On Sunday August 28th Videographer Peter McGiddeon called Tom and asked if he would say a few words on video for the Santa Cruz time capsule that was to be buried for Santa Cruz’s 150th Birthday and unearthed in 50 years.
Tom said “sure” and was among other interviewees including George Ow Jr., his son William Ow, former Senator Bruce McPherson, The Great Morgani and the owners of Hoffman’s Restaurant.
As part of the production, they were going to make dry martini’s that are famous at Hoffman’s to toast with. Tom expressed that he hasn’t had a drink since for almost 29 years so could they please use water in his martini glass instead of Gin.
In the video, Tom spoke about how grateful he is to be a Santa Cruzan, and how incredible it was that he has been asked to do so many milestone projects around Santa Cruz. He was asked about the picture used at the Gail Rich Awards and also on his first CD cover showing Tom half in concrete and half in a black tuxedo. Tom also said hello to his children (daughter Rachelle, sons Matt, Zach and Anthony; and Grandchildren Kailey and Tytus) and then said “let’s toast.”
After all that talking Tom was a little dry and after clanging the glass with all around, took two very large swigs of the supposed to be “virgin” martini. On camera Tom said “hey, this is really a Martini! I haven’t had a drink since 1987 and now on August 31st 2016 I have to change my sobriety date and start over…damn it (all was a bit tongue in cheek).” Peter who owns Hoffman’s said with a hearty laugh “hey don’t worry about it…we do that all the time to people.” I laughed all the way out the door!
Highlights from the Time Capsule burial:
The time capsule kicks off a number of Santa Cruz’s sesquicentennial celebrations. Included in the time capsule (but not limited to) are paperbased city reports, restaurant menus, business pamphlets and photographs (all wrapped in preservative archival materials), iPhone 4S, Santa Cruz Warriors champion pendant, and a Plantronics Bluetooth headset.
Many items suggested for the time capsule could not be included but the city believes that a nice mix of stuff is in the time capsule.
The capsule is buried outside city council chambers and will be unearthed in 50 years.
To read more about the time capsule, please see the article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ (front page) from September 1, 2016.