Long Overdue: The Library Reopens

Merced County branches welcome back patrons

The view of the Merced County Library Main Branch from the second floor. Photo: Steve Newvine

When the Merced County Library system reopened branches to in-person use at the end of April, it reopened my appreciation for the quiet solace of books and reading.

The hours of operation remain the same, but for the time being, the capacity is limited to twenty-five percent to comply with health department guidelines.

Computers are still available at the Merced Library, but they are socially distanced in compliance with health department guidelines. Photo: Steve Newvine

It is nice to be able to go back to the library.

The system made do throughout the COVID crisis with curbside service, but that was not the same for me.

I’m a library fan and have been since the days of going to the one-room community library in the village where I grew up.

The library was housed in a classroom at the local school.

It is now in a stand-alone building in my hometown.

I remember my library card, the book card inside each cover where you could see the names of others who had taken out the same book, paying fines, and our librarian always reminding us to be quiet.

My high school library was bigger, had essentially the same rules, but a strict librarian.

She’d terminate our privileges the moment she believed we were up to no good. Still, she must have instilled my love for libraries. To be fair to her, by the time I was a teen,

I did not use the library for purely educational purposes.

There’s a legend in my family about my going there early in the school day and eventually being “kicked-out” for the day by this librarian for talking too much.

Later in the day, as the legend goes, my older brother innocently entered the same place only to be told by the librarian “I kicked you out earlier. Get out of here.”

In college, my part time student job was at Bird Library at Syracuse University. I stocked shelves with books. That’s all I did for two years at that job: put books back to their rightful place on the shelves. As a father, I remember taking my daughters to the library in the small upstate New York village where we lived. The children’s section had a sandbox filled with books.

My daughters would often choose a few books each from that sandbox.

Along about this time, VHS video tapes made their debut as part of the library collection.

In a few years, DVDs would replace those tapes on the rack.

You won’t find many chairs in the County libraries thanks to COVID rules. Photo- Steve Newvine

Photo- library 3 no chair- Caption: You won’t find many chairs in the County libraries thanks to COVID rules. Photo- Steve Newvine

In recent years, I visited libraries up and down the valley in my job that took me out all over the Central California region.

Sometimes, I’d pop in at the library in a small city like San Joaquin in western Fresno County after a work meeting.

In Bakersfield, I made the City Library a regular stop during most of my monthly visits.

The Friends of the Library Bookstore where folks could purchase used books with proceeds going to the Library will remain closed until rules from the health department permits greater capacity levels. Photo: Steve Newvine

So I welcome the reopening of the Merced County Library branches. In Merced, the checkout desk has been relocated directly in front of the entrance.

The only chairs found are those at the computers, which are now socially distanced. And, according to County Librarian Amy Taylor, there’s a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

Some branches, such as the one in Atwater, received even more drastic changes.

The Friends of the Library bookstore did not reopen at this time. Amy Taylor says that will come as the capacity limits are raised.

The library is back, and it’s time to go back and rekindle some memories.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Can Do Californians is available at BarnesandNoble.com or at Lulu.com

Seeing Half Dome from Merced-

A spot nearby where Yosemite is visible

Photograph of the Sierra Mountains where, if your eyesight is good, you can see Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.  Photo: Flip Hassett

How many times have you heard that there are people who have lived in Merced for many years, and have yet to visit Yosemite National Park?

Even if you have seen the Park, you have to ask yourself how long has it been?

If you have not been to the Park in person, there’s an opportunity to get a view at the iconic Half Dome from a spot in north Merced.

Local photographer Flip Hassett recently posted to Facebook a shot he took along Golf Road in the area near Merced Country Club and UC Merced.

It’s there, a little spot in the upper right portion of the photograph.

With the sun just right, and the air unusually clear, Half Dome is shining in all its’ majesty. Another person reposted the shot and circled the spot.

The view where photographer Flip Hassett found Half Dome was obscured by Mother Nature in the days leading up to this column. Photo: Steve Newvine

Flip has been photographing the people and natural wonder of Merced and Stanislaus Counties for a number of years.

For the professional photographers who know these things, Flip reports he shot this particular photo with a 400mm with a 2.0 tele converter.

Yosemite gets a lot of visitors every year, but it’s interesting to note that the Park is not even in the top ten in attendance, according to the National Park System.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park heads that list with twelve million recreational visits in 2020. Yosemite stood at roughly four-million based on averages provided by the Park Service.

COVID definitely had an impact on all National Park attendance last year and in the first months of 2021.

The photograph taken in Merced by Flip Hassett with Half Dome circled.

Writing about Yosemite brings back memories of other columns and book chapters shared in this space over the past ten years.

In my book9 From 99, I shared the story of the first time I travelled into the Park.

Two Fresno area friends invited me to drive into the park in their convertible in March of 2005.

The view was stunning under normal sedan conditions, but with the convertible top down it was an extraordinary way to take in the grandeur of this special place.

I remember visiting the park on business at the time a California wildfire was being fought many miles away from the then Tenaya Lodge (now known as Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite following a copyright dispute over the name a few years ago).

That business visit was marked by the ever present smell of wood burning.

Even though our meeting was a safe distance away from the firefighting, the air let you know something was happening.

A few years ago, I wrote a column lamenting the overcrowding problem my wife and I experienced at Yosemite.

(Click here to read it)

Some steps were taken to improve traffic flow, but I have not been to the Park since that time.

Finding the spot where Half Dome is visible on a clear day is relatively easy. Head north at this intersection of Lake and Golf Roads, and pull off to the right for the view. Good luck. Photo: Steve Newvine

Finding the spot where Half Dome may be visible is relatively easy. Take G Street in Merced about a mile north of Mercy Hospital.

Turn right on Bellevue Road and go about a mile to Golf Road. From there, head north on Golf Road less than a mile and park just north of the Lake Road intersection.

If you want to see Half Dome from that spot, go on a very clear day and consider bringing along binoculars.

Good luck. An alternative: make a plan to travel to Yosemite and see everything up close.

It may be more satisfying.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He wrote about Yosemite National Park in his book 9 From 99. That book is available at Lulu.com

Let’s Go Fly A Kite

Two brothers bring joy to others with their high flying hobby

These larger than life kites entertain a north Merced neighborhood on a windy Saturday in March. Photo-Steve Newvine

One mile from my house, I knew something special was happening at a local park in north Merced.

Up close on the park grounds, the sight was nothing short of spectacular.

These are the kites Mike Macias and his brother Rob spend their free time putting up in sky on a windy day.

Mike started the pastime several years ago as a diversion from his regular job as a truck driver.

“A week behind the wheel is enough,” he says of his handling of an eighteen-wheeler on a California expressway. “On a weekend, I look for a place to put up our kites.

A shark kite lurks over the playground at Davenport Park as the Macias brothers entertain families in Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

Mike goes big when he flies his super-sized kites. Some measure more than two-hundred feet from top to bottom, based on my own estimates.

All are powered by wind, and the steady hands of both pilots.

“My brother and I love putting them up, and keeping them airborne,” he says.

Mike and Rob Macias steady a big kite in Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

The kites were a popular attraction at local events such as the Livingston Kite Festival that was held every spring until 2019.

The festival was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 as a COVID precaution. That’s a shame, as kite flying gets people outdoors and has social distancing practically built in as each kite flyer needs a lot of space to do the work that has to be done.

“We used to go all over the state,” Mike says. “Everyone likes to see these kites up in the air."

The brothers anchor the kites to trees and/or posts depending on the venue.

The wind keeps them up for as long as Mother Nature will allow.

The brothers kept the neighborhood crowd entertained for over two hours on an early March Saturday afternoon.

There were lawn chairs out in the open space, children on the playground equipment, and lots of heads looking upward.

Mike looks forward to the time when COVID restrictions ease up so that more public events can be organized by local groups.

In the meantime, Mike and Rob will continue to look for a warm, breezy afternoon and take their kites out of the storage cases. The fun continues.

Let’s go fly a kite!

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book is Can Do Californians and is available at BarnesAndNoble.com and Lulu.com

COVID Coverage a Year Later-

Local media offers insight and lessons learned from covering the pandemic

Local media faced real challenges covering the COVID crisis. Photo montage: Steve Newvine

It was one year ago, March 2020, when life in our world changed forever.

The coronavirus pandemic changed life in many ways. Face masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer, outdoor restaurant dining, and so many other things were forced into everyday life.

It also changed the way our local media handled an on-going crisis. Five local media outlets were asked to share their perspectives on covering the COVID story over the past year.

The Merced County Times, KYOS Radio, and MercedCountyEvents.com responded. Repeated requests to the Merced Sun Star and KFSN-TV channel 30 were not answered.

“The biggest challenge in my opinion was the initial lack of press access to restricted government meetings that were broadcast instead of open for an “in-person” audience,” said Jonathan Whitaker, Managing Editor at the Merced County Times.

“Covering “virtual” meetings is no way near the same thing as actually being there as a reporter before, during and after the proceedings”

The Times petitioned the City of Merced to allow them access in the room for Council meetings as an emergency worker in the “communications” field.

After a week of review with the City Attorney, the local media was permitted to attend meetings in person.

“This was a natural disaster that caught everybody off guard to say the least,” said the Times Whitaker.

“I think maybe the media was not exactly the first thing on government leaders’ minds as they struggled with this deadly virus.”

Jonathan Whitaker believes local government relied too heavily on their own social media sites to get information out.

Brad Haven runs the local events and community organization website MercedCountyEvents.com .

Like the other media covering the region, his website adapted to the changing landscape. “I am not sure anyone thought that COVID would have been around for as long as it has once it was first reported,”he said.

“Our biggest challenge was staying up-to-date as much as possible,” said Radio Merced Operations Manager Christopher Moreno.

The company operates six stations in the Merced market including the news/talk station KYOS 1480.

“We sought to strategically place alerts throughout the day so as to not bombard our listeners.”

The station changed a lot of things during the early COVID coverage. Community Conversations, the weekly public affairs program, conducted guest interviews over the phone rather than in-studio.

Commercials featuring clients who traditionally came into the studio to record their spots were asked to record over the phone.

Live remotes, generally a routine activity for radio, disappeared in an effort to keep listeners and staff safe.

Some of the Our Community Story columns related to COVID over the past year included (clockwise top left) the initial reopening of downtown Merced stores, the Merced Symphony performing on-line concerts, Merced Mall letting shoppers know they were open, and the Courthouse Museum adjusting to the changes imposed to protect visitors. Photo montage: Steve Newvine

COVID forced the weekly paper and the radio stations to look at how their businesses dealt with change.

“We had to make various financial moves,” said the Times Jonathan Whitaker. “Some were needed, some we later learned, were not.”

“A radio station is a resource for information and a place of refuge for our listeners,” says Radio Merced’s Christopher Moreno.

“We did things like a COVID-free hour in the morning so that our audience could get a balance between information and entertainment.”

The local media outlets are proud of how their staffs functioned in the COVID emergency.

“A widespread pandemic was unprecedented for all of us,” says the Times Whitaker. “I doubt we would do anything differently with the resources we have.”

Radio Merced’s Moreno agrees.

“We did the best we could. I would like to see more live remote information like a vaccination drive, but we have to balance putting on an event while heeding health department advisories urging everyone not to engage in public activities.”

MercedCountyEvents webmaster Haven agrees that lessons were learned.

“The one thing which I would have done better is somehow helped more local businesses who needed free advertising and promoting.”

Covering a big story like this one brings back memories of other big stories over the years.

News media often carries out the routine stories such as a law enforcement briefing or a local government meeting all the time.

They record what they see, flesh out the story with perspective from all sides, and present the story in a final form.

A crisis like COVID forced everyone away from the comfort zones of routine story telling.

Parallels can be found in such stories as the California wildfires in recent years to el nino triggered flooding from several years ago,

Jonathan Whitaker looks back with a real sense of accomplishment.

“Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, our reporters were willing to put on a mask and go where news was happening.”

“We’re in one of those jobs where we can’t take the day off,” says Radio Merced’s Moreno. “We are an essential business.”

Life did indeed change in the early months of 2020. Like the rest of us, local media adapted to the change and did the best they could do with the resources they had.

And like the rest of us, lessons were learned. We all will be a little better prepared for the next time.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book Can-Do Californians is available at BarnesandNoble.com and at Lulu.com .

You can reach him at SteveNewvine@sbcglobal.net

Bees Work for a Good Harvest

-Hives are in place in many orchards throughout Merced County

Bee hives can be seen near dozens of orchards in Merced and other counties throughout the Central Valley. Photo: Steve Newvine

It’s a sight that is almost as welcome a sign of spring as the blossoms on an almond tree.

Bee hives are in place now at dozens of agricultural enterprises in Merced and Stanislaus Counties. The bees are pollinating the blossoms.

They feed feed off of pollen and transport pollen grains as they move throughout an orchard. Quite simply, the success of the crop yield is directly related to the success of the bees.

Greg Shved knows how important this link between bees and crop yield can be. He is a commercial beekeeper who is grateful this year’s bee season is winding down successfully.

“Bee populations are definitely still threatened,” Greg says. “The biggest issues are diseases within the honey bees themselves that are getting harder to treat year to year.”

Greg is part of Exchange Bees, a supplier of honey bees for almond growers in California.

Honey bees are a key component to a successful yield. Photo: Steve Newvine

Bees are not the only pollinators. According to the Pollinator Partnership, a non-profit group that sets out to protect and grow the bee population, bats, beetles, birds, butterflies, flies, moths and a few small mammals are also part of the mix of pollinators.

But all experts agree, bees are the largest category of pollinators for agriculture production.

Greg adds, “The bee season for spring pollination is currently coming to an end in mid-March. There are other seasons with lower demand throughout the year.”

The Pollinator Partnership states that one out of every three bites of food we consume comes from a source that needs pollination. That’s why any threat to bee populations is taken seriously.

“We’re able to do it (treat diseases that impact bees) with pollination money,” Greg says.

The Pollinator Partnership, also known as P2, points to relationships with research scientists developed over thirty years ago to study bees.

Conservation strategies have been developed, and many partners are making the effort to secure and grow the bee population.

A poster was created by Pollinator.org to help people better understand the importance of protecting the bee population. The non-profit organization is selling the posters with proceeds to be used to provide education on pollinators. Photo: Pollinator.org

In 2020, there was concern over the so-called murder hornets. These hornets made their way to the US by way of Asia, being discovered first in the state of Washington and later in Canada.

According to the Weather Channel ('Murder Hornets' Have Arrived in U.S.; State Works To Protect Beehives | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com), the hornets pose a threat to humans with a venom that in high doses, could be deadly to humans.

A typical hive of honey bees could be destroyed by these murder hornets in just a few hours.

The hornets eat the heads off of honey bees and take over the hives. That’s a scary thought for honey bees, growers, and the general population.

According to Greg, so far, California orchards have been free of this threat.

Soon the hives will be taken away from this orchard in the Central Valley and the next stage of the growing cycle will move forward. Photo: Steve Newvine

The bee season will soon come to an end by mid-March.

For now, many growers are hoping for the best in terms of keeping bee populations healthy, and their crop yields rising.

They will only know how successful the season will be as harvesting and processing resumes later in the year.

If all goes well, we can expect the cycle to resume again next year when the bees return to the orchards throughout California.

---

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Can –Do Californians is available at BarnesandNoble.com and at Lulu.com

For more information on bees and their impact on growers in California, go to PolinatorPartnership.org and ExchangeBees.com

Faded Images, Clearer Memories

Digital Film Transfer Offers Family Insight

My Grandma Vera Newvine shot dozens of reels of Super 8 home movies. This is a frame from one of those reels. Here, she is shown with my Grandpa in footage shot by my uncle Billy. Newvine Personal Collection.

I recently had some film my grandmother shot with a Kodak Super 8 camera transferred to a digital format. Grandma would shoot home movie film at lots of family events when I was growing up the 1960s.

We always knew she was filming indoors because she would turn on a powerful light that, some might argue, nearly blinded her subjects. Outdoors, she relied on daylight for illumination, and as a result, I think the film from picnics, amusement parks, and parades captured the Newvine family along with life in the sixties at its best.

My brother and I from an early birthday party on home movie film my grandmother shot. Newvine Personal Collection.

I’m featured in some of the film. Among the highlights, there’s a birthday gathering with relatives where my brother is helping me open presents.

It was a challenge to pull freeze frames from the movies to make into prints. Grandma came from the “we’re paying by the second” school of family filmmaking, and as a result a lot of the footage is kind of shaky.

At times, it appeared she was trying to get a little bit of everything happening in the room rather than shooting one particular scene.

Here is a shot from the home movie film showing sister taking early walking steps with a little bit of help from my mother. Newvine Personal Collection.

One exception to the “spray the scene” rule my grandmother used was the time she captured her granddaughter’s attempts at walking. My sister, who at the time was the only granddaughter, is featured shortly after taking some of her first steps as an infant.

Here, the film really helps the viewer see the beauty of an infant discovering a new form of mobility.

Also featured were four male cousins who grew up on a farm. We also see two male cousins who accompanied my grandparents on day trips to amusement parks in northern New York.

My mom and dad are shown in many of the scenes from birthday parties or other family gatherings.

My dad joined in on the snowmobile craze that introduced this pastime to the otherwise brutal cold and snow-filled days of an Adirondack Region winter. Newvine Personal Collection.

The film shows a relatively new phenomenon in northern New York: the snowmobile. I recall most of my family members had at least one snowmobile.
The home movies make it clear that the snowmobile was a game changer for winter life in a region of the state that saw lots of snow from December through April.

By the time I was in high school my dad, brother, and I each had one.

My uncle Billy was usually seen in military fatigues in several columns here on MercedCountyEvents.com. But before he was drafted in the mid-sixties, he was featured prominently in my Grandma Newvine’s home movies. Newvine Personal Collection.

It was great to see my uncle Billy featured in the more than ninety minutes of film I had transferred.

My writing about Billy focused primarily on his time in the US Army where he served in Vietnam. Six months following his honorable discharge, Billy was killed in a car accident.

The film shows Billy in his late teens. We see him walking with his dad, running to first base in a family softball game, operating a small fishing boat, and engaging in horseplay with his nephews.
In other scenes, he’s trying to set up a camera on a tripod he received for Christmas, standing next to a pick-up truck (probably the first vehicle he owned), and even taking a puff on a cigarette.

The film is special in being so ordinary. Showing Billy enjoying everyday life brings a lot of comfort to me. He only lived to be twenty-three, so seeing him content makes me happy.

Grandma put away the movie camera after Billy’s death, and it would be many years before she would even play the movies for the family.

Grandma and Grandpa bought the movie camera in the early 1960s. Some twenty years later, I would extend the tradition of recording family memories by buying one of the first home video cameras that came on the market.

I remember purchasing the camera when my first daughter was born. Over the years, we recorded lots of fun times with both girls. We’ve transferred a lot of the birthday parties, Christmas mornings, family get-togethers, and school concerts onto digital media.

Someday, I hope to pull out those disks for my grandchild to look back on those happy times when his mom and aunt were growing up.

I’m sure that’s how my Grandma Newvine felt nearly six decades ago when she decided to shoot some home movies of her family.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book, Can Do Californians, is now available at Lulu.com and at BarnesAndNoble.com

Revitalizing a Park while Reinforcing Legacies

Del Hale and Emory O’Banion. O’Banion Park in Dos Palos was named after former Merced County Supervisor Emory O’Banion in 1966. The community center inside the Park was named after former Parks and Recreation Commissioner Del Hale. Photo: County of Merced

Parks are much more than just open spaces.

In addition to the expanse of outdoors for families to gather or as a venue for recreational sports, parks can serve as community gathering sites for a variety of other activities such as food bank distributions and festivals.

Maximizing that potential is exactly what community leaders are hoping for in a grant request currently being proposed for enhancements to O’Banion Park in Dos Palos The County is seeking $8.5 million in state grant funding for a project renovation that would include adding picnic shelters, building on the existing Del Hale Hall, and moving the County Library branch in Dos Palos to the expanded space.

Another $3.5 million is being sought in Community Development Block Grant monies for the project.

Del Hale Hall in O’Banion Park. Photo: County of Merced

County grant writer Patti Dosetti says the request offers four alternatives for the Park that entail the rehabilitation of the existing Del Hale building all the way up to replacing the fifty year plus structure. “We’re excited about the prospects,” Patti says. “The current building was constructed in the 1960s.”

The County got a planning grant for designing the proposed changes.

Work with that planning grant is already underway. Patti Dosetti says the key to success for the grant is community involvement. The County has been seeking input from area residents and others about how the Park can maximize use by the public.

It’s hoped the state grant will come through in spite of heavy competition for the funds, including some competition within the County. In the last round, sixty-two projects received funding from four-hundred, seventy-eight applications.

The proposed for enhancements to O’Banion Park and Del Hale Hall offer a lot more than what is written in the grant application. Improving the community space may also draw attention to the legacies of the two men whose names are part of the Park and community hall.

Some of the architectural sketches of the proposed renovation of O’Banion Park. Photo: County of Merced

Often, parks are named after respected community leaders.

The names of Emory O’Banion and Del Hale do not immediately bring back memories from their work on behalf of Merced County citizens.

They were honored in the mid-1960s, so a long time has passed since the County Board of Supervisors dedicated the Park and community center in their respective names.

Emory O’Banion served on the Merced County Board of Supervisors for nineteen years. He represented the district that includes Dos Palos and Los Banos. He also served on the elementary school board and the War Ration Board.

His life work was farming and politics. Emory’s son Jerry served in the same district as Supervisor from 1990 to 2018. Emory’s grandson Jeremy is the current President of the Dos Palos Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees.

“My grandfather passed before I was born,” said Jeremy O’Banion. “But I know he and Del Hale were partners on some projects.”

Those partnerships included a cattle company and land holdings.

Del Hale was a County Parks and Recreation Commissioner who served from 1945 to 1975. His life work was in an insurance business now known as Stocking and Cozzi in Dos Palos.

In his lifetime, he was highly respected and well-liked by his colleagues and friends. Patti Dosetti shared a story she found about Del Hale in her work on the grant proposal.

“He was known to go to area hospitals on Christmas to bring presents and companionship to those who were unable to be at home for the holiday.”

Jeremy O’Banion says Emory and Del donated the original ten acres that helped establish the Park back in the 1960s.

After Emory passed, his children sold the remaining ten acres to the County. The Park spans twenty acres.

If the grant is approved, work could begin right away. The job would be completed by the year 2025.

When that happens, the community will once again know a little bit more about the two men who were honored more than fifty years ago with the naming of O’Banion Park and Del Hale Hall.

Just like the Park and community center, the legacies of Emory O’Banion and Del Hale will be revitalized as well.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced

His book Can Do Californians is available at BarnesandNobel.com and at Lulu.com

COVID Concerts-

Coping with streaming concerts in the lockdown era

The Merced Symphony Association posted a holiday concert to YouTube in late December. Portions of the concert, including this scene pictured, originated from the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland. Photo: Merced Symphony Association.

My wife and I were not big concert goers.

If we got out to an occasional Playhouse Merced community theater production or even a rare music performance at the Gallo Center in Modesto we consider ourselves lucky.

Like many people before March 2020, we took a lot of things for granted.

COVID 19 changed all that.

The virus altered everything. Face masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer, health department guidelines, vaccine wait lists, and the list goes on.

Add enjoying live music to that list.

I don’t mean the YouTube videos and Facebook concerts we’ve been seeing. They are fine, but nothing will replace being in the concert space as the music happens.

The Grand Ole Opry was the first to engage fans with live streaming concerts at the start of the COVID lockdown. Live weekly concerts have been streamed on Facebook since the start of the lockdown. Photo: Grand Ole Opry

In Nashville, Tennessee, the country music showcase Grand Ole Opry started streaming one-hour weekly concerts as soon as the crisis started in March 2020.

The shows were presented with the blessing of the local health department and that included no in-person audience at first as well as other COVID protocols.

The Opry prides itself on holding consecutive weekly shows since 1925. The Opry had a tradition to keep up. The weekly concerts have been broadcast on radio station WSM every week for ninety-five years.

The group Ellas will be performing live via live stream on January 29 as part of the UC Merced upSTART series.

Besides helping us remain safe by keeping us away from public venues, the move to streaming performances has provided other benefits.

Shows on social media sites allow viewers to comment as the performance takes place; providing instant feedback and a sense of shared experience.

Being able to pause to tend to an interruption is nice. There’s no need to dress up for the show. There’s also no chance of being annoyed by a rude attendee who either talks, texts, or gets up from their seat during the performance.

But I’m willing to accept some of those annoyances in exchange for having live music where I can be part of the audience in person.

It may take a little while longer for those days to return, but we are patient.

Once live in-person performances resume, I promise myself never to take them for granted.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Can Do Californians is available at barnesandnoble.com and at lulu.com

Dave’s Record Collection-

Father-in-law’s love for jazz lives on

Some of the music in my father-in-law’s collection.  Photo: Newvine Family Collection

Three years ago, my father-in-law, Dave passed shortly before turning ninety-one.  

He had a successful career, a prosperous retirement, and a devoted family.  One of the blessings in my life was opening our home to my in-laws for these past few years.

Dave may have left but his love of music is still with us.  He had acquired an impressive collection of long-playing records, cassette tapes, and compact discs.

With thanks to David Letterman’s writers who came up with the title of this column (named after a comedy bit on Letterman’s old talk show), here are some of the highlights from my father-in-law’s music collection:

Dave’s collection includes several discs from guitarists Tony Mattola and Chet Atkins.  Photo: Newvine Family Collection.

Guitar players

Dave had three records and two compact discs of Tony Mattola.  Tony backed up some of the finest singers of the Great American Songbook. 

I saw him perform a duet with Sinatra in Las Vegas back in 1982.  The solo works are glorious in their simplicity of arrangements mixed with the complicated fingerings of this master.

Chet Atkins was known primarily as a country guitarist, but he had an amazing career producing country singers for RCA Records in Nashville. 

His guitar solos are featured in some of Elvis Presley’s early recordings (listen for it in the instrumental bridge of Hound Dog among others). 

There’s a story I found in a book by Ralph Emery that recounts how Chet created instrumental acts at RCA primarily to keep the musicians he used in recording sessions working. 

He was considered a musician’s musician and was widely respected in the industry.

The Singers

Dave was not a fan of my two favorite pop singers: Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.  But he did appreciate the stylings of Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme.  Both are well represented in his music collection.

The Bands

Most prominent throughout Dave’s collection are albums, compact discs, and tape recordings of jazz bands and swing orchestras.  He turned me on to Count Basie back in the early eighties, and his collection shows that he tried to assemble as much of the Count’s music as he could. 

The Duke Ellington and Stan Kenton orchestras frequently pop up among the tapes, as well as more contemporary groups such as Spyro Gyra and the Chuck Magione band.

In the home he owned until moving in with us, he liked to crank up the volume on his Bose music system.   One of the first purchases made for him upon taking up residence in California was a set of headphones.

Over the past two years, I have occasionally transferred the audiotapes and vinyl recordings to digital. 

I enjoy the music, and I appreciate the connection it gives me to the man who acquired it all for about seventy years.

My father-in-law, the late H. David Trautlein.  Photo:  Newvine Personal Collection.

One of Dave’s other hobbies was fishing.  He enjoyed the solitude of fishing among many of New York’s lakes.  I’d wager he would be listening to his music on the car stereo traveling to and from his favorite fishing spots.  

Just as the memories of the jazz greats such as Oscar Peterson, Lionel Hampton, and Dave Brubeck live on through their music, the legacy of my father-in-law lives on within me through the music he collected.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced. 

His book Can Do Californians is available at BarnesandNoble.com and at Lulu.com

A Look Back on 2020-

Why review a year many want to forget

The year 2020 will be forever marked as the year of COVID-19.

We are seeing a lot of “year in review” stories now as writers, news media, and the entertainment industry try to sum up the past year.

We are also hearing a lot of comments about why 2020 was a terrible year and how we might be better off to just forget about looking back.

There’s no doubt COVID and a divisive election made 2020 seem like the worst year in our lives.

But ask any family member who has been around long enough, and they might offer some alternative bad years.

Take 1968 for example. There were the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the violent protests at the Chicago Democratic National Convention, and the ever worsening story of American involvement in the Vietnam War.

We get annual memories around December 7th of what the end of 1941 was like in America. In the closing days of that year, the nation was reeling from the Pearl Harbor attack, the President had declared war on Japan, and men were enlisting by the thousands.

There’s no doubt many families feared the worst as that year came to a close.

My parents along with others who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s, faced difficult times. But they endured and left us with a sense of ingenuity and independence. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Anyone around when the stock market crashed in October 1929 would find out what a rough year or a string of bad years might be like.

My parents were born in the early 1930s, and from hearing their stories of growing up in the shadow of the Great Depression, I knew they endured true impoverishment.

This concern over where the next paycheck might come from influenced their lives, and the lives of the next generation.

Even in what could arguably be described as terrible years, there was still optimism. Both my parents were born in the early 1930s, so I expect that while their respective families worried about tough times, there must have been a sense of hope that better days might be around the corner.

The World War II years were trying, but as an allied front, people knew that we had to win in order to save democracy and enjoy freedom.
In 1968 with assassinations, violence in the streets, and Vietnam, we had Earthrise.

Earthrise, the photograph taken by the Apollo 9 crew that was the first to orbit the moon. The photo remains a symbol of hope and optimism. Photo: NASA

Earthrise was the name given to the photograph from Apollo 8. It’s that “bright blue marble” photograph taken by the crew as the spacecraft emerged from the dark side of the moon.

Looking back on the earth, the photo became symbolic with hope and optimism.

Times will improve. What COVID took from all of us may be partially restored by the vaccine, human immunity, and safer protocols.

While politics may continue to divide and separate, we will give our new government leaders a little time to try to make a difference.
We can still be looking for a few rays of sunshine. We must have hope.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He will discuss his new book Can Do Californians with Roger Wood on the Community Conversations program on January 2 at 7:00 AM.

KYOS is at 1480 on AM radio, and also available at www.1480kyos.com

The book Can Do Californians is available now at Lulu.com and at BN.com.

A Little Voice Urging a Final Round-

Playing a Sentimental Golf Favorite One Last Time

The curved pine on hole nine at Modesto Muni Golf Course. Photo: Steve Newvine

When City leaders made the final decision to close Modesto Muni Golf Course, the timeline had the final days coming in December. COVID 19 restrictions moved up the closing date to the spring of 2020.

The course shutdown as part of the health department’s ruling in March. When other venues began to reopen in May, Muni remained closed.

“The City knew the end was coming, so it made little sense to reopen just for a few months,” John Griston of First Tee of the Central Valley told me in August.

The closed sign was displayed at the beginning of the COVID crisis at Modesto Muni Golf Course and the facility never reopened. Photo: Steve Newvine.

Fortunately, a little voice spoke to me in January telling me in effect, “You better get out there now.”

I discovered Modesto Muni in 2007 on my way back to my home in Merced from a meeting in the Bay Area. It was late afternoon, and traffic was jammed on Highway 99 at Modesto in Stanislaus County.

I pulled off the highway to get gas, and practically stumbled into the nine-hole course. As it was late in the afternoon so I reasoned with myself to play a round of golf and maybe the traffic would be easier in another hour or so.

That routine would be repeated many times as I would head back from the Bay Area from my twice-monthly meetings, reach Modesto around four o’clock, and head into the pro shop to pay for another round. Up until recent years, the course offered a six-hole rate at a slightly reduced price.

I could usually get a round done in about an hour. Also throughout this period of time, I’d hear from the regulars that once again, the City was “trying to close the place”. From the City of Modesto perspective, the economics were simple. The number of paid rounds never penciled-out in those final years.

Ideas were tried to increase efficiency, and maintain Modesto’s once proud statement that it had three City-owned golf courses. The other two are Dryden and Creekside Golf Courses. Near the end, a strategic alliance with the non-profit First Tee of Central Valley was formed.

On paper, it seemed like a win-win with the non-profit running the course and the City reducing some of the overhead.

It wasn’t enough. In January 2020, the City Council made the unanimous final decision.

The City of Modesto proudly stated on the scorecard at Modesto Muni that the course was the birthplace of public golf in the City.

There are a lot of ideas on what should be done with the property. Someday, we’ll likely see some housing, maybe a park, or maybe something no one has even thought of yet.

The land was originally the City’s first airport Coffee Field. The land now adjoins Thurman Stadium, home of the Modesto Nuts baseball stadium.

A scorecard from my early days playing there included a statement that read, “The birthplace of public golf in Modesto.” Modesto Muni played a key role in my adapting to the region north of Merced. I played there with a couple of golf buddies over the years, but most of my rounds were solo.

This allowed me to try different clubs, experiment with my short game, and find the solace I have enjoyed every time I play the game. That final round for me in January was like the dozens that preceded it. There were two holes with dogleg turns that I always looked forward to taking on.

Writing about the course in 9 From 99, Experiences in California’s Central Valley in 2009, I called attention to a small convenience store across the street from the flag on number three.

It was always amusing to watch a group finishing up at that flag by dispatching one member to cross the street and pick up a snack. There were good memories from Modesto Muni, as there were good reflections from Stevenson Ranch when it closed in 2015 or the French Camp RV Park and Golf Course that dropped the last two words from its name a few years ago when it closed the course.

Here in Merced County, many golfers still remember the former Merced Hills course that closed in the early 2000s.

That closing brought about the greater good. The land became the site of the University of California at Merced. Great memories remain. New traditions begin.

As I look back to that late January day when I played what would be my last outing at Modesto Muni, I’m glad I listened to that little voice. I enjoyed the final round.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

In 2019, he wrote Course Corrections, My Golf Truth, Fiction, and Philosophy.

His new book Can Do Californians, is available now at Lulu.com

A Brief Visit to California -

What the State May Have Looked Like for a Returning Vietnam Vet

My latest book: Can-Do Californians, will be available at Lulu.com in December

As the end of preparations for my upcoming book Can-Do Californians is now in sight, I’m going through those final steps of reading through the draft, making minor adjustments, and finalizing the project.

It’s also a time of thinking back to a family member who spent a very brief period of time in California as a returning soldier from Vietnam.

That soldier was Army Specialist Four, William Newvine. Billy has been featured in a number of columns here on MercedCountyEvents.com and is the subject of a book I wrote several years ago.

He died six months upon returning home from Vietnam. My book Finding Bill, features interviews with soldiers who knew him.

Bill Newvine spent two or three days in California upon his return from active duty in Vietnam in the fall of 1967, Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

One of those soldiers told me what it was like when Bill and some members of his unit returned stateside.

They returned to the Bay Area of California, where for two to three days, they were mustered out. Mustering out describes the process for a soldier to go through before he or she returned to civilian life.

The returning soldier is subject to medical tests, and counseling as to what to expect in civilian life.

They were being reminded that they had to drop some of their old military habits.

As Bill’s friend Paul Metzler told me about eight years ago, “A lot of us swore like bandits over there. We were in a strange world over there, so the military gave us suggestions on ways to adjust our behavior back home.”

Postcard image of the Oakland Army Base. Photo: OAB Military Museum

Paul remembers the time at the Oakland Army Base almost like it happened much less than the actual time that has passed. The time was October 1967. Vietnam was now a topic dividing the nation. While the men were inside acclimating to the return to civilian life, outside there were demonstrations from anti-war protesters.

“Protesters were there, but there were not too many of them and it really didn’t bother us,” he said. “We were so happy to be back in the states.”

Not everyone who mustered out at the Oakland Army Base was confronted by protesters.

Bud Stevenson who lives in Solano County, wrote an opinion essay published in the Daily Republic newspaper in 2016.

In that essay, Bud tells of his experiences July 20, 1968:

After a trans-Pacific flight aboard a Braniff Airways flight, with one stop in Hawaii, we landed at Travis Air Force Base and were taken by bus to Oakland Army Base, where we received our honorable discharge papers. Next stop was SFO, and then a commercial flight to New York, where my family still lived.

Oakland Army Base, archive photo.

After a day of doctors, counselors, and Army officials pitching for returning soldiers to “re-up” for another tour of duty, Bill Newvine, his friend Paul Metzler, and two others chipped in for a taxi ride from Oakland to the San Francisco Airport.

They likely took in the magnificent view from the Bay Bridge, where they could see the San Francisco waterfront, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz off in the distance.

At the Airport, the men boarded a plane bound for Chicago. In Chicago, the four exchanged addresses, promised to reunite in the summer of 1968 in the Adirondack Mountains, and then changed planes to their respective hometowns.

My uncle died in a car accident just six months later. As near as anyone can tell, that planned upstate New York reunion in the Adirondacks never took place.

Bill Newvine was in California for just a couple of days. He took in what sites he could while in the San Francisco Bay Area. By all accounts, he liked what he saw but probably thought he would never return to visit California.

COMING SOON IN DECEMBER 2020

Once he got back to his hometown in upstate New York, he began to return his life to normalcy. He picked up his new automobile, got a job, and reconnected with friends and family. Indeed, he never did return to the Golden State.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Can Do Californians will be available at Lulu.com in December.

Veterans- Now Never Forgotten

How Merced and other Areas are Honoring those who Served

Mark Bolte, the son of Air Force Colonel Wayne Bolte holds the sign that honors his dad along M Street (Veterans Boulevard) in Merced. Photo: City of Merced

All around the nation, and right here in Merced County, the service and sacrifice of our soldiers who served the nation’s military is being recognized at Veterans Day.

In the City of Merced, a sign honoring Air Force Colonel Wayne Bolte was put up by a City work crew back in the spring of 2020. Colonel Bolte’s son Mark read a biography of his dad at a City Council meeting in May.

Wayne Bolte’s plane crashed in Vietnam in 1972. At the time, he was listed as Missing in Action. A search for remains proved unsuccessful.

Wayne was a Major at the time of the mission. He was promoted to Colonel following the incident. He is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

For an unknown reason, Colonel Bolte was not included in the original eighty signs that were placed along M Street (also known as Veterans Boulevard) in the City. He lived in Merced and was stationed at Castle Air Force Base.

At the time the original signs were put up in 2018, the City said more names would be added as City staff, working with local veterans groups, verified other Merced residents who were killed in action.

Field of Honor Caption: Merced’s Field of Honor recognizes service men and women. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Once again, the community will honor the men and women who served in our military with a special Veterans Day tradition.

In Merced County, Merced College’s Yosemite Avenue frontage will be the sight of the Field of Honor. Hundreds of American Flags honoring area veterans will be set up.

Merced Sunrise Rotary has been organizing the event for the past few years. Some activities associated with the Field of Honor, such as the Race for the Fallen 5 K run at Merced College, have been called off this year due to the concerns raised over COVID-19.

At least one runner from last year plans to do the 5 K anyway in support of veterans.

My hometown newspaper’s story about the veterans banner project

I’m particularly proud of what the people in my hometown of Port Leyden, New York are doing to honor veterans.

Funds are being solicited right now to purchase banners that will hang on utility poles throughout this village of six-hundred residents.

Those banners will honor dozens of veterans whose families and friends are supporting the effort.

There are two soldiers in my immediate family who served in the military. My uncle Bill Newvine served in the Vietnam War. My uncle Jim Newvine served in the Korean War. Photos: Newvine Personal Collection

In the Newvine family, banners will honor Specialist Four William Newvine. Billy served in Vietnam and returned home in 1967. He died tragically in a car accident in May 1968 within months of leaving the Army.

My other uncle, Jim Newvine served in the Korean War. Jim is the oldest son of my grandparents Art and Vera.

Army photographs of my great uncles Chester Dean (left) and Charles Dean.  Both served in World War II.  Chet was killed in a training accident in Wales one day before D-Day. 

One generation beyond, my great uncles Chester and Charles Dean served in World War II. Charlie fought from Italy and returned home to raise a family. Chester died in a training accident, detailed in a column I wrote in May.

It pleases me that each of these four family members will be honored with banners in the project going on in my hometown.

For our veterans, recognition was never sought. But these displays of honor are no doubt appreciated by those still living.

For those who have passed on, banners and flags help keep memories alive among those left behind.

These are ways for communities to show the sacrifices of their soldiers will never be forgotten.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He wrote Course Corrections in 2019. That book is available on Lulu.com. His new book Can Do Californians will be available in December.

Election Day and the Right to Vote-

Recalling memorable election contests over the years

California is all in on mail-in ballots in 2020. Photo: Steve Newvine

The election of 2020 is bringing back memories of voting from many years past I remember 1976 and voting in my first presidential election. Incumbent Gerald Ford, who finished the remainder of the second Richard Nixon term, was pitted against challenger Jimmy Carter.

We all know how that ended. But for me, the lasting memory was casting my first vote for President.

Steve Ford, the son of former President Gerald Ford, shared his reflections of growing up in the President’s family during a speech in Fresno back in 2018. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting President Ford's son Steve at an event in the Central Valley. As the keynote speaker, he shared with the audience his excitement of that campaign.

He told the audience that at one point in the late summer, Carter led in polling by over thirty-percent over Ford. But as the campaign closed in on Election Day, the race was essentially tied.

Steve Ford, son of the late former President Gerald Ford, told a Fresno audience in 2018 that the 1976 race tightened considerably in the closing weeks of the campaign. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

I enjoyed Steve Ford as he talked politics as well as what life was like in the Ford family. At a meet-and-greet event prior to the speech, I shared with him my enthusiasm for finally being able to vote for President more than forty years ago.

A few years later, I participated in the election of 1980 when President Jimmy Carter faced off against Ronald Reagan.

I voted again, but this time it was through an absentee ballot as I was transitioning from one job to another, moving about eleven-hundred miles to a new opportunity.

I am very proud that I voted in every single presidential contest since becoming eligible, as well as every election in-between.

I believe it is an important duty of being a citizen in the US.

It is a privilege, but it is also an obligation that people should treat more seriously.

Two of the three voters in our household, my mother-in-law and my wife, show their ballots minutes before the envelopes were taken to the Merced County Board of Elections. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

A few years ago, I wrote a column here on MercedCountyEvents.com about low voter turnout.

At the time, there was a lot of comment about the so-called “99-percenters”, individuals representing the overwhelming majority of the population but perceived by some at that time as not sharing fully in the wealth of the nation

I argued that we should be less focused on the 99-percent and more concerned about the low voter turnout we had recently experienced. The real power of the people comes through active engagement in the process.

And that should mean every eligible voter casting a ballot. Now we come to 2020, where it seems every television commercial break has advertisements for local candidates or ballot propositions, the mailbox is full of flyers and brochures from various candidates, and social media has exploded with opinions designed to energize each party’s base.

In the state and federal races, there is considerable negative messaging among the advertisements we are seeing this election season.

Now more than ever, we need to seek out information about the candidates and the issues, and then take that next step.

I remember what it was like growing up in a small town in upstate New York where Election Day turnout might have been three hundred people.

I remember going with my mother and father to the polls.

While I don't recall being taken behind the curtain of the voting machine, I do recall standing in line, feeling curious about all these people waiting, and looking forward to the day when I would be able to cast my ballot.

Voting remains a privilege that I hope will never be taken for granted.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His current book Course Corrections, is now available in a special hard-cover edition at Lulu.com. In December, he will publish a new book about special Californians and their achievements.

The Palm and the Pine from the Air-

Sacramento TV Crew Show Unique Perspective of Local Icon

The view of the palm and the pine on Highway 99 south of Madera as seen through the drone video camera of KCRA-TV in Sacramento. Photo from KCRA video story

In case you have not heard or read about the iconic palm and pine on California Highway 99 south of Madera, here is the story summary: several decades ago, the state transportation agency Caltrans placed a palm and pine tree in the median to mark the spot close to the geographic center of the state.

The pine represents where northern California begins.

The palm represents where the southern half starts.

The story has been told many times.

The phrase “palm meets the pine” is part of a country song, the subtitle of my book California Back Roads, and a popular part of local folklore.

The story was recently retold with a new twist by reporter John Bartell and videographer Tyler Horst from KCRA-TV in Sacramento.

John interviewed me for the story. Here’s the video link:

Videographer Tyler Horst prepares the drone camera to help tell the story on KCRA-TV. Photo: Steve Newvine

When John invited me to a spot in a vineyard on the east side of the palm and the pine, I headed to Madera expecting to offer a few bits of history and perspective on the popular roadside attraction.

I was really impressed with the tools today’s television news crews have to tell their stories.

Full disclosure: I worked in television news for fifteen years, leaving it all behind in the mid 1990’s.

A lot has changed. John’s feature reports are called Bartell’s Back Roads, and air regularly on Sacramento television.

This particular feature was delayed from airing throughout the summer due to the heavy coverage of COVID and the California wildfires.

My fellow storytellers John Bartell and Tyler Horst at the site of the palm and the pine in Madera. Photo: Steve Newvine

After completing our interview and walking around the area for cover shots for use in editing the report, Tyler turned his attention to the station’s video drone camera.

Within minutes, he had the drone up in the air gathering impressive video of the scene.

Drone cameras are used in many television stations today. I first saw them in use during the earthquake aftermath in Napa County in 2014.

Drones got a heavy workout in recent years to help document the California wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres.

The Sacramento news drone showed the palm and pine on Highway 99, and then showed the actual geographic center of the state in North Fork about forty miles to the east.

“Scientific geological markers were placed here (North Fork) back in 1998,“ John reported in his narration of the feature.

“And unlike the palm and the pines on Highway 99, you can actually stand at the center of the state.”

John Bartell interviews Steve Newvine near the site of the palm and the pine in Madera County. Photo from KCRA video story.

While I was impressed with the storytelling techniques used by the pair in the piece, I was pleasantly surprised by a small clip of video that was not shot by Tyler.

To emphasize the somewhat ambiguous history of how the original trees came to be planted in the highway median, the KCRA crew found video from Huell Howser’s California Gold program from about a quarter of a century ago.

The late Huell Howser, interviewed a Caltrans spokesman in the mid 1990’s about the palm and the pine.

In that video clip, Huell asks a Caltrans spokesman about the origin of the roadside attraction only to be told by the spokesman that no one really knows.

Huell passed away in 2013, but his programs are still seen on public television. I was proud to share a little space in the video story with this charismatic storyteller.

I offer a thank you to Huell Howser for being among the first to bring the palm and the pine to television back in the 1990s. And thank you to John and Tyler, fellow California storytellers, for taking our local claim to fame to new heights.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He wrote California Back Roads in 2017. That book is available at Lulu.com.

He is finishing a new book about California that will be out at Christmas.

A New Californian Making an Impact-

Thirteen mountain hikes including Yosemite’s Half Dome for charity

Brennen Thompson is one quarter of his way through climbing twelve peaks in California. He’s shown here on top of Sandstone Peak in Malibu. Photo: ValleyTough.com

Brennen Thompson moved to California from upstate New York in 2019.

He decided early on that his time in the Golden State should have impact.

“It’s kind of a weird story,” he told me. “When I moved here in December, my roommate suggested we train for the LA marathon. After that, he said ‘Let’s do something bigger.’”

That “something bigger” is a series of twelve mountain hikes all over California, including one at Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

The yearlong pursuit will end with a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania set for June, 2021.

The pair is hoping to bring some hope and inspiration during what Brennen has called “difficult times” for many Americans.

“With the pandemic and the racial protests, we felt what better time to give back.”

They are raising money through website donations, Go-Fund-Me solicitations, and business partnerships.

So far, they have raised half of their six-thousand dollar goal, including a recent donation of seven-hundred dollars from Brennen’s high school graduating class.

Charities in Brennen’s hometown of Herkimer, New York will benefit from dollars raised through the effort.

The website ValleyTough.com has photos, videos, and a section on how to support the California mountain hikes of Brennen Thompson and Garrett Wright. Photo: Valley Tough.

Brennen, who along with his running partner Garrett Wright, are calling this initiative “Valley Tough.”

The website ValleyTough.com has information about all the hikes, the purpose behind the fund raising effort, and how people can support them.

Their second hike was up Mount Wilson in Pasadena.

As each hike is completed, a short video is uploaded to the website. These videos feature Brennan sharing reflections on the climb and offering thanks to supporters.

As a new Californian, Brennan is taken back by the weather that is in stark contrast to upstate New York, especially during winter.

“I can’t say enough about it,” he told me. “I live in South Bay (El Segundo in southern California), one or two blocks from the beach.”

He had to adjust to the climate as well as to the training discipline for mountain hiking.

“We’re constantly learning something new, and we’ve encountered unexpected challenges such as spiders and rattlesnakes.”

He’s also recognizing the training differences as he transitioned from marathon running to mountain hiking.

“How we train for this is different from preparing for a marathon. Even how I eat is different.”

Brennen and his climbing partner at the top of Mount Baden Powell in the San Gabriel Mountains. Photo: ValleyTough.com

The third hike in the series was at Mount Baden Powell in the San Gabriel Mountains. With each step, each mountain, the pair is strengthening their endurance and their commitment to the cause.

Brennen and I share some territory.

I grew up in upstate New York and went to college for two years in his hometown of Herkimer.

We both ended up in the media upon graduation from college: he works at an advertising agency while my first job was in television.

While I’m considerably older, we both have a sense of pride for the community of Herkimer in the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York while embracing California as our new home state.

We both have family back east. I remain connected through phone calls and social media.

Brennen does the same with his family.

“My Mom was freaked out at first when I told her about the hikes, he says. “But she has been supportive.”

Brennen with his mom and brother. He was quarterback and team captain at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY, graduating in 2019. Photo: Brennen Thompson Facebook page.

The hikes will be held once a month on different trails in California.

The September outing was up San Gabriel Peak.

This will lead up to the final challenge in June 2021 when they travel halfway around the world to Africa for Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.

But in California, Brennen is really looking forward to the hike at Yosemite. They will travel to Half Dome in February.

“I’ve never been to Yosemite, but my roommate says it is jaw-dropping.”

Those of us fortunate enough to visit Yosemite know exactly what it means to say the iconic Half Dome is indeed jaw-dropping.

They will hike the seventeen mile round trip from the valley floor to the summit; not to be confused with scaling the vertical face of Half Dome.

Brennen knows the real thing will inspire.

While each California hike will be special, he can’t wait for Half Dome.

“It’s the one I’m most excited about,” he says.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Course Corrections is available at Lulu.com. He is writing a new book to be released in December.

Website of Brennen Thompson - https://valleytough.com/donate/

A Courthouse Cupola View of Merced-

On Top of the Iconic Courthouse Museum

On the left - The view looking down N Street from on top of the Courthouse Museum. Right: The exterior of the iconic Merced building. Photos: Steve Newvine

Visually, this is one of the most interesting stories I have had the opportunity to write over the past several years.

Come along with me for an inside view looking outside.

Thanks to County Historian Sarah Lim who secured permission from the folks responsible for making the arrangements, I got an insider look from the top of the iconic Merced County Courthouse Museum building.

“The cupola is a restricted area and is full of cobwebs and dead bees,” she warned when I made the request.

When the day finally arrived, she told me she would unlock the door and let me go up alone.

Once I started up the narrow stairway, I understood why. I wiped cobwebs off my clothes, and started taking pictures.

Access to the upper, non-public floors of the Courthouse museum begin with this locked staircase off the third floor. That is followed by a winding set of stairs that eventually lead to the top. Photos: Steve Newvine

As I made my way to the first level of the cupola, I took in the view from all four sides. From here looking down N Street, I could see downtown Merced.

Going clockwise, I saw the roof of the County Library, the top of the Sheriff’s Department, and completed the circle with a view of Merced Police Headquarters leading to the traffic signal on M Street.

Three sides of the cupola overlook statues of the Roman Goddess Justica.

According to information provided to me from County Historian Lim, the statues were to represent justice.

But as the architect did not believe justice is blind, he chose not to depict the Goddess as blind.

The view looking toward the Merced County Library, and a look at the top of the Merced County Sheriff’s Department building from the cupola of the Courthouse Museum. In the second photograph, the Superior Court building is visible to the right. Photo: Steve Newvine

According to the architectural history, the statues were made out of redwood, are hand-carved, and are approximately twice life-size.

The statue at the very top of the cupola is Minerva, the Roman Goddess of Wisdom.

There were deliberate architectural and stylistic choices, along with a good deal of symbolism behind the look of the Courthouse building.
From the relatively plain look on the ground level, to the more ornate styles heading up to the higher floors, the architect designed the building to communicate a sense of enlightenment as the visitor moved up through the structure.

From the upper level of the structure, lots of daylight fills the cupola. Photo: Steve Newvine

While the view was great, the highest level was worth risking my fear of heights. Up one final spiral set of stairs and I was now standing in the top level of the cupola.

Only the Goddess Minerva stood higher: outside on the dome. The height from the ground to the very top of the dome is just under one-hundred, six feet.

My view of N Street leading to downtown Merced took on a richer meaning as the street parking alongside the Courthouse Park was now visible.

I could see my parked car from this vantage point.

Downtown Merced on a not-so clear day. This is the view from the cupola on top of the Merced County Courthouse Museum looking down N Street toward downtown. The statue is of the Roman Goddess Justica, but without the blindfold; a creative choice by the building architect who, according to the architectural history of the building, did not believe justice is blind. Photo: Steve Newvine

On a clear day, we’re told you can see the entire County.

My visit took place in late August in the midst of the heatwave and in skies filled with pollutants from the California wildfires in the region.

This indoor adventure was all worth the trouble: getting special permission, enduring the cobwebs, and navigating dead bees as well as live spiders.

The photographs document our town as it looks in this particular point in time.

While our community will continue to evolve and change in the coming decades, it will likely look pretty much the same from five stories up in the Merced County Courthouse Museum building.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book California Back Roads is available in soft and hardcover versions at Lulu.com

Steve is grateful to Merced County Historian Sarah Lim for securing special permission to allow him to go into the cupola which is not open to the general public.

Sarah also provided the architectural history of the building that was helpful in telling this story.

Politics and Sleep Deprivation

*

Memories from 1988

*

The political parties are staging their conventions in August 2020.

2020 and COVID-19

We’ll be hearing a lot about the political conventions taking place in the final two weeks of August 2020.

Most of the coverage will contrast these COVID era conventions to those of years past.

One of the thrills from my fifteen years covering local news on television was the Republican National Convention in 1988.

The station I worked at in Rochester, NY was part of a group of stations that chipped in resources to fund a Washington, DC bureau.

We were able to get interviews from our local legislative delegation on issues of interest in our communities.

An extension of that model was tested in 1988 when the company decided to take the bureau to both Democrat and Republican conventions.

Each station sent extra personnel to provide more coverage for our local audiences. My colleague Rob was assigned to produce coverage for the Democratic Convention.

I was assigned to produce the coverage for the GOP Convention in New Orleans.

My press credential from the 1988 GOP Convention. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Our local team flew into New Orleans on the Saturday before the convention.

We began taping reports on Sunday

It felt like one big story that took almost a week to report. Most of our days began with meetings of the state and local delegations. Those were breakfast events with a guest speaker.

Actor Charlton Heston was the guest speaker one morning. While he did not part the Red Sea as his Moses character did in the movie, he did create some excitement among the party faithful.

Most of our daytime hours were devoted to working in and around the Superdome to interview Republicans from the Rochester area.

I recall the afternoon when Presidential nominee George H. W. Bush announced his choice for his running mate. Once it was clear Dan Quayle was the choice, everyone scrambled for telephone lines.

I recall a good forty-five minutes of busy signals as we tried to call out.

This was long before cell phones became part of the journalist tool kit.

The closest I got to a souvenir from the week I worked the 1988 Republican Convention was this instant photo taken with cardboard cutouts of Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

President Ronald Reagan was the keynote speaker on the opening night of the convention.

We were in our workspace at the Superdome, and you could hear the roars from the crowd as the President and Mrs. Reagan were brought into the convention.

Many of us worked our way to the upper level of the arena to get a glimpse of the President.

Two nights later, I was in the room when George Bush made his acceptance speech. That means I was there when the words “Read my lips, no new taxes,” were uttered.

Throughout the week, there were plenty of moments that still take up a little space in my memory. Those moments include sitting in the audience of the Larry King overnight radio program.

We were just looking for a place to sit after a long day covering the events. Larry made reference to us on the air during the program.
My lasting impression was how little sleep I got during the week, and how easy it was for me to fall asleep once I got back home from New Orleans.

It was the busiest week in my career up to that point, and I enjoyed practically every minute.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He worked as a television journalist in the 1980s and 1990s.

You can reach him at SteveNewvine@SBCGlobal.net .

He latest book is Course Corrections, and is available at Lulu.com

Swinging through Summer with Youth Golf-

First Tee Programs Help Kids Learn the Game & Build Character

Area youth are learning the basics of golf through the First Tee of the Central Valley Program at St. Stanislaus Golf Course in Modesto. Photo: Steve Newvine

You will not see smiles on the faces of these young folks as they learn the basics of the game of golf.

That’s because those upturned lips are covered with the symbol of the COVID restrictions of this year: face masks.

They are part of First Tee of Central Valley and the annual summer program held at area golf courses.

First Tee started nationally in 1997 in an effort to bring more young people into the game.

There is no First Tee program going on in Merced County this summer. But that did not stop several parents from taking their youngsters from Merced County north to the program sites in Modesto, Stanislaus County.

“The Merced County programs were ready to go, but the two courses we worked with there (Rancho Del Rey and Merced Country Club) were not able to open up for First Tee due to the County Health Department COVID restrictions,” said First Tee of Central Valley Executive Director John M. Griston. “But our program is open to all, and at least five to ten families Merced County families are driving forty miles away to take part.”

First Tee of Central Valley manages the nine week summer enrichment program from an office in Modesto. Two Merced County courses, Rancho Del Rey and Merced Country Club also host golfers, but not in 2020 due to concerns regarding the COVID restrictions. Photo: Steve Newvine

Youth aged five to seventeen are eligible to participate. “It’s open to kids from all backgrounds,” John says. ”Diversity is huge element of the program.”

For nine weeks, the participants are introduced to elements of the game with instruction based on their age.

The youngest golfers learn the basics. The middle level builds on that skills base as coaches add exposure to character values to the program.

According to the First Tee website (firstteecentralvalley.org), those nine character values are:

• honesty,
• integrity
• sportsmanship
• respect
• confidence
• responsibility
• perseverance
• courtesy
• judgement

As the players age into the appropriate level of the instruction, golf learning continues while the core character values piece is enhanced with other skills such as building interpersonal skills, communicating, and asking for help.

The nine core values of First Tee are shown on this sign at one of the program sites.

First Tee of the Central Valley is one of a few enrichment programs for youth going on this summer.

Many programs that generally take place at schools, churches, and community centers did not operate this year.

“Safety is our number one concern,” John says. “But through our headquarters in Florida, there was a plan for coming back. We were ready to go.”

That plan includes masks, temperature checks, and the cleaning of golf equipment after each session.

This year, First Tee of Central Valley had three-hundred applications.

Through its fund-raising efforts, the non-profit organization was able to fund forty scholarships for families requesting help.

No one was turned down.

They also offer sibling and military discounts to families.

First Tee has three levels for golf instruction and character building based on the participant’s age. Photo: Steve Newvine.

The program is focused on golf and character development.

But it also has a leadership element.

Former participants who have aged out of the training frequently come back as coaches.

“People are drawn back to the program because they feel it’s a way of giving back to the community,” John says.

He should know. Growing up in East Los Angeles in the 1970s, John was in a neighborhood where he had no access to golf courses.

But he had coaches in baseball who were inspirational.

After serving in the Armed Services, he decided to volunteer for First Tee upon his retirement.

It was during that time as a volunteer that he was moved by something he saw in his First Tee coach training.

“I saw kids who didn’t have shoelaces in their shoes,” he said. “When I saw those kids gravitate to the game, that’s what got me.”

First Tee of Central Valley Executive Director John Griston. Photo courtesy: First Tee of Central Valley

Once the summer program ends, the organization will look to a fall program as well as other special events scheduled across the calendar.

First Tee will provide outreach to schools and other organizations. The need for volunteers is always there, and like most non-profits, fund raising is a key to success.

As for the face masks, everyone taking part in the program at St. Stanislaus Golf Course understands the new reality.

The coaches as well as the kids take it all in stride.

“It’s hard to see their smiles under those masks,” John says. “But we know the smiles are there.”

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He has written Course Corrections, My Golf Truth, Fiction, and Philosophy. The book is available at Lulu.com

Watching the Watermelon Harvest-

Harvesters toss watermelons along a human chain until it reaches large cardboard storage bins on a flatbed truck. Photo: Steve Newvine

Another Big Year for a Favorite Crop

It’s an impressive sight. Farm workers tossing watermelons along a human chain that ends with a worker on a flatbed trailer placing the fruit into cardboard containers.

It is harvest time for one of Merced County’s great variety of crops.

The preferred harvest method in this particular field is known as cut and pitch. “Yes, it’s pretty much pitch, pitch, and dropping it on the truck,” said Tashi Zouras, President of the Western Watermelon Association.

Watermelon is ready for harvest at the Dan Avilla and Sons field in Atwater, Merced County. Photo: Steve Newvine

On the surface, this harvesting process seems labor intensive. But Tashi says the cutting and pitching crews understand the routine well and work efficiently.

“The cutter cuts the fruit loose from the vine,” he said. “The cutter is trained to tell by color whether the watermelon is ready to be taken from the field. The cutter cuts, and then places it in the row for the pitcher to pick up.”

That’s when the fun begins.

I spotted the operation of Dan Avilla and Sons field in Atwater. Like clockwork, the pitchers toss the fruit about six feet to the next person.

Eventually, the pitching ends on the flatbed trailer where cartons are sitting on pallets.

While the pitching part of the watermelon harvest seems labor intensive, not all watermelon ripens at the same pace. Photo: Steve Newvine

Because the watermelon crop does not ripen all at the same time, Tashi says the cutting and pitching really cannot be mechanized efficiently.

The work crew will return to the field later on as the rest of the crop is ready to be harvested.

“North of Merced County we have growers who use a conveyor belt system,” Tashi says, “But the pitching system used by Dan Avilla here in Merced County is efficient.”

According to the 2018 Merced County Agriculture Report, almonds are the biggest crop. Watermelons are not even listed in the top fifteen crops.
Still, the fruit carves out a sizable slice of local farm production.

“There were approximately three-hundred, seventy acres grown in Merced County in 2018,” according Merced County Deputy Agricultural Commissioner Carrie Mitchell.

“Most of the acreage was grown on the west side of Merced County.”

Deputy Commissioner Mitchell says the County performs yearly in-field standardization inspections to check for maturity, and determine whether the crop is free from defects and serious damage.

“This is to ensure that the consumer is buying the best product possible,” she said.

While there are some farms north of Merced County that use a conveyor belt system, this time honored cut and pitch process continues to work well in the watermelon fields operated by Dan Avilla and Sons. Photo: Steve Newvine

Industry wide, the Western Watermelon Association says more than five billion pounds are shipped nationwide every year.

That represents a billion dollars in revenue according to the Association.

The website SeeCalifornia.com, states that growers in the state produce approximately 330,000 tons of watermelon annually.

While most people will agree it is a fruit, in Oklahoma, the watermelon is the official state vegetable.

Back in Merced County, the watermelon crop is heading to the retail markets. The Western Watermelon Association says about ninety-percent of the watermelon grown here stays in the state.

This field in Atwater will continue to be harvested as the remainder of the fruit matures. The fields will be likely be regrown for a fall harvest.

Then once again, the cutting and pitching ritual will resume in the watermelon fields.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced. His latest book Course Corrections, is available on Lulu.com