When Carol Sanford and her family arrived from Oregon nearly 50 years ago , Morgan Hill was still a sleepy little town . There was no freeway back then . Not even that many traffic lights . And the local phone book had a slim set of White Pages indeed .
So why would Sanford remember these particular details ? As Morgan Hill ’ s official Welcome Wagon hostess for a number of years , Sanford made it her business to find out when new residents moved into town . Then she ’ d pay them a visit to personally greet them with a gift basket filled with goods and coupons from local vendors .
“ I checked monthly at City Hall to find out if any new residents had signed up for water service ,” Sanford said . “ Then I ’ d call and make an appointment to visit their homes , say hello and see if they had any questions about local activities or services . People always had the most interesting stories to tell about what brought them to Morgan Hill . I should have written them down !”
Sanford not only made Morgan Hill her home , but she set down roots for what would become three generations of family . Once her three children , Trisha , Suzanne and Harris were all in school , Sanford began looking for full-time work .
“ The Welcome Wagon was fun , but I decided I ’ d better get a full time job ,” Sanford chuckled . “ After working for a dentist for six months , I landed a job with the City of Gilroy to work in Records at the Police Department . I loved that job and stayed with it for nearly 22 years before retiring in 1998 .”
“ Gilroy was growing and I was always busy , working graveyard shift and dealing with paperwork for the police and the CHP ,” Sanford said . “ Every day was different . We handled all sorts of things from criminal arrests and bookings to helping a mother track down her lost daughter at the Garlic Festival . In fact , Sanford ’ s eldest daughter Tricia lives the department made me employee of in Hawaii with her husband and children . the month for handling the lost daughter Daughter Suzanne ( Suzi ) Sellers is a situation with a cool and calm demeanor .” popular Morgan Hill fitness instructor and
“ When the department got its first son-in-law Greg Sellers is a VP at Clean canine officer , a Rottweiler named Zak , I Power Finance and a former Morgan got into the habit of always carrying a dog Hill City Council member . Sanford ’ s son biscuit or two in my pocket . He soon won Harris runs a local computer services us all over and kept us on our toes .” business and his wife Elizabeth works in the
Sanford was an avid gardener for many Office of Santa Clara County Supervisor years . During that time she joined the Mike Wasserman . Morgan Hill Flower Lover ’ s Club and
Family holidays are busy and festive , was elected to serve as the club ’ s vice especially in the kitchen . president and then its president .
“ I saved all of my mother ’ s recipes , and
“ It ’ s a great club for gardening programs one in particular is a favorite with my kids . and tips ,” Sanford said , “ The club donates It ’ s ‘ Grandma Carol ’ s Crazy Cake ’. They scholarship funds to students interested in love it so much that one year they printed agricultural-related fields as well as schools a special picture of the recipe and framed with hands-on gardening projects .” it . Greg and Harris love to cook so we
In April of 1973 she received the have amazing holiday meals . The kids even ultimate compliment for anyone with a created a family cookbook in 2011 so we green thumb when her garden made the can all treasure the recipes .” cover of Sunset Magazine .
Sanford manages to keep tabs on her
“ I had an acre of wonderful growing nine grandchildren too . ground to play with , and I filled it with “ Oh , I babysat my four local grandkids flowers and architectural elements . I had off and on ,” Sanford said . “ But I ’ ll be 80 entered a Sunset Magazine garden contest in October , so I ’ ve settled for family gettogethers and checking Facebook every and was pleasantly surprised to win an honorable mention . The magazine ’ s art day to keep up with all of the grandkids ’ director loved the look of my garden so activities .” much that it made the cover .”
Sanford is a long-time member of
In 1978 , Sanford made headlines again , Crossroads Christian Church , and twice but for a very different reason – one that a month she serves as a volunteer in the made her kids a little embarrassed . church ’ s food programs . She also frequents
“ We were driving on Highway 280 when the Morgan Hill Centennial Recreation we spotted what looked like a UFO heading Center for lunch , bingo or John and Linda toward San Jose ,” Sanford said . “ The news Tarvin ’ s popular roadtrip slideshows . media picked up the story and a man from “ There ’ s always something going on there , one of the UFO tracking organizations and I ’ ve never had any problem meeting actually met with us to get the details of or talking to new people .” our sighting . It turned out to be some type That ’ s not surprising for the woman of aircraft doing aerial advertising for an ad who began her life in Morgan Hill as the agency . For some time afterward , the UFO Welcome Wagon lady , gained acclaim as news clip ran in the pre-movie announcements at the Granada theatre . Every time PD and raised a family . You could say
a gardener , built a career with the Gilroy
they went to see a movie with friends , my that Carol Sanford is truly a woman for all kids were mortified .” seasons .
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