Editorial: Bonanza Day proved a success that should continue

Published in the October 17 – 30, 2018 issue of Gilroy Life

Gilroy Early College Academy students promote the farming heritage of the region in their float at the inaugural Bonanza Day parade.
Photo by Marty Cheek

Thousands of Gilroy residents had a rootin’-tootin’ time Sept. 29 as they celebrated the region’s Wild West heritage. Thanks to the Leadership Gilroy class of 2018, Bonanza Day is back. The popular tradition started 50 years ago and brought people from throughout coastal California region together for a few days of old-fashioned family fun. Cut back to only one day, Bonanza Day came back last month as the class’s community-benefit project.

We saw something special when neighbors and South Valley residents lined the sides of Miller Avenue to watch the cowboy/cowgirl parade featuring marching bands and elaborate Old West-themed floats made by Gilroy schools. Hometown hero Jeff Garcia, a former 49er quarterback, made a guest appearance riding in a convertible. The procession ended at a festive community picnic party at Miller Park with people enjoying old-fashioned activities from the original Bonanza  Days such as tug-a-war and the “hoosegow.” It was good to see that Saturday afternoon how families of various demographics put their digital devices to the side and came together to celebrate the city’s ranching past in a fun and friendly way. We’ve heard that there’s now talk in town that the inaugural 21st-century version of Bonanza Day was so successful some local leaders are looking into ways of making it an annual event. We encourage this endeavor to turn the Bonanza Day event into an annual fall-time tradition. Of course, it takes money to put an event of this scope on. So if it takes on a life outside of the Leadership Gilroy project, we hope local businesses and generous residents will join the team to help in funding this community event.

The Bonanza Day Parade has deep roots in Gilroy stemming from the Gymkhana rodeo that began in the 1930s. When the Gymkhana ended in 1957, the city of Gilroy had no community celebration for a decade. George Milias and other prominent Gilroyans started Bonanza Days in 1968. Back then the celebration was a four-day event and featured spectacularly decorated floats and local school marching bands.

It drew people from throughout California. Many onlookers dressed in western attire to get into the buckaroo spirit of the event. The tradition ended in the early 1980s as the Gilroy Garlic Festival grew in popularity.

Some Gilroyans have questioned the purpose of bringing back Bonanza Day when the Gilroy Garlic Festival already serves as a community celebration of sorts of our agricultural industry. We counter that reasoning by the fact that the annual homage to the stinking rose tends to bring in visitors from all regions — including other states and countries. Bonanza Day, if it were to become a tradition, would serve as a locally-focused activity for South Valley residents to spend a day together immersed in the farming/ranching past.

We salute the Leadership Gilroy class of 2018 for its immense success in organizing its Bonanza Day revival project. The class members will celebrate their nine-month journey at a graduation scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, a Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park.

If any of our readers are interested in joining the 2019 Leadership Gilroy class, we encourage them to visit www.leadershipgilroy.org to learn more about this leadership-development program.