Community

The Morgan Hill Library kicked off its summer reading challenge and youth programs June 11 with a sidewalk chalk art extravaganza. Children of all ages were invited to the library, located at 660 W. Main Ave., to display their colorful creations on the sidewalks and walkways outside the building.The library also started its “Read for the Win” summer reading challenge June 1. All kids, teens and adults are invited to step up to the challenge by reading five books from June 1 to July 31. Registration can be done in person at the library, or online at sccl.org/summer2016. Programs and incentives are divided into three age group activities.Participants in the challenge get a chance to talk to a Santa Clara County Parks Ranger at one of the Santa Clara County Library District’s scheduled Ranger visits throughout the summer. And all reading challenge participants get a free pass to the Children’s Discovery Museum.According to the California Library Association, reading for pleasure is one of the building blocks needed for young people to grow into healthy, productive adults. Enhanced vocabulary, increased knowledge and reduction in stress, improved memory and better focus concentration are all benefits of reading, according to a SCCLD press release.Upcoming events for children and teens at the Morgan Hill Library include Toy Box Physics with Children’s Discovery Museum, 3 p.m. June 17; clay class for teens, 3 p.m. June 21 (registration required);  Wild Cats, 3 and 4:30 p.m. June 22; and Sean’s Music Factory, 3 p.m. June 29.For a full schedule of summer events and more information about the “Read for the Win” challenge, visit sccl.org.

Downtown Morgan Hill’s “Pop-Up Park 2.0” celebrated its grand opening June 10 with the fanfare of playing children, local artwork, pickup checkers games, impromptu piano performances—and even the appearance of rescued wild animals.The new, temporary park opened on the corner of Second Street and Monterey Road, on property owned by downtown restaurateur Dan McCranie. It is in fact a relocation of the pop-up park previously located at Third Street and Monterey Road. The facility had to abandon that location because the developer is preparing to begin construction on a four-restaurant complex.But the new pop-up park contains all the attractions of the previous version, in a slightly smaller space and with a few new additions—including an outdoor piano hand-painted by Morgan Hill artist Lina Velasquez. As children, families, city officials and volunteers gathered just prior to the grand opening ceremony June 10, Karen Nelson graced the piano’s keys with lively renditions of Walt Disney favorites and other classics.New, movable picnic tables offer a seat for parents to rest while they watch their children play, or for youngsters of all ages to challenge a friend to a game of chess or checkers.About half a dozen mature orchard trees, growing from giant planters scattered throughout the park, provide shade and ambiance. The trees and planters were donated to the city park by the American Institute of Mathematics and George Chiala Farms, according to Mayor Steve Tate.Artwork that decorated the first version of the pop-up park—including a giant mural created by Empire7 Studio which adorned the wall of the former Simple Beverages building—has reappeared at the new park. A wall shared with the neighboring restaurant on the southern edge of the park is a giant chalkboard, where kids and artists are encouraged to produce their own creations.A repurposed newspaper rack on the Second Street side of the park allows park users to share and donate children’s books.“I drove by here this morning and my jaw dropped,” Tate told the crowd into a portable PA system, while standing atop the giant Adirondack chair that moved to the site from the park’s previous location.Tate explained that McCranie, owner of Ladera Grill, is donating the use of his property for the city and the public to use as a park until he starts out on his plans to build a temporary commercial structure.The mayor listed a host of companies and residents who donated items and labor for the park, including TenCate for the artificial turf, Kent Construction and City Hall’s economic development staff headed by Edith Ramirez.He also commended Morgan Hill resident and Downtown Association Interim President John McKay, who stayed at the park site into the early morning hours the days preceding its opening to make sure it was ready by June 10.“It’s a jewel of the downtown,” McKay said.Morgan Hill resident Maria Pareja and her 4-year-old grandson Michael Vasques were enjoying the park’s new opening. They frequented the pop-up park at its previous location, and they expect to continue to do so at the new site.“It’s great for the kids,” Pareja said. 

More than 100 local youngsters tackled the City of Morgan Hill’s Splash 2 Dash Youth Triathlon 2016, which was held June 11 at Ann Sobrato High School.

Morgan Hill residents took advantage of the newly re-installed flagpoles outside the Community and Cultural Center to conduct a unique, traditional flag raising ceremony June 4.The ceremony started with an escort of the American and California state flags by Morgan Hill Police and Fire Department—as well as motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard Riders, American Legion Riders and Warrior Watch Riders—to the CCC at 17000 Monterey Road. When the flags arrived, they were “ceremonially” handed over to veterans with the American Legion Post 217, which is based in Gilroy and serves Morgan Hill residents, according to Morgan Hill resident Kirk Bertolet. The veterans raised the flags atop the flagpoles for the first time since the city moved them from their previous location along Monterey Road on the CCC grounds.Bertolet, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Patriot Guard Rider, organized the flag raising ceremony as a fulfillment of a promise to the community of Morgan Hill. He explained that a flag raising ceremony is a traditional way to honor and respect the flag when it is raised for the first time at a new location.When the city determined the flagpoles had to be removed from their original location in order to make way for new public artwork, they were initially going to be placed at the rear entrance of the CCC, facing the facility’s parking lot. Residents contacted City Hall “en masse” to object to this location, and urged the city to place the flagpoles prominently at the front of the facility, where they can be seen from Monterey Road and Dunne Avenue, Bertolet said.“The message to the citizens was the art was more important than the flagpoles, and that was the wrong message,” Bertolet said. “The citizens contacted the city and said the front is the best location. To honor that, I said I would do a flag raising ceremony, and I did.”The ceremony was attended by local elected officials, city staff and a wide range of Morgan Hill residents.Morgan Hill Program Administrator Anthony Eulo was invited as a guest speaker. He talked about the new water-saving demonstration garden surrounding the front of the CCC, which recently replaced the facility’s old landscaping.“We were delighted to see so many members of the community come out to celebrate our new flagpoles and our new garden,” Eulo said after the event.Mayor Steve Tate, who attended the June 4 ceremony, was one of the city officials who heard “in no uncertain terms” that residents wanted the flagpoles placed in their current location. “They wanted it to be like it was when the old Morgan Hill School was there. It was great to have that kind of engagement with the community,” Tate said.

With all voting precincts reporting and 65 percent of the ballots counted countywide, homegrown candidate Thomas Arnett held onto a steady lead in the race for an open seat on the Morgan Hill Unified School District board of education.

The City of Morgan Hill’s 9th annual “Splash 2 Dash” youth triathlon is still accepting competitors for the June 11 event at Ann Sobrato High School (401 Burnett Avenue).

CSR Cares donated $5,000 to One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding Inc.—a Morgan Hill charity offering therapeutic riding and other equine assisted therapy to children with physical and emotional disabilities.

Thousands of locals and visitors braved the heat to enjoy the food, crafts, live music, games and merchandise at the 37th annual Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras Saturday, May 28.Simren Toor and her three daughters, Morgan Hill residents for about nine years, were making their way through the vendor booths in the parking lot of the Community and Cultural Center early in the afternoon. They have attended the Mushroom Mardi Gras “every year” since they moved to Morgan Hill.“We enjoy all the local food. The kids like the games and meeting their friends,” Toor said of her daughters, Jasreen, 10, Hareen, 6, and Isha, 6 (the latter two are twins).“I like the music, and playing on the rides,” said Isha Toor. The three sisters attend Nordstrom Elementary School.The Mushroom Mardi Gras takes place in downtown Morgan Hill, centered around the grounds of the CCC, located at 17000 Monterey Road. The food, wine and art festival features dozens of vendor and food booths, offering a variety of cuisine—including the event’s namesake fungus prepared a variety of ways. Beer, wine and cold beverages are sold throughout the festival grounds.Vendors, live entertainment stages, and the children’s area can be found along Depot Street, including in the CalTrain parking lots. Vendors can also be found indoors at the CCC where, for the first time this year, a cooking demonstration stage hosted by a full lineup of local and celebrity chefs entertains and educates the crowds.Saturday afternoon, the chef duo Sakabozzo, stars of the Sakabozzo cooking show produced by GavTV and Charter Cable, elicited continuous laughs from the audience while offering instructions on how to prepare one of their gourmet creations.The main entertainment stage is located at the Downtown Amphitheater at the CCC. At 1:30 p.m. May 29 on the amphitheater stage, Mushroom Mardi Gras producers will present local high school students with thousands of dollars worth of college scholarships, the primary purpose of the nonprofit fundraising festival.The Mushroom Mardi Gras is always a big draw for out-of-town visitors. Vince and Laurie Hoke took a motorcycle ride from Fresno to Morgan Hill to enjoy the Mardi Gras. It was their first time attending the festival.“We’re here with a bunch of friends,” Vince Hoke said.Mike Bachman and Suzanne Wilson took the short drive from their home in San Jose to attend the Mardi Gras May 28. Bachman has attended the festival many times in the past, and Bachman has family in Morgan Hill.“We’ve just been walking around and enjoying the fun,” Bachman said.Over the last three decades, the Mushroom Mardi Gras has issued more than $860,000 in scholarships, $29,500 in mini-grants and $420,000 to participating school groups.The Mushroom Mardi Gras continues until 7 p.m. May 28. The event resumes Sunday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free, and parking is available at a number of lots surrounding downtown Morgan Hill, including the VTA lot and South County Courthouse on Butterfield Boulevard.For more information, visit mhmmg.org.

It’s clear skies ahead for the 2016 recreational boating season, which opened on schedule April 15 with optimism of remaining that way through the summer months and until Oct. 14.