Pinnacle Awards revealed
We interviewed some of the winners and the people who nominated
them for a dozen highlights in this year’s edition of the Pinnacle
Awards. Find out a little more about the places, people, and things
we love about San Benito County.
Pinnacle Awards revealed
We interviewed some of the winners and the people who nominated them for a dozen highlights in this year’s edition of the Pinnacle Awards. Find out a little more about the places, people, and things we love about San Benito County.
Big Mac is the one to work for
When it comes to good employers, San Benito businesses received a lot of votes. Nearly 200 ballots were returned and the number of businesses or people listed exceeded 60. Even with that many votes, one employer rose to the top – Richard McAbee – and beat out second-place finisher Greenwood Chevrolet.
McAbee runs several businesses on McCloskey Road, including McAbee Feed, McAbee Trucking and a custom car shop. He’s been the boss since 1989 when he took over the McAbee companies from his father.
“He has a big heart,” said Martha Springer, an employee at McAbee Feed. “It’s working for a family business. He really cares.”
That is reflected in the number of employees who have made McAbee a lifelong employer.
“There are a couple of guys who have been here since I was two years old,” he said. “We don’t treat people like numbers. We treat them like family.”
An example of that is a batting cage that sits outside one of the buildings at McCloskey.
“I coach Little League baseball,” he said. “I’ve got the room here so I thought I’d just buy one.”
McAbee’s 7-year-old son and the children of employees often make use of it. And sometimes the truck drivers and office staff take a break from the daily drone to take a few swings.
“It goes 90 miles an hour and I got beaned the first time,” McAbee said.
He also has a pool table and foosball table he pulls out during the winter months.
“He expects a lot, but he gives a lot too,” said Springer, who has worked at the feed store for more than a year. “He makes work fun. It’s a family atmosphere.”
— Melissa Flores
Park is the Pinnacle of San Benito
Pinnacle readers were emphatic in their choice of San Benito County’s best landmark or historical site. They picked the place that lends this paper – and these awards – its name, Pinnacles National Monument – and Pinnacles takes the honor for the second year in a row.
The scenic crags a little more than 30 miles south of Hollister are the centerpiece of this 100-year-old park, the nation’s second oldest national monument.
The colorful rocks are the remnants of a prehistoric volcano. Located on the west side of the San Andreas Fault, the area has been creeping north for eons. The rest of the formation can be found hundreds of miles south, near the Tehachapis.
Pinnacles is noteworthy for more than its rocks. While they attract photographers and mountaineers, the area is also home to many rare animals, and the largest variety of bees – more than 400 species – has also been documented there.
For younger visitors, the monument’s talus caves are the biggest draw in the park’s 27,000 acres. The caves are formed by enormous chunks of rock that have fallen into steep ravines. The caverns are home to a colony of bats for much of the year.
Stacey Vanderlei was one park visitor who cast a ballot for the park as best landmark.
“I really like it,” she said. “Every year we take our girls’ soccer team camping. We really like it there. They have the pool, the store and lots of hiking.”
Best of all, the park offers a nearby adventure.
“It’s something good you can do and it doesn’t cost a lot,” Vanderlei said.
— Mark Paxton
Patience and love grows two-year-old vet practice
Veterinarian Curtis Moran may have been voted the best veterinarian in San Benito County, but he believes the whole staff is what makes the Family Petcare Center what it is today.
“I think our staff is very caring,” Moran said. “We try to go out of our way to make people and their animals comfortable.
Moran came in first with a dozen votes more than second-place finisher Melvin White, who works out of a mobile veterinary clinic.
“I feel honored, really,” Moran said. “We have been open for only about two years.”
Moran said he believes his success shows that veterinarians do not have to travel, or be around for years to make it in the community.
“We take a fair amount of time to make animals comfortable, but there are always animals that take time to come around,” Moran said.
The Family Petcare Center offers boarding, digital X-rays, and blood work at their modern facility.
“Our clientele has reached over 3,000,” Moran said.
Moran contributes the patience and love of animals from everyone, to the growing practice.
“I think mainly we try to do the best for the animals and the people,” he said.
–Hayley Guenther
Meet the cocktailian
When it comes to mixing drinks Carlette Barker knows how to do it – even when it comes to mixing up a cocktail made with X-Rated vodka that has a name that would make most people blush.
Barker was voted best bartender in San Benito County, and came in ahead of second-place winner Nick Bakich, of the Tres Pinos Inn.
She is a certified bartender, but she first started learning about different drinks when she worked as a cocktail waitress at a bowling alley. The bartender there would ask her to memorize drinks, and he would have her tell him what went into the drinks before he would give them to her to serve.
“I got a book and started figuring it out,” she said.
Barker has been bartending for six and half years, and has been at Paine’s for more than two years, where she takes over behind the bar Monday through Thursday.
“I see a lot of different people, make a lot of friends,” Barker said.
When a customer asks for a drink she isn’t familiar with she asks them what it tastes like and what color it is, to narrow down the options.
“You get off the wall names, sometimes,” she said.
Barker prefers nights when it is busy in the bar, and she enjoys working as a bartender at banquets.
“You never know who is going to walk in day to day,” she said. “It’s not always the same people and there is always something different.”
— Melissa Flores
These guys are the bomb
San Benito County’s favorite local band sports a name that begs a question.
Sake Bombs?
“We really love A-J Sushi and there was a summer when they first opened and we were there, like, every other day,” said Tim Rodriguez, the band’s guitarist. “Ernie [Andrade] called and said ‘I’ve got the name.'”
And that was it. Andrade, who plays the drums for the quartet, had enjoyed the drink that combines a mug of beer with a depth charge of sake when inspiration struck.
But the band that San Benito County readers said they most love goes back considerably farther than its name.
Rodriguez and Andrade began playing together when they were 13, after their fathers discovered they were both starting to spend a lot of time with their instruments. Today, the two are 36 years old. That’s a lot of rock ‘n’ roll. The other members of the group are bassist Ronnie Ruvalcaba, who also plays in the band Focus, and guitarist and lead singer and guitarist John Sanchez.
Both Ruvalcaba and Sanchez said that what keeps them coming back are the good times they share with their fans.
The Sake Bombs play covers from the 1960s to contemporary, but the band does it the band’s way. “We throw our seasoning on it,” Rodriguez said. “We try to make it as close to our style as we can – cover songs with a Sake Bombs twist.”
Twenty-three years is a long time to be playing together, and some things do change, apparently.
“You think rock ‘n’ roll and you think about a bunch of long-haired guys out in the garage jamming every night,” Rodriguez said. “We’re all married, and when we get together it’s more like a family gathering.”
Indeed, Sanchez and Andrade are cousins.
The Sake Bombs will be playing at Cheap Seats on Nov. 29.
Pinnacle Awards voters ranked Soul Kiss right behind the Sake Bombs.
For more information on the band, go to www.myspace.com/thesakebombs.
— Mark Paxton
All the world’s a stage
San Benito Stage Company members have been bringing productions to San Benito County for nine years. Beginning in 1999, this nonprofit performing arts organization has been dedicated to presenting local talent as well as producing unique and entertaining shows.
The theater company was voted favorite in the county, with El Teatro Campesino and Premiere Cinemas as runner ups.
Amelia Souza Hatcher, a board member for the San Benito Stage Company, said that the company is “very proud and has worked extremely hard for their productions.”
Putting on a production isn’t easy, but San Benito Stage Company has it down to the bone since the directors and producers put on four productions a year, including past performances of “Grease” and “Flapper!”
President Nancy Perales said that the success of San Benito Stage Company is all due to the community.
“The community both helps put productions on financially and gives great feedback,” Perales said.
The company members are already looking forward to their 2009 San Benito Stage Company productions which include “Aladdin Jr.,” “She Loves Me,” and “Little Shop of Horrors.”
— Ruby Perez
In full bloom on San Benito Street
Tucked neatly away between two real estate offices on San Benito Street is Hollister Flowers and Gifts, voted this year’s favorite flower shop by Pinnacle readers. The shop came in first against the competition, including Precious Petals, which landed second place.
“There is nothing that I won’t do when it comes to flowers,” said owner Pamela Pirtle. “I genuinely love what I do.”
The shop has been open for a year and four months, but it has already been established as a local favorite – Hollister Flowers won the same title last year.
“The residents of San Benito have been really warm and welcoming,” Pirtle said.
Pirtle has 30 years of experience and said she feels like she is doing what she has always wanted to accomplish.
“I think I am finding my niche,” she said.
The shop does not offer just flowers, it offers a way for people to make a personal connection with each gift they create, according to staff.
“We offer a variety of containers so that you can create your own memories,” said employee Cynthia Hansen. “I want [the customers] to remember where they got [their flowers.]”
While there are several flower shops in San Benito to choose from, Pirtle supplies only the best to her customers.
“The flowers are alway fresh. I buy my flowers directly from growers,” Pirtle said.
That means the availability of flowers is tied to the seasons, so they can be appreciated at the peak of their bloom.
“I am who I am, and I love my costumers,” Pirtle said.
Both women said if the costumers are happy, they will keep coming back and will tell other people in the community about the shop.
“Costumer service is number one no matter what,” Hansen said. “You have to make people feel appreciated and welcome.”
–Hayley Guenther
Coaching out good learning
George Ocampo coaches groups of individuals but it is the team concept that he preaches, whether it is on the baseball or softball diamond or the basketball court.
Ocampo, 43, was voted by Pinnacle readers as this year’s “Best Youth Coach.”
“I like teaching the basics so kids can learn not just one position but all aspects of the sport,” he said. “Learning the fundamentals and being a team player is what it’s all about.”
Ocampo has been involved with the Hollister Heat youth softball organization since its inception and he has been a Hollister Little League manager for his son’s team in recent years. The father of three has also coached Hollister Recreation Department soccer and basketball. He plans to coach seventh-grade basketball at Southside School this year as well.
“I want kids to go on to be someone in the future, even if it’s not in sports,” said Ocampo, who works for the City of Gilroy but lives in Hollister. “I always tell them that grades are first and sports are secondary.”
The San Benito High School graduate played soccer, football and baseball during high school, which instilled in him a love of competition.
Teaching and coaching kids goes hand-in-hand, and Ocampo said he enjoys the challenge of working with kids of all ages.
“You have to have good patience – especially with the younger ones,” he said. “I believe that all sports teach kids the basics.”
The most rewarding aspect of coaching is not the winning and the losing, Ocampo says. Instead, it’s seeing the progression of a child’s skills from the beginning of the season to the end.
“At the beginning of the year you see a handful of kids that are struggling but then they catch on and by the end of the season they have really developed,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Ocampo reminds his players that they will win as a team and lose as a team.
“When you’re in the middle of a losing streak, you need to keep your head up,” he said. “As long as you’re learning, it’s good.”
Other local youth coaches receiving recognition by readers of The Pinnacle include Gino Andrade and Jerry Buzzetta.
–Adam Breen
Teacher transforms lives one at a time
San Benito High School world history teacher Amy Henneman has a history of her own at the school. It is that past that gives her a foundation for success in the future.
The second-year teacher, a Baler herself (Class of 2001), was selected by readers as best high school teacher in The Pinnacle’s “Best of San Benito County” contest. San Benito’s Juan Robledo and Carissa Alvarez also received recognition from voters.
Henneman was a history major at California State University, Chico before spending a year in a student teaching program at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico. San Benito math teacher Dan Quinn, with whom Henneman talked at a recruiting fair, encouraged her to apply to teach at her alma mater. But she was reluctant.
“I always swore that I would never come back – it’s kind of a family joke,” she said. “I remember walking up the steps to the administration building [at SBHS] and I was like ‘it works’ and it all fell into place.”
Henneman recalls enjoying her history classes in high school, which inspired her to pursue a career teaching the subject.
“I really liked learning about where things and people came from and how we got to where we are today as a society and culturally,” she said.
Asked what she likes about teaching her class of sophomores, her answer was quick and came with a smile: “The students. There’s never a dull moment and no day – not even any class period – is ever the same. It’s constant change; constant excitement. Their energy gives me energy.”
And she needs it. Henneman is the Rally Club and junior class advisor and is in charge of Senior Parents’ Night and Prom.
“I think that all my student activities allow me to relate with them a lot better,” she said. “I have really, really good officers in all of my clubs and I have a lot of support not only from my department but from the staff in general so that makes the balancing a lot easier. I have a foundation and I can just expand on that in the classroom.”
Henneman was Associated Student Body vice president during her senior year at San Benito, which she says gives her knowledge of “the ins and outs of the high school.”
Teaching is a passion for Henneman because of the impact that she gets to make on young people.
“I enjoy students’ outlook on life,” she said. “It just reminds me of the favorite time of my life. College was fun but high school was where I grew into my own. I enjoy watching students that I have transform and find their way. I like being a part of that. It’s neat to watch students step out of their comfort zone.”
— Adam Breen
The right touch for dessert
Just check your diet at the door.
Pinnacle readers voted Elegant Touch San Benito County’s best bakery, even though the business is perhaps best known for its savory sandwiches, soups and salads.
And it wasn’t even close. The sunny cafe at San Benito and Sixth streets in Hollister scored more than twice as many votes as second-place Safeway.
“I think people just know what we have and that we’re consistent,” said Paul Espinosa, one of the owners. “We always try new things but we always keep the favorites.”
And the favorites are almost certainly the cookies. “The cookies just fly out the door,” Espinosa said. The most popular? “The snickerdoodles, maybe. We sell dozens of those every day,” Espinosa said.
There are no shortcuts to satisfying a customer’s appetite.
“We make everything here ourselves from scratch,” Espinosa said. “We don’t use any premade mixes. I think our products tend to be a little fresher and better.”
Espinosa has been with the Elegant Touch for five years, but the business has been a local landmark for about 15.
He was quick to hand the credit for best bakery honors to the people behind the ovens, baker Nancy Alvarez and decorator Kim Brandon.
The Elegant Touch has another claim to fame – its family-sized eclairs. They’re the largest of three sizes and they are, indeed, big enough to feed a very large family.
— Mark Paxton
An ‘Attitude’ worthy of mention
Attitudes and Images is a well-known name around San Benito County as one of the best establishments to get a haircut, with the salon stylists taking the first, second and runner-up positions in the Pinnacle Awards for 2008’s best hair stylist. But even better known is Jennifer Riggs, a stylist at the shop located at San Benito and Seventh streets.
Riggs was voted best hair stylist in San Benito County by readers of The Pinnacle.
When asked how she felt about being San Benito’s number one go-to for hair styling, Riggs responded with a mixture of surprise and excitement.
“I feel good about it because I love doing hair,” Riggs said.
Riggs says she goes the “extra mile” with her work and puts all her time, energy, and thought into people’s hair, keeping up with what is new and scoping out the new styles that are emerging.
When a client comes in without knowing exactly how they want their hair to turn out, Riggs is quick to offer suggestions and works with the client to make sure the end result is exactly what they would hope for.
— Ruby Perez
Meet a plumber with a heart
David Marquez has been a business owner for three years, a plumber for 14, and is part of the fifth generation of his family to call Hollister home.
That devotion to his community and a record of impeccable service earned Marquez Plumbing The Pinnacle’s “Best Plumber” award for 2008
The San Benito High School graduate and his wife, Kim – another longtime local – decided to form Marquez Plumbing three years ago to pursue David’s goal of providing personal service in his hometown.
The company, which provides 24-hour emergency service, serves commercial and residential customers throughout the county and neighboring areas. From drain cleaning and water heater repair and installation to kitchen and bathroom renovation, Marquez Plumbing prides itself on responding quickly and working professionally, Marquez said.
“We try to be both friendly and professional,” said Marquez, who employs two plumbers whose goal is to work quickly, efficiently and leave no mess after their work is done.
Marquez, who coaches his son’s Hollister Little League team, donates time, money and services to the league. He also supports Hollister Recreation programs and has donated services and sponsorships to other organizations such as San Benito High School, where he formerly was a coach on the junior varsity baseball team.
“Hollister is still a little slower-paced than the big cities around us,” Marquez said, citing reasons why he enjoys working and raising a family here. “It’s a good life.”
Pinnacle readers also recognized George Nava and Kerry Maroney in the “Best Plumber” category.
–Adam Breen
A Swank-y farm takes home to prizes
Although Swank Farms is known for its corn mazes and spooky festivities in October, owners Dick and Bonnie Swank have plenty of others thinks to crow about since Pinnacle readers voted them best local grower, best organic product and they came in second for best produce stand.
When it comes to local growers, there are plenty to choose from in San Benito County, where agricultural endeavors remain the top grossing industry year after year. One thing that sets apart first place Swank Farms and runner up Joe Tonascia, who took second place in the category, is that their produce is readily available to the public through roadside produce stands. In fact, Tonascia’s Bertuccio’s on Union Road took first in best roadside produce stand.
But Swank also has the honor of best organic product.
Dick and Bonnie said they believe their heirloom tomatoes is what sets them apart from other organic farmers.
“It is a very big honor; I’m lucky I guess,” Dick said.
He and Bonnie, his wife, have been growing their tomatoes for three years, and contribute their success to local farmers’ markets.
“We have participated in the farmers’ market in Hollister for many years,” he said.
They also have staff that travel to other markets around the area including one on Saturday morning in Morgan Hill and at Santana Row in Santa Clara on Sundays.
Dick and Bonnie opened a permanent stad on their farm this year, and their salsa is the main attraction. While the tomatoes in the salsa are organic, the onions are not, but the Swanks plan to make changes in how they grow their onions in the near future.
They are very grateful that loyal costumers have followed them to the stand at their farm.
“We thank everyone for supporting us.”
–Hayley Guenther
