Columnists

People from all over will come to the Gilroy Garlic Festival this weekend to sample the gastronomical delights in Gourmet Alley and munch on an assortment of victuals from various vendors. If you attend South Valley’s biggest culinary event, please raise a glass of wine in toast to America’s first “foodie.” I’m referring to my favorite Founding Father from Virginia, Mr. Thomas Jefferson.

Each spring I write a column providing information about Vacation Bible Schools or Day Camps offered by local churches. Some readers have said it’s helpful and that they look forward to reading it in the newspaper. Of course, each program is as different as the congregation sponsoring it, but they have many aspects in common: volunteer workers, hours of planning time, a carefully crafted curriculum and a devotion to sharing God’s love with children from the community.

For some inexplicable reason, I wax nostalgic in the summer. Perhaps it’s the gentle, warm breezes blowing my bedroom curtains or the far-away drone of a small airplane that brings to mind my childhood back home in Colorado.

The San Martin 4-H club celebrated a birthday last Saturday night. Peg and I were invited to their party to mark 65 years of youth activities. Most everyone knows about 4-H, but I’ll bet a lot of you don’t know about all the activities this organization has for its members. There’s a lot more than just working with farm animals at the County Fair.

Although Chardonnay is the top wine sold in the United States, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, there are thousands of other varietals. In summer, I like to broaden my horizons and try something different from my winter staples.

The world premiere of “Upright Grand” by Laura Schellhardt starts the 43rd season of the usual grand theatre that TheatreWorks  offers.

Whether you want to replace your income for your family in the event you should die young or help preserve an inheritance for your heirs, life insurance can serve as the cornerstone of a sound financial plan. It can also serve as a key component of succession planning by protecting a buy-sell agreement or further your charitable giving program.

Many religions feature pilgrimage as an aspect of practicing the faith.  For example, one of the “five pillars of Islam” is to make the “haj,” a ritual visit to Mecca, once during one’s lifetime. In Christianity, pilgrimage has been called a “symbol in action,” representing the journey of the Christian’s life from earth to heaven.