Beer is the new wine. Cliché opener I know, guilty as charged, but it’s true. Microbreweries are popping up like wineries were 15 years ago. The experimental brews are flowing from taps and the industry is happy to come out and peddle their liquid wares. The Morgan Hill Downtown Association is right in step to capitalize on the trend and I’m excited about the Second Annual Brew Crawl coming up on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 1 to 5 p.m. downtown. Great idea. Have my tickets, which are $25 in advance at www.morganhilldowntown.org. For that, you get a glass and all tastes from the 22 breweries scheduled to show up. That includes 21st Amendment, a San Francisco brewer that sells the very popular “Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer.” It’s strange, but good. And there’s Goose Island Brewing Company based in Chicago which makes my middle daughter Cayla’s favorite brew – “312 Urban Wheat Ale” – which is delicious. She’s become something of a beer connoisseur in the last year with all the new brew pubs popping up in Nashville. Our hometown brew, El Toro, will be on tap as will Kona, Redhook and Speakeasy brews. If it’s not too late, organizers should reach out to English Ales in Marina, a local brewery that makes a spot-on beer called “1866.”
Not sure what, if anything is done about food for the Brew Crawl, but what about combining it with the former No Bull BBQ event? Beer and BBQ go together like Rich Firato and pirates.
Ahoy matey, it’s great to read a story in the Times that starts like this: “A band with a lead singer from Hollister, a drummer from Gilroy and a bass player from Morgan Hill has broken into the Top 40 radio charts with a single entitled “After the Laughter.” Took a listen on iTunes and it’s pretty darn good – not too pop fluffy, really nice harmonies and a driven beat. It’s Gary Cornick, Steve Short and Joe Cloutier and the single is “After the Laughter” available on iTunes. You can catch them on stage locally at 9Lives in downtown Gilroy on Aug. 23 and check out the tour schedule at bigwoodband.com.
Big news at the beautiful Centennial Recreation Center where a weekly farmer’s market has been started for the senior center goers by the creative YMCA team. It will be held each Wednesday in the main lobby and run all year long. Of course you don’t have to be a senior to pick up some fresh blueberries, but the idea is to bring the market to the senior center to give them the option on healthy choices. The YMCA has a couple of partners in this “fresh” approach – Episcopal Community Services and The Health Trust – and Susan Fent who directs the senior programs for the Y is understandably excited about the new option.
Fun option to help out Community Solutions and St. Joseph’s Family Center TONIGHT. It’s an acoustic benefit at the 9Lives Club in Gilroy featuring sets by Janet Thompson (with Mike Thompson and Eric Behlmer), Michael Gaither, and Tony Ortiz. Dancing to the rock band PRW follows. Since 9Lives has donated the venue and the musicians have donated their time and talents, it’s all profits to the non-profits which provide very needed social services to South County residents. Doors open at 8; music starts at 8:30. It’s $15 at the door, so show up, have fun, dance the night away and feel good about giving back to your community.
You can tee it up with the Morgan Hill Police Officers, too, and give back to your community on Friday, Sept. 6 with all the proceeds going to community groups, especially the El Toro Youth Center which is desperately in need of financial support. Sgt. Bill Norman says they’re hoping for 100 players this year, doubling last year’s initial event number of 45. Shotgun start at 10 a.m., Coyote Creek Golf Course (Tournament Course), $150 per player, dinner buffet and a good team. More details:
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A good cause for the labor unions is to get someone elected that’s almost entirely beholden to them. Such is the case with the recent election of Cindy Chavez to fill the Santa Clara County Supervisorial seat vacated by the disgraced George Shirakawa. The disgrace continues with this election. “The South Bay Labor Council spent almost a quarter-million dollars supporting” Chavez according to sanjoseinside and the union PAC money just flowed into her campaign. Meanwhile, the loser in the race, Teresa Alvarado, a moderate whose mother Blanca held the seat for years, is left wondering what she has to do to get elected. Well, Teresa should move to South County and start from the ground up running for City Council in either city. Teresa’s bright, thoughtful, engaging and has the ability to work a room or a crowd. But she needs to get elected, put a track record together that can help define her and get some more experience under her belt. If she learned South County and represented us down here, she’d certainly have a shot at taking over for Supervisor Mike Wasserman in District One at the end of his term.
Reach Editor Mark Derry at
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