Jim O’ Briant In Concert
As we talked, I found out that Jim was conducting the Pacific Brass Band for a concert in conjunction with the Christopher High School Band. Judy and I went, and it was a great concert. This led to our discussion about doing a concert at the Elks and raising funds for high school scholarships, which you will hear about later in this story. It also got us talking about being in your 60s and living in Gilroy.
Our story begins with Kay being born in Modesto and growing up in Patterson, California, where her family had a dairy and farmed apricots. Jim was born in Missouri, but his family moved on to Iowa where he lived until he graduated from high school.
Kay and Jim first“ met” online in 1990 when they were active participants in a“ Wine Bulletin Board.” When Jim’ s work brought him to California in 1992, he emailed Kay and suggested getting together for a glass of wine. They each showed up with two bottles, two wine glasses and a corkscrew. They’ ve been together ever since.
They moved to Gilroy in the spring of 1993, when Kay accepted a position as controller of a local winery. She went on to work for E & J Gallo in Modesto. When she worked for Gallo she remembers being in the same building with Charlie Rossi( known to the public as“ Carlo Rossi”). He came in to the office once in a while to answer his fan mail.
Kay indicated that she“ attended wine industry events and met some of the giants of the wine industry including Robert Mondavi, his brother Peter of Charles Krug, and members of the Sebastiani family.” As it turns out, Sam Sebastiani and I were in the same graduating class at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose in 1958.
In 2012, Kay became a Kansas City Barbeque Society( KCBS) Certified Master Barbeque Judge. She told me that her first competition as a certified Judge was at the 2012 Morgan Hill“ No Bull” BBQ Cook-off. Since then she has judged competitions in Washington, Nevada and throughout California. In October 2015, Kay was a judge at the largest BBQ competition in the USA in Kansas City.” Last summer she even judged at the first Gilroy Garlic Festival BBQ competition.
Jim graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a B. A. in Music Education. In Iowa, he taught public school music and in 1977 he joined a community band in Bettendorf Park, Iowa, where he played and directed from 1980 to 1988. After coming to California, he joined the Watsonville Community Band and the Pacific Brass Band and the South Valley Symphony. Jim still plays tuba in the South Valley Symphony and is now the Music Director and staff arranger for the Pacific Brass Band. He conducted the band at its first appearance in the band shell at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Last summer, the Band played at a fundraiser for the South Valley Symphony at Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill and they’ re booked for a return engagement in summer 2017. On March 19th, 2017, the Pacific Brass Band will be playing, under Jim’ s direction, at the Gilroy Elks Lodge to raise funds for Elk’ s scholarships. Jim says“ the afternoon concert will be presented in a relaxed setting with champagne, appetizers and desserts.”
Jim also organized his own band called“ The Zinfandel Stompers Vintage Jazz Band.” Jim and his bandmates Howard Miyata and Erik Siverson of Gilroy have been playing together for 10 years. You can see them on the second Tuesday of each month at 88 Keys Cafe and Piano Bar in Morgan Hill.
Jim is a 10-year member of the Gilroy Elks Lodge and is currently the President of the Lodge’ s RV Club, the Garlic Roamers. Kay is a member of the Hollister Elks and a member of their RV club.
In the fall of 2013, Jim succumbed to temptation and purchased a new Can-Am Roadster, a 3-wheel motorcycle, along with a small trailer to haul his tuba to music rehearsals. Kay enjoyed riding with Jim so much that she bought her own motorcycle. They enjoy riding many of the hilly and mountainous roads in and around Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
Jim and Kay said that life in their 60s in Gilroy has been good.“ It is far enough from the rat race of big cities and it’ s relatively peaceful,” they told me,“ and it’ s close enough to the Bay Area and Monterey Bay. Just between Gilroy and Morgan Hill, there’ s more than enough to see and do.” Life sounds pretttttty good for Kay and Jim.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017 gmhtoday. com
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