Columnists

I was an early adopter of technology at one time.

Sometimes things don’t work out but sometimes they do. Something happened recently that could’ve gone all wrong but it went all right.

In my last column I mentioned that I should turn my focus away from food and more towards bicycling, so here we go...Most of us think about bicycling seasonally, but there is a group of local residents who think about it year-round. This group is the community based Bicycling and Pedestrian Advisory Group (BPAG). They’ve been working on all things bicycling and pedestrian oriented and have been providing direct feedback to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission. This group was resurrected last year just in time to be helpful in the Bikeways, Trails, Parks and Recreation Master Plan update that’s underway right now, so their impact was felt immediately.The BPAG’s goal is to make Morgan Hill the most bicycle and pedestrian friendly community it can be. They are helping to plan more and better amenities in town for those who want to recreate outdoors; but just as importantly, they also want to better identify and promote what we already have.One example is to focus on getting bicyclists from the Coyote Creek Parkway to the core of the city. The Coyote Creek Parkway is like one of those trails you’d expect to see in a place where there is a pervasive focus on active lifestyles like Boulder, Colorado or Portland, Oregon. But this trail is right here, and it meanders 15 miles through beautiful scenery from San Jose to Morgan Hill. Many ride the trail from San Jose to where it ends at Anderson Lake County Park and head back, never knowing how close they were to so many wonderful destinations in Morgan Hill.The BPAG has been working on identifying the best and safest routes from the Coyote Creek Parkway to our downtown. It’s more complicated than you might think when you take into account all the different types of riders, but the common denominator should be that it’s safe for families. Our community needs more safe recreation opportunities for families, and this should be one of them.City staff and crews have been working on many bicycling and pedestrian related efforts. One of these is the installation of trailhead signage on the Madrone Channel Trail which could also tie into the trail from Coyote Creek Parkway.This wonderful trail, next to the percolation ponds and most visible from U.S. 101, is one of the routes between the Parkway and downtown. However, it is little used. This improved gravel trail, which is protected from city streets, is a wonderful place for families to get outside to walk or ride their mountain bikes together. Let’s get people out using this trail.I hear Specialized Bicycles and the city’s Recreation Department are working to resurrect their lunch rides. Sounds like they’re moving the ride from Monday to Thursday to accommodate the many who are overwhelmed on Mondays, so look for an even better turnout. Watch for these fun rides.I’m going to try and dodge the storms and start getting my rides in. I need to be ready for a summer full of riding.John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

It looks like I survived the holidays and I’m sitting here with a cherubic smile on my face—definitely more cherubic looking than before the holidays.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of local wines and I plan on enjoying them a lot this holiday season.My guess is that many of you who enjoy wine may not be all that familiar with our local wineries and the fact that there are over 30 of them right in our backyard. I sit in on the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley wine association’s marketing meetings and that’s not lost on them. There has been good progress made promoting the local wine region with events like the WSCV Passport Weekend and the installation of the Wine Trail signage. But it has always felt like more could be done.The WSCV is now stepping up their game and brought in a top notch wine marketing consultant to match their goals. This firm is out of the winemaking mecca of Napa, and at first blush I was thinking, “Uh oh, are we going to be molded into something else and be like some other place?” Well, I needn’t worry because the marketing consultant gave a wonderful seminar that emphasized our local wineries should continue doing what they do best: making great wines and being personable and approachable.That marketing consultant really clicked with me because he was saying that winery visitors were looking to have a good time and not get an undergraduate degree in winemaking. Traditionally many wineries seemingly wanted to impress you with talk about things like brix readings, the effect of fermenting or barrel ageing in oak (must always ask if it is French), stirring the lees and malolactic fermentation. All the stuff I want to learn about but not feel obligated to do so.Now, instead of encouraging the wineries to talk about how many months the wine spent ageing in an oak barrel, etc., the winemakers have been encouraged to just talk about what they like to eat with a particular wine or maybe tell you a funny or touching story about how a wine or their winery came about, and maybe talk about their dog. Halleluiah.This was comforting to me since I was always a little self-conscious about my wine knowledge and I can only imagine others felt that way too. So often I’ve walked into a winery and felt like I had to earn a sample by proving I was worthy. I felt like I should taste a hint of this or that and was disappointed if I couldn’t.It turns out that I never should have felt that way in our local wineries. No one was ever testing me—that was my own preconceived notion. Many of our local wineries were already practicing the fun approach to winery visits and they just wanted to see me enjoying their wine.Our local wineries are mostly small and family operated. They love the personal touch of sharing their stories and just talking about wine. And for those wine aficionados who want to get technical, most of these folks are still wine geeks at heart so chat it up.So in between the shopping, gatherings with family and friends, and generally celebrating the holidays head out to a winery for a local wine experience that’ll make you feel right at home.John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

Daddy Long Legs brings us a delightful moment of time in theatre. Written in 1912 by Jean Webster (a grandniece of Mark Twain), Daddy Long Legs has been made into a number of movies and plays when John Caird, famed director of Les Miserables adapted the classic novel into a musical with Paul Gordon handling the music and lyrics. A story about an orphan whose education is a sponsored by a benefactor who does not want to be involved other than to receive a monthly progress report. Sounds like a cross between Great Expectations and My Fair Lady.A well done production directed by the esteemed Robert Kelly, with a super cast including Hilary Maiberger as Jerusha Abbott, Daddy Long Legs is delightful and charming. The story provides her character a spirit and magnetism that gives her performance life. Maiberger carries the show; she sings beautifully and matures believably into a delightful young woman. Her secret benefactor, Jervis Pendleton, (Derek Carley) does an admirable job supporting her.Of course, predictably, all’s well that ends well with Jerusha captivating Jervis with her wit and innocent wisdom in her letters.Musical Director William Liberatore carries the musical accompaniment with his group with his usual perfection. Joe Ragey’s super library set using books and trunks as props for the scenes is imaginative and holds attention. It blends with Steven B. Mannshardt’s subtle lighting to make for scenes that are soft and creative.Daddy Long Legs is a delightful charmer.  ‘Daddy Long Legs’Book and Direction by John CairdFrom a novel by Jean WebsterMusic and lyrics by Paul GordonLucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd, Palo AltoPerformances through: Dec 31Tickets: $30-$80  Details: call: (650) 463-1960, or visit www.theatreworks,org

You feel you are sitting on a rainbow and are fascinated with the edgy Tandy Beal’s take on The Nutcracker, in Nuts Re-Mixed! Here is entertainment that sits outside the box that gives a uniquely serendipitous experience.

I think this is the third year that you get to wake up to one of my columns from your tryptophan-induced coma (it is obligatory to use that line every year) and reach for your coffee in a daze.I feel like I’m already in a daze recently with the elections, attending meetings for great things to come and celebrating people and accomplishments. In that daze, I swing back and forth between a dream and a nightmare; but I think it’s very much a net positive.Sometimes I feel like I’m in a dream when I think about how the Granada Theater was saved and is being transformed. Honestly, I never thought there was even the slimmest chance it would ever open for business again. Not only is it going to be open, but soon it will be so cool that it sends the accomplishment needle off the dial.It will have terraced dinner seating around a stage, like you see in those old movies where someone like Benny Goodman’s big band is playing and everybody’s dancing and enjoying fancy dining and drinks.All this in our old theater that had succumbed to the smell of mold and tobacco smoke and probably not the best place to be in an earthquake.Newly renovated, the smell of food and wine has replaced the mold and smoke and I’d rather be there than in one of my home’s doorways during a major temblor.Many of us had dreamed of a boutique hotel downtown. “Long shot,” we mused. Now even that dream comes true.We will have a new three-story hotel with lots of retail space. But get this—the building comes pre-loaded with shops! The owner/developer will base his wedding planning business there with supporting shops like a florist, as well as places to get your wine and dinner. Many of the key ingredients in these shops will come from packages with “Leal” on the label.Frank Leal’s constellation of symbiotic businesses make the theater and boutique hotel feasible, where other developers crunched numbers and walked away shaking their heads.I fully realize that this is not a dream and this is all happening. Two things never dreamed possible became reality; not only will I see them in my lifetime but I will see them soon.Not only am I not dreaming, but I also don’t have to wait for the next nugget. Prova, the new restaurant headed up by Chef Sal Calisi (of Odeum), should be open as you read this.For those familiar with Chef Calisi’s work at Odeum, Prova—located on Monterey Road where Slim’s used to be—will represent a journey down a slightly different path but with no change in creativity or quality at the destination.The food will be of the small plate variety with interesting items from around the world, with unique beers and wines with craft cocktails the house specialty. Like so many other fine restaurants, most of what comes out of the kitchen will not be liberated from a package but made right there.So wake up now and go out and do some shopping and more dining where we live.Please shop and dine locally, and do it often.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

The theatre department of Foothill College with director Bruce McLeod at the helm has taken on Thornton Wilder’s second Pulitzer prize play, Our Town, a sweet simple story of life as it really is in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners in the early 1900s. Using a plain set with just a table and some chairs and a ladder, the story covers childhood, courtship, marriage and death in three acts. The story brings the folly, foibles, happiness and tragedy of everyday life to the top of the rim of existence and touches the imagination.

Disney took the delightful fairytale of Beauty and the Beast and created a beautiful animated movie that transported children and adults to another time and place. Broadway by the Bay has taken the Broadway show with the divine music of Alan Menken and clever lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and brought a delightful presentation to the stage in Redwood City.Everyone knows the engaging tale in which Belle finds herself in an enchanted castle where the beast and all the inhabitants are trapped in an animated state because of a witches’ cruel curse which only Belle (unbeknownst to her) can break. Of course, as in all fairy tales, everyone lives happily ever after. But getting there is the fun part.The multiple Tony Award production recreates all the characters from the movie from Lumiere the living candlestick, to the clock, teapot, chest of drawers and delightful rug. Wrapped up in Kelly James Tighe’s fine direction with Adam Elsberry’s creative choreography is a fast moving production that will keep everyone’s attention throughout.A talented cast with Anya Absten as the spunky Belle, John Melis as the obnoxious Gaston, Warren Wernick as Lefeu, Maureen Duffey Frentz as Mrs. Potts, Ray D’ambrosio as Cogsworth, Brendon North as the lovable Lumiere and Daniel Barrington Rubio as the Beast perform as a huge ensemble with great delivery and resilient voices.The impressive orchestra brings in a tight, crisp version of this beloved story. Alan Menken’s music and Howard Ashman, (who died during the making of the original production) and Tim Rice’s lyrics ran away with Academy Awards for the movie and Tonys for the Broadway version with “Be Our Guest,” “Beauty and The Beast,” and “Something There.”The outstanding 18-piece orchestra under the baton of Sean Kana gives the show the professional touch.The the crew backstage also performs heroically. Technical and sound designer Jon Hayward impressively gets his crew to move scenes with absolute ease. Lighting designer Aaron Spivey is always on cue. Costumes by Angela F. Lazear and Leandra Watson are pleasing and colorful.Grab the kids and go and be enchanted. ‘Disney’s Beauty and The Beast’Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway St, Redwood CityPerformances through Nov. 20Information: (650) 579-5565Or visit: www.broadwaybythebay.org