South Santa
Clara Valley
Leadership
Sandy de la Cuesta
Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year
Sandy de la Cuesta is the volunteer treasurer on the board of
the Morgan Hill Historical Society. Sandy has been involved in
the society for 15 years.
“It’s been fun watching the Morgan Hill Historical Society
grow and change and having more people know that we’re
there for the community,” Sandy said. She also serves as the
accountant for the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill, serving in that
role since 2001.
She has helped organize as chair or co-chair the Dazzle
event put on by Rotary. This year she will “tri-chair” the event
with Rotary Club members Tracy Newquist and Diane Carol.
“Rotary is pretty big in my life,” she said.
Sandy chaired the Mushroom Mardi Gras wine tent in 1994
as well as the Centennial Committee in 2006. She and her
husband David have been married for 49 years. They moved to
Morgan Hill 32 years ago.
“I’m totally honored by this and I feel there are so many
people who should be on this list,” she said.
Joan Buchanan
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce Woman of the Year
Joan Buchanan has been an active participant in this community
for over 40 years. Her heart lies in the downtown but she
involves herself with many other organizations and activities.
Joan was involved in the Theater Angels; helping to refurbish
the historic Wiley House. Joan has a great respect for the historic
look and feel of downtown as well. Her love of public art has
also been the driving factor in the restoration of two large
murals downtown. The iconic “Garlic Capital” mural on the
Gardner Health Clinic building was restored as a result of Joan’s
coordination and fundraising efforts. Not long after that, she
led the effort to raise money to restore the “Train” mural located
on the side of the building where 5th Street Coffee is located.
Joan was also part of the committee that provided for the three
sculptures in the downtown as well.
She currently serves on the Downtown Paseo Committee
helping to raise awareness and money for the paseo project.
She has been coordinating a group with regard to research and
design for the historic panels which will be displayed. Never
satisfied standing on the sidelines and just watching, Joan has
always been someone who participates and is inspired by what
other communities do in their downtowns. Joan believes Gilroy
is truly a “hub” city and enjoys seeing the “can do” spirit and
civic pride displayed by so many residents and volunteers.