It’s hard to believe with the 20/20 hindsight that 25 years
brings, but some Gilroyans didn’t like the idea of a garlic
festival.
The fact that the fabulously successful stinking rose
celebration exists today is a testament to the dedication and
vision of three men: Don Christopher, Val Filice, and especially
the late Rudy Melone.
It’s hard to believe with the 20/20 hindsight that 25 years brings, but some Gilroyans didn’t like the idea of a garlic festival.
The fact that the fabulously successful stinking rose celebration exists today is a testament to the dedication and vision of three men: Don Christopher, Val Filice, and especially the late Rudy Melone.
In the late 1970s, Melone was head of Gavilan Community College. He tried for years to convince Gilroy leaders to bring his idea for a garlic festival to life – but he found no takers.
Melone knew what he wanted to create – a festival celebrating the much-maligned lilly that would feature a garlic queen, a cook-off, music, dancing and local wines. But when he tried to sell his vision, his words fell on deaf ears.
That changed on Nov. 9, 1978, at a Rotary luncheon at Christopher Ranch. As Rotarians dined on Filice’s scrumptious garlic delicacies, Melone was convinced garlic farmer Christopher and Filice to create the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
The men approached then-Gilroy Mayor Norman Goodrich. Goodrich refused to run the festival – and, in fact, did not even attend the inaugural garlic festival.
Undaunted, the men approached the Chamber of Commerce. They found a slightly better reception: the Chamber declined the opportunity to run the festival, but did offer to operate its beer concession.
Unable to find an existing group to run their brainchild, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association was incorporated as a nonprofit entity with seed money from Christopher Ranch, Gilroy Foods, Nob Hill Foods, Goldsmith Seeds and others.
Thanks to the vision, dedication and determination of Melone, Christopher and Filice, today the area has a phenomenal festival that benefits the Gilroy community by serving as a fundraiser for groups.
It gives the community a wonderful project to work on together. Most importantly, the festival gives our neighbor up north its identity.
The first garlic festival was held in 1979 at Bloomfield Ranch. Organizers expected 5,000 people to come to South Valley. They were stunned when 15,000 people arrived.
From the beginning, the festival was a media favorite. A local editorial shortly after the first festival was held crowed about some of the national newspapers that took notice, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post and Time magazine.
It wasn’t just print media that were enamored with the new stinking rose celebration. At least two television programs – “Evening Magazine” and “The Dinah Shore Show” – broadcast stories about the festival.
This weekend, the silver anniversary garlic festival will be held at Christmas Hill Park and approximately 4,000 volunteers are expected to greet 130,000 garlic lovers.
The festival gives about $250,000 each year to community groups that send volunteers to the festival – for a total of more than $6 million since its inception.
Although there have been many changes during the last quarter-century, several things remain at the core of the festival: love of garlic, love of the city and dedication to a vision. For that, a debt of gratitude is owed to the men who started it all.
To respond to this editorial or comment on this issue, please send or bring letters to Editor, Hollister Free Lance, 350 Sixth St., Hollister, Calif. 95023 or fax to 637-4104 or e-mail to
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