Community Corner

Post-Garlic Fest, 150 Volunteers Helped Clean Up Christmas Hill Park

Volunteers spent three days after the Gilroy Garlic Festival taking down booths, and carrying away equipment, donating their hours to the charity of their choice.

In the days after the last scoop of garlic ice cream was served, and the last of the live music acts packed up their gear, a team of 150 volunteers worked to restore back to its pre-Garlic Festival state.

The volunteers worked on rotating shifts, and donated the hours they plugged in to a local charity of their choice. Team leaders, such as Utilities Committee Chair Mike Wanzong, spent up to 12 hours a day, Monday through Wednesday, carting away compressed booths and heavy equipment to the Garlic Festival Association Headquarters.

“The people that volunteer, they tend to be really good people,” said Wanzong, driving around Christmas Hill Park on a motor cart on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. “That’s one of the most special things about volunteering.”

The majority of the volunteers were locals, but some traveled as far away as Virginia to help set-up and take down their favorite summertime festival. They ranged from eight-year-old children accompanying their parents, to Clyde Kreeger, 72, who travelled from Arizona to volunteer for 10 days before, during, and after the festival. He joined the ranks of about 4,000 volunteers total.

The volunteer’s services were especially needed this year, said Wanzong, due to a sky-high attendance of 109,067 guests, an 11 percent increase from 2010. 

The attached photos are a look at what remained of the Garlic Festival on Tuesday, August 2.


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