Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: It’s official: Guinness proclaims Gilroy has world’s largest garlic festival
Published in the August 9 – August 22, 2017 issue of Gilroy Life
By Robert Airoldi
Robert Airoldi
We got word from Gilroy Garlic Festival organizers that the 39th annual garlic gala welcomed 102,667 guests from around the world to Christmas Hill Park. This is up from about 82,000 last year.
“Our vision for 2017 was to go bigger, better, and bolder — and we definitely did that!” 2017 Gilroy Garlic Festival President Mike Zukowski said in a statement.
This year, the Gilroy Garlic Festival was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest garlic festival — no surprise there. In a ceremony Friday, representatives from the records group officially certified the Gilroy Garlic Festival as the world record holder for largest attendance at a garlic festival. The record was set July 29-31, 2011, with a total audited attendance of 109,067.
Competition on the Garlic Cook-Off Stage kicked off Friday with the Champions for Charity cooking challenge. This live competition featured four teams of local first-responders competing in three elimination rounds (appetizer, entrée, and dessert) to win $3,000 for their favorite charity. John Campbell and Morgan Sanders from AMR-Rural/Metro Ambulance, Santa Clara County will be donating their winnings to the Alzheimer’s Association.
The other contestants and their charities were: Herb Alpers and Tom Evans, CAL FIRE/South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District (defending 2016 Champions) cooking for the Muscular Dystrophy Association; Kim Bowman and Jan Snyder, AMR-Rural/Metro Ambulance, Santa Clara County, cooking for the Rocket Dog Rescue nonprofit; and Robert Herrera and Ludwin Marroquin, San Jose Fire Department, cooking for the Bill Wilson Center.
On Saturday, Naylet LaRochelle from Miami, Fla., claimed the coveted garlic crown — and a $5,000 cash prize — in the Great Garlic Cook-Off. Naylet’s winning dish was “Smoky Salsa Roja Shrimp and Roasted Garlic Cotija Grits.” Second place was awarded to Kadija Bridgewater from Boca Raton, FL., for “Spicy Island Barbeque Pork, Garlic Fries and Cilantro-Garlic Sauce,” and third place was awarded to Shauna Havey from Roy, UT., for “Roasted Garlic Raspberry Brown Betty with Garlic Black Pepper Gelato.”
Over near the Vineyard Stage, things were really smoking Saturday and Sunday during the Gilroy Garli-Que BBQ Challenge. On Saturday, head cook Mike Lindley with Smokin’ Mo’s smoked the competition to win Overall Grand Champ and $2,000 in the official Kansas City BBQ Society-sanctioned competition. Head cook Sterling Ball with Big Poppa Smokers was named Reserve Champ and won $1,000. Peoples’ Choice was awarded to Bar-B-Cuda BBQ and head cook Jason Price. Sunday, we had a tie between Big Bro BBQ, Head Cook David Arias and MEGA Texas Barbeque, Head Cook Anthony Vallejo. They both claimed bragging rights among amateur BBQ chefs as winners of the Gilroy Garli-Que Backyard BBQ Rib Throwdown competition.
And a special salute to the more than 4,000 volunteers who worked so hard to host the world’s largest garlic-themed party. Without these people who represent nonprofit organizations not only in Gilroy but also Morgan Hill, San Martin and San Benito County, Christmas Hill Park would be a quiet place the last weekend of July.
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Gilroy treasure Joan Buchanan asked us to let fellow citizens know that they have until Aug. 15 to take advantage of an opportunity for individuals, families and businesses to purchase a brick to be installed in the Downtown Paseo project. The Paseo Bricks are available for a donation of $250 and sponsors can include up to three lines and 15 characters per line. Installation should be completed by the end of September.
You may order by visiting the web page of: gilroyfoundation.org/paseo and click on Brick order or contact Buchanan at [email protected] for details. And if you haven’t yet taken a stroll back into time by passing through the Paseo, we encourage you to do so. It’s a beautiful addition to the downtown district and is an educational history lesson of Gilroy’s colorful past for residents and visitors of all ages.
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The Gilroy public came out Tuesday, Aug. 1, for the fourth annual National Night Out to spend an evening saying thank you to first responders in a family fun event on downtown’s Fifth Street.
The festival is designed to encourage community members to get to know police officers and firefighters in a casual event full of deejay music, bounce houses, crafts and face-painting. Kids had their photos taken with officers and got to see up-close the K9s and mounted patrol as well as check out the fire trucks and police cars.
It’s a great way to build trust between cops and the community.
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It’s official. Gilroy has a new police chief. Scot Smithee was sworn in at a ceremony at New Hope Community Church Aug. 2, with many of the police chiefs, deputies, and officers of Santa Clara County present. Smithee received praise from dignitaries, including former Police Chief Denise Turner, Mayor Roland Velasco and City Administrator Gabriel Gonzalez. After his wife, Brenda, pinned the police chief badge on him, Smithee gave her a quick kiss.
One of the most emotional talks about Smithee’s dedication to the job came from Randy Carpenter, who serves as shop steward for the property and evidence section of the Gilroy Police Department.
“This is hard because Scot was my supervisor before and I worked for him, what, 14 years,” she said. When she was called to see if she wanted to be part of the interview process for hiring the new police chief, she was asked if she could be objective, she said.
“I had no clue Scot was going to be doing this, so, of course, I said yes, I can be objective. Then I found out he was in the running. And one day I saw him in the hallway and I said, ‘You made me be a liar.’ And he said, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘You made me be a liar. I said I would be objective, but I don’t know if I can now.’”
Scot’s warm personality and listening skills will help ease tension in what can be a stressful job, she said.
“Someone can make you so upset you can walk into his office and he can take you from here right down to where your blood pressure is back to normal in a matter of seconds,” she said. “So that’s my personal thing for Scot.”
Smithee is well respected among the non-sworn staff, Carpenter said.
“From us, you have 100 percent support,” she said. “So, thank you, Scott. And Brenda and Scot’s family, thank you for letting us have him, because we know what a sacrifice it is for you. But that man’s heart is here in the city — and we know it.”
