Opinion

Okay, I don’t think I’m quite done with talking about the new downtown parks.I was at the three new parks’ grand opening this past Saturday, and it was a big deal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many of the community’s leaders and volunteers in one place like this before. There were representatives from the Open Space Authority, Santa Clara Valley Water District, Assembly Member Ana Caballero’s office and of course our city council.But I think the most important thing was that the community really turned out, especially at the Railroad Park. Seeing so many from our community turn out makes me believe that these parks are the right ones for us at the right time.If you had ever seen the old empty lot where the new Creek Park is now, you might remember it was overgrown with tree canopies touching the ground and blocking the views.That old lot cleaned up nicely with a wonderful trail that goes from Second to Third Street through the park, passing over a sturdy footbridge that makes you feel like you are leaving the downtown. There is a sculpture of a fox under the canopy of a huge oak tree and the open main area of the park has a couple features for the young ones to climb on. But this park is mostly just for relaxing and hanging out. I’m already looking forward to sitting under the trees on a nice summer day.After initial ceremonies at the Creek Park, a mass of people went up the hill to the Hilltop Park and we were all reminded that this park will be great for exercising. But the view and the slides make it all worth the effort. Children lined up to go down the slide,screaming down one after another. We really got to see and were reminded of what so much of these parks are about—the children.We went to the Railroad Park on Depot Street. As soon as the gates opened, there was a flood of children climbing on the different play features. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen one of those zombie movies where the zombies all climb together to get over a wall or something, but the scene reminded me of that. A tower that looks like the Eiffel Tower looked like it had that swarm, but these were wonderful, happy, screaming kids, alive with joy, that now have a place to play in the downtown.Children playing in the Railroad Park went on through the day and into the evening with the park full again after the Holiday Lights Parade.I went to Sunday brunch the next morning, and from the downtown parking garage I could hear the children yelling and screaming and laughing from my upper floor perch. I could see the brightly colored park and equally colorfully clothed children running about and playing with others.This really reinforced that what was missing in the downtown was that sound of life filling the air and the sight of children being children. We got a taste of this with the pop-up parks, but this is much bigger.I want to make sure that one of our most firmly held goals is to make the sights and sounds of children commonplace in our thriving downtown.Can we work on that together?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 reached at [email protected].

What is the “Delta variant" you have been hearing so much about in the news? All living organisms have the capacity to mutate for survival and some more than others. Mutation is one of the key biologic mechanisms used by microorganisms for their survival.  Sars-CoV-2...

It’s probably pretty apparent that two of the things I feel quite passionate about are our downtown and our local wine region. So my excitement about the upcoming Wine & Food Week and the April 28 Wine Stroll shouldn’t come as any surprise.The Morgan Hill Downtown Association and the local wineries of the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley wine association have been working on promoting local wines in our downtown businesses, and our downtown businesses in the region’s wineries.That pairing between local wineries and restaurants is a work in progress. The recent March Passport Friday Night Kick-off Event put on by the wine association and upcoming Wine & Food Week are great examples of just that work.That Friday Night Kick off event featured 10 of our downtown restaurants and 24 wineries in a collaborative event that brought in more than 200 guests on a rainy evening. It was a smashing success.Starting this upcoming Monday, April 23, we will celebrate our local wines in our downtown with a mixer showing our appreciation for the winemakers. The rest of the week, we’ll be featuring events where a business will host a winery for that most important personal contact.Having attended several winemaker dinners and food/wine tasting events, I can tell you that short of sitting at a winery with the winemaker and a wonderful meal, this is the best way to get to know and learn about our local wines.It’s also one of the best ways to get to know our fine local restaurants and drinking establishments.Most of the winemaker dinners feature custom designed menus that really allow our restaurants to show how creative they can be with a special menu.I’m not one to continually break out my smartphone to take pictures of the food, wine and the festive setting of the meals and tastings, but I have a hard time not wanting to share these experiences.We’ll have dinners and tastings at Bubbles Wine Bar & Bistro, Granada Theater, La Nina Perdida, Odeum Restaurant, Prova California Table, Rosy’s at the Beach and The Grapevine. Most of the downtown restaurants won’t charge you when you bring in your favorite bottle of local wine too.  This will be the region’s best example of fine food and wine served up in one week, and it’s all right here in our downtown!On Saturday, April 28, our Wine Stroll caps the week of celebrating food and wine. This event continues to break new ground with a focus on local wines and bringing in fun new features like an art competition to create the next year’s event poster. Of course, the focus will be our local businesses with our local wineries pouring tastes.Wine & Food Week starts Monday, April 23, and culminates with the Wine Stroll on Saturday, April 28.For more information, visit morganhilldowntown.org. 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].

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This is an epitaph for a time of life before. A time of life when we could take our children downtown to an event and get their faces painted and ride tiny rides and eat popcorn, corn dogs and barbecue and listen to live...

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It was a great day for a run and the 2021 Veterans Run proved to be just that. Sparkling fall weather with El Toro Mountain as a backdrop made the day truly memorable; but most important was the opportunity for the community to come...