Contact: Jill Arnone - Communications, History San Jose
jilla@thearnonegroup.com
Joshua Russell - 1stACT Silicon Valley
jrussell@1stact.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Winners of The First, First Fest Announced

First Annual Virtual Festival on New Year's Day Celebrates Valley of Firsts

San Jose, Calif. - January 28, 2009 - New Year's Day is always the first day of the rest of our lives, replete with reveries, reminiscence, revelations and resolutions. This year the people of San Jose and Silicon Valley had an opportunity to celebrate the history-making achievements that have occurred here in the Santa Clara Valley.

The First Fest website, provided an open invitation to the public to log on and submit their 'firsts.' A distinguished panel of judges, each significant for their own personal firsts included Janet Gray Hayes, first woman elected mayor of a major US City in 1974; Yosh Uchida, known for coaching the first U.S. Judo Team in the 1964 Olympics; and Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Inc. and one of the first to lead the personal computer revolution of the 1970's in Silicon Valley.

The judges selected winners in five categories: personal, business & technology, sports, arts & culture, and historical. In addition, the site provided an opportunity for the community to vote on their "People's Choice" favorite, which was made up of two runner-up nominations from each category.

2008-2009 FIRST FEST WINNERS
Personal Winner: Clyde P. Smith
Nominated by: Michael Capri (Smith)
In 1966 Clyde P. Smith became the first Black California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer in San Jose and all of Santa Clara County.

Business & Technology Winner: The Integrated Circuits Industry
Nominated by Max Hauser
Commercially important by 1959, fostered by such local firms as Fairchild Semiconductor, Signetics, Intel, and others in the silicon-firm family tree whose growing foliage journalist Don Hoefler chronicled in his 1971 trade-press article series, "The saga of silicon valley," coining the term.

Sports Winner: Tommie Smith and John Carlos from San Jose State
Nominated by Joshua DeVincenzi Melander
The first Olympians to take a Civil Rights stand with the infamous "Black Power" salute, as the African-American sprinters received their gold and bronze medals respectively, at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.

Arts & Culture Winner: Irene Dalis
Nominated by Alma Taylor
The first Internationally famous Opera star to be born in San Jose, and after a 25 year career as a renowned mezzo-soprano with 20 years at the Metropolitan Opera where she performed with all of the greatest opera singers in the world, including Franco Corelli, Leyontine Price, Renata Tebaldi, and many more.

Historical Winner: San Jose State University
Nominated by Joshua DeVincenzi Melander
San Jose State University is the oldest public institute of higher education on the West Coast, founded in 1857. Originally it was a school for teachers in the western frontier of the United States.

People's Choice Winner: Bean Spray Magic Pump
Nominated by Diane McNutt
John Bean's spray pump, invented in Los Gatos, provided the first effective way to spray trees for scale and other diseases.

"This region has led the world in so many areas and has produced so many innovations," said Connie Martinez, Managing Director and CEO of 1stACT Silicon Valley. "The First Fest is our opportunity to take a moment to celebrate Silicon Valley as the Valley of Firsts."

Winners will receive a VIP, "first course" cocktail reception held for only the winners, judges, and First Fest founders on the terrace of The 88, one of the first new luxury high-rise condominiums in Downtown San Jose.

The event committee is made up of leaders of 1stACT Silicon Valley, History San Jose, Team San Jose, and the San Jose Silicon/Valley Chamber of Commerce. To view winners and all nominees and to submit a nomination for next year's festival, visit www.firstfest.org

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About 1stACT Silicon Valley
1stACT Silicon Valley is a network of cross-sector leaders who care about the cultural and aesthetic quality of life in Silicon Valley. We are working collectively to build: 1) authentic sense of place that fuels community pride and investment; 2) a quality of mix of creative experiences that foster community, cross-cultural understanding and innovation; and 3) a cultural and aesthetic quality of life that attracts and inspires a creative workforce. For more information, visit www.1stact.org.

About History San Jose

History San José, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the continuing history of the Santa Clara Valley, manages one of the largest and most comprehensive regional history collections in California. Its mission is to engage diverse audiences in exploring the varieties of human experience that contribute to the area's rich history. www.historysanjose.org.