Community

This year marks the 40th year in business in Gilroy for Sal Oliveri, owner of Pinocchio’s Pizza.It’s a year he will never forget.The year began with him nearly losing his life defending his family from a knife-wielding homeless man. In an interview after the Jan. 6 attack, the humble pizza maker, son of Sicilian immigrants, said he is hopeful the year will end better than it started.Sal and his family—former 25-year residents of Morgan Hill—calmly reflected on that day, and described a scene of terror and bloody mayhem.It was during the first Saturday evening dinner rush of the new year at his restaurant at Church and Welburn in Gilroy that a man rushed in waving a large knife. When the man lunged wildly at Sal’s daughter, Gina Oliveri Polhaupessy, Sal and his son-in-law, Duke Polhaupessy, leaped into action, pushing the man towards the door.They ended up on one of the tables, and the man swung the knife towards Sal’s throat. When Sal raised his arm to block the blow, the assailant slashed it with his knife, then fled the store, as Duke was able to lock the door.Gina was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher throughout the frightening fracas, and the attacker was arrested without incident a blocks away a few minutes later.“There was blood everywhere,” said Sal. Gina said she at first wondered if her dad had lost his arm in the attack. The wound had cut to the bone in his forearm, Sal said.“It’s scary when there are customers here, and my family—you don’t want to see anything happen,” said Sal.His right arm has a brace and heavy bandage from his bicep to his fingers. He has use of his hand, but more surgeries lie ahead before he knows whether he will regain full use of his arm to be able to throw pizza dough as he has for four decades.Sal’s wife, Vickie, is a Gilroy native. “I’m just glad he is alive,” she said.She said her mother lives a couple of blocks away, and saw the police cars outside the business. She couldn’t get past the barricades yellow tape.After Gilroy firefighter paramedics got an IV going, Sal was taken to St. Louise Regional Hospital.Gina and Vickie said the attacker had been angry and barely coherent, accusing the Italian-American family of being terrorists. He mentioned President Trump and said the Oliveris should be deported, after Vickie had declined to shake his hand a few moments before the attack.“I’m an American,” Vickie said he had shouted.“It wasn’t even a robbery,” said Sal, shaking his head.He grew up first in Detroit, and then Little Italy on New York’s Lower East Side — tough immigrant neighborhoods. But he said he never saw a crime like this.The Oliveris lived in Morgan Hill for 25 years — Gina graduated from Live Oak High — then moved back to Gilroy when they opened the Church Street location four years ago.Shortly after moving in, there northside home was burglarized.On the fateful Saturday, Jan. 6, “I was making pizza, then I heard the commotion.” he said.“When he came in the door, he opened his knife, then he starts jumping up and down. This guy — you don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s going to hurt someone,” Sal recalled.“When I saw the knife, I started to call 911, I just froze,” said Gina.“When I saw the knife, I thought, this is going to end up bad,” said Sal.“I was worried the customers were going to get hurt — my daughter, my wife. I don’t want to see anybody get hurt.”“My back was turned and he comes at me, and my dad and husband saw that he was coming at me,” said Gina.“The first thing in my mind was I am not going to let her get hurt,” recalled Duke. “I don’t care what happens to me.”Duke escaped uninjured.The counter at the restaurant is filled with flowers and cards from neighbors, friends and customers.“This community, this community so great. People have been so great,” said Sal.Gina said Gilroy officers stopped by the day after the attack, to see how the  family was doing.It is a family business. No employees. Just family.They treat their customers like family. And this month, their customers responded, words of encouragement, flowers — and of course with orders for the locally famous Oliveri pizza.

Local families with children involved in Morgan Hill sports leagues—some spanning three generations—had every reason to be upset with school district officials and board trustees after sitting around for nearly three hours to be heard Tuesday night.

With the American Cancer Society pushing for more regional fundraising efforts, local organizers of the annual Relay For Life from Morgan Hill and Gilroy have combined their resources and developed the inaugural Relay For Life of South County.

An “influenza virus infection” claimed the life of a fifth Santa Clara County resident earlier this month. County officials are recommending those who haven’t already received the flu vaccination to do so, according to an announcement from the Public Health Department.

Morgan Hill school district brass are standing pat with their proposal to dramatically increase sports facility use rates to offset thousands in annual maintenance costs, while local youth leagues are boiling over the abrupt plan that could severely impact their membership fees.

In an effort to increase qualified teaching candidates, the Santa Clara County Office of Education will host a “Step into Teaching: Opportunities in Silicon Valley Public Schools” event 9am to 1pm Feb.10 at 1290 Ridder Park Drive in San Jose. During the Saturday event, attendees will learn what is needed to become a teacher, how to navigate the credentialing process and receive information about compensation, benefits and retirement.

Stratford School’s Morgan Hill campus will host a Family Benefit Game Night from 6:30pm to 8pm Jan. 19 to benefit the construction of a Magical Bridge Playground in Morgan Hill’s Community Park.

Local civil rights leader Lovell “KC” Adams, a Gilroy business owner and youth coach in Morgan Hill and Gilroy, as well as several South Valley students will be honored on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, Jan. 15 by Bethany Community Church at San Juan Oaks Golf Club in Hollister.Adams will receive the Martin Luther King Freedom award for his dedication and service to the community and schools.The students will receive certificates of completion of the Future Leaders with SWAG (Successful Winners Achieving Goals) taught by local attorney Elvira Zaragoza Robinson and Pastor Gerald E. Harris.“The reason why Lovell was selected was because we were looking for individuals that really serve the role model of being as we call freedom fighters,” Harris said. “Fighter is a harsh word, but a freedom fighter is someone out there trying to liberate people from their incarceration, whether that’s in education or finance or opportunities.”Adams, who was born and raised at an orphanage in Gilroy, works with at-risk youth in athletics. He’s coached sports at numerous institutions including Gavilan College and Anchorpoint Christian School in GIlroy. He is currently the president of the Gilroy and Morgan Hill chapter of the 28-team National Junior Basketball Association.“I think it’s an honor just to be selected by that group,” Adams said. “This summer I was in Atlanta, I did a march with Martin Luther King Jr.’s son,” he said. “Talking to him and understanding what his dad was about, it makes this award more important to me.”In addition to his sports mentorship, Adams is owner of Kutz and Colors Hair Salon that has operated in Gilroy for 20 years.“I feel like I’m a VIP, being given it on Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” Adams said. “Being a black man, I’ve struggled to get where I’ve gotten. Just getting here and overcoming obstacles, it’s a blessing.”Bethany Community Church has given the award for over a decade. The event started out at the Forest Park Inn in Gilroy, but moved to Gavilan College and is now hosted at San Juan Oaks Golf Club in Hollister. The commemoration will begin with a silent auction at 9am followed by breakfast and the award program at 10am.Harris said that because 2018 marks 50 years since the assassination of King, “Moving forward, we really wanted to keep that dream alive because the issue of freedom is still vital today. We have many people who are incarcerated economically, incarcerated in terms of lack of education.”Tickets to the event are $45 per person and can be purchased by calling Elvira at (831) 801-5530.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors presented commendations to members of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, the San Martin Chamber of Commerce and Greenwaste Recovery, Inc. for their joint efforts in hosting the November 2017 Trash Bash event in San Martin.

Seven local organizations were awarded for their efforts to promote education and youth arts with grants from the Morgan Hill chapter of the American Association of University Women, according to a Jan. 10 announcement.