People

The Caretaker of Gilroy Gary Walton

Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz is a freelance writer for South Valley magazine and Gilroy Dispatch.
Kimberly Ewertz
Latest posts by Kimberly Ewertz (see all)
Gary Walton’s passion to revitalize Gilroy, in particular the downtown, began decades ago. In 1987, he built his first residential development on Santa Teresa, and since that time his contributions to the Gilroy community have never stopped. Walton is a man who personifies [...]
SEW NICE David Peoples has helped numerous Gilroyan entrepreneurs get their start, including Linda Williams of Nimble Thimble.

Peoples pays it forward

Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz is a freelance writer for South Valley magazine and Gilroy Dispatch.
Kimberly Ewertz
Latest posts by Kimberly Ewertz (see all)
Throughout his 74 years, Gilroyan David Peoples, owner of Garlic City Mercantile, has given back to the community in countless ways, so much so he was voted Man of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1993. Peoples’ participation in the Garlic Festival, Gilroy Sister [...]
volunteer workers prepare thanksgiving meals for donation

Free groceries for Thanksgiving

Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz is a freelance writer for South Valley magazine and Gilroy Dispatch.
Kimberly Ewertz
Latest posts by Kimberly Ewertz (see all)
Generosity abounds during the holiday season and there’s no better example than the St. Joseph’s Family Center Thanksgiving Food Basket Day, where hundreds of disadvantaged families receive free groceries, taking the worry out of shopping on a limited budget for the biggest [...]

Vets’ voices

Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz is a freelance writer for South Valley magazine and Gilroy Dispatch.
Kimberly Ewertz
Latest posts by Kimberly Ewertz (see all)
After serving more than eight years in the military, including two tours in Iraq—where she saw mortar and rocket fire almost daily—Marine Sgt. Molly Howe is beyond grateful for the benefits provided to her as a veteran. The Gilroy native graduated a semester early from [...]

A Salon with Heart

Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz is a freelance writer for South Valley magazine and Gilroy Dispatch.
Kimberly Ewertz
Latest posts by Kimberly Ewertz (see all)
Hard work and dedication are the trademarks of successful business owners everywhere, but for two local businesswomen, the heart of their success, is friendship. Co-owners of L Makeup Studio, in Morgan Hill, Janet Perez and Ana Lopez Silva, both 30, opened their first studio in [...]
school 2.0

School 2.0

Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz
Kimberly Ewertz is a freelance writer for South Valley magazine and Gilroy Dispatch.
Kimberly Ewertz
Latest posts by Kimberly Ewertz (see all)
Today, online resources are a routine part of our daily lives, from how we communicate to how we pay our bills. Online technology is behind it all, and for some, that includes the pursuit of higher education. Gilroy resident Dawn Jarvis, 50, returned to school in 2010, and for [...]
rene spring councilmember

Spring vs. Sprawl

Jack Foley
Jack Foley
Senior Editor at Gilroy Dispatch
Longtime local journalist and Pulitzer co-winner Jack Foley has worked for San Jose Mercury News and Gilroy Dispatch for more than 20 years and has covered Gilroy for much of his 30-year journalism career. Since 1976, Foley has lived in and around Gilroy.
Jack Foley
Latest posts by Jack Foley (see all)
Rene Spring has the kind of paternal love for Morgan Hill typical of folks born and living into adulthood in hometowns that dot the American landscape. From Maine to Miami, Seattle to San Diego and throughout the heartland, the phrase born and raised is spoken with [...]
Artist Louise Shields with painting

Voices of Black History

Debra Eskinazi
Debra Eskinazi
Debra Eskinazi is the editor of South Valley magazine.
Debra Eskinazi
Latest posts by Debra Eskinazi (see all)
Growing up in the San Joaquin Valley in the 1980s, Louise Shields was one in a handful of African-American kids in her predominantly Latino high school. “It was a very small rural community,” says Shields. “We had very few African Americans in my school—I think five.” [...]
tenor pasquale esposito on beach in santa cruz, ca photo by Deanna Graham

Passion for popera

Jack Foley
Jack Foley
Senior Editor at Gilroy Dispatch
Longtime local journalist and Pulitzer co-winner Jack Foley has worked for San Jose Mercury News and Gilroy Dispatch for more than 20 years and has covered Gilroy for much of his 30-year journalism career. Since 1976, Foley has lived in and around Gilroy.
Jack Foley
Latest posts by Jack Foley (see all)
When he showed up to study voice at San Jose State University, dragging a thick accent from the streets of Naples, Italy, Pasquale Esposito didn’t make much of an impression on his professors. He’d eked out a living crooning partisan-pleasing Italian standards such as “O [...]

Evolution of an Artist

Debra Eskinazi
Debra Eskinazi
Debra Eskinazi is the editor of South Valley magazine.
Debra Eskinazi
Latest posts by Debra Eskinazi (see all)
The mood went from dawn to dusk, a collection of contemporary paintings spanning the brilliance of an entire day in Monterey. “I call the series ‘Toward Tranquility,’ says artist and avid runner Richard Young, whose work is now being displayed at the Gilroy Center for the [...]
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