Around Town . . . with Robert Airoldi: San Martin Airport to welcome the community at open house style event

In honor of the date, September 11, all profits from the open house event will go to first responders in the area

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By Robert Airoldi

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a food truck? San Martin Airport is home to private airplanes, helicopters, pilots and flying  lessons and on Saturday, Sept 11, the airport will welcome the community to enjoy a day of delicious food, aircraft  displays, aviation centered entertainment and live music.

“This is a great opportunity for the public to mix with the pilot community in a day of fun, food and fes-tivities at this  south county airfield,” said Niki Britton, co-organizer of the event. “This invitation comes with the hope of showing our neighbors the importance of having an airport in our community.”

In honor of the date, September 11, all profits from the event will go to first responders in the area, Britton said.

People coming to this family-friendly event will be invited to walk the flight line of parked aircraft. Businesses based at the airport including skydiving, flight instruction and Gavilan College’s aircraft maintenance school will  be there to answer questions. A variety of locally owned and operated food trucks will be offering a delicious and diverse mix of foods available for purchase. Plus, the Wings of History Aircraft Museum will be open.

Sounds like a fun day. Hope to see you there!

The city is making plans to re-open City Hall and welcome the community back to in-person services. City Hall will re-open in two phases allowing for evaluation and adjustment to best meet the needs of the community.

Phase 1 will begin Aug. 30 with hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Friday will be appointment only. These hours open City Hall during peak in-person service times and allow for some time at the beginning and of each day for staff to assist with virtual services.

Phase 2 will begin Jan. 2, 2022 with hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Friday will be appointment only. These hours will allow time in the morning and evening for customers who need in-person services on a more flexible schedule

To access remote services or for additional information, please visit www.cityofgilroy.org.

Congratulations to Angelica Lara of Gilroy, who was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from Dr. Jernell Es-cobar, DDS. Lara was given the scholarship in a ceremony at Dr. Escobar’s Gilroy office. Her scholarship was awarded to her in part on the strength of her essay, “Sundays: from Dread to Diligence.”

The essay describes her experiences on Sundays riding with her sister as her handyman father drove to a job site at 5 a.m., followed later by watching her mom working in a hot restaurant kitchen. Both her parents would encourage her to study hard and get a good job, unlike theirs.

“Estuda, mija, pa’ que no tengas que tener un trabajo de estos,” her father would tell her, “Study, my love, so you don’t have a job like mine.” Her mother would say something similar to her as she wiped the sweat off her brow.

So Lara did just that, studied hard and pursued a post-secondary education, although she sometimes questioned her choices.

“However, those bittersweet memories of driving in my dad’s old truck only made me try harder for my dreams,” she wrote.

Those days of driving in her father’s truck and to her mother’s work on Sundays only to watch her par-ents struggle for the sake of her future, “only made me work more diligently for my education. I owe my present accomplishments to my parent’s past triumphs.”

Way to go, Lara!

The artist of the month for August at the Gilroy Center for the Arts is watercolor artist Elwira Maszara. Her work will be on display from through Aug. 30 at the center. A reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 7.

After decades of sitting at a desk from dawn to dusk, retirement has set her free to leave behind the structured corporate life to find unexpected joy and fulfillment with every painting she creates. She is in constant awe of the magic of water’s interaction with pigment and her own ability to create with every single stroke of the brush.

She continues to push the limits of her skills as long as it takes to capture atmosphere, mood, feelings, and movement in all her paintings.

I look forward to checking out her work.