Columnists

My strategy for washing cars is to buzz over to one of our local businesses, a car wash and gift shop. The friendly folks there whisk my car away while I peruse the interesting items inside the shop. I pay for the service and in return they provide me with my freshly washed automobile.

Pinnacles National Park is just far enough away to place it beyond the "Hey, let's go for a hike this afternoon" category. It's more of a "We gotta get down to Pinnacles sometime this spring" place. And often, we don't get around to it.

The drought is getting worse, and we don’t know when it will end. With that in mind, the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors has called for a water use reduction of 30 percent over 2013 levels and a restriction on irrigating landscapes and lawns with potable water to two days per week.

As I look at my calendar for April I see lots of things going on, not the least of which is April 15—a date that still sneaks up on me every year no matter how often I prepare myself.So compared to dealing with the only other thing that I can’t avoid besides death, everything else looks pretty good. But then everything I’m about to mention is pretty good.I’ve been working on an oversized wooden resort chair that should be unveiled soon as part of the downtown public art mini-grant projects.This is a nine-foot-tall Adirondack chair so it will be hard to miss once it’s parked. This is just one piece of several soon to land downtown this month with the promise to add more elements of interest to the downtown placemaking effort.Down the street where the old liquor store used to be on Third Street and Monterey Road you will see a mini-grant mural revealing itself as soon as this weekend. But besides art the old liquor store will also be the home of something else new—a “bike HUB.” What is a bike HUB? Thought you’d never ask…I’ll define bike HUB for this location as a place where bicyclists can gather, park their bike and maybe get some minor emergency repairs or adjustments performed. Part of each Saturday starting in April the location will be staffed so you can feel comfortable knowing your bike is safe while you stroll around the downtown shopping and dining. As part of the downtown art mini-grants, there will also be a bike fix it station out front along with a very cool old time map of California bike routes. A local bicycling advocacy group, “Bike Morgan Hill,” will take care of the bike racks and volunteer staffing. With the increasing numbers of bicyclists downtown the bike HUB is sure to add a convenience that will be appreciated by many.Last weekend was the first “Indie Market” put together by the folks at the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. The west side of Monterey Road between First and Fourth streets saw colorful canopies erected by local independent home based businesses now offering a great outdoor venue. The event drew crowds of people and there was more activity downtown on a Sunday than most of us are used to—but could very easily get accustomed to. This will be repeated again on April 26.This is also the month when those of us who love wine turn our focus to downtown.Wine Week will kick off April 19 and is loaded with more events than ever. This year will also include a celebration of the numerous awards our local wineries are winning with a special event along with the exceptional slate of wine education, wine maker dinners and wine tastings established for this week. Wine Week will end with the Wine Stroll which annually brings more than a thousand visitors to the downtown sampling wine and getting exposed to the Morgan Hill we know and love.Get ready for April, that date in the middle is always a rough one but on either side are days filled with fun things to see and do in your town.John McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and a member of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

Congratulations are in order for the local wine industry, as the results of the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition are in. This is the first wine-judging event of the year and with more than 6,400 entries, this is the largest judging of American wines in the world. This year 86 awards went to wineries in Santa Clara and San Benito counties. Our wineries won 35 bronze, 37 silver, 11 gold, two double gold and one Best of Class.

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.

Art is not only coming; it is already here.I’m sure most of you are now aware that in the next few months we will soon double, triple, or possibly quadruple the amount of public art we have in town. It’s hard for me to say since apparently there’s more public art in Morgan Hill than you might think because it’s not all obvious. Most of the new art will be much more obvious.All of the attention right now is on public art but we have a lot of the other kind too. What do you call that, private art?In many of the businesses in town, most notably restaurants, you will find local art that has been placed there for your enjoyment and purchase. Some of this art will grab your attention with bold colors or designs while others remind you that there is a quiet place in the library that could use that painting (we all have libraries, right?).The local art was placed in those businesses by the Valle Del Sur Art Guild that is based right here in Morgan Hill. The guild was formed over 4 decades ago and includes several dozen members. Now you can see their work thanks to over 14 partner businesses participating in their Art Around Town program. Their art can also be viewed periodically at the Community and Cultural Center (CCC).Art on the walls of the CCC is also coordinated by the El Toro Culture and Arts Committee. This group also helps with events to spark an interest in art in our youth and push to keep art in the forefront of our community.A new art gallery is opening up downtown. Morgan Hill Art Gallery on Second and Monterey is an example of one of the components long discussed as missing in our downtown business mix—an art gallery where diners and shoppers can spend some time browsing and shopping for art. This gallery also happens to be associated with the Valle Del Sur Art Guild and will feature locally created art.We are fortunate to also have many other local artists who are not associated with any guild or association in our community. Several of these artists will gain new or additional exposure in the community as they release their Downtown Placemaking Art Mini-grant winning work. Many of our artists are not just hobbyists and you will find some of them in art exhibits around the country. A second mortgage might be needed to purchase some of their work.We have an abundance of all forms of art in our community whether it be painted, sculpted, photographs, music or otherwise. Like so many other things happening in Morgan Hill there appear to be opportunities, or opportunities in the making, to let more of what is already here grow and shine.Again, for a community of our size we fight above our weight class in the arts. We just need to stop and pay more attention to it.I think that this is the year that art, like so many other things, will start to find its proper place in the community.Please enjoy what we have and support the arts.—John McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and a member of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

‘The Story Of My Life” is about the relation-ships in life, what we miss, what we remember and what we could have done differently. Two actors carry this story with quality voices and good delivery.