Buck, Merle and the Valley Music Pioneers -

Inside the Bakersfield Sound Exhibit at the Kern County Museum

This wall display welcomes visitors to the Kern County Museum’s Bakersfield Sound exhibit. Photo: Steve Newvine

A tribute to the Bakersfield Sound, that special brand of country music that emphasized electric guitars, smaller backup groups, and often with a feel of valley life, is now on permanent display at the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield.

The music popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard has roots that go deeper than the careers of these two singers. The exhibit sets out to identify those roots.

The Kern County Museum has a building dedicated solely to celebrating the history of the Bakersfield Sound.

(left) The Bakersfield Sound exhibit pays tribute to some early performers, such as Ebb Piling and the Ozark Squirrel Shooters. (right) The double-necked electric guitar created and played by performer Joe Maphis is also part of the collection at the exhibit at the Kern County Museum. Photos: Steve Newvine

The earliest performers of this music were the migrants from the Dust Bowl who came to the Central Valley during the Great Depression.  

The music these migrants brought to the Central Valley formed the basis for the Bakersfield Sound. By the 1950s, groups such as the Maddox Brothers and Rose and performers like Wynn Stewart finessed the early sound with a more defined beat and electric guitars, no doubt influenced by the emergence of rock-and-roll.  

Many of these performers have a place in the exhibit. They include James Elbert Piling, who formed a musical group and became known as Ebb Piling and His Ozark Squirrel Shooters.  

Joe Maphis, who played a two-necked electric guitar, is also featured. The exhibit guitar was often featured on the ABC-TV variety series The Jimmy Dean Show.

A display in the Bakersfield Sound exhibit at the Kern County Museum celebrating the music of Buck Owens, his lead guitarist Don Rich, and Buck’s son Buddy Alan Owens.. Photo: Steve Newvine

As the history behind the rise in popularity of the Bakersfield Sound is researched, two iconic performers embody the music honored in the exhibit.  

Buck Owens lived in Bakersfield and is regarded as bringing the brand to the national and international stages. One of Buck’s stage outfits, designed by the famous Los Angeles tailor Nudie Cohn, is encased among the displays.  

Buck, who died in 2006, ran the Crystal Palace nightclub, which is visible off Highway 99 in Bakersfield.

The nightclub seeks a buyer as the Owens family intends to exit the business. Some of the memorabilia from the singer's career currently displayed in the Crystal Palace may find its way to the Kern County Museum.

“Nothing is definite yet,” says Executive Director Mike McCoy. “But we would certainly want some of those items for our community to appreciate.”

A stage suit worn by Merle Haggard has a home within the walls of the Bakersfield Sound exhibit at the Kern County Museum. Photo: Steve Newvine

The Museum already has Merle Haggard's boyhood home, which was featured in a column here a few weeks ago (Exploring the Bakersfield Sound at Kern County Museum—Merced County Events). 

Some of the singer’s record albums and a stage costume are housed in the Bakersfield Sound exhibit.

The Museum has restored a portion of a local honky-tonk, or barroom, in the exhibit. Over the past several decades, the Bakersfield Sound has been nurtured in several local honky-tonks. 

Kern County Museum Executive Director Mike McCoy stands next to the sign for Trout’s Bar. The sign will soon be placed in front of the Bakersfield Sound exhibit. Photo: Steve Newvine

The Museum recovered the iconic sign for Trout’s Bar, a well-known Bakersfield honky-tonk. The bar was lost to fire in 2022, but the sign was saved and will be a part of the exhibit.

The sign had been missing since 2017 but was found in Sonora County thanks to a citizen tip.

That sign, no doubt, has a story to tell. And that story, along with many other stories about the musicians and the honky-tonks, is being preserved at the Museum. 

Bakersfield has always celebrated the contribution of area musicians who made, and the historians who continue to preserve, the Bakersfield Sound. -

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He will speak at the May 21 meeting of the Merced Rotary Club about his new book, Jack & Johnny, and his California series of books.

His books are available locally at the Merced County Courthouse Museum gift shop, Bookish in Modesto, and online at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

Recognition Overdue-

Medal of Honor Museum Salutes Recipients, Including Merced County Soldier

The recently opened Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas. (R) Sergeant Jon Cavaiani. Photos from MOHM.org 

The National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, recently opened on Medal of Honor Day, March 25.

The privately funded Museum honors the three-thousand, eight-hundred, fifty-six recipients of the nation’s highest military honor. All are men except for a woman honoree from the Civil War era.

Among the recipients is Brigadier General Frederick Castle, the man for whom Castle Air Force Base in Atwater was named. On Christmas Eve in 1944, General Castle remained with his attacked Army Air Force B-17, ordering his crew to parachute out, and he stayed with the aircraft as it was hit by enemy fire. He went down with his plane but spared his crew.

Also among those receiving the nation’s highest military honor is Merced County soldier Jon Cavaiani of Ballico.

Staff Sergeant Jon Cavaiani in an interview from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society website (CMOHS.org)

I first wrote about the Army Staff Sergeant in a column from 2016 (Merced County’s Medal of Honor Recipient- Jon R. Cavaiani — Merced County Events).

Part of his story is worth sharing again, picking up from that fateful battle during the Vietnam War in June 1971:

 “Intense enemy fire forced him to stay at the camp overnight to direct the other remaining troops as they held off the enemy. There were more acts of bravery as a heavy barrage attacked the next day.  

At one point, Jon got a machine gun, stood up again facing enemy fire, and fired away as his remaining troops escaped.”

Local newspaper accounts of Sergeant Jon Cavaiani’s return from a POW camp. Photo: CMOHS.org

The worst was not over for the Sergeant. He would eventually be captured by the enemy and held as a prisoner of war for two years.

Jon Cavaiani is recognized along with the other men to receive the Medal of Honor.  

According to the museum website, the museum features interactive exhibits, military equipment, and a moving display that ensures each recipient of the Medal of Honor is appropriately recognized.

That website also brings part of the Museum experience to those who may never see it in person. There’s a searchable database with information about each honoree.

Here is part of the narrative about Sargent Cavaiani picking up on his bravery on the morning of June 4, 1971:

“…the entire camp came under an intense barrage of enemy small arms, automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenade and mortar fire from a superior size enemy force. Sergeant Cavaiani acted with complete disregard for his safety as he repeatedly exposed himself to heavy enemy fire to move about the camp’s perimeter directing the platoon’s fire and rallying the platoon in a desperate fight for survival.”

Sergeant Cavaiani received his Congressional Medal of Honor from President Gerald Ford following nearly two years of captivity in Vietnam. Photo: CMOHS.org

The description of Jon’s heroics in the Museum’s database (MOHM.org) contains much more information.  

However, the most compelling comments come from the sergeant’s words in a video that is part of the database on a different website.

On the Congressional Medal of Honor website (CMOHS.org), Sergeant Cavaiani talks about how he was ordered away from the battlefield but stayed there any way to help his fellow soldiers.

“I had already been ordered to get off the hill…I thought, ‘You’ve got to be joking with me.” I was on an Army reconnaissance team before. You know, the first man on the ground, last to leave.”

Of particular note is how the Sergeant put his life on the line to recover a machine gun amidst the confusion on the battlefield and fire it toward the enemy so that his fellow soldiers could escape to safety.

From the inscription on the Museum database:

  With one last courageous exertion, Staff Sergeant Cavaiani recovered a machine gun, stood up, completely exposing himself to the heavy enemy fire directed at him, and began firing the machine gun in a sweeping motion along the two ranks of advancing enemy soldiers.

Through Cavaiani’s valiant efforts, with complete disregard for his safety, most of the remaining platoon members could escape. While inflicting severe losses on the advancing enemy force, Cavaiani was wounded numerous times.

Jon Cavaiani is among the soldiers honored at the Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas.  

His journey to the Medal of Honor is better known in Merced County. A portion of the Livingston Historical Society Museum helps tell his story.

Now, thanks to the National Medal of Honor Museum and its online database, the rest of the world can learn of his service to his fellow soldiers.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He is indebted to the Medal of Honor Museum website MOHS.org and the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum website CMOHS.org for photographs and the video interview of Sergeant Jon Cavaiani.

Steve’s latest book, Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, and all his releases are available locally at the Merced Courthouse Museum gift shop as well, or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

His California books are available at Bookish Modesto, 811 W Roseburg Avenue, in the Roseburg Square Shopping Center.  

Building Up Merced-

Several Construction Projects Underway Throughout the City

UC Merced Medical Education Building under construction. Photo: Steve Newvine.

Drive around in Merced and you may notice a building renaissance.  

Projects, including new construction, rehabilitation of existing structures, and revitalization of the City’s core, are in the pipeline, and many projects are anticipated to end this year.

UC Merced Medical Education Building

The Medical Education Building is the latest construction project on the UC Merced campus.  

When finished in the fall of 2026, the four-story building will house the school’s medical education pathway, which was established in 2023 in collaboration with two other UC schools (San Francisco and Fresno).  

Students are already in coursework that may lead to careers as doctors and other healthcare-related disciplines.

The Merced Mall expansion project has made considerable progress in recent months. Photo: Steve Newvine

Merced Mall

The community's most awaited construction project is the rejuvenation of the Merced Mall. After construction delays, a change in property owners, and the COVID-19 shutdowns from 2020, the project site is now very active with workers and equipment.

In this first phase of construction, new stores will open on the western side of the Mall footprint. Existing stores and shoppers have been waiting a long time, but that wait may soon be over.

Bob Hart Square is getting an upgrade above and below the ground. Photo: Steve Newvine

Bob Hart Square

In downtown Merced, the City is proud of the progress made on the Bob Hart Square project.  

Work on that site includes adding updated underground utility measures and creating a brighter, more open atmosphere above ground.  

This project was made possible by federal dollars matched by local resources.

Merced County Courthouse Museum

The much-talked-about rehabilitation of the Merced County Courthouse Museum building is at the center of all this activity.  

Scaffolding was put in place shortly after the beginning of the year.  

Phase one focuses on the front and sides of the structure and is expected to be complete later in the year.  

The Courthouse Museum marks the 150th anniversary of the building later this year.

The ground where the foundation for the St. Patrick’s Rectory building will be built. (Right) The front of the soon-to-be completed education building for Gateway Community Church. Photos: Steve Newvine

Saint Patrick’s Church Rectory and Gateway Community Church Education Buildings

At least two local churches have construction projects at different stages of development. Unlike government or commercial projects, churches depend on congregations to finance large construction projects.

St. Patrick’s Church on Yosemite Avenue hopes to begin construction on a rectory on the footprint of the Church property.  

A groundbreaking ceremony was celebrated in January, and some ground work has started.  

Any construction beyond that point will begin once enough money is raised.  

The rectory will complete the overall construction project's original intention, which started in the 1990s with the building of the church structure and was followed in the early 2000s by the building of a parish center for religious education and community events. 

Across the street, Gateway Community Church is nearing the end of an education building project on its property. The new building will complement the church's existing building, which includes offices and classrooms.

Meanwhile, projects continue to be worked on throughout the community, such as road repaving, sidewalks, and the ever-expanding buildout of housing ranging from apartment structures to new single-family homes.  

It’s been a busy couple of years for construction in Merced. A lot of building energy is being expended and that momentum is expected to continue for the coming years.-

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His California books are available at the Merced County Courthouse Museum gift shop and Bookish Modesto at the Roseburg Square Shopping Center, 811 W Roseburg Avenue in Modesto.

His latest book Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, and all his releases, are available there as well or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

Old and New at the World Ag Expo-

Tulare Event Now in 57th Year

This steer from the Beefmasters breed was among the animals featured at the Cattle Auction held in conjunction with the 2025 World Ag Expo in Tulare. Photo: Steve Newvine

It was all on display: a fast-talking auctioneer, anxious attendees watching from the bleachers, and bidders raising the prices with gestures as simple as a nod of their heads. It is in full view at this year’s World Ag Expo in Tulare.

Western States Beefmasters Breeding Association members staged a cattle auction in the livestock tent at the annual farm showcase event held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday in February.

While this was only the second year the Breeding Association tried an auction at the venue, the Expo is now marking fifty-seven years of serving agricultural producers and the companies that provide equipment and services to the industry.

The Western States Beefmasters Breeding Association represents cattle ranchers who raise the Beefmasters breed. Photos: Steve Newvine

As a member of the Association’s board of directors, John Evangelo believes in the brand. Even in retirement, he raises Beefmasters at his Lemoore, Kings County ranch.

“It’s a better quality and more efficient animal,” Evangelo said. “We use fewer pounds of feed to produce more pounds of beef.”

Throughout California, nearly twenty farmers raise the Beefmasters brand. They include John Rocha of Rocha Way Farms in Gustine, Merced County. Rocha says a live cattle auction like the one staged at the World Ag Expo serves a dual purpose.

“The attendees get to see something different,” he says. “But the real purpose is to promote the brand and help farmers become a little more knowledgeable.”

Vendors, including this water drilling company, showcase their products and services to the ag and food processing industries at the World Ag Expo. Photo: Steve Newvine

The World Ag Expo boasts attendance of over one hundred thousand people coming to Central California from forty-nine states and eighty-one countries.

The first Expo was held on the Tulare County Fairgrounds, but over the years, the event moved to a seven-hundred-acre parcel of land along the eastern side of California Highway 99.

The Expo is the largest agricultural showcase in the western United States. The vendors come from all walks of farming. They bring everything they need to show agricultural producers the latest in farm equipment.  

On site this year was a large water drilling rig that towered over the hundreds of outdoor displays.

Inside one of the exhibition halls before the start of the World Ag Expo. Photo: Steve Newvine

In the exhibition halls, attendees could see many things, including computer technology. That technology promised to empower today’s modern farmers with the tools they need to measure yields and achieve greater enterprise efficiency.

Another remarkable feature of the World Ag Expo was the focus on helping local non-profits in Tulare and surrounding counties. The vendors selling food were service agencies such as the United Way or local service clubs. The groups raised money to carry out their work throughout the community.

Along with the equipment displays and demonstrations, over a dozen educational seminars ran throughout the two-day event.  

All of this, and new since last year’s show, a live cattle auction. As the Western State Beefmasters board member John Evangelo looks back on the second year of his organization’s auction, he believes the event was a win for everyone.

“Beefmasters is the sixth largest breed of beef in the US, and it is huge in Mexico, “ he said.   

“The auction allowed us to get our members together along with other ranchers.”

New things like the latest equipment and technology, combined with traditional things such as a cattle auction or just plain networking with other farmers, were all part of this annual tradition in Tulare. -

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  

His California books are available at the Merced County Courthouse Museum gift shop and Bookish Modesto at the Roseburg Square Shopping Center, 811 W Roseburg Avenue in Modesto. His latest book, Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, is available there as well, or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

A Timely Reminder: Click It-

Local Agencies Show Unity in Telling the Public that Seat Belts Save Lives

Merced Police Chief Steve Stanfield, CHP captain Tony Domiguez , and County Sheriff Verne Warnke stand behind a gurney with their reminder of how dangerous a traffic collision can be if passengers are not wearing seat belts.  Photo:  CHP

Now, some sixty-five years after the motor vehicle safety belt was created by Volvo, seat belt use is still a challenge for area traffic enforcement officers.

“This is a highly preventable problem,” Communications Officer Eric Zuniga of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) says.

The CHP is so concerned about the declining use of the safety devices that they launched a public awareness campaign in late January.

Representatives from the Sheriff’s Department, Merced Police, other local police departments, the District Attorney, and even the Medical Examiner’s office were gathered in front of the Merced County Courthouse Museum in early January to be part of the campaign. The initiative includes the production of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) airing on social media right now.

Link to the Seat Belt Public Service Announcement:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/9492806734072149

CHP led the effort to create the PSA about seatbelt usage because they see the problem practically daily on the job.

Last month, when I pulled someone over to tell them they were not wearing their seatbelt,” Officer Zuniga recalls. “Their first reaction was, “Oh, I just forgot this time.”

Just about any police officer assigned to traffic duty has a similar story to tell.

Thousands of law enforcement agencies and safety advocacy groups have seat belt campaigns.  This one from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Organization carries a simple message:  Everybody, Every Seat.  Photo: NYCTaxiLimo.com

Last year in California, of the fifty-six traffic fatalities recorded by local officials, about twenty percent happened in part because either a seat belt was not used or a seat restriction device such as a child seat was not appropriately secured.

In the past, CHP has partnered with Dignity/Merced Hospital and local schools to stage “seat belt stations,” where they helped parents understand how to secure a child seat in a car properly.

The awareness campaign, which Officer Zuniga says does not have a budget, has a slogan with just one crucial message: seat belts save lives.

Officer Zuniga has seen it for himself on the highways his organization patrols.  He and his colleagues stand behind the message that not using a seat belt can be life or death.

“We’re all in the business of saving lives.”

CHP used its staff to coordinate the shooting of the safety belt public service announcement.  This scene was shot in front of the Merced Courthouse Museum.  Photo:  Steve Newvine

The invention of the modern-day seat belt by Volvo back in 1959 was given to the company’s competitors in the interest of safety.

This CHP seat belt campaign, bringing together all the police agencies throughout the County, hopes to drive home the message that safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His California books are available for purchase at the Merced County Courthouse Museum and Bookish Modesto at the Roseburg Square Shopping Center, 811 W Roseburg Avenue in Modesto,.  His latest book Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, is available there as well, or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

He recently discussed his new book on the podcast Talking About Radio with John Leslie.  That podcast dropped the weekend of January 18-19 and is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Help On The Way-

Local Agencies Pitching in to Help in Los Angeles Fires Aftermath

Within days of the news about the intensity of the Los Angeles wildfires, departments from all over the state have been sending crews to help. Photo: City of Merced Fire Department Facebook page.

When a catastrophic event such as the Los Angeles fires occurs, it’s not uncommon for agencies to send help to the scene. We expect it when it happens in our communities, so it makes sense that it would happen when tragedy strikes another part of the state.

Within days of the worst of the blazes, firefighters from Merced were sent to southern California. Merced Fire Department sent a crew of three to assist in Los Angeles.

According to the Facebook page of the City of Merced Fire Department, “Assignments included mop up, structure protection, perimeter control. They were paired up with other Bakersfield and Kern County Fire engines.”

California Highway Patrol in the Merced region has not yet been called in to assist, but communications Officer Eric Zuniga says they are ready if needed.

“Other officers closer to LA are part of the effort,” Officer Zuniga says. “We will go if needed.”

A pick-up truck hauling this trailer from Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS) has been working to help the community of Planada, but MDS is also lending its efforts to the LA wildfire recovery. Photo: Steve Newvine

In Merced, a truck and medium-sized trailer from Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS) was parked in front of Lowes early in the week of January 13.  

MDS Executive Director Kevin King says that particular vehicle was connected to the ongoing effort in Planada to help that community recover from the 2023 floods. Kevin says the organization is heading to Los Angeles to assess how they can help.

“In Pasadena, three of our congregate families have lost their homes, and their church has been damaged,” Kevin says. “So initially, it will be a time for a hug and a handshake as we determine how the organization can assist.”

MDS takes a four-pillar approach to determining whether to respond to a disaster.

The four pillars are:

• Do we have volunteers?

• Do we have the necessary accommodations to feed and house them while they are on-site?

• Is the work meaningful

• Is there sufficient funding for materials?

“It’s our entry strategy and our exit strategy,” Kevin says.

This shot from Alex Ruiz’s Facebook page shows what relief teams are facing as they help the people of Los Angeles in the aftermath of the wildfires. Photo: Alex Ruiz Facebook page.

For the firefighters from Merced and other parts of the state, their stay in Los Angeles will end relatively soon as the need for fire support diminishes.  

For non-profit relief organizations such as Mennonite Disaster Services, the departure dates are a longer way out on the horizon.  

Their work has just started. As was the case with MDS in Planada, the organization came in shortly after the disaster threat was gone, and they are still on the scene helping out two years later.

Leaving Los Angeles for these organizations will likely be well beyond that time frame.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His California books are available for purchase at the Merced County Courthouse Museum.

His latest book, Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, is available there as well or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

He will discuss the new book on the podcast Talking About Radio with John Leslie. That podcast drops the weekend of January 18-19 2025

Hall of Fame Barber-

Cel Palayo Wraps up 53 Years as the Merced Mall Barber

If there was a barber hall of fame, these three belong there: (L-R) Floyd from the Andy Griffith Show, Eddie from the Barbershop movies, and Cel Pelayo.  

When one thinks of barbers, the imagination can take us back to the days of the Andy Griffith Show and the lovable Floyd, who delivered the laughs, an occasional shave, and a haircut.

A few decades later, in the movie Barbershop, Cedric the Entertainer helped define the profession by playing Eddie alongside Ice Cube.
But neither Mayberry’s Floyd nor Barbershop’s Eddie have anything on Cel Pelayo of Merced.

Cel took over the Merced Mall Barber Shop in 1971 and ran it until the end of 2024.

200,000 Hair Cuts!

By his conservative estimates of twelve haircuts a day, six days a week, for fifty-three years, he’s given about two hundred thousand haircuts since opening the shop in the Mall.

Cel’s work journey began in the military where he served first in the Army and then on a Navy ship where he learned about hair cutting from the ship’s barber.

After discharge from the service, he got his state barbering certificate, worked with an established barber on Main Street in Merced, moved up to the Mall shop, and eventually bought out the owner.  

Among his hundreds of customers was the current Mayor of Merced, Matthew Serrato.  

“(Got my) haircut there multiple times,” the Mayor said. “Longstanding locally owned and operated businesses become a cherished part of who we are as a city.”

Cel is congratulated on his last day at the Merced Mall Barber Shop by Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto. Photo: Mayor Serratto

With two hundred thousand haircuts to his credit, Cel is bound to have a few stories. When I asked him about specific people, he turned somber as he recalled the story of a young man who worked in Mall security years after he took over the shop.

“A group brought in an exhibit of military hardware that they assured the Mall manager did not include live ammunition. The young man came upon a live grenade stored in the Mall storage room. It went off, and the man was thrown into the walkway near the shop. We called the fire department and tended to the man until they arrived.”

Cel says that the young man died from burns suffered in that explosion. Weeks later, the man’s mother came to the shop to thank Cel for his efforts to help her son until the first responders arrived. Cel remembered the mom would bring her youngster to him for a haircut years earlier.

Fortunately for Cel, his recollections from fifty-three years of cutting hair bring more smiles than sadness.

Cel stands in front of the window of his former shop at the Merced Mall alongside his daughter Annette. Photo: Steve Newvine

Actor Paul Newman was a part owner of Merced Mall and occasionally came to the Mall office across the walkway from his shop. Newman occasionally promotes movies and, one time, brought in two actors in full costumes from one of the Planet of the Apes movies.

There was a time when actors dressed like the group Kiss showed up.

“Another time, there were two actors dressed as Disney cartoon characters at the Mall. I looked up, and they were sitting in our shop.”

Cel used the remainder of his GI Bill benefits to get his degree in construction technology from Merced College, going to classes while operating the barber shop.

“I took all the courses: welding, electricity, and the electives,” Cel says. “Twelve credit hours each semester while running the shop.

He raised four daughters, taking them to their school sporting events, dance and music lessons, and just about any other activity, all while keeping his barber chairs filled with customers.

Daughter Annette says she remembers that time well because her dad worked long hours practically every day.

“Many nights, he wouldn’t get home until past ten o’clock,” she says. “The Mall would close, but if he had customers waiting, he’d be sure to take care of them even if it went past closing time.”

Those long days, those two hundred thousand haircuts, and all the memories from his five decades as the Merced Mall Barber are now over.  

Cel wants to travel all over California in an RV and visit his hometown in Mexico later in 2025.

Haircuts in 1971, when Cel started, were three dollars. His price in his closing months was fifteen dollars, but the cost didn’t matter as he closed out his time in the Mall.

“In the end, it was more like a hobby,” he adds. “I was just giving everyone a break.”

So, if there is ever a hall of fame for barbers, Cel Palayo belongs there. His shears belong in a display case.

He gave his last haircut to his grandson two days after Christmas, and he hung up the shears for good.-

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His California books are available for purchase at the Merced County Courthouse Museum. His latest book, Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, is available there as well, or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

2024- A Year Like No Other-

Looking back on the special columns from the past year

(left) The turkey farmer who helped Ronald Reagan get over his fear of flying and (right) one of several mules cared for by 3Mules.com. Photo montage: George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, Steve Newvine

For the Our Community Story column in 2024, it was a year of turkeys and mules, historic buildings and new structures, and of radio stations and newspapers.   

We started the New Year with how a turkey farmer in Turlock helped then-candidate Ronald Reagan get over his fear of flying.

Merwin Amerine’s story was about piloting his plane, which was once used to deliver turkeys, and then repurposing the aircraft to fly the Reagan all over the state during the first gubernatorial campaign.  

What followed were two terms in Sacramento and two terms in Washington DC as President of the United States. Reagan overcame his fear of flying, California got a new governor, and eventually, the nation got a new President in 1980.

I encountered a mule on one of my trips along the region's back roads. The mule and his human counterpart were part of a statewide group promoting a proposed interstate hiking trail. Their story was fascinating as the group navigated local laws restricting the use of mules on some roadways.

The mission style building that now houses KAMB Celebration Radio was first a regional station for the Merced division of the California Highway Patrol. CHP Photo: CHP. 19th Street building: Steve Newvine

The current mission-style building that serves as studio space for KAMB radio was the subject of two columns in 2024. The first, appearing in April, was about the historic building constructed as a command center for the Merced division of the California Highway Patrol.

The second column was about the radio station itself, which ran in this space in October.

On a rainy Friday afternoon in March, I noticed the construction of a new office building on 19th Street next to the Merced College Business Resource Center (renamed in 2024 to honor former Merced College President Ben Duran).

The building is nearly complete now and will be the new offices for the Merced County Employees Retirement Association.

The community lost a true citizen journalist in early 2024, and later in the year, his life and newspaper were the subject of an exhibit at the Courthouse Museum.

John Derby founded and served as the Merced County Times Publisher and several other local weekly newspapers. The Museum presentation “The Merced County Times, Sixty Years in Print” was a successful summer exhibit.

The palm and the pine remains one of the more popular topics I write about in the Our Community Story column. Photo: Steve Newvine

The palm and the pine along Highway 99 south of Madera was the subject of a July column.  

The two trees in the highway median, the palm representing southern California and the pine representing the north, will be removed in 2025.  

They will be represented along the western side of the road with thirty palms and pines as that section of the highway is expanded.

From the world of sports, the column about the day sixty years ago when the Yankees and Giants played an exhibition game in Modesto got a lot of attention.

The column highlighted the plight of the local minor league team. Sadly, 2025 will be the farewell season for the Modesto Nuts, as the team prepares to move to southern California with a new name in 2026.

Planada, One Year Later, was the title of a January column. The piece looked at how things have changed, for better and worse, since the January 2023 floods. Photo: Steve Newvine

We followed up on the Planada community one year after the January 2023 floods devastated the area.  

Millions of government dollars have been poured into the community. Some of those dollars have improved life for residents.

That follow-up column has been nominated for an award from the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.  

You will learn about it first here in the Our Community Story column if it wins. -

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book, Jack & Johnny, is now available at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop along with his California series (California Back Roads, Can Do Californians, and Beaten Paths and Back Roads). His books are also available online at: Jack & Johnny (lulu.com) and Bookish Modesto in the Roseburg Square Shopping Center in Modesto.

Steve will discuss the book in a January 2025 broadcast of Steve Beverly’s Television Classics. Follow him at Can Do Californians on Facebook for more information.

If your community group would like Steve to present a program about his latest books, contact him at SteveNewvine@sbcglobal.net

Jumpstarting the Holiday Season-

Merced Area Activities Abound

The Merced Baroque Sinfonia performs at the Christmas Open House at the Merced Courthouse Museum. Photo: Steve Newvine

There’s a special feeling in the air when the Christmas holiday season is upon us, if we are willing to let it in and take over our hearts.

There are the sounds of children’s choirs, church bell concerts, classical music and even a band of ukulele players.

Add to all that, the beauty of nearly ninety Christmas trees, each representing a non-profit organization or local business.  

All of it makes for a great kickoff to the holiday season.

For the past forty years, the Merced County Courthouse Museum has invited the community in to jumpstart the holiday weeks with an open house and music concert. 

Members of the Bear Creek Ukulele Society perform at the Merced County Courthouse Museum Christmas Open House. Photo: Steve Newvine

This year, five local groups presented mini-concerts throughout the afternoon of the Sunday after Thanksgiving: the Central Presbyterian Church Handbell Choir, Our Lady of Mercy Christmas Choir, Merced Baroque Sinfonia, St. Paul School Choir, and Bear Creek Ukulele Society.

 "There was such a range of music from classical to ukulele,” said Museum Director Sarah Lim. “With the children in between, there was music for everyone.”

But the other stars of this long-running event were the decorated Christmas trees that were all over the three stories of Museum display space.  

Just four of the nearly ninety Christmas trees are on display now through the holiday season at the Merced County Courthouse Museum. Photo montage: Steve Newvine

Some were mixed in with the current exhibit (Painting Merced County). Trees were in the hallways (including a tabletop tree honoring the Merced County Times newspaper).  

Tree lights filled the rooms holding the permanent exhibits. There were even trees near the entrances of the restrooms.

Years ago, the Museum asked community groups to consider setting up trees for the annual open house.  

With a humble start of just over a dozen, this year’s display boasts nearly ninety. Some might argue there’s room for more.

My personal favorite tree among the dozens on display at the Merced County Courthouse Museum is this one honoring the King of Rock and Roll: Elvis Presley. Photo: Steve Newvine

For me, the afternoon at the Museum brought back some pleasant memories of the child-rearing years. Holiday school concerts and community celebrations were part of the small-town experience our children could enjoy.

Being among the festive surroundings at the Courthouse Museum, listening to the music, and enjoying a home-baked cookie or two helped churn up those pleasant memories.

So, the holiday season is here, and it is easy to take it all in thanks to the jumpstart from our community treasure, the Courthouse Museum. –

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book, Jack & Johnny, is available online at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com). It can also be purchased from Bookish Modesto in the Roseburg Square Shopping Center in Modesto.

Steve’s California book series is available at the Merced County Courthouse Museum Gift Shop.

For more information on the Merced County Courthouse Museum, MercedMuseum.org 

A New Book: Jack & Johnny-

A preview of the book detailing the friendship between Jack Benny and Johnny Carson

Jack & Johnny- Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television. Available at Lulu.com

My new book is Jack & Johnny- Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television. It’s a departure from my California series and other books that have been written over the past fifteen years.

As a fan of both comedians, I often felt other writers rarely expanded upon the story of their twenty-year friendship. I fill that void in a one-hundred, ninety-page exploration of their mentor/mentee relationship.

This book is not a biography of either man but rather a study into the multiple levels of friendship that the pair experienced from the mid-1950s through Benny’s death in 1974.  

Jack Benny and Johnny Carson exchanged appearances on each other’s television shows from 1955 to Benny’s death in 1974. Photo: NBC

Here’s a preview that begins in October 1962, one week after Carson became host of the Tonight Show late evening broadcast on the NBC network. His guest on that particular evening was his comedy idol Jack Benny:

One week after the debut of The Tonight Show, Johnny would welcome his comedy mentor to the broadcast.

Other guests that night were Jack’s daughter Joan, actor Sebastian Cabot and Mitch Miller the host of Sing Along with Mitch.

There’s no video from that episode. In keeping with the standard operating procedure at the time, NBC would erase episodes of most daily shows so that the expensive videotape could be used again. This practice went on until the early seventies when Carson negotiated ownership of the show. What remains of the first decade of Carson programs are private recordings generally made for guests of a particular program.

It’s likely the interview began with platitudes from Johnny to Jack, thanking him for his many years of entertainment. Jack would have likely thanked his young mentee, and after a self-depreciating remark or two, would go on to reaffirm what he said about Johnny on that 1955 appearance of the young fledging star. Something along the lines of, “You know Johnny, I said it before and I’ll say it again. You have everything it takes to be a big star.”

We’ll never know exactly what was said, unless an audio recording or even a brief video clip emerges from someone’s attic.

Jack Benny made a name for himself as a radio star from the 1930 through the mid 1950s. As a young man growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, Johnny Carson would listen to the Benny radio program from his parents’ living room in Nebraska. Photos: International Jack Benny Fan Club, WOWT TV.  

What is known about that night centers on the bond between Jack and Johnny. The friendship that started with Carson appearing on Benny’s show back in the mid-1950s was connected once again by that appearance.  

Jack would reciprocate the guest shot by inviting Johnny on his CBS series one year later. That episode aired on October 22, 1963.  

   It’s clear in the Benny episode that Johnny was now firmly in place as star of the Tonight Show. The comedy sketch centered on the concept that a host of a nightly talk show needed to be versatile. The Benny writers created a comedy bit designed to show that a successful talk show host had to know a little bit about many aspects in the entertainment business. The sketch featured Johnny playing the drums, performing card tricks, and doing a song and dance routine.

In contrast to Johnny’s appearance with Jack on the 1955 Benny program where he offered polite jabs at Jack’s persona, here Johnny is showing Jack and the audience that he could do just about anything. -

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

Jack & Johnny is available online at: Jack & Johnny (lulu.com) It can also be purchased from Bookish Modesto in the Roseburg Square Shopping Center in Modesto..

Steve’s California book series is available at the Merced County Courthouse Museum Gift Shop.

A Soldier’s Service-

Photograph Helps Tell a Story of World War II

Private First Class Charlie Dean in a photo believed to be from a liberated Italy at the end of World War II. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Here’s a picture of Private First Class Charles Woodrow Dean, my great uncle who served in World War II.  

We don’t know much about Charlie’s military service. He died in 1989.

His obituary only mentions his service at the end of a paragraph about where he went to school before the war.  

Like many who served in World War II, Charlie rarely mentioned his military service. He was like so many of the so-called greatest generation of soldiers who returned from the war, went back to work, and helped build our country up in the fifties, sixties, and seventies.

Charlie (left) with his younger brother Chet Dean. Both men went off to war. Chet died in a training accident a day after D-Day, June 8, 1944. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

There are many reasons why Charlie’s story is worth the time and space to mention here. One of those reasons is that he lost his younger brother to the war.  

Chester Dean was killed in a training accident the day after D-Day in Wales. The two brothers were just a year apart in age.  

They were close. They likely saw their military service as something expected from men of that age during our nation’s history.

Charlie would serve in the European theater in Italy. He’s believed to be among the troops who helped liberate the country.  

Chet was part of a special unit developing a high powered lighting technology. His work was a government secret and we only found out about it in the years following the war.

He was promoted to Corporal and stayed with his unit (748th Tank Battalion, Medium) as they moved from training at Camp Bouse in Arizona to South Wales. 

Charlie fought the good fight and was there to help the citizens displaced by war to return to their homes.

We don’t have much to go on about his service other than this picture a family member had among many photos from Charlie’s generation.

We see him holding a little girl in his arms. She’s holding onto his neck. An older boy, likely the little girl’s brother, is seen looking on. 

We know nothing more than what we guess is happening in the photo. Everyone is smiling, so we surmise Charlie was part of the unit that helped restore normalcy to what had to have been a trying situation.

Charlie in 1970 with (L to R) his sister Mary, wife Rose, and sister Myrtle. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Chet did not come home, but Charlie did and lived with his wife, Rose, and a daughter. Rose died in the 1970s, and Charlie never remarried. He had two grandsons.

He never talked about his time in the war, and I know I never asked him about it. Things like military service never surfaced in the years I knew Charlie.

He was well-liked by his family. My dad looked up to him.  

Charlie grew up in the Great Depression.

They were a family with a share of pain and misery, some of it caused by the Depression. Being poor helps speed up one’s ambition.  

We honor him and all the soldiers from all the wars.

We remember their sacrifice and their likely struggles to return to life in an era before anyone ever heard the term post-traumatic stress.

Work was to be done, families to bring up, and lives to live.

The grave markers for Charlie and Chet Dean in the Port Leyden, NY Cemetery. Photos: Newvine Personal Collection

Some came back. Some did not. Some chose never to talk about it. Most of us never asked.

As we approach Veterans Day, we’ll remember them. When I think about my life growing up in a small town, I think about the smiles that Charlie could pull out of many of those around him. 

 I used to think his sisters took it easy on him because he was the only living brother after the oldest brother passed in the 1950s.

But now I’m coming around to see a man who did what was asked of his country and who was now going to make sure his family was in a good place.

We only have to return to that picture of Charlie holding that little girl in Italy. She looked up to him, and so should the rest of us.-

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Jack and Johnny- Benny, Carson and a friendship made for Television is now available at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

His California books are available at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop and Bookish Modesto in the Roseburg Square Shopping Center.

32,000 Cookies for Sale –

Girl Scouts Ready for Annual Cookie Sales

Pallets loaded with over twenty-six hundred cases of Girl Scout cookies were delivered on a weekday morning in late February to a parking lot behind Raley’s Plaza. Leaders filled their vehicles to distribute to the seventeen troops in Merced County for this year’s cookie sale. Photo: Steve Newvine

It was a great philosopher, my wife, who once said, “God made cookies so that kids would drink their milk.” She was right.

It is cookie time in the area this month as Girl Scouts and their leaders deliver pre-sale orders and conduct cash sales in front of selected locations.

To find where the nearest cookie sale is taking place, all it takes is a scan of a QR code and the entry of a zip code.

At the vehicles are loaded with all varieties of cookies, anyone interested can scan the Girl Scout Cookie Finder QR code. At the Girl Scout Cookie website, the entry of a zip code can lead to information on finding the hours and location of the nearest sale. You can find out right how where the cookies are being sold at this link: How to Buy Cookies | Girl Scouts

On a recent weekday morning, Merced County Girl Scout leaders took delivery of hundreds of cases filled with all varieties of the iconic treats.

They were all there: Thin Mints, Adventurefuls, Lemonades, Trefoils, and many others. One savvy Scout leader did some quick calculations on her phone calculator app and put the actual number of cookies coming into the pick-up location at just under 32,000.

Laurie Foster is the senior coordinator for the sales. She says this is the event that the Scouts and the community look forward to every year.

“We have one-hundred, seventy-eight girls engaged in Scouting in Merced County, and this is one activity they look forward to every year.”

Girl Scout cookies are an icon of the organization. The annual sales activity raises money for individual troops, and provides soft-skill training such as dealing with people and business ethics. Photo: Steve Newvine

In Merced County, there are seventeen Girl Scout troops. Each troop works on projects they choose to pursue.

Cookie sale profits will help fund projects that are determined by the girls in each individual troop.

“They can choose to put the cookie sale profits into a variety of initiatives,” says scout leader Angie Schone. “We have a flora and fauna project, a vernal pools study at UC Merced, an event called World Thinking Day in downtown Merced, and we even bought masks for first responders.”

Angie pointed to a local project funded with help from cookie sales in Atwater.

“The Girl Scouts from Troop 67 bought part of a new fence at the Bloss Museum using their profits from cookie sales.”

This vehicle back space is filled with all varieties of Girl Scout cookies available for sale this spring throughout Merced County. Photo: Steve Newvine

There are forty-two adult leaders helping the Girl Scouts in Merced County.

They do a little bit of everything from organizing group projects to picking up boxes of cookies in the family SUV. One mom seemed pretty proud after stowing away box after box of Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel deLites, and even a gluten-free selection among other varieties.

“I didn’t realize I had that much space in there,” she said.

TOP 5 GIRL SCOUT COOKIES IN MERCED COUNTY (based on orders by the local troops)

• Thin Mints
• Caramel deLites
• Peanut Butter
• Patties
• Lemonades Adventurefuls

As with so many things in life, it is not just about the cookies. The Scout website states that cookie sales teach goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics.

It’s good for the customer as well. Buying Girl Scout cookies helps these young entrepreneurs hone in on each of the goals stated on the website.

Plus, they taste good and they even may get adults to drink their milk.

Steve Newvine is the father of two daughters who sold their share of Girl Scout cookies when they were growing up.

He is working on a new book due out this spring.

His book Can-Do Californians is available at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop or online at Lulu.com.

A Big Car for a Growing Family-

That’s my older brother and me on top of a snowbank during a particularly heavy snow-filled winter in upstate New York. The family car, a Pontiac Star Chief, is parked below us. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Remembering the family Pontiac

When I learned of the passing of former Merced Sun-Star editor Mike Tharp recently, I recalled the debt of gratitude I owe him.

Back in the early years of the 2000s, before MercedCountyEvents.com came along to provide me with a writing home, I would frequently write commentary pieces for the Sun-Star.

Mike was my point of contact. He would be the one to green-light my idea for an opinion piece for the paper.

Over the years, a commentary written by me on such topics as the Jeopardy game where contestants played against Watson the computer, the ending of NASA’s space shuttle program, and the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Jack Benny radio program were published in the paper.

Mike had only one note for me. “Are there any photographs of that family car?” he asked.

At the time I had no pictures of that automobile.

In later years, I found two in my dad’s family photo albums.

So, in tribute to Mike Tharp, here’s an edited version of that first essay from my Sun Star collection from 2009, now with pictures:

The federal government’s plan to restructure General Motors is designed to improve the finances for the ailing automaker.

The plan also calls for the end of production for the Pontiac line. While the car guys (and women) are mourning the end of Pontiac, I’ll miss that familiar brand for reasons that have little to do with muscle cars such as the Firebird or the GTO.

For my family growing up in Port Leyden, New York during the 1960s and 70s, Pontiac was the family car. In the mid-sixties, my dad bought a used 1964 Pontiac Star Chief. From that moment on, Pontiacs were a part of our household.

I remember that Star Chief really well. The color was mauve with a white top. Headlights were two to a side and stacked vertically. It had four doors and lots of legroom no matter where you sat. It also had, arguably, the largest trunk in the history of auto manufacturing.

The car was big, reliable, powerful, and apparently cheap to run. To be fair, no one thought much about the price of gas in the early days that preceded the Middle East oil embargo of the early 1970s.

My sister and dad were washing the Star Chief during one of my family’s summer camping trips in northern New York. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

I have no idea how big the engine was, but it was powerful. I remember the Star Chief was able to tow our family camper trailer during our summer outings to the Adirondacks.

The large trunk came in handy as our family of five would fill it with suitcases, beach gear, cooking supplies, and anything that wasn’t already inside the camper for each outing.

In a few years, Dad would replace the Star Chief with another Pontiac. The latest used Pontiac was a maroon Catalina that did the family proud until 1972.

That year, Dad purchased a brand-new car. You guessed it. It was a Pontiac.

As near as I can tell, no color photographs of a mauve Star Chief exist, but this flattering photo of a teal Star Chief gives some idea of the majestic style of the car. Photo: Matti Blume, Wikipedia

Pontiac was the only car in our driveway when we were a one-car family. After my brother and I got our driver’s licenses, we became a two-Pontiac family.

As a young family man looking to replace my Toyota pick-up truck, I tried to buy a Pontiac in the 1980s.

I went to the Pontiac dealership, but once the salesman determined what my price range was, he directed me to a used Plymouth Reliant.

I marked the passing of the Pontiac line with heartfelt memories.

The car guys may miss their GTOs, Firebirds, and Gran Ams. But I still miss my Dad’s Star Chief, and all the memories created with it growing up.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

A version of this essay was included in his book Microphones, Moon Rocks & Memories published in 2012 and still available at Lulu.com

Planada Gets Help-

Post Flooding Aid Assisting Residents

Residents in Planada are now putting water damaged furniture and building materials on the curb for pick up by County crews taking it all to a landfill. Photo: Steve Newvine

Fernando Rava looks at the pile of water-damaged boards and ruined furniture in front of his home in Planada. Many of the streets here are lined with the debris waiting to be taken to a landfill.

Fernando is thankful.

"We've been working together, my family and neighbors, and putting it all back together."

Fernando's family made Planada their home many years ago. So when the devastating January flood waters ravaged their community, there was no second thought about moving away and starting over.

“My brother and my father live right here on the same street,” he said. “We all did what we had to do to bring everything back.”

Flood waters from the mid-January rains covered the entire city of four thousand. Everyone was evacuated and many have still not been able to live in their homes.

Pallets of supplies are on-site at the Planada Community Center to serve homeowners trying to clean up and rebuild the damaged sections of their homes. Photo: Steve Newvine

The City’s Community Center is a hub for a variety of services to help residents.

Salvation Army has a Food Distribution truck there.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has come in with construction help for homeowners.

A portable washer and dryer truck is set up in the parking lot. Sixteen machines are running practically all day long.

Pallets of water, clean-up chemicals, and other supplies are available from this location.

Volunteers pass out containers of hot meals for citizens working on getting their homes back in living condition. Photo: Steve Newvine

Fernando pointed out how high the water rose at the worst point during that week of January 16.

At his home, the water was at least a foot deep inside the house.

There’s a telltale sign of just how high the water got: water stains on the front of houses.

Inside a trailer with washers and dryers that allow residents to complete loads of laundry in the City of Planada. Photo: Steve Newvine

“We’ve gotten some prices on just replacing our kitchen cabinets and countertop,” Fernando said. “We’re looking at nine-thousand dollars, and that’s just for the basic set up.”

Some residents have flood insurance, but others like Fernando are relying on the help of the agencies that have come to town with assistance.

But he has family and friends who can help him and who he can assist as well. For that, he is grateful.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (top) and the Salvation Army (bottom) have a big presence in the community of Planada. Other organizations include Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), Small Business Administration, area churches, and local government among many others. Photos: Steve Newvine

Fernando has been taken back by the outpouring of resources coming to the aid of Planada and other flooded regions of the state.

“People are not forgetting Planada,” he said. He feels it has been a true community effort, not only in Merced County but throughout the state and the federal government.

Fernando Nava looks out to a field some 500 feet away from his home. Off in the distance is a trash can that was carried away by flood waters. Photo: Steve Newvine

Businesses are reopening and there’s a sound of construction work permeating the community as little by little, life is returning to normal.

There’s a sign on the local post office saying it is closed for safety reasons until further notice.

When it reopens, it will be another indicator that Planada is coming back from those very dark days in January. For Fernando and many others, there is light at the end of those darker days.

-Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He is thankful for members of the Merced AARP group who helped support a fundraising effort for flood relief following his recent talk to their club in late January.

His books Can-Do Californians and California Back Roads are available for purchase at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop and online at Lulu.com

Filling a Sandbag of Hope-

Merced Community Steps Up to Help Flooded Families

This photo provided by the County of Merced, shows how flood waters covered lower land near Ashby Road off California Highway 99. Photo: County of Merced Facebook page.

Merced Mayor Matthew Serrato had one hope as the New Year was about to begin.

His wish: “I just want to see work get done.”

If the recent storms that hit Merced and surrounding areas are any indication, it would appear the Mayor got his wish.

The community went through a lot as a result of the powerful rains and winds from early January.

The week of January 9 will stand out as a week when the brutality of the weather was overpowered only by the capacity of first responders and volunteers to step up to help their neighbors.

The waters of Bear Creek just barely below the bottom of the McKee road bridge in Merced. Photo: Nathan Quevedo.

On Monday January 9, residents near Bear Creek were evacuated to shelters set up at the Merced County Fairgrounds.

A day later, the entire community of Planada was evacuated.

From the very beginning, the community stepped in to help.

Volunteers staffed the Love INC portable shower ministry that was moved to the County Fairgrounds where a shelter for evacuated residents was set up. In Atwater, volunteers moved quickly to fill sandbags for residents needing them. Photo: Love INC and City of Atwater Facebook pages.

Love INC brought their portable shower ministry to the Fairgrounds. Ordinarily, the showers are offered at an area shelter. This time around, the showers were available to anyone, including the families that were evacuated.

In Atwater, the City’s Facebook page describes the outpouring of help from neighbors simply as “community helping one another”. The volunteers filled sand bags and helped out wherever they were needed.

Even students at Our Lady of Mercy School got into the spirit of helping. They helped fill sandbags for distribution to any homeowner needed them.

The County of Merced provided some of the amazing aerial photographs seen here. The County set up a special storm information link on the County website and asked residents to donate supplies to three flood shelters. Within days, the shelters were stocked. Photo: Merced County Facebook page.

The strongest show of support and assistance from the community of Merced was seen in Planada.

The entire city, some four-thousand residents, was evacuated as rain and wind devastated everything within the confines of city limits.

People from all over the Merced area came in once the first wave of danger had eased off.

The floors of the Planada Community Church were covered with rain water.

Sacred Heart Church in the city is collecting donations of blankets and other needed supplies, working in conjunction with Catholic Charities of Merced County.

The inside of the Planada Community Church when helpers arrived later in the week of January 9. Photo: Annette Macias.

Stores were damaged.

Homes are now mucked up with water and mud.

But the people came, rolled up their sleeves, and got down to work.

On Thursday, the evacuation order was lifted. The County thanked the community and reported that all shelters are fully stocked.

The County asked residents to consider monetary donations and to make these donations through the United Way of Merced.

It’s been a trying January for Merced County and much of the state of California.

The silver lining in these storm clouds has been the willingness of so many people to donate money, goods, and time.

Mayor Seratto got his wish for the New Year. Work is getting done.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced. 

The County of Merced has a website banner offering flood resources and information:  2023 Flood Resources and Information | Merced County, CA - Official Website (countyofmerced.com)

To donate to local flood relief:  United Way of Merced County (unitedwaymerced.org)

Steve’s book Can-Do Californians is available at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop or online at Lulu.com

Crop Values Up, Inflation Up

Values on the Rise in the County’s Ag Report

Merced County’s farm products were valued at $3.7 billion according to the 2021 Agriculture Commissioner’s Annual Report released at the end of 2022. Photo: Steve Newvine

This mural at the Merced County Fairgrounds reminds visitors how important local growers are to agriculture.

Farming continues to form the foundation of economic life in the community. The latest report from the County Ag Commissioner affirms that and offers a ray of hope for ag producers.

In late 2022, the County Board of Supervisors received the annual Agriculture Report from Agriculture Commissioner David A. Robinson.

The good news within the report comes on page four where the value of commodities is listed at $3,711,557,000.

That’s up from $3,401,610,000 in the 2020 report. The increase is approximately nine percent.

The annual inflation rate is seven-point-five percent. So while ag grew at a higher pace than inflation, many growers could live without the rising costs associated with farming.

For a column on the nut crop earlier this year, Merced County Farm Bureau President Joe Sansoni was not encouraged by the trend of rising costs for the things he and his members need to run a successful enterprise.

“For example, repair parts for equipment have doubled and in some cases tripled in cost, and often are back ordered or simply unavailable,” Joe said. “This goes for every single category including labor.”

Joe elaborated on the rising cost of fuel to run his farm equipment.

“A harvesting operation that had a $6,000/month fuel bill in 2020 would've had a $10-11,000/month bill during the 2022 season.”

Joe said situations like this will force some growers to take drastic steps.

“If costs don't begin to decrease along with much-needed increases in crop prices, many farmers will be forced out of business very soon.”

Pages from the 2021 Ag Report for Merced County. Photo montage: Steve Newvine

The report is done in compliance with the state Food and Ag Code. It summarizes the gross value of the County’s agricultural commodities, along with updates to the amount of acreage and production in the farming sector.

The numbers in the report represent only gross returns to the producer. It does not take into account the costs of production, marketing, or transportation.

MERCED COUNTY TOP FIVE COMMODITIES (2021 Ag Commissioner’s report released in late 2022)

• Milk $1,093,632,000 31.8%
• Almonds $485,858,000 14.1%
• Sweet Potatoes $317,789,000 9.2%
• Chickens $276,215,000 8%
• Cattle & Calves $278,246,000 7.5%

A breakdown of each category is available on the County website 906 (countyofmerced.com) . There are graphs and more detailed explanations included in the report.

The report also contains summaries on Agriculture Commission programs such as pest detection, weights and measures, and nursery inspection. In the report’s summary of all the countries that buy farm products from Merced County, there are twenty countries listed.

The top three importers are India, Spain, and Japan.

One thing for certain that will change when the next annual report comes out will be the name of the person running the department.

The County’s Agriculture Commissioner David A. Robinson retired at the end of 2022. In December, the Board of Supervisors named Sean S. Runyon as the new Commissioner

The previous year’s report had the shadow of COVID as farmers dealt with all the many issues the pandemic brought about.

The new report has the shadow of inflation. Rising costs continue to worry growers and their strategic partners.

The mural at the fairgrounds depicts a proud lifestyle in farming. While that may never go away, it continues to face challenges in 2023 for growers.

--

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

Two of his books, California Back Roads and Can Do Californians are available for purchase at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop.

His other titles are available at Lulu.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.com

Quiz Kings-

Seeing the Games and Meeting the Hosts of a Generation

Tom Kennedy was among several retired game show hosts who met with fans at the Game Show Congress in 2007 and 2009. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection.

Unless you grew up in Hollywood or New York City, you may have thought about one day meeting a movie or television star.

I certainly did, and while it took a few decades to realize that aspiration, I look back on that time with a smile.

As a preschool aged kid, I would play with building blocks. I did not make buildings with these wooden blocks; I made game show sets.

Some of the home versions of TV game shows

Throughout elementary school, I would occasionally walk home for lunch. That was allowed back in those days when many moms stayed home.

Mom would have a lunch ready for me, and I was permitted to watch whatever game show happened to be on our family black and white set.

Concentration was my favorite, but occasionally, I might see something new debut during my late morning lunch break.

The very first Jeopardy! with host Art Fleming debuted on March 30, 1964, and I saw it right there in my family living room.

Fast forward some forty-plus years where my wife and I are in the audience of Jeopardy! with host Alex Trebek. For a kid who built game show sets with his toy blocks, this was real progress.

Keeping connected to the genre over the decades was made easy with a collection of home versions of popular game shows.

I have about thirty of these games. I have not played with them in years, but they have been with me throughout my adult life.

The late Florence Henderson, who played the Mrs. Brady on the Brady Bunch, was one of several celebrities who met fans at the Game Show Congress. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

In 2007, I attended a conference for game show fans in Hollywood. As I wrote in 9 From 99, Experiences in California’s Central Valley, the Game Show Congress was honoring host icon Wink Martindale and the man who created many of the favorite game shows from the fifties through the eighties: Bob Stewart.

The ceremonies were sprinkled with a wide array of television stars that appeared as celebrity players on many of Bob Stewart’s shows.

Among the stars we met that day were Betty White, Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch), Teresa Ganzel (Tea Time Lady on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show), and Barbara Feldon (Get Smart!).

The stars loved the attention by attendees to the luncheon honoring Bob Stewart and Wink Martindale.

They posed with anyone asking for a photo, were generous with their insight into their careers, and provided all of us with positive experiences as fans of game shows.

Teresa Ganzel may be best known as playing the last Tea Time Movie Lady in the recurring sketch on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She also appeared as a celebrity player on a number of game shows in the 80s and 90s. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

As great as meeting these celebrities was, it was exceeded by the opportunity to talk and take pictures of some of the game show hosts and announcers from the past several decades.

I have photos with me standing next to current Jeopardy announcer Johnny Gilbert, the late Saturday Night Live announcer Don Pardo, the late host Tom Kennedy from You Don’t Say!, and the former Price is Right announcer Rich Fields.

The afternoon remains a highlight of my life as a game show fan. It was repeated two years later in what would become the final Game Show Congress.

That year, the host of Jackpot! Geoff Edwards and the late Allen Ludden were honored.

Moving to California in the early 2000s gave me the opportunity to see and do things I could only dream about growing up in upstate New York.

Meeting the stars of the daytime game shows that entertained me as a child has been a highlight of living here in California.

Seeing that these stars were decent people who appreciated their fans was the icing on the cake.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Dreaming Big is available at Lulu.com.

Two of his books Can Do Californians and California Back Roads, are available for purchase from the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop.

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Telling Stories-

First-Ever Author Fair Brings Writers and Readers Together

Writers and readers got together at the downtown Merced Library in early November for the first-ever Local Author Fair. Photo: Steve Newvine

By all accounts, the first-ever Local Authors Fair held at the downtown Merced Library branch was a success.

The printed program from the event listed twenty-seven authors and a conservative guess would put the number of attendees at around one hundred through the three hours it ran.

I was among those local authors who met readers.

It was nice to listen to other writers talk about their experiences and it was especially gratifying to meet people who have already experienced one of my books.

My table at the Local Author Fair included several of my books and a display of book covers.

The event included three workshops for people to attend. One of the workshops offered insight on editing writing projects.

Thanks to author Stephen Cassidy, I picked up a few pointers. He spoke about the use of his informal group of family members and friends who look at his work as it is being written.

He asks this group for their unvarnished feedback. He takes some of the advice offered and rejects some that his instincts tell him he may not need.

It’s been a successful formula for him.

Other workshops included one on writing children’s books and one on translating research into comics.

Neither subject captured my curiosity, but others interested in the subjects did attend while I remained at my station.

From my small table flanked with a decade worth of writing projects, I met the most important people who took part in the event: the readers.

Without readers, one might ask why any author should stay with the process of writing books.

Readers can find things in books that an author never anticipated. Over the past ten years, I’ve learned a great deal from my readers.

I try to include my email address in my books and encourage readers to let me know what they thought of the work. In the past two years,

I added a special Facebook page to showcase books and columns from MercedCountyEvents.com . I encourage my readers to interact with me on that page.

Early in my book-writing journey, a reader told me how much she appreciated a section of one of my upstate New York books where I mentioned who was the most influential teacher I had in high school.

This reader told me that particular teacher was related to her spouse who was deeply moved to know that his relative made such an impact on me. For the record, that teacher taught me bookkeeping and typing.

I cited her as most influential because both courses taught specific life skills that I continue to use.

She mastered the subjects.

California Back Roads, Stories from the Land of the Palm and the Pine remains the most requested book from readers I meet at events such as the Author Fair held at Merced Library.

A reader from the Author Fair gave me some insight as to why copies of California Back Roads were outselling Can-Do Californians.

“Back roads,” he said. “Everyone likes to take the back road to a common location, or at least that’s what they say they like. Life goes by too fast. Taking the back road helps slow down the pace.”

A few years ago, a reader told me my first fiction book brought a tear to his eye.

That was not my intention, but it made us feel good to know that I touched on a special moment for that person.

It was great to meet other writers, and talk to people who read my and other author’s books. I take each encounter seriously. I appreciate their interest in my work.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

Copies of Can Do Californians and California Back Roads are now available for purchase at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop.

His book Soft Skills for Hard Times is now available for loan at the Merced Library. His current book is Dreaming Big and is available at Lulu.com

Nuts Have a Fighting Chance in 2022-

Inflation and water challenge growers in the Valley

An almond grower employs a water drilling company to go lower to find enough water to finish the 2022 season. Photo: Steve Newvine

Merced County residents recently celebrated nut growers with a festival at the fairgrounds.

But with drought and inflation menacing growers this summer, some wonder whether there was any reason to celebrate.

This has been one of the most challenging growing seasons for nut growers throughout the Central Valley.

“This is a difficult year for almond growers and the whole industry”, a spokesman for the Almond Board of California said. “Costs are up and prices have been down, while shipping issues and problems throughout the supply chain have added to the complexities of being a farmer.”

The challenge is so real, the US Department of Agriculture estimates this year’s almond crop will be down eleven percent from last year.

That estimate is seven percent down from their forecast at the beginning of this year’s growing season in May.

Inflation is one of the three top challenges for growers in the Central Valley in 2022.

Fuel costs are considered by many to be a stand-alone issue as it permeates a grower’s entire operation.

“Almond growers are putting what resources they can afford this year into producing their crop, and their efforts show,” the Almond Board spokesman said.

The President of the Merced County Farm Bureau agrees. Joe Sansoni says inflation has really hit all growers hard. “For example, repair parts for equipment have doubled and in some cases tripled in cost, and often are backordered or simply unavailable,” Joe said. “This goes for every single category including labor.”

In the spring when almond trees blossom, there is optimism for a good harvest, Photo: Steve Newvine

A lot of growers switched to growing almonds in recent years due to the higher return of investment the crop provided in the 2010s.

Those margins have taken a hit in recent years, but most growers expected some retraction as more crops were being produced. Availability of water also concerned growers in 2022.

According to the Farm Bureau’s Joe Sansoni, the challenges varied depending on where a grower is located and whether or not they had access to wells and/or surface water (supplied by an irrigation district).

“Growers with both wells and surface water in most parts of Merced County had enough water to grow a full crop,” Joe said. “Some growers were forced to dry up and remove lower yielding fields to divert the water they had to younger, more productive blocks, or in some cases to other higher-paying crops.”

Nuts provide an excellent opportunity for the value-add that many food manufacturers bring to the harvested crop. These are candied almonds that sold recently at the Merced County Nut Festival. Photo: Steve Newvine

In Merced, the second Nut Festival was held on October 22 at the Merced County Fairgrounds. This was the second attempt to celebrate the contributions of nut growers.

There was a two-year pause in the festival due to COVID restrictions. Organizers were happy with the broader expansion of the attendees in 2022. The second festival saw a near doubling of attendance.

More organizations sponsored the event than before, and a good foundation was built for future nut festivals.

“There will be a third annual event,” said organizer Necola Adams. “It is already being planned.” Those plans include opening up more vendor space and generating regional interest in the local event. “This year around four-thousand people attended,” said Necola. “We are hoping to draw ten-thousand people to attend next year.”

Attendees at the 2022 Merced County Nut Festival found all kinds of pistachios, walnuts, and almonds available with such value-added features as specialized flavoring. Plans are already underway to produce the 2023 event. Photo: Steve Newvine

Central Valley agriculture can still hold on to the promise that almonds, walnuts, and pistachios will continue to be major crops in the near future.

Two things are certain when it comes to the local nut harvest. One is that a festival such as the one held in Merced will continue to celebrate the successes of the crop that generates an estimated half billion dollars according to the Merced County Agriculture Commissioner’s 2021 report.

The other certainty is that growers will continue to work through the challenges they faced in 2022 with optimism for next season.

The Almond Board of California is optimistic for Central Valley growers saying than in spite of the challenges, this year’s crop in California will still be among the largest on record. The spokesman for Board says, “It reflects the efforts of growers to meet the high global demand for a steady supply of high quality California almonds”.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Dreaming Big is available at Lulu.com.

Two of his books are now available at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop.

Steve will join approximately twenty other local authors at the first-ever Author Fair at the Merced County Library Downtown Merced branch on November 4 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

The Administrative Committee for Pistachios and California Walnut Board were contacted to participate in this column but did not respond to our inquiries.

A Community Mourns-

Kidnapping/ Murder Story Impacts All of Us

Photo: GoFundMe.com

We are a little off our game this week. We hope you understand. Maybe we are not in the mood for a light-hearted feature, or a story about one of our communities celebrating a special event.

We are a community in mourning.

We lost four souls on October 3rd in what our Sheriff’s Department believes to be a greed fueled robbery and kidnapping.

A mother, father, infant child, and one other family member were killed. Two men are in jail facing a host of charges that will likely result in a lifetime of incarceration.

The Singh family worked their business, raised their children, and had every hope of a life filled with earthly blessings That came to a frightening end when the four family members were forcibly taken from their business. Within hours, the four were murdered.

Killed were Aroohi Dheri, her parents Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle Amandeep Singh.

Suspect Jesus Manuel Salgado was arrested. His brother Albert was arrested a short time later.

There’s no doubt we’ll be living with this story for many years as the criminal justice system deals with these two.

Bob Hart Square on Main Street in Merced has been transformed to a community memorial for Aroohi Dheri, her parents Jasleen Kaur, and Jasdeep Singh, and her uncle Amandeep Singh. Photo: KCRA/YouTube

To date, over four-thousand families, individuals, and businesses have donated well over four-hundred thousand dollars to the surviving family members through a Go-Fund-Me solicitation.

According to the description on the Go Fund Me site, the family “worked tirelessly for 18 years to achieve safety, security, and community for themselves and their families. Aman and Jasdeep were the primary bread earners for the family, supported their elderly parents, and lived under one roof.”

Some of the images of the families impacted by the brutal deaths of Aroohi Dheri, her parents, and uncle. Photos: Go Fund Me

The page goes on to explain how Jasdeep (also known as JB) and Jasleen Dheri were married in India just three years ago in India. Jasleen joined her husband in the US one year after their marriage once Jasleen’s immigration was finalized. Baby Aroohi was just eight months old.

JB’s brother Aman was married and had two children ages six and nine.

The Go Fund Me page raising money for the Dheri and Singh families.

Local faith communities presided over four days of memorial services held in downtown Merced. The four nights of vigils represented the four victims of this crime. While there are four victims, that number is much higher when considering the surviving family members, the business associates, neighbors, friends, and others who were touched by the lives of the family.

And there’s the loss of whatever sense of security many of us feel about life in Merced County.

When a hard working family can be taken away (based on security cameras that captured the kidnapping) in broad daylight, many are within their rights to wonder whether the same thing could happen to them.

But underneath all of this is hope. With memorials springing up almost immediately, and an overwhelming response to a crowdfunding drive, it is clear our community is speaking with actions.

These actions include the messages on social media offering prayers and support for the Dheri family. As local citizen Raj Sidhu wrote: “That is a great example of a great community and the outpouring of love for the Sikh community. I will keep praying for Merced” Raj speaks well for how many feel during this troubling time.

Our community witnessed this incredible chain of events that resulted in the horrible deaths of this family.

But we also saw a community of compassion play out during the four memorial services for the victims. The response to a call for help for the surviving family members is nothing short of astounding. All of this originated in the same community where tragedy struck.

So we have had some bad in this community, but we have seen a lot of good as well. Maybe that bodes well for the future. We may be a little off our game right now, but we will be coming back soon to continue celebrating the good things about life in our community.

-Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His books on California are now available at the Merced Historical Society Gift Shop and on line at Lulu.com

The weblink to help the Dheri family is:

Fundraiser by Jaspreet Kaur : In Memory of The Dheri Family (gofundme.com)