Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: Donkeys need dollars to rebuild shelter destroyed by recent storms
Ingrid Rodriguez decided to organize an online fundraiser to help rebuild the animals’ home.
Donkeys at the San Martin ranch.
By Robert Airoldi
Robert Airoldi
The recent storms caused a lot of damage in South County, including destroying a shelter housing three donkeys visible from U.S. 101 in San Martin. That’s why Ingrid Rodriguez decided to organize an online fundraiser to help rebuild the their home.
Here is the item from her GoFundMe post:
“Hi!! We’re the Donkeys on 101 in San Martin and we need your help! We have been around for years and have given many of you beautiful memories and have helped in many ways.
“For some of you we’re a form of therapy, for your children it’s a fun visit they look forward to, and for others it’s just simply a pit stop after a long stressful commute. We are now asking for your help.
“Unfortunately, the atmospheric river rains during the past couple of weeks have caused some major damage to our shelter.
“We are asking for your help as our owners plan to repair our shelter as soon as these rains subside. Donations would be for our shelter, for food and for a health checkup!
“With love,
“Filimon, Chencha, and DonkeyXote”
There’s a postcript worth a smile: “And just because we need more laughter in our lives . . . ‘Home is where your ass needs to be . . .'”
More than 100 people have raised $4,819 of a goal of $5,000 as of Jan. 27. Here’s the link should you feel like contributing: www.gofundme.com/f/the-donkeys-on-101-need-a-new-home.
What a worthy cause!
The cat is out of the bag. Initially reported by Morgan Hill Life in the Nov. 30 issue, Morgan Hill will host a professional football team as the Bay Area Panthers have made it official by signing contracts and will make their home there for the 2023 Indoor Football League season.
The Panthers have partnered with the city of Morgan Hill, Visit Morgan Hill, the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center to make the athletic fields along Condit Road the team’s practice area and operational headquarters.
The team will bring about 25 players ages 21-24 and eight coaches to compete in 15 games during the 18-week IFL season. The Panthers’ seven home games will take place at the SAP Center in San Jose.
The team will be led by Arena Football Hall of Famer and returning South Bay native Darren Arbet as head coach and general manager. A San Martin resident for 15 years, he coached the San Jose Sabercats from 1999 until 2015. It took some coaxing to win over the veteran coach, but he came around when the owners agreed to let him move the team to Morgan Hill, Arbet said.
“They were from Pleasanton,” he said. “So I said, ‘Can I move them to Morgan Hill?’ And they said, ‘You can move them wherever you want.’”
The Panthers will begin practice March 3 at the MHOSC. Their season begins March 26.
The Panthers-city partnership will also bring opportunities for local businesses to sponsor team meals, special events, game night promotions, player appearances, youth programs, and volunteering.
“Morgan Hill’s desirable civic amenities and supportive community network make us an ideal home base for the Bay Area Panthers,” said Krista Rupp, executive director of Visit Morgan Hill, in a press release. “Their decision to move here reinforces Morgan Hill as a preeminent regional sports destination.”
A sale of an 839-acre ranch west of Gilroy to the Peninsula Open Space Trust appears to be a win-win for the former owners and the nonprofit. Known as the Estrada Ranch and located near the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz county border adjacent to Mt. Madonna County Park, the Estrada family has sold the property for $10.6 million.
The Estrada family has owned land in the area since 1848 — two years before California became a state. Under the deal, the family will continue to manage the property. And it won’t become a public park. The ranch is two miles long and a mix of redwood forests in fern-covered canyons, sweeping green meadows dotted with oak trees, and views of Monterey Bay.
Click HERE to view the POST webpage and learn more about the Estrada Ranch
Under the deal, the land will not be transferred to park ownership or open to the public. Instead, it will be managed by the Estradas, who will continue cattle grazing and modest levels of logging.
The family has a herd of 80 Black Angus cattle on the property. Working with Big Creek Lumber, it has cut redwood in the past — about 50 acres at a time, removing about 30 percent of the trees a few times a decade. The last harvest was three years ago. The next will be at least two years from now.
“This is a poignant moment for me,” said former owner Richard Estrada. “For more than 40 years I have taken care of these lands . . . Now it is time for me to move on from those responsibilities. I am very happy that POST has purchased these parcels from me to protect and preserve the land, to continue to care for the redwoods and to keep this way of life going at Estrada Ranch.”