed and open to the public by the end of November.The Rotary Slide will descend the eastern face of downtown’s Nob Hill, below the city’s giant green water tank, the press release continues. The recreational slide will be built in two segments: the upper 21-foot “slower” slide, and a lower 35-foot segment that will offer faster speeds.The Rotary Peace Bridge, just down the hill from the slide and located between a residential and a commercial property, will “ease access for people coming from the west side of Monterey Road,” the press release states. The bridge and connected walkway will lead to a small park with benches, tables, playground features and other pathways.The bridge is already mostly built, but not open for public use. A “Rotary International” emblem is embedded into the bridge’s walking surface.The $100,000 gift was made possible by the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill Endowment, a nonprofit charitable organization, according to the press release.Rotary Club of Morgan Hill is a service organization that is part of Rotary International, a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that “provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world.”Kiernan listed other ways Rotary Club of Morgan Hill has recently spent its “charitable giving” at the Sept. 27 council meeting: $35,000 for local nonprofits, $20,000 for high school students heading to college, $10,000 for literacy programs and $40,000 for “world community service projects that support women, children and seniors in places like Mexico and Nigeria” and other countries.For more information about Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, visit the club’s website at morganhillrotary.org or on Facebook.