gmhTODAY Fall 2025 | Page 5

This harvest season pumpkins and gourds of all types are waiting for you at LJB Farms. Their Pumpkin Patch Grand Opening and Fall Boo-tique is Sept. 27th & 28th from 10am-3pm. LJB Farms is located at 585 Fitzgerald Ave. San Martin.

Debbi & Mike Sanchez & Roast Beef, Publishers

Our wild and busy summer season is giving way to fall. Yet, the stubborn South Bay sun refuses to yield. Ratcheting up the late summer temperatures, Mr. sun is giving it all he can to hang on to his favorite season. Lady moon has other ideas. She is predictably pushing for shorter days and longer nights. We know the story; she wins every time. In fact, she is never far and always ready to provide rest for the weary. She once again has brought us her amazing 20-degree temperature drops virtually every night this summer. Old man sun ain’ t got nothing on her. Speaking of heat, the summer months were sizzling with great events and things to do from Morgan Hill to Gilroy.

Memorial Day weekend featured the 44th Morgan Hill Mushroom Festival. This great event celebrates all things Morgan Hill, and all things mushroom. Keeping pace, the Day on the Ridge Music Festival rocked the hills above Gilroy and raised over 127,000 dollars for Saint Joseph’ s Family Center. Crowds enjoyed a full day’ s line up of music, great local food and beverages, and a dip in the pool right in front of the stage.

Morgan Hill’ s Friday Night Music Series rocked June through August, as did Gilroy’ s Thursday Night Downtown Live Music Series. Local and regional bands performed for enthusiastic crowds, who also enjoyed pop-up food offerings, local eateries, and craft vendors.

Morgan Hill hosted their 150th Freedom Fest on July 3rd and 4th to recordbreaking crowds. Morgan Hill was packed with events and fun, starting with the Annual Patriotic Sing and ending with Fireworks on the Green on the evening of July 4th. One thing is certain; Morgan Hill knows how to throw a party!

Also in July, the long-awaited Gilroy Garlic Festival made its triumphant comeback at Gilroy Gardens theme park. Attendance was limited to 3,000 per day, and crowds were delighted to be there. The demand for Festival inspired food overwhelmed Gourmet Ally on Friday. Yet, true to form, the festival crew, led by 2025 President Paul Nadeau and VP / Gourmet Ally lead Alex Misa, faced the challenge head on. Overcoming all obstacles, the Ally delivered piping hot, iconic garlicky food to hungry festival growers in record time on Saturday and Sunday. The Gilroy Garlic Festival is a testament to perseverance, teamwork, community spirit, and success in the face of obstacles.

This fall the events keep coming; in Gilroy it’ s the Beer Festival on Saturday October 18, and La Ofrenda Festival, Saturday Nov. 1. In Morgan Hill, the Second Annual Food Festival happens Sunday, October 5, 2025, from 1:00 to 5:00pm, and Sidewalk Saturdays keep rolling every second weekend of the month through December, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm on East 3rd Street in Downtown Morgan Hill. These events are largely volunteer driven or volunteer run. Just groups of passionate people building community through service.

Long live volunteer-driven events. If not for these, our municipalities would not be communities, our experiences living in our small towns would not be as rich, our connections would not be as deep, and our lives would not be as fulfilled.

Congratulations to everyone who makes these events and others so special. You are the builders and the connectors of community. You are the backbone of our small towns. Our hope is that our local governments continue to move in the direction they are heading; supporting local causes, collaborating with local organizers on events to build community, and making things easier for our small towns to be more connected, more collaborative, and more conducive to helping make memories for everyone – from the youngest among us to those still young at heart. Let’ s keep the good going. And …

Let’ s go make history … together.