Lodi residents, firefighters share their stories from the fire lines
It went up in smoke. Lodi architect John Vierra was among those who lost their family cabins in the flames of the Caldor Fire last week. His was located in the Twin Bridges area, near the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort. He says his dad started building the cabin in the early ‘90s, finishing it about 10 years ago.
“We have been enjoying it every year, and (it) was our little piece of heaven,” he says. “But no one got hurt and all that was lost can be rebuilt.”
About 150 cabins burned in that area, says Vierra — all in a matter of 24 hours.
Triple D
Lodi firefighters assigned to the Dixie Fire in Plumas County got a taste of celebrity cooking recently. When they returned to their base camp in Susanville, they were welcomed by the “sound of music playing and the smell of Guy Fieri’s famous cooking.”
Fieri is a Food Network celebrity chef, best known for his “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” TV series. He reportedly donates his time and money to provide meals to firefighters at this, and many other, fires.
The Lodi fire crew says that Fieri’s presence has been “a huge morale-booster.”
Reality
Sometimes you wonder if things like this are real.
You probably heard last week about how Sheriff Pat Withrow and his boys pitched in to help clean up of a gigantic homeless mess along Highway 99 and Turner Road, near the river.
Caltrans says it’s state property. Withrow says it’s not.
Whatever. Rather than getting a bottle of wine and a thank you note, the sheriff received a “cease and desist” nastygram from Caltrans, accusing him of trespassing, a misdemeanor.
Now, let’s see if we have this straight. Caltrans has allowed homeless folks to trespass on the property for about a year now without consequence. Yet the sheriff is the one being accused of committing a misdemeanor by cleaning up the health and safety eyesore, saving Caltrans the trouble?
Some folks are wondering if Caltrans ever listens to what they’re saying and thinks it’s stupid . ...
Remember the local woman who filed a lawsuit against Caltrans last year, seeking to compel the agency to get off its duff and clean up encampments around the Mokelumne, because all the human waste and debris was contaminating the river? Amanda Lee’s home backed up to the Mokelumne, so she saw it all, down to the last soiled diaper.
The suit was dismissed in federal court, according to Lee.
“They are ruling that no one is responsible for the property, or at least there’s no authority that can hold them accountable,” she said.
Amanda has reportedly moved out of the area in order to escape the mess.
Lookin’ pretty
Have you driven by the Pacific Coast Producers plant on Tokay at Stockton? A beautiful new mural adorns one whole wall of the processing plant. It depicts a
beautiful orchard with peaches and apricots in the foreground, along with a fruit can.
The mural was painted by Sacramento artist Jeremy Stanger and took about two months to complete, according to plant manager Mike Van Gundy. The painting was designed by Stanger and Nicole Smith, who works in marketing for PCP.
Van Gundy said they decided to do the mural to beautify the plant, and to help make employees “proud of where they work.” He said the mural and other touches cost “tens of thousands of dollars.”
The cannery started out as Foster & Wood about 80 years ago. It became PCP about 50 years ago, says Van Gundy. The company is a co-op of 150 family farms.
The plant processed tomatoes up until 2002, when those operations were moved to Woodland. The Lodi plant is now the largest apricot canner in the United States, according to the company.
For rent
Last week we wrote about the planned renovation of the old Rocha’s Mortuary at 215 S. School St. in Downtown.
Local historian Lisa Craig says her family is doing the reno, and architect John Vierra is doing the design. They plan to turn the property into another Clearsuites location, and they’re looking for a coffee bar operator to occupy the storefront space.
Craig says they are excited to get a spot in Downtown Lodi, and to “bring some energy to that end of (School Street).”
Clearsuites is a workspace model that offers private professional office space, along with shared amenities such as a conference room, kitchen, Internet, and receptionist. Suites are rented by the day, week, month or year. Craig and her family have another Clearsuites location at Kettleman Station on East Kettleman Lane. ...
Doing some historical research on the property, Craig found the Downtown site was previously the home of cement contractor Jules Perrin. You’ve seen his name stamped in many a sidewalk around town, most of which were poured in the ‘40s. His cement work is also part of the F&M Bank building, the old Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, and Buchanan Hospital along Pine Street, according to Craig.
Those were the days
With the Lodi Grape Festival just about a week away, we asked people on social media to tell us their favorite memories of the annual event. Here’s a sampling:
• Marina Berry says, “My dad would take me to the pavilion and then explain to me the different grapes in the murals.”
• Sandy Nichols Preszler says she loved the shows in the (Grape Bowl) stadium. “The only famous person I remember was Lawrence Welk.”
• But then (name withheld) recalls, “My first LSD trip was at the 1998 Grape Festival.” Humm.
• Andrea Violett remembers, “My kids in the Kiddie Parade. Larry, Terry, Jerry, (and) nephews Mike and Marc. My son Terry won the Diaper Derby!”
• Larry Alberg remembers he and his brother Mike practicing the dime toss for dishes.
• Scott Sandmeier remembers, “Working to save up money to go every year (mowing lawns, collecting Coke bottles, even worked in an onion field one year as kids, anything to earn money to go.”
• Sandra Mitchell remembers spending “many days of the hot boring late summer planning and working on our float for the Kiddies Parade.”
• Winnie Lanchester also remembers being in the Kiddie Parade.
• Donna Papke-Keville recalls, “In the late ’40s riding on the queen’s float as one of her flower girls.”
• Steve Isaak remembers going on the “Octopus” ride with his dad.
• Linda Carleton Stoops remembers winning a trophy in the Kiddie Parade.
• Arlene Alberg fondly remembers marching in the Sunday parade with the Galt High School band.
• Pamela Diane Polk Hallowes says one of her favorites was sitting on the sidewalk, watching the parades.
• Rob Lawson fondly remembers selling flags and horns at the parade when he was about 12.
• Randy Bender says, “DeMolay soda pop sales. I think we sold them for 10 cents a bottle. Had stands all along the parade route.”
There were many more responses, some of which I’ll share next week.
Remembrance
Let’s pause to remember Lyle Cook, who recently passed away. He grew up in Lodi and was interested in local history. His grandfather’s blacksmith shop was located in the 100 block of East Pine Street, the old building with a rusting corrugated metal roof.
As a 10-year-old boy he would watch his grandpa shoe horses there, cussing at them the whole time.
Lyle loved sports, the outdoors, and Lodi.
He and his wife Vera celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last year. He was “93 years young” according to daughter Lori Heyd.
Steve Mann is a former newspaper publisher and lifelong Lodian whose column appears most Tuesdays in the News-Sentinel. Write to Steve at aboutlodi@gmail.com.