Cheech Marin honored in San Jose for Latino arts advocacy

The crowd at the Latino Leadership Alliance’s fifth annual gala Wednesday night were a little star struck, and who could blame them? The guest of honor was actor and comedian Cheech Marin, known for his comedy with the Cheech & Chong act and later his work on the TV series “Nash Bridges.”

But he was honored Wednesday at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose Latino art advocacy. It might be news to you, but Marin has been collecting Latino art since the 1980s and has one of the largest private collections in the world with more than 700 pieces. Next month will see the opening of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture — known as “The Cheech” — in Riverside. “You’ve got a very unique community here,” said Marin, 75.

More than 200 people gathered at the event, which co-chairs Mayra Flores and Erika Bustamante noted was a welcome in-person return for the fundraising event that was held online last year. More than 130 people have gone through the program — which includes a retreat at Stanford University — in the past 13 years and the alumni network includes several people who have moved into leadership positions in the Bay Area. They include Google Public Policy Manager Javier Gonzalez and San Jose City Council members Raul Peralez and Maya Esparza. About a third of the alumni are in the field of education, about a quarter each in private-sector business and government, and 16 percent are in nonprofits. “And, many of our alums have either run for or been elected to office,” Flores said.

Poet and writer Rosanna Alvarez, who co-founded East Side Magazine, gave a reading that was a powerful ode to both East San Jose and East Side Magazine, the publication she co-founded with Kooltura Marketing’s Omar Rodriguez. But even Alvarez, who is no stranger to the stage, conceded to some butterflies. “They didn’t tell me it would be in front of Cheech,” she said.

NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT: A clock tower can be the heart of a community, and that’s what Mary Kenter Fox, a longtime Willow Glen resident, was thinking when she proposed one for the tight-knit San Jose neighborhood. But the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association found the barriers of getting a clock installed on public property — including cost and rules — too high to hurdle with ease. But that’s when Brian Yi, director of investments for Republic Urban Properties and a member of the neighborhood association board, saw an opportunity.

That opportunity led to the unveiling of a new clock on the 50-foot-high tower of Republic Urban Properties new headquarters, which is under construction on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Willow Street. The LED clock will be lit up at night and its colors can be changed for special events or holidays. And with chef Joanne Weir bringing her restaurant and tequileria Copita to the building later this year, it’ll be a good way to know when it’s “Tequila Time.”

The clock’s installation was financially supported by dozens of residents, who are recognized on a plaque that will be installed on the building. The marker will also include lines from a poem about Willow Glen by Peter Coe Verbica.

San Jose City Councilmember Dev Davis, whose district includes the new landmark, said the clock reminded her of the one struck by lightning in “Back to the Future,” one of her favorite movies. “I’m glad we’re going to have our own clock tower here in Willow Glen,” she said.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Actress and Del Mar High grad Adrienne Barbeau is going to be back in the South Bay on June 7 when she appears at Books Inc. at the Pruneyard in Campbell. She’ll be there with “Grease: Tell Me More, Tell Me More,” a new book about the original Broadway production of the smash musical that Barbeau co-edited. She created the role of Rizzo in the original cast of the show, which made its debut in 1972, and went on to star in “Maude” as part of a long career in TV and movies . You can get more information about the 7 p.m. event at www.booksinc.net.