ESTABLISHED 1868
A New SV Media publication
Friday, September 22, 2017
gilroydispatch.com • Vol. 150, No. 38 • $1
BUSINESS: Movers and shakers show up for hospital fundraiser P2
Great Wolf water park tests the waters for new resort
Gavilan punishes itself for football violations
IT’S SINK OR SWIM FOR THE PROPOSED RESORT
PROGRAM BARRED FROM POSTSEASON PLAY
By Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
Cheeto Barrera Sports Editor
➝ Gavilan, 12
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
Chemical Attraction
A section of the Gilroy Dispatch & Morgan Hill Times
➝ Great Wolf Trip, 14
Great Wolf Lodge in Garden Grove, 67 miles away. Her mom, Sherri, a real estate agent, said the resort makes her feel safe for the kids and entertaining for adults.
Great Wolf guests gush SAFE, FUN AND WORTH THE COST, VISITORS SAY By Bryce Stoepfel Reporter
The Great Wolf Lodge in Garden Grove is huge—with nine stories, 603 rooms, a full water park, seven restaurants, an arcade, shops, animatronics and a hotel-wide interaction action-adventure video game. Parents said that enough hotel security and lifeguards means they can take their eyes off the kids, while they gulp craft draft beers and margaritas. Guests interviewed at the Great Wolf Lodge said the perks were worth the cost of as much as $400 a day, and they could stay comfortably for days without leaving the building.
RESIDENTS MADE GILROY HISTORY
Tech Trek inspires young women to seek out STEM careers
OU T& CA LE AB OU T ND EV EN AR OF TS
By Brad Kava Editor
Inside this issue: Tech Trek inspires young women
LION RANCH WINERY P10 | WINTER GARDEN PREP P17 | CAR SHOW P20
58015 02001
➝ Hall of Fame, 10
LOVING IT Rylie Fife (left) 12, from Chatsworth, celebrated her birthday with her friend Belle at
“It’s a place where the kids can be safe but where we can have some fun too,” said Sherri Fife, a Los Angeles area real estate professional who with her husband Lane, their daughter and one of her friends, drove 67 miles from the San Fernando Valley to Garden Grove for the weekend. The water at the hotel’s slides is bathwater warm and the air is 84 degrees. The slides, tide pool, stand up surfing zone and threestory water park fun fort, known as Mt. Mackenzie, stands as a watery, goofy, citadel in the center. The floors are even squishy, giving the pavement a bouncy, soft to the touch grounding. Joan Ward, from Costa Mesa a grandmother who along with her husband, Andrew, daughter-in-law Laurel, and three
grandchildren, were at Great Wolf Lodge in Garden Grove in July for a homeschooling convention and for her, the experience was well worth the price. To her the staff was pleasant, the facilities were accommodating to families, allowing for guests to bring in outside food. Most importantly, her grandkids had a great time. “The lifeguards constantly have their eyes on what's going on in the water; I felt it was very safe,” said Joan Ward, whose grandchildren are 15, 11 and seven years old. “They didn’t get bored at all; they loved it. They were there five days and they were at the water park almost the entire time.” The check-in time is designed to maximize the water park ➝ Great Wolf Talks, 4
Gilroy adds four to Hall of Fame
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN
6
George Archer, was the 1969 Masters champion and a 25-year resident of Gilroy. Archer won 12 Professional
Gilroy city officials visited the Great Wolf Lodge in Southern California and days later a representative from the national water park hotel group came to Gilroy seeking feedback from locals. The results were mixed. City officials were excited about the prospect of bringing in millions of dollars a year in tax revenue, however locals expressed concern about the traffic and development that the resort could bring in. Garden Grove Mayor Steven Jones told Gilroy officials that the Great Wolf Lodge water park hotel, which opened in February 2016, has been a tourist and financial boon. The city invested more than $65 million of public money to bring the project to fruition. Great Wolf representatives projected that Gilroy would bring in $6 million a year in taxes and $165 million over 20 years. “We built hotels before Great Wolf, but they really didn’t put us on the map,” Garden Grove’s mayor said. “We were looking for something that had a theme and was upscale that would help rebrand Garden Grove. Great Wolf has certainly done that.” Six Gilroy representatives, including Mayor Roland Velasco, economic development coordinator Tammy Brownlow, City Administrator Gabe Gonzalez, Tourism Director Jane Howard and Chamber of Commerce officials Mark Turner and Lisa Faris flew to the Southern California city to check out the park and get feedback from city officials about the 105,000-squarefoot, 603 room destination hotel-water park, which is considering a Gilroy location adjacent to Gilroy Gardens. The feedback they got was upbeat. “They are meeting their projections like they said
Bryce Stoepfel
Gavilan College officially announced its self-imposed sanctions stemming from accusations of recruiting and benefits violations against the football team that saw 17 players dismissed in August. The football program will be on probation for three years and will be barred from postseason play for two years. In addition, the athletics staff will undergo in-service training with Athletic Director Ron Hannon and will give the minutes and the agendas to the Northern California Football Conference for review. Finally, football coach Mike Dovenberg must give monthly reports on the team’s recruiting efforts. Two assistant coaches were also placed on leave pending further investigation into their involvement with the rules violations. The college said if it is found the two coaches— who it didn’t name but a source familiar with the situation has identified the coaches as Austin Reville and Carlos Woods—further action up to and including termination will be taken. A source said one of the coaches has stepped down from his position, however, Gavilan said no resignation has been tendered by either of the coaches.
Gilroy will add to its Hall of Fame this year a master golfer and a master politician as well as a master businessman and a master educator who left indelible marks on
the city’s world famous garlic festival. The brainchild of Gilroyan Bob Dyer, the Gilroy Hall of Fame began in 1983 as a way for the community to honor residents, some of them born 50 years or more before Gilroy was incorporated in the mid-1800s. All were deemed to have made a lasting contribution to the town.
The tradition stopped in 1994 and was revived in 2015. Initially, the honor was reserved for the deceased, but later was opened up to the living. The honorees will be celebrated at an Oct. 14 luncheon at Old City Hall restaurant from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Reservations can be made through the
Chamber of Commerce website www.Gilroy.org.
George Archer (October 1, 1939 – September 27, 2005)
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