Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: Purchase a commemorative VFW brick in honor of local veterans

Published in the September 20 – October 3, 2017 issue of Gilroy Life

Gilroy loves the men and women who served in the Armed Forces. That’s why we encourage residents to help honor them by purchasing a limited commemorative brick from the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6309. The Veterans Memorial at Christmas Hill Park celebrates Gilroyans in the military, but space for the bricks is running out.

“There are nearly 600 bricks already in place, and we only have space for about 80 more,” said Bob Diaz, commander of the VFW post. “This is a lasting way to honor our veterans.”

The brick pavers, which are available for a donation of $75, can include up to two lines of 20 spaces. Pavers typically include the veteran’s name, branch of service and dates served. Applications are available through the VFW or at the Veterans Memorial Hall at 74 West Sixth Street in Gilroy.

The VFW John A. Berry Post 6309 established the Veterans Memorial on the Ranch Site of Christmas Hill Park in June 2006. The monument features the logos of the six branches of military service, three flag poles and the brick pavers honoring local veterans. In August 2014, the final brick was placed. However, there is still demand for more bricks by local veterans and their families. As a result, the Gilroy City Council approved the expansion for up to 160 more spaces for the bricks.

Worldwide there are more than two million VFW members. In Gilroy, there are nearly 300 members.

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Katherine Filice

Take heart with art! Articulate Solutions CEO and Executive Creative Director Katherine Filice has been selected by Artrooms to exhibit her artwork at the International Contemporary Art Fair for Independent Artists. The prestigious event will be held Jan. 20-22 at the Meliá House in central London. Filice was one of 70 artists selected for this honor from more than 1,100 applicants from around the world. She will be one of only four representing the United States.

“I am incredibly humbled to have been selected for this honor, especially after seeing the phenomenal work that was submitted by so many talented artists from across the globe,” Filice said. “It can be difficult for emerging artists to stand out and be noticed, and I am so grateful to Artrooms for providing this unique opportunity to exhibit my work on the international stage. I could not be more excited.”

Filice’s works that will be exhibited in England are pen-and-ink drawings on paper that explore human relationships through provocative symbolism and intricate ink lines. Her background includes traditional formal art training and a long career as a designer. She has received more than 80 national and international awards with her team as well as awards for her own design, painting, writing, and photography.

Artrooms is an innovative concept that offers independent artists the opportunity to exhibit their artworks in an intimate dimension and gives them a platform to meet international collectors and gallery directors. The 2018 Artrooms selection committee included esteemed international curators, art critics, museum directors, and art historians.

If you wish to see a portfolio of Filice’s work, including the drawings that will be on exhibit in London, go to www.katfilice.com.

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Christina Turner

Congratulations to Christina Turner, the former finance director and treasurer for the city of Gilroy, who was recently picked by Morgan Hill City Council as the top administrator. She will be replacing Steve Rymer as city manager. Rymer is moving with his wife, Helene Rymer, to a new job as the city administrator in Rochester, Minn.

Turner has worked for the city of Morgan Hill since March 2016 as the assistant city manager for administrative services. She oversaw areas including finance, human resources, information services, council services, and utility billing divisions. Since joining the Morgan Hill team, Turner has transitioned Morgan Hill to a two-year budget cycle, providing strategic leadership for information services, and assessing existing policies and processes to enhance customer satisfaction and organizational efficiency in the most cost-effective manner

Christina serves as the president for the Fiscal Officers Department of the League of California Cities and is a member of the League’s Revenue and Taxation Committee.

The council was impressed with all four internal candidates, including Economic Development Director Edith Ramirez, Community Services Director Chris Ghione, and Morgan Hill Police Chief David Swing.

As city manager, Turner’s priorities for the organization will be to advance the Sustainable Morgan Hill vision by ensuring the entire organization simultaneously looks through this lens when designing projects, delivering services, and creating policies.

“I am very honored and excited to be Morgan Hill’s next city manager and look forward to serving our community with our extremely talented team!” Turner said.

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Photo by Robert Airoldi * The Riverview Rascals, piloted by John Martorella, took first place in the 65th and final Capitola Begonia Festival.

On a personal note, I watched the recent 65th and final Capitola Begonia Festival, a parade of floats our family would watch when I was a youngster. After moving to the seaside village as an adult in the early 1980s, I reported on the festival for the Capitola Courier, a newspaper I owned there for about five years.

The week-long festival also includes a sand castle building contest, a horseshoe contest and a fishing contest for children before culminating in the nautical parade of floats. The number of parade float entries had dwindled in past years, but with this being the last year, eight groups took up the task of building the floats that include tens of thousands of begonias each.

Begonias once bloomed across the region in decades past. But with their popularity dropping during the past decade, the business waned. Last year, Golden State Bulb Growers in Watsonville said it would pull out of the begonia business, but agreed to help organizers with one last festival.

Congratulations to first place winners, the Riverview Rascals and my friend John Martorella. He designed and built a float with an airplane that rose up and down, a rotating propeller and smoke that drifted out of the rear of the plane. Very impressive. It’s a tradition I’m going to miss. Perhaps they can come up with another flower and continue next year.