Bookstores co-owners Cinda Meister and Brad Jones this week
received the Morgan Hill Toastmasters Club’s first
”
Excellence in Community Leadership Award.
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The award is given for outstanding achievement in leadership in
the South Valley area.
Bookstores co-owners Cinda Meister and Brad Jones this week received the Morgan Hill Toastmasters Club’s first “Excellence in Community Leadership Award.” The award is given for outstanding achievement in leadership in the South Valley area.
Morgan Hill Toastmasters club president Marty Cheek presented the 2010 leadership-recognition award to the couple in a surprise ceremony Wednesday at the monthly meeting of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association meeting. The club plans to give the award annually to an individual, a business or an organization enriching the South Valley community through the power of effective leadership.
Meister and Jones own BookSmart in downtown Morgan Hill and Garlic City Books store in downtown Gilroy. Garlic City Books will hold its grand opening in mid-February.
“We were honored and humbled because we know how much other people do in the South Valley community,” Jones said about receiving the Toastmasters’ leadership award.
“We love our community,” Meister added. “It’s important for us to help out. We want to be a part of the community we live and work in – both in Morgan Hill and Gilroy.”
The Morgan Hill Toastmasters club officers unanimously voted to award its leadership award to Meister and Jones because of their high-level of dedication and efforts helping various events and organizations such as the Friends of the Morgan Hill Library, the Poppy Jasper Film Festival, and the Morgan Hill Charter School, Cheek said. The couple has also demonstrated a significant impact in building a regional identity for the South Valley area, trying to foster stronger leadership connections between the communities of Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Gilroy, San Martin and Morgan Hill, he said.
“We have a lot of issues that overlap,” Jones said of his regional efforts. “I think the South Valley is stronger as a group. If we work together as a group, we can get things done – especially in areas of mass transit, air quality and economic issues.”
Jorge Briones, executive director of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, said that people such as Jones and Meister make a difference in enhancing the quality of life in the South Valley.
“Brad and Cinda are by far one of the leading businesses in all of downtown if not all of Morgan Hill,” Briones said. “They have provided at BookSmart a ‘living room’ for Morgan Hill. I’m really glad that Toastmasters was able to give this award in front of a group of their peers.”
In presenting the leadership award, Cheek said that the Morgan Hill Toastmasters club members are dedicated to improving communication and leadership in the South Valley region and that Jones and Meister have demonstrated high impact in these two areas. The Morgan Hill Toastmasters club meets at BookSmart every Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. It serves the South Valley region, with members living in Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Juan Bautista, and San Benito County.
“As far as Toastmasters goes, I am always amazed by how talented the people are in the club,” Jones said. “When I get a chance to hear them give their presentations on a weekly basis, I am always in awe by the quality of the speakers in that group. They’re dedicated to helping people in the community. The people who are in that group really go out of their way to be part of the community.”
