Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: Girl Scout earns trip to Disneyland with parody of Swift song, selling 2K boxes

Brielle was one of about 80 girls in Northern California to sell over 2,000 boxes of cookies.

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By Robert Airoldi

Did you know ⁠⁠Taylor Swift was a Girl Scout? Me neither, though I probably know more about her than I ever thought I would. Well, 8-year-old Brielle is a Girl Scout and a “Swifty” and she made a clever parody of Swift’s song “Blank Space” in hopes of reaching her goal of selling 2,000 boxes of cookies.

Her grandmother Michele told me she recently reached her goal by selling 2,060 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, earning her and a guest a visit to Disneyland this summer. She and her troop plan to use the proceeds to donate to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes and to clean up and fix some of their favorite local parks. (Brielle and another troop member have Type 1 Diabetes.)

Brielle was one of about 80 girls in Northern California to accomplish the feat.

Check out the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRP4BppwF4I.

“She’s a pretty amazing young girl who accomplishes her goals in a positive and committed way,” her grandmother said. We couldn’t agree more!

There’s some good news coming from Gilroy Gardens. A new water play area, Lakeside Splash, will open at the family theme park May 25. This new attraction has a prime location overlooking Coyote Lake and the Bonfante Falls river and also features luxury cabanas and a reimagined Smokehouse BBQ restaurant.

At Lakeside Splash, kids of all ages can splash, spin, spray and play on a structure with water slides and fun interactive features. Encircling the new water play area are colorful luxury family cabanas with 32-inch TVs (tuned to sports and cartoon channels) and mini-refrigerators stocked with complimentary beverages. Cabanas also come with cooling fans, towels, and private lounge seating for up to eight guests.

The nearby Smokehouse BBQ restaurant will serve ribs, chicken, corn-on-the-cob, and more along with craft beers and locally-produced wine.

“We’re so excited to open Lakeside Splash and welcome our guests to an all-new luxury experience at Gilroy Gardens,” said Michael Fulcher, the park’s director of marketing and operations.

For details, visit www.gilroygardens.org.

The Gilroy High School Varsity Boys Golf Team had an entirely new look this year. It’s headed by two new coaches Ony Velez and Mitch Goldsmith and assistant coach Darlene Cefalu.

“With the new home practice course at Eagle Ridge, and our starting squad being mostly seniors, our transition was strong,” said senior captain Dominic Cefalu. Their starting six is comprised of four seniors, Cefalu, Timothy Allen, Landon Eaton, and Andrew Honeycutt. This team also had a unique pair of brothers with Dominic Cefalu heading their starting six and his sophomore brother Vincent rounding out the starters.

In addition, returning junior Kade Mah had a younger freshman brother Colton joining the line-up. Their team also had sophomore Ayden Quesada who medaled several times this year. The team rounded out with junior Garrett Stevenson who shows great promise, as well as sophomore Josh Cesena and junior Ben Shouse-Mackay. Dominic finished the year with their team’s lowest overall differential and is heading to the BVAL finals.

Way to go, guys.

Elizabeth Muñoz-Rosas is one of the most popular librarians at Gilroy Library, where she serves as the children’s supervising librarian. And, most patrons would not be surprised to hear that she was just named one of the Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers Award as an Outstanding Contributor.

Muñoz-Rosas has advocated effectively to bring materials, services and programs to her community that reflect the interests of all residents. Her advocacy for Spanish language materials ensures library patrons see their lives and stories reflected in the collection.

She has also spearheaded programs of high relevance to the community of Gilroy. This includes working with the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service to bring the bilingual exhibit Dolores Huerta: Revolution in the Fields to the Gilroy Library. More than 1,300 visitors were able to enjoy this free exhibit. “Elizabeth is a talented and dedicated library staff member who has worked tirelessly to improve her community’s quality of life,” said Santa Clara County Librarian Jennifer Weeks. “While this is something we have always known, we are thrilled that she is getting nationwide recognition.”