Columnists

I’ve just returned from a long week on the road, touring the great American Southwest where I saw the wide open spaces that crafted the world’s image of how the wild west should look. These places are stunning for their sometimes intense and sometimes subtle natural beauty. Man is still subordinate to nature here.After those many days on the road I returned home to something new in town, specifically downtown.Having stayed informed of a new temporary park being proposed for the downtown, I felt it could be something pretty special if it could actually be pulled off as discussed. This park would be temporary and located in the parking lot of the old liquor store at the corner of Third Street and Monterey Road. The planning was fast and furious. There would be a lot of donated time and materials from the private sector. There would be numerous departments at City Hall working side by side with the community to get this park done.  This kind of cooperative effort can produce some pretty impressive results.I returned to find an incredible little park and it is now hard to imagine that this used to be a blighted corner of our downtown.This little park is known as a “pop-up” park because it is temporary and it literally popped up in just a few days. However, the impact on the users would appear to be anything but temporary. Families have adopted the park and it doesn’t look like they’ll want to let go of it soon. On my first visit I just wanted to sit and look at every little detail and watch the children play while parents watched and some even napped—right here in our downtown!I took in the large mural which is based upon a French cartoon about bicycling and the smaller one that is the impassioned work of a local artist.There is a cool old map which showed that bicycling was important at the turn of the last century and a modern “fix-it” station so you can fix your bike today. There is plenty of bike rack space for cyclists to leave their bikes to explore the downtown. You can even fill a water bottle right here.A huge blue chair is waiting for someone with a rear end as big as the imagination of those who dreamed up this park. There is a large ceramic basket of grapes with a bottle of wine which looks like it should sit next to that big blue chair, just waiting for that giant person and a wine glass. There are lots of little chairs to match the big one that look like cute little spawn.An artist turned old propane tanks into chairs and benches—another of the many works of park art commissioned by the city’s mini-grant program.There are plants in planters which also serve as chalkboards. These two walls of chalkboards entertain the children and, from the looks of things, adults too. There is even a bookcase with books to borrow.All of this is on artificial turf that makes this look like the only green grass in any park in this town.A couple huge trees have been brought in to add some nature, but there is no mistaking this for a man made effort.Not much is subtle about this park, but it is very comfortable. Come see for yourself before it’s gone.McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and a co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

If I were to rate Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve based on my first visit, I would award it just two stars out of a possible five. But that was four years ago and things have changed.

Starting April 19 the wife and I decided to take full advantage of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association’s Wine Week and attend one of the events each evening. I’ll admit that I am somewhat involved in organizing Wine Week but this in no way influenced me to participate in the week’s events. My desire to eat fine food and drink fine wines in the company of good friends was all I needed.Wine Week started Sunday, April 19 with most downtown restaurants offering no corkage charge so you could bring and enjoy one of your own bottles of local wine that first day.  We started the week with a nice lunch at Ladera Grill downtown.The evening events started at Bubbles on Monday by meeting a friend, dining, and drinking local wines in the “Taste of Locals” wine flight (three nice samples of local wines). We chatted with co-owner David Dindak and learned about his plans to expand the offerings at his growing business. Since we were recent wine tasting class graduates of Cindy Adams (of Guglielmo) we skipped this evening’s classes but luckily one of the recent graduates joined us and filled us in on the wonderful class.Tuesday night presented a tough choice for us since both Ladera Grill and Odeum were hosting wine pairing dinners. We chose Odeum for their once-a-year event. As usual with our finest restaurants the food was incredible and Jason Stephens Winery brought out some of their newest releases and finest wines.I was informed by our friend, a graduate of the previous evening’s wine class, that the four winemakers hosted by Ladera Grill provided the usual fine wines. We won’t miss the last two winemaker dinners in their series this year.Wednesday again provided tough choices. We’re regulars at Rosy’s wine dinners so we chose the Good Fork which featured the wines of Madeiros Family Vineyards. The food and wine were incredible and the Good Fork seamlessly delivered their meals to an overflow crowd.Rosy’s had sold out and Vic Vanni with Solis Winery and Rosy’s food continued the trend and impressed their guests.Back to Bubbles Thursday night for a special dinner paired with wines from Calera. Although Calera is from San Benito County we looked forward to that evening and the “localish” wine offerings.Noah’s Bar and Bistro also hosted a wine maker dinner Thursday with Guglielmo that I am sure was a success with two local favorites.Friday night included “Our Award Winning Wine Region Celebration” event that offered truly spectacular wines and food from our locals. This new event will grow and I expect it to be worthy of the caliber of food and wine served while continuing to honor the local wine association’s award winning ways.The Morgan Hill Wine Shop and Cigar Company held a wine tasting that evening too.Saturday found me volunteering for the Wine Stroll as I started my recovery period.A lot of great food and great wine was consumed in downtown Morgan Hill that week. I hope you were one of the people who took the opportunity to get out and enjoy the fruits of our local region. I know I sure did and I will be back for more next year.John McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

Fifty Years Ago this spring will mark the beginning of an astounding march towards Live Oak’s very first Football Championship clinched in a dramatic last game of the season mud bowl 13-0 victory over San Lorenzo High School on November, 14th, 1965.  While I was hiking last year with my good buddy and old teammate of that team Kim Moreno, we noted the 50 year anniversary would be upon us soon and that our ancient march towards that football championship in 1965 had actually begun 3 years earlier when Dr. Howard Nicholson, Superintendent of our huge rural school district, hired Darrell Guthrie as an English, Math, PE teacher and Head Football Coach. When Coach Guthrie assumed the football helm in 1963, Live Oak played in the Mission Trail Athletic league (MTAL) where the terms used to describe Live Oak Football was “the Live Oak Acorns were the perennial league doormats” winning only one league game for the entire decade of fielding a football team. Morgan Hill, then with a growing population of almost 4000, was the smallest town in the league with the football power houses of the day usually being Carmel, King City, San Lorenzo and Pacific Grove. Even our neighboring town of Gilroy, with our arch rival the Mustangs, was twice the size of Morgan Hill in those days.

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."

Bicycling will be the big activity in Morgan Hill this weekend and you can follow up with a cool down ride on Monday too.This weekend will see the second annual “Bicycling” Spring Classic. This event is organized by “Bicycling” magazine, which just happens to be the world’s largest bicycling magazine. it is sponsored by our own Specialized Bicycle Components, one of the world’s largest premium bicycle manufacturers.The Spring Classic will be held Sunday, May 3. Make no mistake, the event isn’t a big bicycle industry show. Rather, it focuses on three rides around our beautiful countryside that Specialized employees use to test bikes and equipment and even as backdrops for their ads. They are now sharing this with you.The three rides promise to offer something for everyone: a 25-mile ride for new riders and families, a 60-mile route that will be faster paced but remain social, and a 90-mile loop where there can be an element of formal and informal competition. All rides end right where they began at the Specialized headquarters on Concord Circle in Morgan Hill.The returning riders will be greeted by a bike industry exposition and family friendly activities. A lunch will also be provided along with free massages and, get this, beer. Food trucks will be brought in and anyone can grab a quick bite and stroll the expo even if you didn’t participate in a ride. Hopefully the Specialized museum will also be open to the public as well as the wind tunnel like last year.This event serves to highlight that Morgan Hill is a bicycling destination. Last year one blogger called Morgan Hill a bicycling mecca. Speaking with those returning from last year’s rides I had the opportunity to chat it up with riders from Texas and Southern California. There must be something about Morgan Hill and the surrounding area to draw this kind of interest, and there is. We have a nice combination of hilly terrain and flat roads, and the natural beauty of the area as well as resources like Concept Cyclery and Sunshine Bicycles to service needs and of course, Starbucks and Peet’s which have become regular meeting places (keep an eye out, I hear you might see some world class cyclists at these locations).Whether or not you participate in a ride at the Spring Classic you should treat yourself to what is likely a well-deserved break at lunch on Monday.The first Monday of the month is the day that Specialized and the City of Morgan Hill (with a big dose of support from Concept Cyclery) put on the Lunch Time Bike rides. This event is growing as more and more riders decide that getting out and riding at lunch this one day a month is great for their health, spirit and outlook for the rest of the day. It doesn’t hurt that you’ll probably make a few new friends like I did.Like the Spring Classic rides there is a riding level for everyone. Typically there will be an easy ride (that’s me, folks), an intermediate, and one that is pretty much moving as fast as I can ever pedal the whole distance (I’ll pass).These rides are a lot of fun and you get to ride with Specialized staff who are always willing to talk about their work and passion—bikes and bicycling.Please get out this weekend and ride a bike or attend an event and pack a bag lunch and ride this coming Monday.We have what others will travel to enjoy so I hope you can enjoy what we have too.Bicycling Spring Classic:bicycling.com/ride-maps/featured-rides/2015-bicycling-spring-classicLunch Time Rides:morgan-hill.ca.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=3699&month=5&year=2015&day=4&calType=0 andfacebook.com/events/1587060811537632/John McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and member of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.