Teen has ‘burning desire’ to compete
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Emanuel Lee for writing the article “The Comeback Kid” (May 14 edition).
Sofia is our granddaughter. We are especially proud of her regarding her resiliency and tenacious progress for recovery. She has a burning desire to compete in sports. Hopefully, she can be an inspiration for other individuals who are involved in accidents.
Guy & Karen Ferrante
Morgan Hill
New RV parks would stress rural community
The San Martin Neighborhood Alliance has been tracking two RV park proposals: the San Martin RV Park (proposed for the northwest corner of Monterey and California Avenue) and the DiVittorio RV Park (proposed for the southeast corner of Middle Avenue and the railroad tracks).
The latter is being proposed by the owners of the existing Maple Leaf RV Park in Morgan Hill. The DiVittorio park is proposed to be 270 spaces, and the San Martin park is proposed to be 125 spaces.
Combined, this is 395 spaces. If there is an average of four people (two adults and two children) per RV, this represents an increase in San Martin’s population of 1,580 people—an increase of 21%, WITHOUT any increase in infrastructure (schools, sheriff, fire, roads, etc.). That could mean an additional 790 students in San Martin/Gwinn with no additional teachers.
Also, while the owners can propose a partitioning of the park into permanent residents and transients, once the park is in place, it is the state, NOT the county that controls that ratio; and the park owners can petition the state to make a much higher percentage permanent and the county has absolutely no control.
Now, consider the financial motivation: The Maple Leaf RV Park spaces rent for $1,000-$1,200 per month. For 270 spaces, that is $270,000-$324,000 PER MONTH, which translates to over $3 MILLION per year.
And, none of these numbers include the Thousand Trails RV park. That would be in ADDITION to all the numbers just quoted.
Stephen McHenry
San Martin
Operation Interdependence in need of donations
It has been a hard year for so many businesses, restaurants and especially 501(c)3’s. I am area manager for Operation Interdependence (OI), a civilian to military delivery system and we have been operating in Gilroy since 9/11. We ship “goodies” and/or toiletries to our deployed heroes. A hand-written letter of appreciation and gratitude is included in each of the 250-400 quart-sized bags that are shipped monthly.
We have been able to ship every month, except for 2-3 months, at the peak of Covid-19, but are barely getting by without fundraisers and volunteers not meeting to write letters. Memorial Day is a time designated to remembering those that died in active military service and as far as I know, this year, as well as last, there are no events, celebrations or the annual car show to commemorate those that served and gave all.
Would you consider donating to an organization that respects and recognizes those that are currently serving in all branches of the armed forces? We need factory-packaged products: granola bars, peanuts, cornnuts, sunflower seeds, gum and hotel shampoos/conditioner/lotions, soap. Or, you can write a tax-deductible check to Operation Interdependence. Or, we are always in need of handwritten letters and will give community service hours for volunteering high schoolers.
Drop off can be done on Tuesdays, 3-5pm at the office: 7877 Wren Ave. “D.” Letters and “small stuff” can go through the mail slot in the door.
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Please contact me: [email protected] or 408-710-3927.
Suzi Kugler
Gilroy
