Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: GECA student receives Cooke scholarship paying up to $55,000 a year

Cooke College Scholars are selected based on exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, and leadership.

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By Robert Airoldi

Congratulations to Gilroy Early College Academy senior Marisol Cruz Velasco for earning a prestigious academic honor. She has been named a 2022 Cooke College Scholarship semifinalist by The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.

Marisol is one of 411 high school seniors selected from more 5,300 applicants for this honor. This highly selective scholarship provides high-achieving students with up to $55,000 annually for four years of college to enable them to attend a top college or university. Semifinalist applications will be reviewed again to choose about 60 finalists to receive the scholarship.

Students applied from all 50 states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, and represented 378 different high schools.

“This year’s semifinalists should be particularly proud of their success in the face of a challenging year,” said the foundation’s executive director, Seppy Basili. “We are so happy to help more students achieve their long-term academic goals. All of the applicants will be an asset to the colleges and universities they attend in the fall.”

Cooke College Scholars are selected based on exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, and leadership. Students must be current high school seniors residing in the United States. Scholarships are awarded without respect to religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, geographic region, race or ethnicity.

Best wishes for your college career, Marisol.

Our City Forest has partnered with the city of Gilroy to provide free trees to all its residents. It’s relatively easy to get one if you have a home in the areas of the city where the offer applies.

Gilroyans who want a free yard or park strip tree can submit a tree stewardship application. OCF will send a staff member out to make sure the right tree is planted at the home. They will process permits, provide the tree and teach the resident how to plant and care for your tree.

For details, visit www.ourcityforest.org/gilroy or send the nonprofit group an email at [email protected]

The COVID-19 Omicron surge in January forced Gilroy’s Pintello Comedy Theater to temporarily stop performances of “Clue: Onstage,” a farcical murder mystery. Now that case rates are declining, the producers rescheduled the shows. The new dates are March 11, 12, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 and April 1. The Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 p.m. and the Sunday shows are 2 p.m. matinees.

Much like the board game, the show brings together six strangers who are invited to a dinner party in a remote New England mansion thrown by an anonymous host (played by Jayson Stebbins). Each guest is given an alias: Colonel Mustard (Jason Harris), Mrs. White (Adrianne Wilkinson), Mr. Green (Ronnie Misra), Mrs. Peacock (Ariane Borgia), Professor Plum (Dave Leon), and Miss Scarlet (Valarie Valenzuela).

They discover they all have fallen victim to a blackmailer. Each is presented with a weapon and given an option: pay their extortionist double, or kill the innocent butler named Wadsworth (David Scott). The cook and a singing telegram girl is played by Robin Harris. The French maid named Yvette is played by Krista Warner.

Tickets for the new show dates are available for $25. Visit www.pintellocomedy.com for more details.

Congratulations to Timothy Patrick Mahanay. The Gilroy man completed cadet training at the California Highway Patrol Academy recently and graduated Feb. 4 in a class of 142 new officers. He is assigned to his first duty at the CHP’s Hollister-Gilroy Area office.

The CHP’s 142 newest officers graduated from the CHP Academy Feb. 4. After the swearing-in ceremony, the men and women received their badges following 27 weeks of intense training.

Mahanay graduated from San Leandro High School in 2013. He also attended Ohlone College in Fremont. Prior to attending the CHP Academy, Mahanay worked as a golf instructor for Fremont Park Golf Club.

“I have pride knowing that these women and men will be deploying throughout our great state to serve the people of California,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said. “These new officers answered the call and are embarking on a time-honored tradition of service.”

Wonderful breaking news! The popular Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras will make a comeback after a two-year hiatus. Organizers said they are working hard to return the two-day spring event to the downtown on Memorial Day weekend, May 28-29.

With plenty of food, art and music, the festival will celebrate its 41st year of raising funds for scholarships for local students and grants for education and local nonprofits. During its four decades, the festival has awarded more than $1.25 million in scholarships, $7,500 in mini grants to elementary and middle schools and about $525,000 in stipends to school groups and nonprofits who work the festival.

Admission is free. In past years more than 80,000 visitors have come annually to the event. Organizers canceled the Mardi Gras in 2020 and 2021 when gatherings were restricted to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

Cross your fingers the public health threat of the pandemic will be minimal in the next several months to allow the Mardi Gras to take place.