Columnists

The Morgan Hill Downtown Association is busy gearing up for its annual Wine Week, a series of wine-related events occurring in the downtown area on evenings leading up to the Morgan Hill Wine Stroll on April 25. Since the main event began in 2009, the Wine Stroll has been an opportunity for local businesses to attract new visitors and for wine lovers to taste wines from local wineries, all in the downtown area of Morgan Hill.

Next week will be the culmination of months of work for a wonderful and committed group of volunteers. All this hard work will bear fruit April 23 to 29 in the Morgan Hill Downtown Association’s Wine & Food Week and the Wine Stroll.Most of you, hopefully, will recognize the Wine & Food Week as a week where wine and food take center stage, and the Wine Stroll as a fun way to taste some great local wines, shop, dine, and socialize—all in the wonderful setting that is our downtown.The Wine Stroll is a fundraiser for the Downtown Association and like so many other fundraisers, in our community known for giving, you get the benefit of helping a good cause while having fun.The Wine & Food Week and Wine Stroll are special to me because not only are they “fun-raisers,” but they’re also aimed at exposing more people to our restaurants and shops downtown, as well as the Santa Clara Valley wine region.We get to make the events all about our downtown, community and region and the lucky ticket holders are immersed in it.I’d like to provide a little insight into the Wine Stroll that I bet most of you never think about—why do our businesses and the wineries participate?For some, it’s obvious—exposure. People being in a great mood puts a different lens on their day, and the hope is these same people will see something they’ll want to revisit later, maybe come back to the downtown and wineries to re-create fun memories.Some of our downtown businesses actually lose money for the day because their regular customers will avoid the crowds. Most of these businesses are pragmatic and see the overall benefit that this kind of exposure brings to the downtown. Some of this is done just to support the Downtown Association.The wineries are the featured guests and are compensated for the wine they pour. But in most cases, the compensation doesn’t really cover their costs. Many of these wineries also look at the Wine Stroll as a marketing opportunity and want the exposure, but many do not feel that this exposure benefits them.Wineries would like their guests to pause, taste their wine and engage in conversation. Seeing close to 1,000 customers doesn’t leave a lot of opportunity to do any of those things. So a good number of the wineries are doing something that we greatly appreciate: they are participating in the Wine Stroll out of community spirit, a belief that we can all work together to make not only Morgan Hill but the region a destination for wine, food and shopping.And thus, besides the Wine Stroll on Saturday, April 29, we have a week of wine and food related events starting April 23.During Wine & Food Week you’ll find no corkage fees on local wines at many local restaurants, special food and wine pairings and complete winemaker dinners (wines specially paired with each unique course of the dinner).This is the week that the businesses and wineries really enjoy because of the personal contact and manageable customer numbers.  Please come out and have a good time and support your downtown all next week. For more information about these events, visit morganhilldowntown.org/.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].

It’s the fifth of July, and it’s been a long and slow moving morning. Yesterday was the Fourth of July, and as a proud Morgan Hillan I enjoyed much of what our community and its hard working volunteers put together for us on this special holiday.I went to the July 3 Family Music Fest and saw Monterey Road filled with people of all ages out having a good time on a beautiful summer evening. This event is a huge undertaking by the Independence Day Celebrations organization, which started earlier that afternoon with the Patriotic Sing. The Family Music Fest fills the streets with tables and chairs, tents, bandstands and food trucks. It was all nice and tidy in time for the July 4 festivities, which includes the greatest Fourth of July parade in the region.The Music Fest also filled the streets with what has to be the best behaved group of people out having a good time. Most of these folks are from our community. For an event with adult beverages and a big crowd, we have to be proud of how well we celebrate together.I thought I got an early start on the Fourth, but by 9:30 the Freedom Run had been completed and the Freedom Fest cruise (rolling car show) was already underway.It was one of the nicest days I’ve ever seen for the July 4Parade. Not too warm and not too cool which was unusual for me. I’m used to roasting a bit.As usual, the parade was everything we expected and it set the tone for the rest of the Fourth of July. If you haven’t been out to the parade you just have to go next year.After the parade, the downtown clears out and becomes a virtual ghost town. There must be a way to keep some of the crowd—which numbers in the tens of thousands—busy downtown or nearby as we wait for the fireworks display. People are out with their families and friends having a good time, so this is a huge missed opportunity. Sounds like a project for someone out there.I have yet another project for someone out there…Every Fourth of July many of us sequester our pets in some quiet corner of the house so they won’t freak out at the Freedom Fest fireworks display, which we are also well known for. We love the planned fireworks and make this sacrifice for our pets’ well-being.What we can’t plan for are all of the illegal fireworks which startle our pets days before and after the Fourth.The evening of the Fourth, our dogs were fine through the official fireworks show as we cranked up the volume on the movie we watched with the house closed tight as a drum. The dogs were restless, but seemed fine.Then those idiots with those illegal fireworks got going all around us. I don’t know if these are alcohol fueled or stupidity fueled, but we need to do something about these inconsiderate scofflaws.I don’t know what these people were thinking with the dry hillsides all around us just waiting for a spark to send flames running across our open spaces. Seriously, this is just idiotic.Aside from the fire threat, what those fireworks do to our pets really angers me right now. I was up most of the night as one of our dogs would react to all of the nearby fireworks. Even after they stopped, she just couldn’t relax.Seeing what it did to one of my dogs, and my sleep, I am ready for some drastic measures. How do we fix this? I’m ready for some action.I really enjoyed my July 4 events, but the most vivid memory is of my dog huddled under the bed just shaking. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. How about you?John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, chair of the city planning commission and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Last week I attended a conference dedicated to economic development. That might sound boring to some, but it was eye opening and a little surprising to me.

I made the mistake of turning on the TV during a mid-day break and all this bad news jumped out at me about misogyny, bigotry, religious intolerance and other things that don’t seem to fit in today’s world.All I could do was just shake my head and wonder about what’s happening now and what’s going to happen with civility breaking down all around us. It’s not okay, and we need to do something about it.Here in our community something is being done which directly contradicts what I just saw in the news. Next week will be Women’s Week in Morgan Hill. That’s right, we’re going to celebrate what others have been getting all misogynistic about—women just being women.Now that could be a dangerous thing to say but I mean it in only the best of ways—what were you thinking?I spend most of my time these days doing volunteer work in our community. That means spending the vast majority of my time working with women. Strong, smart and hard-working women.I sit on nonprofit boards and committees, the majority of whose members are women. I work with staff at City Hall—the majority are women. I work with a lot of downtown business owners and managers—the majority are women. I look to our local representatives in the State Legislature and Congress—the majority are women. This speaks volumes to me.Okay, so we’re going to have a week of events celebrating women, and who better to put this together than two smart, hard-working women, right?The idea came from our newest City Council member, Caitlin Jachimowicz, who teamed up with one of the smartest and hardest working women I know, Brittney Sherman. This pair has put a lot of energy into assembling a full week of programs and fun opportunities (I know there were others but these two made it happen).The week kicks off on Monday with a special showing of the movie “Hidden Figures” at the Cinelux Theater. That movie alone addresses and messes with the whole misogynistic and bigoted atmosphere out there.Tuesday is dedicated to effective communications with elected officials. Then, on Wednesday our City Council will formally proclaim this week “Women’s Week”.Thursday is a big night because there will be a “Leadership Professionals Panel” made up of women. Some of our finest will be sharing the stage with special guest Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. We have some impressive local women leaders. Do not miss that!Friday and Saturday includes honoring women at the Friday Night Music series and celebrating the passing of the 19th Amendment (Google it), respectively.Sunday holds an event every woman should be a part of—the “When I grow up” mixer. Young women are invited and the adult women are asked to dress as they do when they go to work in their diverse responsibilities. This is an opportunity to inspire young lives and for women to mingle with their peers.Celebrating women in our society shouldn’t be the exception and a big deal, but unfortunately it still is.For more information about times and locations please go to: morganhill.org/womensweek.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 contacted at [email protected].

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.

Last time we talked about responding when partner opens with a one notrump bid. A beginner's response is more or less limited to sign-off bids at the two level (two diamonds, hearts or spades), or sign-off bids at game (three notrump and four hearts or spades) and invitational bids (two notrump and three hearts or spades).