Around Town … with Robert Airoldi: Group of residents beautify parking lot wall with California poppies

David Leal, who owns the lot, requested the mural

By Robert Airoldi

Robert Airoldi

A wall at the parking lot at Fourth and Monterey streets got a colorful new mural thanks to a handful of residents. The mural was painted at the request of David Leal, who owns the lot. He wanted to make it look better. Barbara Orth told him she would love to work on the project. Her daughter, Melissa Brown of SourPea Design, created the design featuring California poppies. Melissa, Barbara and Jeff Orth (her husband), put the design on the wall, and then they enlisted the help of several friends to help paint it: Wendy Noboa, Cathy Katavich, Nicky Hilkine, Melanie Reynaisson, and the Orth’s grandsons, Edson and Logan Brown. They also had a young girl, Heather McCabe, whose grandparents (who own Banning Upholstery right behind the wall) saw what they were doing and asked if she could help.

“She was a big help painting in the flowers,” Barbara said. “I wanted the project to be one that many members of the community, whether they considered themselves ‘artistic’ or not, could have a part in creating something beautiful for Gilroy.”

It’s that time of the year when the Santa Clara County Library District invites readers of all ages to embark on a journey with their Summer Reading Program, Adventure Begins at Your Library. This year’s program offers prizes and something for every reader, whether you are an adult, a teen or child.

“The end of the school year doesn’t mean the end of learning. In fact, with Summer Reading, it is just the beginning,” County Librarian Jennifer Weeks said.

Free programs include guided hikes at Coyote Lake and Piccetti Ranch, creative writing workshops, drawing classes, photography workshops, special talks, and engaging performances. It’s true — Adventure Begins at Your Library!

It’s easy to get started with SCCLD’s Summer Reading program. Library patrons can preregister at www.beanstack.com. Completion prizes will be available from Aug. 1 – 31, while supplies last.

Visit sccld.org/summer to learn more about Adventure Begins at Your Library. Check out the free programs and explore the booklists.

The Mount Madonna School junior class, along with their teachers, traveled to Washington, D.C. for a week-long learning journey last month that included tours and interviews with an array of interesting individuals. The class kept a blog of reflections about their experiences available at dc.mountmadonnaschool.org.

This annual learning journey for high school students is part of the MMS Government in Action program started in 1989 by Sadanand Ward Mailliard. During the years, MMS students have been fortunate to meet and interview some of our nation’s finest public servants. The D.C. learning journey is an integral part of the two-year Values in World Thought class at Mount Madonna School for high school juniors and seniors.

This trip provides juniors with a personal experience of those who devote their lives to public service, while high school seniors engage with an international learning journey to India.

“We interview individuals who are committed to improving the quality of life in our nation and around the world, and who have the values and character that we wish to instill in our students,” said Values in World Thought teacher and Director of Upper School Shannon Kelly.

During their trip, students participated in an African American History Tour and visited the Pentagon.

“My classmates and I went on the African American History Tour,” said 11th-grader Emilia Lord. “Our tour guide, Dré, said it well: ‘Learning history is like looking through a prism; how you see it depends on which way you look through it.’ We visited memorials and monuments that represent both beautiful and admittedly ugly aspects of American history. Many of the memorials and monuments have a history and a meaning that lie beneath what the eye can see, and learning about them offers an enlightening view of American history.”

The growth and positive character development aspects of learning and travel beyond the classroom’s walls cannot be understated.

“In a time of division, the Government in Action program provides students the opportunity to actively listen with open minds and hearts,” Kelly said. “It is our belief we can positively impact the world by engaging in conversations of meaning, being curious, and being open to learning from people with different perspectives and lived experiences.”