Columnists

Just when you think our South Valley can’t get any lovelier now that our golden hills have turned green, out of the cold and rain of winter (well, sort of—it’s been a strange year!) burst forth brilliant yellow flowers spreading like soft coverlets over our hills and vales.

On Dec. 20, the Morgan Hill City Council voted to approve funding to secure a local stop for one of the most prestigious bicycle races in the United States later this year, likely to inject an economic boost into our town.Due to the council’s approval, on May 16, 2018, the Amgen Tour of California will stop in Morgan Hill for one of the event’s time trial stages.Anyone even remotely familiar with bicycle racing, or who is a follower of the sports segment of the news, knows the Amgen Tour of California is a big deal. This race is considered a lead up to the Tour de France for many, and is the only race in the U.S. recognized by the key international bicycle racing sanctioning body.For those of you who really don’t pay attention to these kinds of things, you probably do know what the Tour de France is. This is California’s version of that.It’s a big deal and it’s now coming to our little town!So what does the Tour of California mean to us? It will be fun to watch, but the economic implications are extensive.This event will be televised around the world with a social media following that could bog down anyone’s internet to dial tone levels when everyone is in town: digital imagery of Morgan Hill will be floating around the world. A circus of riders and support crews, event staff, reporters and fans will be here in earnest. Hotel rooms as far as Monterey are already being booked.Morgan Hill will get to show off our regionally recognized active lifestyle. Did you know that Morgan Hill was touted as a Mecca for bicycling just a few years back, in conjunction with the Bicycling Spring Classic hosted by Specialized and Bicycling Magazine? Our Outdoor Sports Center on Condit Road regularly hosts top-flight events. You are minutes from city, county and state parks that many consider destinations. The world will see all of that on their TVs and smartphones.The event will begin and end right in our downtown, so the entire world will see this neighborhood we’re so proud of. Reserve a table at one of your favorite downtown restaurants now.The promoters will host a “Lifestyle Festival,” where our downtown will turn into a huge bicycle party with all kinds of bicycling related vendors and parties lining Monterey Road. A community event is being planned nearby, where we can highlight our local and regional assets.There will be immediate benefits to local businesses, but the exposure promises to help local tourism and other industries as our community and its attributes are seen far and wide.We get to have a 30-second promotional video shown during the event highlighting Morgan Hill that should excite potential employers about our town being a great place for their businesses and employees.This is our time to shine, folks. Let’s make the best of it.More to follow in my next column…John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice released an album in 1976 in London of a show-to-be called “Evita.” By early 1977, the album took the world by storm and by the time “Evita” premiered in London in June of '78, everyone was humming "Don't Cry For Me Argentina."