Winery owner Gene Guglielmo recognized for his generosity and
service to community
Morgan Hill – When local non-profit groups need a go-to guy to make their events extra special, they turn to Gene Guglielmo. Now the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce wants to highlight Guglielmo’s unselfishness over the decades by naming him its 2007 Man of the Year.
“We’ve got the opportunity to help (the community) so it’s kind of like a sin not to help when you have the ability to,” Guglielmo said about his activities with non-profits. “That’s what makes a community a community. Otherwise we just happen to be a bunch of people who live in the same place.”
Guglielmo’s Morgan Hill history stretches back three generations. His grandfather Emilio came to California from Italy in 1908 and settled in San Francisco. In 1925, with a dream of starting his own wine-making business, Emilio bought ranch land here in Morgan Hill and began raising grapes and his family in the Santa Clara Valley sun. Gene Guglielmo remembers helping as a boy with the family business.
For decades, Guglielmo and his family have run the winery located on Main Street across from Live Oak High School. They often provide their fine wines and vineyard venue to local non-profit groups for fund-raising functions. Their unselfishness in providing wine is a family tradition that makes Morgan Hill a great place to live, said Dan Ehrler, executive director of the chamber.
“He’s been so engaged with our non-profit organizations for many years,” Ehrler said. “When there’s a need, he’s been very generous.”
Guglielmo demonstrates a true commitment to the community, Ehrler added. “That genuine respect for his family and the history and the care that they put into their wine production is really quite significant,” he said. “It just shows his care and genuine love for the community in which he was born and raised and lives.”
Guglielmo said the happy memories of growing up in the town make it a special place for him, and that’s one big reason he gives so much of his time and wine to the community.
“The people,” Guglielmo said simply in explaining what makes Morgan Hill dear to his heart. “The fond memories of childhood, being raised by a great family, the great friends and a great community.”
Over the years, Guglielmo has been active in helping out many of the city’s organizations. The list is long and includes the Morgan Hill Historical Society, Gavilan Community College, the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, the Mushroom Mardi Gras, the Taste of Morgan Hill, the Sister Cities program, the local Rotary Club and the Morgan Hill Centennial Committee. Showing his interest in sports and kids, Guglielmo has also helped out with groups such as the Spirit of Morgan Hill Softball, Pony Baseball, and a whole host of Morgan Hill school activities and fundraisers.
Guglielmo has also been active in promoting Morgan Hill as a tourist destination, Ehrler said. “He’s been an active member in the Chamber’s Tourism Advisory Committee,” he explained. “He’s been an advocate of a regional program like this for years. That’s just another element of his big picture view of what can be done when people come together with a common purpose. People like Gene make things happen.”
Part of Guglielmo’s tourist promotion involves getting the word out that the area is a beautiful place to visit, Ehrler said. Recently, Guglielmo helped out with a “familiarization tour” of Morgan Hill in which 25 Bay Area travel and wine writers toured the city and its local wineries.
Guglielmo will receive the Man of the Year honor from the chamber at its Salute Morgan Hill dinner on Feb. 3. Later that month, he’ll also wed his fiancee, Laura Bacigalupo.
The Man of the Year Award won’t be the first public honor he has received for his community involvement. In the past, Guglielmo has also received the Leadership Morgan Hill Leadership Excellence Award as well as the Morgan Hill Community Foundation Philanthropic Award from the Centennial Morgan Hill Committee. He is also a Live Oak High School Hall of Fame inductee.
Marty Cheek is a free lance writer for South Valley Newspapers.
