Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: Gilroy Museum seeks GHS yearbooks to complete its collection

For the first time in four years, the YMCA Project Cornerstone Asset Champions Awards will be held in person.

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By Robert Airoldi

We got word that the Gilroy Museum needs Gilroy High yearbooks to complete their collection. They are looking for the following years:

1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1942, 1948, 1949, 1969, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981.

If you have any of these yearbooks and are willing to donate them to the Gilroy Museum, please contact Susan Voss, museum manager, at (408) 846-0446 or at [email protected]. The Gilroy Historical Society operates the Gilroy Museum and is a nonprofit organization. Donations are normally tax deductible.

If you wish to drop them off, the museum is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the first and second Saturdays of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Gilroy Museum is located at 195 Fifth St.

For the first time in four years, the YMCA Project Cornerstone Asset Champions Awards will be held in person. Themed “Creating Connections: Youth. Family. Community,” the event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m., March 17 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. It includes a recipient from Gilroy. An adult and youth emcee will lead an agenda, which includes presentation of the seven Asset Champions awards, a keynote speaker, youth entertainment, and more.

“We are so grateful for the support we received when we moved to an online event the past three years. We are now ready, and believe our community is also ready, to come together and celebrate in person,” said Ziem Nguyen Neubert, executive director, YMCA Project Cornerstone. “We are really looking forward to reconnecting with everyone to build our community, share stories, and inspire one another in ways that support youth.”

Lauri Scirigione, Lauri Gray’s School of Dance, is the Adult Role Model award honoree. She models and inspires positive responsible behavior for young people.

The keynote speaker Dr. Victor Rios is a professor, author, and speaker. Using his personal experience of being incarcerated as a juvenile, along with his research findings, Rios seeks to uncover how best to support the lives of young people who experience poverty, stigma, and social exclusion.

The author of six books, he has also been featured in several TED Talks, the Oprah Winfrey Network, Primer Impacto, National Public Radio, and PBS NewsHour.

Registration and ticket sales are available through Eventbrite and closes March 2. Visit www.assetchampions2023.eventbrite.com for more info.

We have some sad news to report. For nearly 20 years students at Gilroy High School and Wilcox High School had their lives enriched through the history, art, and ceramics classes of Nic Bonotto. The 44-year-old father of three was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 2019, yet continued to show up to teach until he was no longer physically capable. Sadly, Nic passed in January. Now the community is trying to ensure his dying wish comes true. He taught at Gilroy High School from August 2004-June 2008.

“As the son of a teacher and a teacher himself, Nic always emphasized the importance of education to his kids, and wished for them to be able to pursue any path they dreamed about,” Vince Bonotto said on GoFundMe. “We have established this campaign to support the continuing education of Mason, Evie and Ellie.”

Nic’s children range in age from 8 to 12 years old. The GoFundMe to help them pay for college in the future years has now raised more than $50,000 in just a handful of days as people celebrate the legacy of the beloved local teacher.

To view the GoFundMe, please visit: https://gf.me/v/c/ypvt/in-memoriam-for-the-family-of-nic-bonotto.

Let’s honor this beloved educator and continue his legacy of helping young people.