Community

Mushrooms, college scholarships and entertainment are the not-so-secret ingredients that make the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras—now entering its 38th annual event May 27-28 in downtown Morgan Hill—a whole lot of fun for everyone.

Join officers from the Morgan Hill Police Department in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, build relationships, and drink coffee May 19 starting at 8:30 a.m., at Peet’s Coffee, 755 Cochrane Road.

There’s a lot to celebrate about the life of longtime Morgan Hill resident Willie Wilkinson, and his friends and family will memorialize him with a May 20 blowout complete with some of his favorite pastimes—music, dancing and time spent with hundreds of those who knew and loved him best.Wilkinson died unexpectedly April 28 at the age of 68, at his girlfriend’s home in San Juan Bautista. He grew up in Sunnyvale, and has lived in Morgan Hill since 1994, according to his daughter Adrianne Wilkinson.Adrianne was backstage at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse preparing for the South Valley Civic Theater’s production of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” when she heard about her father’s death. The crew told her they could delay the show that evening, but she insisted on performing as scheduled, for her father.“He wouldn’t want that,” Adrianne said a few days after Willie’s death.It’s hard to keep up with all the stories and memories about Willie Wilkinson—a “legend”—shared recently by Adrianne and Willie’s son Cody, along with a handful of local friends who were drawn to his natural ability to find and enjoy good company.Almost everywhere he went, Willie was likely to run into someone he knew, “from all walks of life” and of all ages, according to Cody.“One thing that made my father such a great person (is) every interaction a person would have with him would leave (them) with a great memory,” Cody, who now lives in Carlsbad, said in an email. “My dad would do anything for my sister and myself, and that really flowed over to his friends as well. That is why you hear all of his friends refer to each other as a family.”Willie Wilkinson was a U.S. Army veteran who was proud of his service, which included two tours in Vietnam in 1968 as a flight engineer on a Chinook helicopter. After returning to the states, he enjoyed a variety of livelihoods, including as a dance teacher, bouncer, bodyguard, rodeo performer, ski instructor and mechanic. At the time of his death, Willie was retired from his most recent career as a precision machinist.In his later years, perhaps his favorite thing to do—other than spend time with old friends and make new ones—was to ride his motorcycle. Many of his friends in Morgan Hill enjoyed riding with him, and the group often traveled hundreds of miles to attend regional and national motorcycle gatherings.“Willie rode in the front on every ride,” said Will Anderson, a Morgan Hill resident who has been riding with Willie since he met him a few years ago.“He’s our Biker Buddha,” added Twyla Sulesky, also of Morgan Hill. She was referencing Willie’s penchant for dispensing with profound advice and observations about life and the universe—a wisdom he shared with his own brood and complete strangers alike.“Everybody loves him,” Twyla said. “Willie was such a people person.”He was a fixture at some of downtown Morgan Hill’s most popular establishments, and at the summertime Friday Night Music Series at the Community and Cultural Center, where the May 20 celebration of his life will take place.“He had a way about him that would just draw people in,” Cody added.Willie and his girlfriend, Shawn Lovering of San Juan Bautista, were together for about a year before he died, Lovering said. She described how “generous” he was in taking her to doctor’s appointments and treatment sessions during her recent bout with cancer.“It’s like we’re kindred spirits. We immediately had a connection” when they first met, Lovering said.The most important part of Willie’s life were his two children, Anderson noted. Willie was a devoted follower of Adrianne’s theater productions, and even made lasting impressions on some of her young students. Cody said whenever he said goodbye at the end of any conversation—on the phone or in person—his father never failed to say, “I love you.”“We talked every morning on the phone,” added Adrianne, who teaches at a school in Gilroy. “This is really hard for us, but I feel lucky in a way because this is my dad. How many people can say (their) dad touched so many lives?”Anderson said, and other friends agreed, Willie died “on top of the world,” after recent years recovering from cancer, back surgery and heart complications seemed only to strengthen his spirits.“He was walking tall (and) he was in love,” Anderson said.

Seventeen members of the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, along with nine volunteers from Rebuilding Together, participated in the spring Rebuilding Together workday April 22 in Morgan Hill.

Morgan Hill Police reported about 10 a.m. May 12 that Akins-Qualls has been located in San Jose. Police are looking for a Morgan Hill woman who has been missing since she left home May 4.Desirae Akins-Qualls, 18, is described as an “at-risk” missing woman in a press release from the Morgan Hill Police Department.She left her residence in Morgan Hill May 4 and walked to the VTA bus stop on Monterey Road at Vineyard Boulevard, police said. Akins-Qualls was supposed to board the bus headed for San Jose.However, she never reached her school in San Jose, and has not been seen or heard from since, according to police.Akins-Qualls was last seen wearing an unknown color top with black and white lettings. She is 5-feet 5-inches tall and about 225 pounds, with long brown hair and hazel eyes, according to police.Akins-Qualls has a history of depression, but she has not made any known suicidal threats, and did not appear upset when she left home, police said. She does not have any friends in the area, but police said she “may be in San Jose.”MHPD reminds people when they’re traveling to leave specific information with someone about their destination, routes and individuals they may be traveling with.Anyone with information about this case can contact MHPD Det. Greg Dini at (669) 253-4965, or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867.

Area residents, as well as a slew of local officials, attended the May 6

The 2017 Morgan Hill FreedomFest organizers are in need of sponsors and donations to make the weeklong Independence Day festivities possible again this July.

A group of about 40 sixth-graders from the Charter School of Morgan Hill are churning out the fundraising dollars as they learn about the importance of giving back and helping others through the local Relay For Life.

The Morgan Hill Post Office will host a Sunday Passport Fair for customers who are otherwise unable to schedule an appointment for service.The post office, located at 16600 Monterey Road, will accept walk-ins for passport service from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 7, according to a press release from the U.S. Postal Service.Applications will be processed on a first come, first served basis. To help speed up the process, customers can fill out forms ahead of time. Application forms and information on the costs and how to apply for a passport book and/or passport card can be found at usps.com/passport or travel.state.gov/passport.Customers can also obtain passport information by phone, in English and Spanish, by calling the National Passport Information Center toll-free at (877) 487-2778. Customers can also email [email protected] for any questions regarding passports.To apply for a passport, applicants need a valid form of photo identification, such as a current valid driver’s license, government ID or military photo ID. If you are renewing, simply bring in your old passport.

With weather of abundant sunshine and blue skies, the April 29 Morgan Hill Wine Stroll was sold out at 1,000 tickets. Organized by the Morgan Hill Downtown Association and its Wine Stroll committee, it was another great success for the downtown merchants and restaurants, the local wineries and the hundreds of wine lovers who came out to sip and shop.The Wine Stroll, an annual event held the last week of April, has been steadily gaining in popularity as over two dozen wineries in as many shops, poured a one-ounce taste of their wines.Maria De Leon, who attended the Saturday event with her husband, Eddie, and a group of friends, said, “I am so glad to take part in this event because it exposed me to great tasting local wines and restaurants in Morgan Hill.”The new downtown parking garage on Fourth Street accommodated plenty of cars and the  Wine Stroll check-in station was conveniently located on Third Street. People checking in received a logo’d wine glass, a wine carrier and a ticket book which mapped out the downtown shops and wines.A kid- and dog-friendly event, the streets were full of the young and the old alike, with families pushing babies in strollers and well-behaved dogs cruising behind. Street musicians sang and played guitars for tips. First-time sidewalk decals of the Wine Stroll logo caused a buzz, helping to advertise the event.Kicking off the Wine Stroll was Wine Week: a week-long lead-up of wine events. On Monday, Reina Carrillo of Grinds, Vines and Automobiles (GVA) Café hosted a “Meet the Winemaker’s Mixer.”“The event was intended to be a ‘thank you’ to the winemakers for their efforts throughout the year,” explained Reina. This included several wineries pouring their wines along with a buffet of finger foods.Tuesday through Thursday, price fix winemaker dinners were held at seven different restaurants in downtown Morgan Hill. Many restaurants waived their corkage fee on local wines during Wine Week.Another first-time addition to the event was the art poster contest for next year’s Wine Stroll. Posters were displayed at GVA and voted on by attendees of the Wine Stroll. Patty Curtis, a Morgan Hill artist, and her picture of two wine bottles and grapes was the winner.