Mayors aiming to crush former 49ers QB John Paye in grape-stomp contest

It wasn’t long ago that San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan was running for governor and Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor was welcoming FIFA World Cup athletes to Levi’s Stadium. And this weekend? They’ll be stomping grapes at the Italian Family Festa in San Jose. Such is politics.

RELATED: What to eat at this weekend’s Italian Family Festa, Gilroy Garlic Festival

Mahan and Gillmor will be among the elected officials and community leaders taking part in the two-day competition at History Park, in hopes of unseating former 49ers quarterback John Paye — the defending champ from last year. Even at 61, Paye still has a football player’s build and feet to match. You would the think the politicians might get a few seconds head start on the guy just to make it a fair fight, right?

Paye might be unstoppable, though. The guy even drank the juice from the grapes he crushed last year. That is serious commitment to the bit.

But in addition to the other elected officials — Milpitas Mayor Carmen Montano, Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein, Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page, Santa Clara County Assessor Neysa Fligor and San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan — there are a few other entrants who who might hold Paye’s feet to the fire. That group includes Rob DiNapoli of Bianco DiNapoli Tomatoes, former 49ers running back Anthony Dixon and a late entry, the San Jose Giants’ towering general manager, Ben Taylor.

Lissa Kreisler will be calling all the action with three heats on Saturday at noon, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. and a fourth heat Sunday at 3. The winning challengers will go foot-to-foot with Paye at 4 p.m.

If you want to get in on the fun, public grape stomps will be held in between the celebrity events Saturday and from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday. The Italian American Heritage Foundation’s annual event runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Get details on all the activities, entertainment and food at www.italianfamilyfestasj.com.

DOWNTOWN TRIBUTE: Sunday’s Music in the Park concert, featuring WAR, Los Yesterdays and Malo at downtown’s Plaza Park, will serve as a celebration of Ray Rodriguez’s 80th birthday. That’s pretty fitting, organizer and Metro Publisher Dan Pulcrano says, since Music in the Park wouldn’t exist without Rodriguez.

Hoping to help Marsugi’s restaurant, Rodriguez pitched Pulcrano with the idea of creating a downtown association to represent downtown businesses being overlooked by the Chamber of Commerce. The rest is history, though Pulcrano notes that history often leaves out Rodriguez’s role.

That’s not the case for Richard Ajluni, who owned Metro Cafe back in the day and was an early board member of the San Jose Downtown Association. Rodriguez, Ajluni recounted, was a well-known photographer whose subjects included President Jimmy Carter, several U.S. senators and CEOs.

“Tom McEnery once introduced him as ‘the man who got me elected mayor,’ ” said Ajluni, who has his own special memories of Rodriguez: He was the photographer at Aljuni’s wedding to then-Karen Risse 30 years ago on July 21, 1996.

Get tickets and more information about Sunday’s show or Friday’s concert featuring a freestyle showcase including Stevie B. at mitpsj.com.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: San Jose Stage Company is changing gears from a live performance theater to a movie house as its hosts the Bay Area premiere of “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” on Sunday at 2 p.m. The documentary about the San Jose State alum who went on to establish Teatro Campesino and become a significant filmmaker premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, where it took home the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary and the Festival Favorite Award.

Future screenings will take place Aug. 2, Aug. 8 and Aug. 9. Go to www.thestage.org for showtimes and tickets.