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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.

Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve is big and rugged. From Los Gatos and Lexington Reservoir to the north down to Mt. Umunhum and beyond, this 17,400-acre preserve rides the crest of the Santa Cruz mountains that overlook San Jose and the entire south bay.

Gorgeous time of year Indian Summer is in the Hayes Valley in San Martin where the PGA Golf professionals show up to play each fall in early October. Crisp CordeValle Golf Resort mornings yield to sunshiny warm afternoons at the Frys.Com Open. The views are as soothing as a Fred Couple’s swing. It’s a walk in a natural park interrupted by occasional roars from the happy crowd, announcements on the first tee … please welcome our 11:22 a.m. pairing … Two-time major champion Angel Cabrera from Argentina … and next to tee off 1997 British Open Champion Justin Leonard from Dallas, Texas ... and bellows from the beer-for-birdies bunch at the pavilion aside the 17th green.

I recently had the opportunity to take a walk to the top of the future downtown “Hilltop Trail/Park” location. This walk, by the way, is not just a mere stroll; it takes some effort and will break a sweat on most. It certainly did for me.We took the walk to see the location of two new planned slides at the top of the prominent downtown hill where we were also rewarded with an incredible view across Morgan Hill. The “slides with a view” are bound to be a huge hit and I think will become a signature feature of the downtown.Earlier the group had walked through the future “Creek Park” along the West Little Llagas Creek. There should be plaques at the pedestrian bridge over West Little Llagas Creek and at the “slides with a view” honoring the support of the parks by the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill—support in the tune of $100,000 to be exact.That support by the Rotary Club mirrors the support of these parks by the entire community.We have not built a new park in many, many years, and in one year we are about to have three new parks. These new parks are going to serve the downtown area that, with proper planning, will add many new residents over the years that will live in higher density developments typical of the most urban environment in a community like ours, the downtown. These developments typically don’t have a lot of open space, so I feel the entire downtown, and these parks, will become the open space for these residents.We will also have the “Depot Park,” which is designed to focus on children’s play where the yells and screams of children playing will be just down the road from our downtown businesses—close but not too close. It will be a park with safe places for children to run, jump and fall like children do, and play features to climb on and feed young imaginations. It will also have a restroom!The “Creek Park,” just behind Ladera Grill restaurant, will be a more passive park where you can enjoy a rural feel right in the downtown, with some nice play features for children but also some adult amenities. There will be trails to entice you to walk around and learn more about riparian habitat and see local art, possibly while digesting a recent meal. Of course there will be picnic benches, where some takeout food would taste particularly good in a park setting. During the winter and spring we might see children return to see the pollywogs and newts around the creek.From the Creek Park you can head right up Third Street (now one way) to the Hilltop Trail/Park. This park will encourage a higher level of activity and it will be just perfect—a place to hike, jog and work out at a series of fitness stations. This park will feature trails, views, and picnic areas in addition to the aforementioned slides.We will have something for everyone in our new parks and I hope everyone spends some time in these wonderfully planned additions to our community.Editor's note: The Morgan Hill City Council at the May 17 meeting officially named the parks Nob Hill Trail Park, Railroad Park and Third Street Creek Park. John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].

Meetings galore – not just the regularly scheduled meetings, but cooperative meetings alive with the energy of new faces and fresh ideas – the kind of meetings you don’t want to take a break from because you’ll miss something.