Ben, the Birdhouse Man of Merced

On most Saturday mornings in the Savemart parking lot in Merced, you might find a man selling birdhouses and dog houses from the back of his pick-up truck.

Ben Franco shows his handmade birdhouses to me. Photo: Vaune Newvine

Meet Ben Franco, a retired truck driver who has turned his spare time into productive work.

He builds birdhouses that are now in dozens of backyards throughout Merced.

When Ben retired, he traded in his trucker’s log book for a workbench.

He spends many hours every week designing, building and selling bird and dog houses. “It gets me out of the house,” Ben says about his pastime.

Ben has a lot of stories to tell about his birdhouses. He says the folks at Savemart know he’s out in their parking lot and he says they don’t seem to mind.

“This keeps me busy,” he says.

Keith Visher of Merced buys a birdhouse for his mother from Ben’s selection on the back of a pick-up truck. Photo: Steve Newvine

As well as keeping himself occupied, Ben experiences the joy of knowing a customer is buying a well build birdhouse.

One of those customers is Keith Visher of Merced. I came across Keith and Ben on the Saturday before Mother’s Day. Keith was looking over the selection before picking out the perfect birdhouse for his mom.

“Mom had two birdhouses,” Keith told me. “Summer weather destroyed the one in the backyard, and the one in the front had seen better days.” Keith paid Ben twenty dollars, and was on his way.

Ben Franco is a walking time capsule with stories about his military service. Photo: Steve Newvine

Before working as a truck driver, Ben was in the military and stationed in Germany in 1957 and ‘58. When I asked him about his time in Germany, he took a few moments to tell me a couple of stories.

“One day when we were off duty, a friend suggested we fly to Spain. We did and when we landed, we were questioned by the French police because we were in uniform. The police officer asked me my name and I told him ‘Franco’. He got real serious with us because of General Francisco Franco.”

General Franco was the Spanish dictator at the time. After a few tense moments with the French policeman, Ben and his friend were on their way.

Another interesting story from his service days that came to Ben’s mind was when he and his buddies recognized actor Jack Palance. Ben says the actor was not pleasant to the soldiers. Palance at first refused to pose with the uniformed soldiers for a photograph.

“He was there with his wife,” Ben said. “She pulled him aside and after she talked to him, he came back to us and said he’d stand next to us for picture.” Ben laughs, “We told him never mind, we don’t want a picture anymore.”

Ben’s selection of dog houses and birdhouses change as some are purchased and new ones are finished. Photo- Steve Newvine

Ben says it takes him a little over an hour to assemble each birdhouse.

Dog houses are larger and require a little more time. He uses pieces of lumber and other building material he has acquired over the years.
For Ben, building and selling birdhouses gives his retirement greater meaning. He enjoys seeing a satisfied customer.

He’s a happy man, even if he is doing it in part to get away from his spouse’s honey-do list.

“My wife will find me something to do around the house if I’m not busy,” he says.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book, Stand-by, Camera One is available on Lulu.com .

79/19-40 Years of Life on the Job

In front of the Brewster/Boland dormitory at Syracuse University in May 1979. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Milestones have always been easy for me to write about.

The basic format is to find a point in time that goes back in multiples of five years, recall what how I felt about it then, and end with what I feel about it now.

Okay, maybe there is a little more to it than that when recalling milestones.

Forty years ago this month, I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, began a career in television news, and started four decades as a working professional.

My parents and me at the 1979 college graduation held at the Manley Field House at Syracuse University. Construction was already underway on a domed stadium that continues to host both football and basketball games at SU. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

There was a lot of stuff going on in the weeks leading up to graduation. In April, I ended a ten-week internship with a television station. Copies of a video audition tape of stories I reported during that time were being sent to stations all over the eastern United States in hopes of landing a job.

During the week of finals, I had an interview with station WICZ in Binghamton. The news director seemed impressed with the audition tape, but the station was still another two weeks away from making a decision.

My first paying job in television news was at WICZ-TV in Binghamton, NY. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

One week after graduation, the job was offered and accepted. For the next year and a half, I reported news, anchored newscasts, hosted a daily public affairs segment, and even tried my hand as a substitute for the station’s hunting and fishing feature.

Along the way, I got the opportunity to work on the local segments of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy telethon and helped call the play-by-play for a local tennis tournament.

Work buddies from WAAY-TV in the early 1980s. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

I also got married during that time and accepted posts at four other television stations over the next fifteen years.

Two daughters also arrived during that time. At that point, the press card was retired. I made the transition to the next career of running chambers of commerce in three cities.

Chambers help local companies succeed by providing networking opportunities, presenting training programs, and advocating on behalf of the business community before local and state government.

A 1998 photo with business owners on one of many local advocacy trips to the state capitol in Albany, NY. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

After thirteen years of meeting government officials, creating programs to foster leadership, and handing out dozens of plaques honoring business owners, another opportunity crossed the path.

The current job combines the experience from the two previous careers to help local governments lead their communities toward greater energy efficiency.

It’s been a pleasure to honor local business owners who lead the way in their communities.

Handing out awards honoring local business people who are making a difference in their communities is all part of my current role. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

Along the way, most of the spare time has been put to use to keep writing as a big part of my life. There have been about two-hundred columns posted to this website and about a dozen essays published in local newspapers in California and New York.

Thanks to a fellow attendee at a workshop in Fresno thirteen years ago, the discovery of on-demand publishing helped produce a few books along the way.

I am humbled by the acceptance of my writing efforts. It has been an amazing four decades as a working professional.

There have been many highs, a few challenges, and an incredible number of great people that have crossed my path.

It’s amazing to think that the journey started just a short forty years ago.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His latest book, Stand By, Camera One is available at Lulu.com and through Amazon.

Spring Clean-Up Days, another springtime ritual in Merced

Mini-vans, pick-up trucks, SUVs, and cars line up to drop off their owners’ stuff at Spring Clean-Up Days in Merced. Photo- Steve Newvine

You know springtime has arrived when you’re making a second or third trip to the home improvement center to pick up additional bags of mulch for the lawn.

It’s spring when you realize that there is now nothing keeping you from yard work and sprucing up the curb appeal of your home.

The City of Merced, like many communities, kicks-off the season with Spring Clean-Up days.

This year, two sites received the junk that’s been lying around in garages, along the back fence, or even inside the homes of City residents.

For employees in the City’s Public Works Department, it’s an all-hands-on-deck activity.

You might even call it the Super Bowl of trash removal.

“I’ve never heard our Spring Clean-Up called the Super Bowl before,” says Mike Conway, Assistant to the City Manager. “But that's pretty cool.”

City of Merced workers coordinate the flow of traffic coming into the Clean-Up day drop off site. This is the site at Merced College. The second site is at the Merced County Fairgrounds. Photo: Steve Newvine

Pulling off this annual rite of spring takes careful planning and admirable coordination.

According to Refuse Lead Equipment Operator Danny McComb, Clean-Up Days are a top priority.

“Planning begins several months prior to the clean-up dates,” he says. “Refuse Division has sufficient staffing to operate the equipment. Additional staff from Parks, Water, Sewer, and Streets sign up to work the event to complete a total of sixty.”

Behind the scenes, staff coordinates with metal recyclers, the Mattress Recycling Council, tire recyclers, and others to make sure the proper trucks and bins show up at the right sites on the right days.

There are plenty of details.

There’s coordination with the landfill, organizing lunch for the workers, and making sure there’s plenty of water throughout the four days and at both sites (Merced College and Merced County Fairgrounds).

Just about anything not designated for a specific collection area ends up in a garbage truck. Here, workers are “feeding” a discarded couch to one of the city’s trucks. Photo- Steve Newvine

It’s estimated about six-thousand vehicle loads come into a Clean- Up Day site every spring.

That’s a lot of stuff.

Especially when you consider the population of Merced is eighty-thousand.

Approximately seven-hundred, eighty tons of trash is transferred from homes to the dumpsters and trucks at the Clean-Up Day sites.

SPRING CLEAN-UP ESTIMATES

• 6,000 Vehicle loads
• 780 Tons of trash
• 145 Tons of metal
• 60 Yards of Brush
• 1,885 Mattresses
• 5 Trailers of Tires
• 4 Trailers of e-waste

The most common things seen by the workers at Clean-Up Days include televisions, mattresses, barbecue grills, fence wood, and furniture.

The most unusual thing ever brought in to Clean-Up Day was a ski boat.

But that depends on what your definition of unusual might be.
Workers have seen empty metal urns turned in for recycling.

Even a mannequin was brought in one time.

A steady stream of vehicles loaded with household junk moves along the access road parallel to M Street at Merced College for Spring Clean-Up Days. Photo: Steve Newvine

“Steve,” my wife Vaune reminds me a few days after the first day of spring. “We’ve got to start thinking about Clean-Up Days.”

The Clean-Up Day adventure begins in our household with the annual consolidation of junk in our garage.

My wife and I make up piles. One is for items still usable that might be suitable to donate to charity. One is for items that get a reprieve for at least another year.

A third pile is for items that will be loaded into our SUV for Clean-Up Day.

So call it a ritual of springtime, or maybe a rite of home ownership.
Whatever you wish to call it, Clean-Up Day is a time of renewal, of a fresh slate, and perhaps most importantly an organized garage.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book, Stand By, Camera One is now available in a special hardcover edition as well as the softcover version.

Both can be found at Lulu.com

Two-room Schoolhouse is Part of a Bigger Picture for Students

How the Venice school in Tulare County Helps Home School Families

The former Venice School building is part of the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center. Photo- Steve Newvine

It’s an ordinary old time school house. It looks like something you might have seen on the television series Little House on the Prairie or When Calls the Heart.

Except, this school house is real. Not only that, this school house is still being used to educate students.

In Tulare County, a two-room school house continues to serve students. The tale of this school house tells a much bigger story about education in the Central Valley.

The Venice school along with other buildings that make up the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center. Photo- Steve Newvine

Sometimes while driving around the back roads of California, one can come across a building that looks as if it was an old school house from many years ago.

Some of these buildings have been modified for other uses. Others have been abandoned.

The Venice School’s history goes back to 1898 when it opened as a rural school.

Farm families needed a school for their children. The Venice School, both rooms, filled that need.

The family that owned the building and land deeded it to the local district with the express condition that it remains a school.

According to a stone monument on the property placed by the historical organization E Clampus Vitus, the building reverted to the owners when the school closed in 1957.

It reopened as a private school in 1996, and eventually was repurposed as a library for the Eleanor Roosevelt Learning Center (ERLC).

The former Venice School is now a library that supports the enrichment activities for the Eleanor Roosevelt Learning Center. Photo- Steve Newvine

The Learning Center is a complex of buildings on a country road east of the City of Visalia.

“We’re very proud of the two-room school house,” Learning Center Superintendent & Principal Daniel Huecker says. “And we’re extremely proud of the students, parents, and enrichment specialists of the Eleanor Roosevelt Learning Center.”

In the early part of this century, a handful of homeschooled families wanted a centralized resource to provide enrichment opportunities for their children.

In 2001, they formed the first charter school in Tulare County.

A few years later, a private school housed in the Willow building closed. The Learning Center took over the site east of the City of Visalia and has been using it and improving it ever since.

One of the buildings on that site was known as the old Venice School. The two-room schoolhouse was acquired by the Learning Center many years ago with a stipulation that it be used for educational purposes.

This new staff building at the Eleanor Roosevelt Learning Center opened in 2019. Photo- Steve Newvine

Over the years, portable classrooms have been added to the site.

Earlier this year, a permanent staff building was added along with a parent/classroom building as well as an outdoor assembly pavilion.

Superintendent Huecker emphasizes how important it is for homeschooled students to have a base to connect among one another.

“It’s important for the kids to get together,” he says. “It’s also important for parents to know they have resources available to assist in homeschooling their children.”

The Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center serves two-hundred, seventy-five students from kindergarten through the twelfth grade.

All are homeschooled, and all are part of this unique educational resource.

Enrichment facilities including an outdoor assembly area, playground, and basketball court have been added to the Eleanor Roosevelt Learning Center. Photo- Steve Newvine

Credentialed educators meet with parents regularly to assist in helping students succeed.

Center staff and parents work together on the creation of personal education plans.

The team at the Center also helps with the selection from over sixty enrichment programs available to students. Enrichment programs available to students include: robotics, woodshop, and drama.

The logo for Learning Center uses the school house image. Photo: ERCLC.

The two-room school house is so important a symbol of aspirational leadership in education, the Learning Center uses it as a logo.

The Center staff is a resource for homeschool families four days a week; two days for elementary support and two days for secondary support.

Daniel says the Center’s role as a meeting place for parents is a key component in their children’s success.

“They have an opportunity to visit with other parents, compare ideas, and get support from a wide variety of educators,” he adds.

The bell on top of the Willow School. Photo: Steve Newvine

The two-room school house is so important a symbol of aspirational leadership in education, the Learning Center uses it as a logo.

Many decades ago, the Venice School opened to provide education for students living in rural areas.

The delivery of education has changed over the years, but with the repurposing of the Venice School as a library for the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center, there is a sense of turning back to the successful basics.

So that ordinary looking two-room school house may always remind you of a classic television show.

But in Tulare County, it represents a bold effort to support the efforts of families that choose to home school their children.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

You can read about some of the places he has traveled in the golden state in his book California Back Roads, available at Lulu.com

For more about the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center, go to ERCLC.org

Celebrating Central Valley Music Pioneers

Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame Honors Performers

The Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame. Photo-Steve Newvine

For Kim McAbee-Carter, the founding of a Hall-of-Fame to honor musicians from Bakersfield made a lot of sense.

As a singer, she performed regularly at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield singing alongside country music legend Buck Owens.

She sang with him right up to the last night he performed in his adopted hometown.

Buck died in 2006, and while the music went on over the years for Kim, a deep-seated idea to honor Bakersfield music performers continued to grow.

That idea has led to the creation, along with her husband, of the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame honors the people who made Bakersfield proud.

It also contains items you might see in a music museum. And it is a venue for the performing arts.

“The Hall of Fame was started to promote the rich heritage of the not just country music, but all music,” Kim says. “We pay tribute to the local people who played a role in creating that music.”

Inside the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame. Photo-Steve Newvine

While this Hall of Fame is a home for all genres of music, there’s no doubt the initial focus is on country.

To be specific: The Bakersfield Sound.

The Bakersfield Sound was a title given to the music pioneered by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, his lead guitarist Don Rich, and the legendary Merle Haggard.

The Bakersfield Sound is described in my book 9 from 99, Experiences from California’s Central Valley as “Country, with an emphasis on electric guitars that sound as though the treble has been turned way up.” There are other definitions, but I’ll stand by mine.

Photographs like this one of music pioneers are on display at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame

The Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame is more than a tribute to the Bakersfield Sound.

In the inaugural class of seventeen Central Valley music artists, country accounted for the first five honored in 2017.

The honorees range from country, nu metal, opera, and beyond. To give each honoree an appropriate induction, the inaugural class was divided into three smaller classes.

The first five are: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Bonnie Owens, steel guitarist Billy Mize, and singer songwriter of truck driving songs Red Simpson.

“The inaugural Class was broken into three sections so that we could spend time honoring each individual,” Kim says.

Life-sized drawings of some of the honorees at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame. Photo- Steve Newvine

The honorees have been featured in original artwork. The original art hangs in the conference room of the Hall of Fame, but an enlarged life-sized version lines the walls in the public areas.

While this is first a Hall of Fame, there are interesting things to see throughout the facility.

This piano was made to order for the late Buck Owens. It is available to artists performing at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame. Photo- Steve Newvine

There’s a piano that Buck Owens had made just for him. He used this piano on many of his recordings, and played it practically every day when he was performing in his later years.

“It’s a Knabe piano,” Kim says.

“In this style, two were custom made. Elvis Presley had his painted white and Buck had his painted black. We let the performers come and play on that piano. We roll it out on the stage.”

Kim also bought a jukebox that greets Hall of Fame visitors. The jukebox contains the hit records of the inducted artists.

In her office, she proudly displays a red, white, and blue guitar given to her by her former boss.

As a member of Buck’s band, the Buckaroos, she sang regularly with him on the road and at the Crystal Palace night club just off the Buck Owens Drive exit of California highway 99.

The stage for performances at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame. Photo- Steve Newvine

The Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame is also a performance venue.

Professional acts are booked to the Hall of Fame stage, local performances hold their shows there, and the facility is offered to other organizations for events and parties.

The place has been the scene for receptions and the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

“We’re very proud of what we are trying to accomplish here,” Kim says.

The history of American music can be told through many chapters. Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tells the rock story.

Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame has grown from a modest beginning in the 1960s to a world repository for country music.

There are at least two states that have Jazz Hall of Fames. Near my hometown in upstate New York, there’s the North American Fiddlers Hall of Fame in Osceola.

Kim McAbee-Carter on stage with the Buckaroos at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield from 2009. Photo: 9 From 99-Experiences from California’s Central Valley by Steve Newvine

This Hall of Fame is taking a different approach and calling out the significant contributions from some local musical contributors who either lived in or near Bakersfield, or who made the city their home later in life.

Kim McAbee Carter thinks it’s only right that Bakersfield have a place to honor these artists.

She believes her former boss, the late Buck Owens, would be proud of what she and the Fall of Fame leadership have done for Bakersfield.

“His thoughts would either be he thought about it first and then was glad someone else did it,” she says.

“I’d like to think he would be happy it was me.”

Steve Newvine lives in Merced

He first wrote about Bakersfield in his book 9 From 99, Experiences from California’s Central Valley, first published nine years ago.

To learn more about the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame, go to

BakersfieldMusicHallOfFame.com

Celebrating Yosemite

Two exhibitions in Merced are focusing on our National Park and the Merced River

The photography exhibit One River, Two Perspectives is running at the Merced College Gallery through March 21. Photo: Steve Newvine

It’s not every day one gets an opportunity to see a free photography exhibit in the community. But this month is extraordinary. There are two exhibits running in March.

Both are free.

Both celebrate Yosemite and the Merced River. One River- two Perspectives features the work of local photographers Jay Sousa and Roger Wyan.

The pair has worked together in their separate photography businesses for many years. So coming together to jointly present this representation of the Merced River came naturally.

“My contribution to the exhibit features some of my favorite photographs from the Merced River and Yosemite,”

Jay Sousa told me on the KYOS Community Conversations program when I filled in for host Roger Wood.

“The region is beautiful for a photographer.”

The Opening Reception of One River, Two Perspectives brought dozens of local community residents to the Merced College campus on March 1. Photo: Steve Newvine

While Roger Wyan agrees that the River and the Park are a natural fit for a nature photographer, his contribution to the Merced College exhibit was inspired by the great impressionist artists of France.

“I visited Paris recently, and was awestruck by the work of these wonderful impressionist artists,” he said.

“That inspired me to show a different perspective of the Merced River.”

Both photographers were pleased to share the exhibit space that generally features the work of just one artist.

Sharing was a challenge of sorts to appropriately showcase both photographers. Roger sums it up with just a few words.

“I think our work plays off one another well.”

Poster showing some of the original art work included in the newest exhibit at the Courthouse Museum.

Just as local photographers Jay and Ryan are showcasing their original work, there’s an exhibit of mostly original photographs, art work, and artifacts at the Courthouse Museum in Merced.

The Originals of Yosemite features original photographs and memorabilia all tied to the National Park.

The local photographers who offered originals for this exhibition include UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland and Museum volunteer Donna Lee Hartman.

“We pulled a lot of stuff from our archives,” Donna Lee says.

“And several of our Historical Society Members loaned the cherished items for the exhibit.”

Steve Newvine views a large framed photograph from Yosemite at the Courthouse Museum Exhibit The Originals of Yosemite. Photo: Donna Lee Hartman.

Beyond the photographs, there’s art work from local artists including a covered bridge painting by Vivian Knepel from 1980. Vivian turned 100 in January.

There’s a place setting from the dining room at the Ahwahnee Hotel (now known as The Majestic Yosemite Hotel), a scout outfit on the Museum’s mascot bear cub, and even some of Ansel Adams earlier works from before he became famous.

Most of the items are originals.

All of it well cared for by the Museum volunteers and staff.

entrepreneur Frank Gallison started air service from Merced to Yosemite back in the 1920s. These pieces of memorabilia are on display at the Courthouse Museum

Without realizing it, both the Merced College Art Gallery and the Merced County Courthouse Museum have turned this month into a salute to our two natural wonders: the Merced River and Yosemite National Park.

A visitor can see them both in one day. Both are free.

This covered bridge painting that is part of the Originals of Yosemite exhibition is from Vivian Knepel. She was well-known for paintings of a variety of scenes from Yosemite.

While the One River – Two Perspectives photographer exhibit at Merced College ends on March 21, the Originals of Yosemite will go on until early June.

It’s not every day one can experience so much local history, art work, and memorabilia.

Take advantage of it all. After seeing the photographs, art, and artifacts from these exhibitions, consider making plans to take in Yosemite National Park this year.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book is Stand By Camera One, a look back on his first year working as a television reporter four decades ago. It is available at Lulu.com

Research Week at UC Merced

Some amazing research going on at UC Merced is being celebrated with the whole community.

This symposium was one of many events tied to Research Week at UC Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

If I remember my fifth grade instruction at Port Leyden Elementary School correctly, the scientific method begins with an observation, and ends with drawing a conclusion.

That’s sort of what UC Merced has in mind for this year’s Research Week. Simply put, if the University can showcase the kind of research going on to the broader community, it can hope to foster stronger links with everyone.

The first week of March is traditionally Research Week on campus. The activity is an effort to bring the public in to the campus and to take a part of the campus to the community.

Interested UC Merced students took part in many of the programs lined up for Research Week on campus. Photo: Steve Newvine

“We’re really excited about this,” David Gravano, Ph.D. told me on the Community Conversation’s radio program in early March. “Science is not confined to just our campus, or to just one group of people.”

Some of the activities during Research Week are eye-catching. There is a study into reusing organic wastes to improve ecosystems going on right now at the UC.

At the beginning of Research Week, interested community members had the opportunity to listen to an assessment of the future of safe drinking water in the Central Valley.

A campus Assistant Professor helped explain to the audience of students that safe drinking water is being threatened all over the world, including here in California.

Middle school students from all over Merced County are getting a chance to showcase their work and take tours of the University’s laboratories.

This is not the first time UC Merced has done a Research Week event, but this year was special because it included more venues throughout the greater community. The Sierra Nevada Research Institute presented findings on a number of projects at a luncheon on campus.

This presentation on drinking water helped connect curiosity with science during Research Week at UC Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

The schedule for the week included a core facilities lab tour on campus followed a community forum on nicotine and cannabis policy at the Downtown Campus Center, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fair, and an event called the Community Engaged Research Reception at City Hall.

Research Week wrapped with an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Center Scholar Panel where students can get feedback on their work.

“This is all about giving the public the opportunity to see the many innovative projects underway,” UC Merced’s Stephanie Butticci explained to me during the KYOS Community Conversations program.

“We’re welcoming the public to the campus, but being sure some of the activities take place in the community.”

UC Merced’s Stephanie Butticci and David Gravano joined me for a segment of Community Conversations on KYOS radio.

The complete scientific method follows the observation step with research. After research, a hypothesis is drawn and tested. This leads to the conclusion.

Anyone with a passing interest in the research going on at UC Merced are likely impressed with the depth of study, the engagement of students in the process, and the outreach to the larger community.

The hypothesis has been tested, and the conclusion is clear: Research Week at UC Merced helps bring the best the university has to offer to the community.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Stand By Camera One is available now on Lulu.com

Returning to Radio

My active afternoon interviewing community leaders for a local public affairs show.

Martha Hermosillo, Executive Director of First 5 Merced County with guest host Steve Newvine at radio station KYOS.

I got a head start on my bucket list recently when radio host Roger Wood asked me to fill in for him for his weekly public affairs show on KYOS in Merced.

The first job in broadcasting for me was in radio. I transitioned to television news where I worked as a reporter, anchor, producer, executive producer, and news director for five stations over fifteen years.

So my guest hosting stint on Community Conversations was a return to my radio roots.

KYOS, Merced’s oldest radio station, is the home of the weekly Community Conversations broadcast.

And it was a real hoot. Roger sets up the interviews alongside his co-producers Mike Conway (Public Information Officer, City of Merced), Nathan Quavado (Merced County Office of Education), and Mark North (County of Merced).

Casey Stead from KYOS makes sure all the technical details are taken care of in his role as the engineer for the program.

Every two weeks, interview guests are brought in for individual eight-minute segments.

After four hours, two weeks of programs are recorded. The broadcasts air on Saturday mornings on AM 1480, and on the web at www.1480kyos.com

KYOS Program Engineer with guest Casey Stead with Martha Hermosillo, First 5 Merced County

The first two interviews were with non-profit agencies with topics as diverse as cannabis and suicide prevention.

Next up was the new artistic director for Playhouse Merced who brought along two actors for the upcoming play Driving Miss Daisy.
Those interviews were followed by a conversation with two local photographers who are doing a joint exhibit at Merced College.

UC Merced’s Stephanie Butticci and David Gravano were guests with Steve Newvine on KYOS Community Conversations.

As the afternoon progressed, I spoke with a community leader pushing a workplace literacy initiative, two UC Merced staffers promoting Research Week activities on campus, and a volunteer from the Courthouse Museum who talked about a new exhibit called The Originals of Yosemite.

Merced Police Chief Chris Goodwin came into the station for an interview on what’s new in the department. What’s new is an ap that allows citizens to file crime reports from their computer.

With extra time to spare, I asked the Chief what has been the biggest change in law enforcement in his twenty-three years serving Merced; first as an officer and now as Chief. “Cameras,” was his answer. “They’re everywhere now. You see them at many of our intersections, on the bodies of our officers, and with members of the public as well.”

Fire Captain Josh Wilson from the Merced Fire Department was interviewed about a recent study of hazardous wastes that pass through our community from trains and trucks. “The study showed us the unique characteristic of the City’s main transportation thoroughfares,” Captain Wilson told me. “With two railroads and highway 99 all running parallel, this study helps us prepare for a potential incident that might include hazardous wastes.”

All of the interviews brought some new information to the table. As a columnist who has been writing about the community for several years, I learned a lot of new things. I also met some interesting people along the way.

Like Dave Gossman, a teacher at Atwater High School who spoke about the Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter at the School.

Dave was one of three teachers in Ag when he started with the district sixteen years ago. Today, he’s one of nine teachers in that field. Even more impressive is the growth in numbers of students in the FFA at Atwater High.

Sixteen years ago, there were about 250 students in the program. Today, there are more than eleven-hundred students in the Atwater FFA. That, according to Dave Gossman, makes the Atwater FFA the largest single high school Ag program in the nation.

It was all pretty impressive. So much going on in our community and I had the privilege of hearing it first hand by making a brief, but memorable, return to radio.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Stand-By, Camera One is about his first year working in broadcasting.

Steve’s Community Conversation segments air February 23 and March 2 on KYOS, 1480 and online at http://www.1480kyos.com/

The program airs at 7:05 AM every Saturday morning.

Merced Through the Eyes of a Visitor

The online photo album of a French bicyclist who spent some time in Merced last summer

Francois Hennebert spent a day in Merced to get his bicycle fixed one-day last summer. Photo: http://velo.hennebert.fr/

When Francois Hennebert brought his broken bicycle to a Merced bike shop for repair one-day last summer, no one knew what kind of impression he would have of the area.

Francois crossed into Merced County as part of a twenty-five hundred-mile bike trip from Mexico to Canada.

He’s from France and spends several months each year traveling around the world. He took a plane to Mexico and saw three countries on his incredible bicycle trip.

My photo of Francois from that day in 2018 when he had his bike fixed at Kevin’s Bikes. Photo- Steve Newvine

You may remember my column on Francois from last summer.

Francois’ hearty bicycle had a breakdown shortly after his visit to Yosemite National Park.

He made his way to Kevin’s Bikes on Olive Avenue and G Street in Merced.

That’s where I caught up with him.

This photo of the tow truck that brought Francois to Merced was taken by Francois Hennebert and is featured on his website: [http://velo.hennebert.fr/][0] . The bike is between the car on the flatbed and the truck cab.

During our visit, where neither of us spoke the other’s native language, Francois told me about his worldwide adventures on his bicycle.

He had been on bike trips to China, South America, and New Zealand to name a few places. He gave me his web address and encouraged me to look up his journeys.

This family extended hospitality to Francois during his time in Yosemite. The caption from his website reads “on peut randonner à tout âge.” Translated, the phrase means “you can hike at any age.” Photo: [http://velo.hennebert.fr/][0]

Our community must have made an impression on Francois.

He posted several photographs from his visit here. I recently checked his website and found pictures from his time in the Central Valley.

Francois’ bike trip happened to fall in the midst of the primary season.

He found signs from the primary election campaigns going on in neighboring Stanislaus County.

Francois used this caption for his photograph of a fence covered with campaign signs: des élections locales auront lieu le 5 juin en Californie . In English, this reads: local elections will be held June 5 in California.

He seemed impressed by the Castle Air Museum in Atwater. He posted two photos of vintage aircraft from his vantage point of Santa Fe Drive.

The photos have the French caption: l'avion furtif, je pense, et une forteresse volante de la deuxième guerre.

This phrase translates to “the stealthy plane, I think, and a flying fortress from the second war.”

Francois referenced two planes on display at Castle Air Museum in his photo postings on his website. Photo: [http://velo.hennebert.fr/][0]

Francois referenced two planes on display at Castle Air Museum in his photo postings on his website. Photo: [http://velo.hennebert.fr/][0]

Prior to his unplanned visit to Merced, Francois had just completed the leg of his journey that took him to the Sonora Pass in Yosemite.

My bicycling friends tell me the Sonora Pass is one of the most difficult biking trips a cyclist can take.

I’m a runner, so I take their word for that assertion.

Just an ordinary bicyclist taking in the vistas throughout California. Francois Hennebert at the Sonora Pass in Yosemite. Photo: [http://velo.hennebert.fr/][0]

Francois’ journey from Mexico to Canada was a success. He took in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Silver Falls Park in Oregon, and the Space Needle in Seattle.

He also enjoyed a large section of California.

His unscheduled stop in Merced County showed him a few things he may not have expected like warplanes and political yard signs.

Based on his gratitude expressed on-line for the team at Kevin’s Bikes who got his bike back in sound working condition, and the people who helped transport his bike to Merced, he was impressed by the folks he met here.

His photo caption from the Yosemite portion of his trip perhaps best describes why he would leave his native France for a bicycling adventure that started in Mexico and ended in Canada. It also suggests his overall impression of the area.

His post reads: celui va rester dans ma mémoire .

Translation: that will stay in my memory.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He is indebted to the language translator feature on Google.com. You can read of his adventures traveling by car throughout the Golden State in California Back Roads, available at LuLu.com

The Grandpa Bucket List

This photo is not a bird in the sky. It’s an inexpensive kite purchased with the intent of showing my grandson how to make it fly.

It’s not a bird, not a plane, and certainly not Superman. Photo: Steve Newvine

As you can see, I was successful. The kite flew proudly over one of the City of Merced’s public parks shortly after the beginning of the new year.

But the safe launch, flight, and return of the kite were more than an achievement to start 2019.

It was also about crossing out something from what I call my grandpa bucket list.

My grandson and me, moments before our kite went in the air. Photo: Steve Newvine

From the time when I was a dad raising two daughters, kite flying was one of many activities we would do as a family.

At the time, we lived in upstate New York in a small community that had a large open park. The park had playground equipment, a small hill for winter sledding, an open air pavilion, and a giant oak tree.
In the summer, we’d go there to use the playground. In the winter, we’d go to use the hill for sledding. But in the spring and fall, we’d go there to fly a kite.

So it was no surprise to anyone when I declared after my grandson was born four years ago that someday, I would show him how to fly a kite.

Two kids, with about 55 years separating us, enjoying a day kite-flying. Photo: Steve Newvine

The beauty of those cheap kites is just how easy it is to get it airborne.

We made it happen within minutes and enjoyed about twenty minutes of flight time. Kite flying was one thing I wanted to experience with my grandson.

But it got me thinking about other things I’d like to do with him.

Here is my grandpa bucket list.

• Hold him as a newborn
• Fly a kite
• Take him to church with me
• Watch him perform in a school play
• Enjoy an adventure that ends with the two of us at a real diner (my grandfather did this with me and I never forgot it)
• Visit a cemetery on Memorial Day
• Tell him why I feel Johnny Carson was the best ever on TV
• Attend his high school graduation
• Attend his college graduation
• Play some Sinatra and Elvis and explain to him why these artists were so important to me
• Have a cup of coffee with him paid for from his paycheck at a job he enjoys
• Attend his wedding
• Take his phone call he makes just to say hello and see how I’m doing
• Be nearby when his first child is born

So far, the first two items have been checked off the list. I’m sure I could add a few more if I wanted to.

The important thing for me is that I cherish every opportunity I have to share my time with my grandson.

That’s my grandpa bucket list.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He has published Stand-By, Camera One-Love, Friendship, & TV News in 1980. All his books are available at Lulu.com

Many Sad Days in Newman

Marquee at Westside Theater in Newman pays tribute to Police Corporal Ronil Singh, killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop on the day after Christmas. Photo: Steve Newvine

Newman is a city in mourning following the shooting death of Police Corporal Ronil Singh.

All over this community, there are tributes to the fallen policeman.

The Christmas holiday brought joy and warmth to homes throughout the Central Valley. But to our neighbors just north of the Merced County line in Stanislaus County, the day after Christmas was marked by tragedy, sadness, and the early stages of the grieving process.

Police Corporal Ronil Singh. Photo- Newman Police Department

Corporal Singh was shot and killed during a traffic stop in the early morning of December 26.

Law enforcement throughout California tracked the man who is now charged with that death.

Gustavo Perez Arriaga was arrested in Kern County two days later. Officials say Arriaga was in the country illegally. He has been charged with murder and could face the death penalty.

St. Joachim Catholic Church on Main Street in Newman, Stanislaus County. Like many properties displaying American flags in Newman, the flag in front of the Church is flying at half-staff in honor of Police Corporal Ronil Singh. Photo- Steve Newvine

In this city of eleven-thousand people, there is now a sense of true loss. Corporal Singh came to America and pursued citizenship so that he could become a police officer.

On my recent visit, I came across several American flags being displayed at half-staff in honor of Corporal Singh. Among the people I saw on my visit was a young father who silently looked at the many flowers in front of the Police Department headquarters. Respecting his privacy, I did not ask him any questions.

I merely offered my acknowledgment of the display of flowers and spoke just three words. “A sad day.”

He looked me in the eye and nodded his head affirmatively. “It sure is,” he said. He then went to his car, and brought his young grade school aged son up to the display.

Flowers from all over California have been sent to the Newman Police Department. All the arrangements are on display in front of the Department headquarters on Main Street. Photo- Steve Newvine

Based on the inscription on some of the arrangements, the flowers come from as far away as Redondo Beach in southern California.

Some had banners with short phrases helping the sender express their feelings about Corporal Singh. One in particular read “Hometown Hero”.

One of the posters taped to the wall honoring the Newman Police Department. Photo: Steve Newvine

There were posters prepared by younger mourners taped to the front of the Police Department building. One read, “To the police, from Gavin. Thank you.”

Another poster read: “Our hearts are with you Newman P.D.”

A display of flowers, candles, an American flag, and a cross in front of a residence in Newman. Photo- Steve Newvine

The expression of grief extends beyond Main Street in the City of Newman. As I was leaving town heading west of highway 33, I spotted another display in front of a residence.

The display includes a cross made from ordinary PVC pipe. Written on the vertical length of pipe are these words: forever in our hearts, Ronil Singh.

Corporal Singh is remembered as a family man, a trusted colleague, and a loyal friend. His life is being honored by police officers and other first responders, along with family members and friends.

Nowhere is that love and respect more visible than in that small city in southwest Stanislaus County.

It will take time for the City of Newman to grieve the loss of Ronil Singh. He leaves a wife and children, along with extended family, friends, and those in law enforcement near and far who lost a dedicated servant.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Stand By, Camera One is available on Lulu.com

Spelling Bee Begins with a Twang, Ends with Phyllophagous

Middle school spelling teams competed in the Merced County Junior High Spelling Bee final held at the Merced County Office of Education offices in Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

One by one, thirty-four junior high school students from all over Merced County wrote down the words as they were read out loud by the wordmaster.

“Twang,” she pronounced in front of the students who had gathered at the Merced County Office of Education (MCOE) conference room on December 6.

The wordmaster then used the word in a sentence, read the word in front of a microphone again, and instructed the students to go to work.

Unlike the spelling bees we see on television, the students did not have to spell the word out loud.

These students wrote the words in legible pencil. A proctor was assigned to each table of spellers.

When time was up, the proctor would raise his or her pencil signaling their assigned table had completed the task.

A proctor was assigned to each table of spellers at the Merced County Junior High Spelling Bee. Photo: Steve Newvine

As time ticked away, students were eliminated.

“I see many of the same students win year after year and even some from the same families,” says Stacey Arancibia who organizes the Bee as part of her role as Events Planner for MCOE.

“Our third place winner has won before and her brother earned second place in the Elementary Bee held December fifth.”

Some might think spelling is no longer a necessary skill in this day and age of computer spell checks, but that is not the case here.

Spelling is a big thing in Merced County, and an even bigger thing in the state of California.

The state competition allows two students from each county to attend the California State Junior High Spelling Bee in May.

The first and second place winners will represent the County at the statewide event to be held in San Rafael.

Trophies and certificates were awarded to the top finishers at the Merced County Junior High Spelling Bee. Photo: Steve Newvine

While this Junior High competition started out with relatively easy words such as twang, things started getting tight as the words became more complex.

Within one hour, the large group was pared down to about a dozen top spellers. Anxious parents sat in the audience with pride that their children had done their best.

Soon, it was down to just a handful of students.

When Nicole Nguyen correctly spelled phyllophagous, the competition was over. Nicole is the top Junior High speller in Merced County.

Junior High Spelling Bee Wordmaster Audry Garza, a coordinator at MCOE, poses with third place winner Samika Judge, first place winner Nicole Nguyen and second place winner Luke Almeada. Photo: Nate Gnomes, Merced County Office of Education

This year’s winners in the Junior-High Bee were:

• 1st Nicole Nguyen, Cruickshank
• 2nd Luke Almeada, Cruickshank
• 3rd Samika Judge, Los Banos Jr High

Each winner received a certificate and a trophy.

The Elementary competition was held the day before at Atwater Valley Community School. Ninety-four spellers took part in that bee.

Just like the Junior High contest, the top two finishers will compete statewide in May.

The statewide event will be held in Stockton.

The winners in the Elementary Bee were:

• 1st Harneet Sandhu, Los Banos
• 2nd Arvin Judge, Los Banos
• 3rd Mariah Dhillon, Winton

The state program these winners will be competing in is not affiliated with the Scripps National Spelling Bee that most people are familiar with.

“Our numbers are increasing,”Stacey says. “Which is always a great thing.”

Merced County Elementary Spelling Bee winners Mariah Dhillon took third place, Arvin Judge took second place and Harneet Sandhu took the top spot. Photo: Nate Gnomes, Merced County Office of Education

In case you’re wondering, phyllophagous as defined by my family’s American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as an adjective meaning “feeding on leaves”.

I looked it up.

And for whatever it’s worth, my computer incorrectly flags this spelling with a red line meaning it is either not in the computer’s dictionary or it is misspelled.

It is not misspelled.

Don’t ask me, ask Nicole. Her correct spelling of that word makes her Merced County’s top Junior High speller.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He has written Stand By, Camera One available from Lulu.com

Excerpt from Stand By, Camera One

From my college graduation in 1979 until the end of October in 1980, I was on an adventure that set the stage for my adult life.

My first job out of college was news reporter for station WICZ-TV in Binghamton, NY. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

My new book is called Stand By, Camera One- Love, Friendship, and Local TV News in 1980.

It’s the true story of my first job as a television news reporter for a station in Binghamton, New York.

But it’s also about getting engaged, getting married, meeting a special person who taught me the game of chess, and hopefully a slice of what life was like nearly forty years ago. Here’s an excerpt:

I walked into the lobby of WICZ-TV, channel forty, shortly before noon on May 21, 1979. I told the receptionist who I was and she called the newsroom. Two minutes later, Mark Williams greeted me. We walked through the studio and made our way to the small newsroom.

From there, Mark turned up the sound of a twelve-inch black and white television set that rested on top of a four-drawer filing cabinet. The noon newscast from competitor WBNG-TV channel twelve was just coming on the air.

Mark watched the first segment of the newscast with a pen and pad in his hands to jot down any story subjects that he felt might be worth following up on for that night’s six o’clock news.

I had seen this newsroom before during my job interview. It had three large metal desks with chairs, a four-by-six foot work table, the four-drawer filing cabinet, and a small typewriter stand behind the news director’s desk.

A police scanner was picking up calls on the various radio frequencies tuned into the device. Each desk had a Smith-Corona electric typewriter.

Some of my classmates in college had similar models. The typewriter’s had removable cartridges for typewriter ribbon. The news director’s desk sat at the far end of the newsroom. My desk would be in the middle.

The last desk was for the part time reporter who was covering news in the morning. It would eventually become the desk for the next full time person hired to work in the news department. Missing from what looked like an ordinary television newsroom in the late 1970s small market station was the presence of a teletype machine.

The news budget was so small at WICZ, the station did not subscribe to a wire service like Associated Press or United Press International.

The “tick-tick” sound of a press wire was common in most broadcast stations. That would not be the case here.

This picture was taken shortly after I started my television news job in Binghamton. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

WICZ programmed a half-hour of local news Monday-Friday at six and eleven PM. The station also did two five-minute newscasts that ran during the local breaks of NBC’s Today Show at 7:25 and 8:25 AM.

While we did not talk about it either in my job interview or even now on my first day, the station hoped to program news seven-days a week sometime in the future.

At about ten minutes after twelve o’clock, Mark turned the television set volume down, grabbed his keys, and tested the beeper attached to the side of his belt.

“Come on,” he said with a smile. “Let’s go to lunch.”

We headed to a nice restaurant in the Vestal Plaza and enjoyed a buffet lunch.

When he hired me, Mark said to plan on lunch with him on the first day.

It was his way of getting our working relationship off to a good start. When the check arrived, I reached for my wallet only to be told by Mark. “This one’s on me.”

My eleventh book is called Stand By, Camera One

I spent the rest of the afternoon meeting the staff at channel forty. I was shown my desk and given what amounted to an employee orientation. Mark reviewed the union contract.

My job was classified as an announcer in the union contract between WICZ-TV and the National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians (NABET).

I would eventually get my union card. It was my second card as I had to join a meat-cutters union for a part-time grocery store job I held when I was going to college.

It came as no surprise that I would be going on the air that night. Orientation was nice, but baptism by fire was the only way to learn in a small market television station.

From my desk in the newsroom, I started preparing a three-minute sports report. With all the journalism training I had at Herkimer College and Syracuse University, I never did anything in the sports reporting arena.

This was the local news business, and we were ready to jump in and go to work. There’s a recording in my personal archives of my first broadcast on local television.

Mark Williams anchored the station’s newscast as well as served as news director. He introduced me to the viewers.

“We welcome Steve Newvine to the Eyewitness News team. Steve has lived upstate all his life and recently graduated from Syracuse. Steve, welcome to the Triple Cities.”

I thanked Mark, and began to read a short sports report and an even shorter weather forecast.

Behind the studio wall, the newscast director, Rich Krolak was working the six o’clock newscast. The director controls all the video and audio components that go into a television production.

He or she calls for a specific camera shot, a particular source of audio to be opened, or a video tape to be played. In bigger markets, the director would work with a technical director who would run the video switcher that allows takes from one camera to another.

At WICZ, both roles were handled by the director using dialogue that would sound a little like this: “Stand-by camera one. Take one, ready two. Take two, stand by tape, in three-two-one. Take tape.”

Click here to see Steve’s old TV station do a story about his book.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Stand By, Camera One is available at Lulu.com

1968- Elvis Ends a Difficult Year on an Upbeat

While America endured a rough year five decades ago, a television special featuring the King of Rock-and-Roll helped change the conversation.

The soundtrack album for the 1968 Elvis Presley television special.

I’ve written a lot about 1968 in this space and in the pages of the Merced Sun Star.

If you lived through it, you recall the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in the spring, the violence during the Democratic National Convention that summer, and the election of Richard Nixon in the fall.

The year came to a close with the inspiring Apollo eight mission around the moon at Christmas. 1968 ended on a positive note. Make that a positive musical note.

In music, it was the year of the Beatles Sergeant Pepper album. Johnny Cash took his recording equipment inside a prison and came out with the live recording known as Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison.

In December, NBC ran Singer Presents Elvis, an hour-long special featuring nothing but the music of Elvis Presley. No guest stars, no narration, just sixty minutes of Elvis. I was an eleven-year old boy watching the show in our living room that night.

It changed me.

Shortly after the telecast, RCA released the soundtrack to the special. I played it so often the vinyl disc had streaks of gray from the record player needle wearing down the grooves.

The special had some dance numbers that did not impress me at the time, and even today have a look of dated variety-show razzmatazz. But on the record player, I did not see the dancing. It’s all about the music. In the broadcast, there was an extensive section with Elvis and a few musicians surrounded by about two-hundred fans.

The segment included Elvis talking about some of his experiences from the early years and the frequent playing the old hits. While Singer used the broadcast to sell sewing machines, the special was used by RCA to release two singles. One was Memories, written by Scott Davis who would later become a performer changing his name to Mac Davis.

If I can Dream

The other single was If I Can Dream. It was the song that closed the show. Written by W. Earl Brown, the song essentially asks if we can put aside the tribulations of any time and dream of a “better land, where all my brothers walk hand in hand”.

In 1968, the symbolic message was simple: can we get past the bad from that year (the assassinations, the violence, the Vietnam War), and work toward a promising tomorrow?

It was a positive message coming at the end of a difficult year. In later years, the program was called the Comeback Special because it led to Elvis resuming a performing career.

He’d have a few good recordings during what would become his final years of life before all his troubles with success, prescription drugs, and a hard-living lifestyle caught up with him. He died in 1977.

Putting that all aside, I encourage you to listen to If I Can Dream on YouTube. In recent years, the Presley estate endorsed an updated version of several Elvis songs, including this one, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The result is satisfying. But I’m still partial to the original recording. That recording was intended to close the 1968 special, and for me it closed 1968 on an upbeat.

The song is a call for positivity in a year full of negativity. It challenges the listener to imagine something better.

In a time of divided politics, random acts of violence, and plenty of uncertainty, the song inspires.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Stand-By Camera One will soon be published on Lulu.com

Stub at 85

My dad celebrates a milestone surrounded by family

Ed Newvine turns 85 in November.

He’s my dad.

He’s been a loyal son, fair-minded brother, loving husband, proud father, devoted grandfather, and revered great-grandfather.

My Dad, Ed “Stub “ Newvine

He was born in 1933 at home in northern New York State. He was the third of what would become four children of Art and Vera Newvine.

He lived on the family farm (which is still in the family, operated by my aunt Betty’s family), went to Port Leyden Central School, and built a life together with my mom Beatrice.

He’s remained in his native Lewis County New York all his life.

While short and stubby Ed grew up tall and slender, the nickname Stub has stayed with him all his life. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection.

As a little boy before entering kindergarten, he had a round face and a little extra fat around his waist. Someone referred to him as “short and stubby”.

The name Stubby stuck.

He quit high school in his junior year because he was needed to help on the family farm.

He married Beatrice when he was twenty. Dad did not want to stay on the family farm any longer than he needed to. He left the farm the day he got married.

Over the years, he did factory work, road construction, and eventually became a union carpenter.
Bea and Stub raised three children: Terry, Steve, and Becky.

My brother Terry, dad, sister Becky, and me. Photo; Newvine Personal Collection

Along with my grandfather Art and my uncle Jim, Dad worked on construction projects primarily in the Utica and Rome area of upstate New York.

Occasionally, work would take him as far away as Oswego (seventy miles) to the west and Albany (one-hundred, twenty miles) to the south of our hometown.

One summer in the early 1970s, the three Newvine carpenters worked on the Empire State Plaza project at the state capitol in Albany.

The trio rented a mobile home near the job site and would spend work nights there and come back to Port Leyden on weekends.

Empire State Plaza was the largest state office building complex at the time of its controversial construction.

Then Governor Nelson Rockefeller wanted to leave a legacy.

The two-billion dollar project, kept a lot of union workers busy.

My Mom and Dad from a 1980 photo. Mom passed away in 2000..Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

I’ve written about my dad over the years in my books and in the Our Community Story column.

What follows are some random memories: How scared I was in fifth grade after accidentally breaking a full length mirror in our living room.

He was coming home from work and I was sure I was going to be punished. Instead, he hugged me and told me everything was going to be all right.

The advice he gave me on the phone the night a tire came off a car I was driving. It was snowing, and, the tire just flew off.

I walked to a nearby house and I called Dad. He said, “If you need me to come, I will. But try to find the tire, and then take one lug nut off each of the remaining three wheels and put the tire on with those three lug nuts.”

I found the tire, put it back on, and was on my way. More than anything, he was really saying, “stay calm, and everything will be okay.” How much he likes to laugh. He repeats jokes or funny stories others have told him.

If he really likes the joke, he will repeat the punchline.

My favorite Dad retelling of a funny story is about a deer hunter who shot a doe.

Shooting does was against the law without a special permit, which this guy did not have.

"The hunter went to a bar to brag to his friends. A man at the end of the bar listened as the story of the doe unfolded, and then approached the hunter. Man: Do you know me? Hunter: No. Man: I’m the game warden. Hunter (pauses, looks up at the game warden): Do you know me? Man: No. Hunter: Well, I’m the biggest damned liar in Lewis County."

How good of a friend he has been.

There are many men in and around my hometown who would call him a good friend.

There’s Bill who attends daily Mass along with Dad and stops in for coffee afterwards. Larry is another friend who stops by for coffee on a regular basis.

And there was Fred, a neighbor who Dad would take to the VA hospital in Syracuse in the years leading up to Fred’s passing.

There are others, but I’m not around all the time to see them.

How he will perform an act of kindness just because that’s what he does. Whether it is helping out around his church, tending to a neighbor’s problem in their yard, or taking action when he sees someone in need, he does it because that’s what people do.

How he would never miss Sunday Mass or a Holy Day of Obligation.

How he always thanks me for calling, something I try to do every other week.

We tried it every week, but not a whole lot changes from one week to the next. The calls got better when I got into the every-other-week routine.

When I saw him cry for the first time. It was at the graveside of his brother Bill who died in a car crash at the age of twenty-five, just six months after returning from Vietnam.

How he’s renewed my subscription to a weekly newspaper from home ever since I left in 1979.

What a good relative he is, especially in how he treated his elders. Most of them are gone now: Grandma and Grandpa Newvine, Mary and Dennis, Vaughn and Francis, Charlie and Rose, Peachy and Joe, Myrtle, Kenny, and Grandma Snyder.

But they had a reliable son, nephew, brother-in-law, and son-in-law with Dad.

The same can be said for those who are still with us such as his brother Jim and sister Betty.

How I’ll never forget the night in 2000 when I saw him kneeling at my dying mom’s bedside and saying his prayers next to her ear so that she could hear them.

Mom passed away that night, and I’m sure his loving prayers were the last words she heard on this earth.

My dad and me. Newvine Personal Collection

So I raise a bottle of Genesee Beer and celebrate with an old-fashion donut with peanut butter (a family tradition) to wish my day a happy birthday.

Stub at 85 is not a whole lot different than Stub at just about any other age.

He’s a good man and I’m proud to be his son.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He wrote about his family in two memoirs: Growing Up, Upstate and Grown Up, Going Home. Both are available at Lulu.com

Veterans Memorial Signs Pay Tribute to Merced’s Heroes

Signs Along Veterans Boulevard Call Out 80 Military Killed in Action

Signs Along Veterans Boulevard Call Out 80 Military Killed in Action. Photo by Steve Newvine.

Chances are family members of US Army Private Cornelius W. Tuyn are no longer in our community.

The same can be likely said for US Army Mechanic John R. Veary.

Both lived in Merced. Both lost their lives in World War I.

Thanks to the City of Merced, both are being remembered.

Chronologically, they are the first veterans to be honored in the City of Merced’s Memorial Plaque initiative.

*By Veterans Day on November 11, eighty signs will be lining a broad section of M Street in the City of Merced.

One of eighty memorial signs honoring veterans who lost their lives in US military service. Each sign names a service member from the City of Merced who was killed in action. Photo- Steve Newvine.

Among the men whose names appear on the signs is US Navy Corporal Robert M. Crowell who lost his life in World War II.

He was born in the same month that Private Tuyn was killed during World War I: October 1918. Crowell who served in the US Navy, died on July 2, 1944.

The signs are memorials to members of the armed services killed in action who were from the City of Merced. The memorials cover service members from World War I on up to the war in Afghanistan.

The signs have white lettering over a blue background. Individually, they recognize a soldier, his rank, branch of service, and years served.

Collectively, they make a very strong statement as to how our community shows respect to those who gave their lives defending our country.

“They are all from the City of Merced and all members who died in combat zones,” says Mike Conway, the City of Merced Information Officer.

These white on blue signs are on utility poles up and down M Street. Each one recognizes the service of a soldier from the City of Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

Army Private Tuyn and Mechanic Veary are the only two Merced residents known to be killed in action during World War I.

Thirty-seven of the eighty soldiers memorialized on the signs served in World War II. The signs include the names of thirteen soldiers killed in the Korean War, twenty-one from the Vietnam War, and four from Operation Iraqi Freedom through the war in Afghanistan.

Among the Korean veterans is US Air Force Captain Ralph A. Ellis, Junior. Captain Ellis died on July 21, 1950.

The memorial to fallen veterans was a natural next step in the City of Merced’s journey to pay tribute for the contributions of all who have served in the military.

In recent years, Merced City Council renamed the bridge on M Street spanning Bear Creek to Veterans Memorial Bridge.

A section of M Street near the bridge now carries the name Veterans Boulevard.

In the most recent stage of renovation for the bridge, five flag poles were installed representing each of the five branches of the Armed Forces.

Flags from those branches of the military will now be flown on the bridge during special occasions and at other times to honor veterans.

Part of the list naming the eighty soldiers from Merced who were killed in action in our nation’s wars. Photo: Steve Newvine

The City’s Department of Public Works has been posting the new signs along M Street.

Of the twenty-one soldiers listed among the veterans who died in action in Vietnam, five were Marines.

That list includes Lance Corporal Juan B. Valtierra who was killed on January 5, 1966.

It’s an ambitious undertaking, and it will be an ongoing task to find, verify, and post memorials to other City of Merced veterans who may not be on the current list.

“We don’t believe it is a complete list,”Mike Conway says.“We are seeking the public’s help in making it complete.”

The city staff has started this project with the names of 80 military personnel from the City who have died while serving during combat.

One complication is limited records on World War I Veterans.

That is why Assistant City Manager Stephanie Dietz says her team needs help from the community.

“If your loved one was a City resident who died in battle and is not on this list, please let us know.”

The current list of the eighty City residents being memorialized is posted at www.cityofmerced.org/veterans.

The most recent death memorialized on the signs is US Army Private First Class Luca C. Hopper. Private Hopper died on October 30, 2009.

More names will be added as City staff, working with local veterans groups, verifies other City of Merced residents who were killed in action.

More names may be added if there are more deaths of City residents serving in the current war in Afghanistan. The names I chose to use in the column represent four branches of the armed services: Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines.

I selected one from each war America has fought since World War I, and I included two for World War I as there were only two in that category. Hopefully, when we see these signs we remember not only the soldier whose name appears, but all the men and women throughout the country who made the sacrifice.

Soldiers like Army Private Tuyn and Mechanic John R. Veary are remembered today, more than one-hundred years after they were killed in action thanks to this effort by the City of Merced.

We are grateful to these brave men for their service and proud of the sacrifice from all our veterans.**

Steve Newvine lives in Merced

He remembers his Uncle Bill Newvine who served in Vietnam in the book Finding Bill, available at Lulu.com

Making History at the Fossil Discovery Center

Madera County’s museum houses fossils from the 1993 Fairmead Mammoth discovery.

The Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County. Photo by Steve Newvine

Inside the main entrance of the Fossil Discovery Center, the visitor gets a glimpse at a reproduction of a Columbia Mammoth.  That generally drops the jaw of a typical school aged explorer.

“The students are amazed as soon as they walk in through the main entrance,” staff person Dawn Guthrie says.  

We’ve been reading and hearing a lot about the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County.  

The organization is in the middle of a big project with three Madera County Rotary clubs to restore the former Mammoth Orange stand to a site on the Center grounds.  

The Orange Mammoth stand restoration is drawing attention to the Center’s work of supporting and promoting paleontology.  The Center was built in the years following the discovery of mammoth fossils at the site of the Fairmead landfill. The landfill is across the road from the museum entrance.

The San Joaquin Paleontology Foundation was formed in 1993 shortly after the mammoth fossils and others from the Pleistocene era were discovered.  Support from the Madera County Board of Supervisors and grants made the construction of the facility possible.

Since opening in 2010 the Center has hosted an estimated ten-thousand students annually who come in buses from area schools.  

Executive Director Michele Picina looks at some of the exhibits at the Fossil Discovery Center. Photo: Steve Newvine

The Center’s Executive Director Michele Picina is a retired school principal from the Madera Unified School District.  

She’s always had an interest in archaeology, so when the opportunity to serve the Center came her way, she jumped at the chance.

“The Center is devoted to paleontology,” she told me this summer.  “I believed this would be the closest I could get to archaeology so this has been a real adventure for me.”

The Center gets visitors from all over California, with most of the school student patrons coming from Madera, Merced, and Fresno Counties.  

“But our reach goes beyond those three counties,” says Dawn who sets up the tours with area schools.  “We get Turlock, Bakersfield, Stockton and several other cities making plans to bring school buses with students to the Center.”

A Fossil Discovery Center volunteer shows an exhibit to a visitor. Photo: Steve Newvine)

A typical school tour divides the class into four sections.  Each section is assigned a docent and a portion of the Center.  

The sections rotate so that every student sees everything the Center has to offer with no one feeling as though they are lost in the crowd.

Students view where fossils are brought in for examination by paleontologists.  As anyone with a passing interest in the physical sciences knows, this work requires time and patience.  

The Center is helped by volunteers; many of them have a background in paleontology.

Many of the fossils discovered in the Fairmead landfill site are stored behind these locked cases. Photo: Steve Newvine

In another section, a visitor can see some of the fossils that have been recovered from the Fairmead landfill site.  

More than fifteen-thousand fossils from the site have been found since the first discovery in 1993. Fossils from the Fairmead discovery site are locked behind glass cases.  Those exhibits are considered fragile and best handled by experts.

Behind the main building, the Center has a dining area, and two unique outdoor exhibits: a Yokuts house and a Water Resource Exhibit. Photo: Steve Newvine

There are plenty of things to see and explore outside the Center building.  Behind the building is the Pleistocene Water Resource Exhibit.

The exhibit is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a Wildlife Habitat.  

It presents a scaled down experience of what the terrain in this part of the Central Valley might have looked like in the Pleistocene era.

There is a re-creation of a Yokut house near the Water Resource Exhibit.  Valley Yokuts were the largest Native American tribe in California with an estimated sixty-thousand living in the region.

A house like this one is made from fourteen thousand tules and would take approximately one-hundred-twenty-five hours to build.

On the side of the Center is a simulated archaeology dig site where children can try a special kind of hands-on science.  The digs allow students to experience what the real scientists experience in the field.

The Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County. Photo: Steve Newvine

Over the years, the Center has added new features to enhance the visitor experience.  A recent partnership brought in a display that explores water in the San Joaquin Valley.   

The Center also has a strategic alliance with the Sierra Mono Museum in North Fork, Madera County.

The Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County was founded as a natural next step for the San Joaquin Valley Paleontology Foundation.  

“There was such diversity of life here in the region during that era,” Michele says. “Sloths, camels, llama, elephants, and horses were all common here.”  

And don’t forget the mammoths.

Columbia mammoths define the discovery of the first bones in the Fairmead landfill site from 1993.  

So popular was that discovery that the orange stand on highway 99 was named the Mammoth Orange hamburger stand.  

From the front entrance of the Fossil Discovery Center, a visitor can see the Fairmead landfill where the first Columbia Mammoth bones were discovered in 1993. Photo: Steve Newvine

The Fairmead area embraced the mammoth discovery back in the 1990s, and the Center is doing everything it can to maximize the connection between that discovery and the future of the facility.  

The Foundation would like to see steady increases in the numbers of school trips to the Center, and more visitors from throughout California.

The Center recently hosted Madera County teachers for a reception to kick off the new school year and to showcase the offerings.  The facility is available as a meeting and conference space to the public.

Expansion is always a possibility if the demand for more visitor space grows and financial support increases.  The Center is positioned as a community resource.

So if you haven’t experienced seeing the wide eyes of a child brighten up to the sight of a life-sized mammoth skeleton reproduction, come and see it yourself.  

You will see why the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County is making history in the Central Valley.

 For more information on the Fossil Discovery Center:

go to MaderaMammoths.org

Or call 559-665-7107.

Join the Center for Fossil Fest on October 20.  Free admission and a free pumpkin for the first 100 families.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

70th Anniversary of Billy Graham’s Central Valley Crusade

An impressive anniversary is coming up in November in the Central Valley.

Photo-ad – This is what one of the advertisements for the Billy Graham Modesto Crusade looked like in the Modesto Bee. Photo from the Modesto Bee.

October 24 will mark the seventieth anniversary of the Billy Graham Modesto Crusade.

More importantly, that anniversary will note the creation of the guiding principles the Graham organization wrote during their daytime breaks from that two-week Crusade.  

The principles were called the Modesto Manifesto.

An advertisement that ran in the October 23 1948 issue of the Modesto Bee called the event the Canvas Cathedral.  There was a reference to the huge tent that was put up in a field near the corner of Burney and La Loma Streets.

Today, Burney is still called a street and La Loma is now referred to as an avenue.

At the time, local Christian ministers were asked by the Graham organization to help fill that tent for the first night.  

They were assured that if the first night was successful, the rest of the crusade attendance would take care of itself.

For two weeks, an estimated nightly crowd of two-thousand came to the Canvas Cathedral.  The Modesto Crusade was deemed a success, and it would help propel Billy Graham to other venues including the Los Angeles event held one year later.

Billy Graham, who died at the age of 99 on February 21, 2018, wrote dozens of books including Personal Thoughts of a Public Man. Photo from the book cover.

The rest of the story is now in the history books.  Billy Graham traveled all over the world for the next six decades.  

He embraced television, wrote dozens of books, and was considered the “nation’s pastor” by the next eleven presidents.

But it’s the Modesto Manifesto that makes this incredible story of the life of Billy Graham so meaningful to many in the Central Valley.

I’ve written about the Manifesto on a few occasions since 2008 when I came across an article commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the Modesto Crusade.

Modesto was a crucial stop in the fledgling period of the Graham ministry.  The evangelist had his eyes on Los Angeles, but wanted every event leading up to the planned 1949 L.A. crusade to continue building momentum.  

His close friend and associate Cliff Barrows came from Ceres, Stanislaus County. Barrows suggested the Modesto stop hoping that his connections with the local faith communities would come through to help make it a success.

While hundreds upon hundreds of people attended the nightly crusade, Billy and his team took advantage of the daytime hours to critically analyze the ministry and the potential problems that could sidetrack an evangelist.

Graham’s close associate was Ceres native Cliff Barrows.  

Barrows, who met Billy while on his honeymoon in Wisconsin, spoke to me in 2010 for a book I wrote about the Central Valley.  We discussed the Modesto Manifesto.

Barrows told me the group was directed by Billy to identify potential pitfalls for the organization, and later decide together on a strategy to avoid these pitfalls.

While the crowds came to experience the Crusade at night, during the day Graham and his top three associates George Beverly Shea, Grady Wilson, and Barrows worked and prayed on the issue.

“The book Elmer Gantry (by Sinclair Lewis) was popular at the time,” he said in 2010.  “It did not put evangelists in a positive light. Billy asked the three of us to think about the pitfalls that other evangelists had encountered.  We each went back to our motel rooms and reconvened the next day to learn that our lists were very similar.”

In the 1966 book, Crusades, published by the Billy Graham organization, the official account of the meetings indicate the men had come up with about fifteen potential pitfalls ranging from finances to infidelity.

What emerged from those daily meetings with the Graham team was a list of four guiding principles.  They are:

• Accountability-transparency in reporting finances and Crusade attendance

• Purity-specifically addressing sexual immorality.  This led to a directive that no one working for the Graham organization be allowed to have a closed door meeting with someone from the opposite sex.

• Integrity-no criticism of local churches or local pastors

• Humility-no seeking out “exaggerated publicity” for the crusade events

It’s believed Cliff Barrows gave the principles the name Modesto Manifesto.  

Short of the Ten Commandments, the Manifesto was likely the first time a religious organization publicly stated their operating guidelines.

Billy Graham died in February 2018 at the age of 99.  His son Franklin, who is also a minister, visited Turlock later in the year for a prayer convocation event.

Cliff Barrows died in 2016.  At the time of his death, I wrote an appreciation piece that was published in the Modesto Bee.  

In that essay, I recalled how interested Barrows seemed to be in what was going on in his native region.  As we prepared for the taped telephone interview for my book 9 from 99, he wanted me to know that he still thought fondly of the Central Valley.

The Modesto Gospel Mission was founded with $5,000 of the proceeds from the 1948 Billy Graham Modesto Crusade. Photo: Modesto Gospel Mission

The only memento of the 1948 Graham Modesto Crusade is an anti-poverty organization.  

The Modesto Gospel Mission was founded using five-thousand dollars from local share of the 1948 Central Valley event.  The Mission continues to feed hundreds of homeless every week and provides over fifty-thousand bed nights to those in need.

The Mission recently celebrated its seventieth anniversary with a gala fundraising event at the Doubletree Hotel in Modesto.  It continues to serve the community.

So it appears that the Modesto Manifesto tenet dealing with accountability was put into action immediately following the 1948 Crusade.  

That gift of $5,000 has come back many times in the form of meals for the hungry, bed nights for those needing a place to stay in the community, and hope for those who may have lost hope.

Billy Graham and his team of associates would be very proud.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He’s working on a new book about his first years working in television news.

Mammoths and a giant orange stand- A “marriage of terms”

A fund-raising effort has been going on just south of the Merced County border to restore the giant orange juice stand that once stood off highway 99 at Fairmead.

A vintage photograph of the locally famous Fairmead Orange Stand on Highway 99.  The stand closed about ten years ago. Photo: GoFundMe.com/mammothorange

There was a time back in the 1950s and 60s when giant orange refreshment stands were a common site on California roads.

Oranges were a much bigger piece of California agriculture back in those days. 

The stands sold orange juice and other drinks along with hamburgers and hot dogs to people traveling throughout the state. 

Over time, orange juice was frequently replaced by soft drinks and milkshakes as consumer tastes shifted.

The orange stands were places where a motorist could stop, use the facilities, and enjoy a hamburger and an orange flavored beverage outdoors in the California sun.  

Families could rest at picnic tables under the outdoor canopy and watch the traffic pass by.

The stands disappeared as air conditioning and highway expansion became commonplace. 

This is what the people restoring the giant orange stand are facing with the project.  The stand is not in great shape now, but will be brought back to its former presence.  Photo by Steve Newvine

The last orange stand in the state was in Fairmead, Madera County. 

It closed a decade ago.  The stand was moved to storage in the City of Chowchilla.  Six years ago,   it was sold so that the non-profit organization that runs the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County could help organize an effort to restore it.

Enter the three Rotary clubs in Madera and Chowchilla who adopted this restoration project. 

The clubs have raised over $15,000 so far and continue to solicit funds through a Go Fund Me campaign and other efforts.  

Additional donations are coming in as well in a separate campaign being run by the Fossil Discovery Center.

Little by little, the restoration project is moving forward.

The restoration project is a collaboration project among the Madera Sunrise Rotary, Chowchilla Rotary, and Madera Rotary clubs.  Photo: GoFundMe.com/mammothorange

“This was the vision of the late Lori Pond, a member of our board and a passionate supporter of the Center and of local history,” says Fossil Center director Michele Pecina.  “She made the appeal to the City of Chowchilla to acquire the orange stand.”

According to local media accounts from that time, the Foundation paid $2,050 to the City of Chowchilla for the stand. The City got some storage space back.  

The Foundation got the centerpiece of a new era for the Fossil Center.

A 2012 story on the Sierra News Online site, Lori spoke of requests to Caltrans to rename the road between highway 99 and the Center entrance to Mammoth Parkway, and the reserving of the web address MammothOrange.com for future use.

The Fossil Center was founded in the years following the discovery of Columbia Mammoth bones at the Fairmead landfill in 1993.  The San Joaquin Valley Paleontology Foundation was formed shortly after the discovery.   The Foundation received official non-profit status in 2001.  The organization oversaw the building of the Fossil Center.  

Today more than ten thousand people, mostly school-aged children coming for field trips, visit the Center.

 This is the inside of the former Fairmead Orange Stand.  It’s very clear that the team working on this restoration have a big job on their hands.  Photo: Steve Newvine

It’s fair to ask what is the connection is between the Fossil Discovery Center and the restoration of the giant orange stand.

Michele, who spells her first name with just one “L”, can explain that connection.  

“This will be a marriage of terms.  The Mammoth Orange Stand will sit at the site near where the Columbia Mammoth bones were found right here in Fairmead.”

The Fossil Discovery Center is located off the Avenue 21-and- a- half exit in Fairmead west of highway 99. From the Center’s location, the visitor can see the Fairmead landfill where the Columbia Mammoth bones were first discovered.

Center director Michele Pecina shows the round work that has already started for the Mammoth Orange Stand at the Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County.  Photo by Steve Newvine

Building permits have been acquired, and ground work is already underway.  It is hoped the stand will be ready for use in 2019.  Once the restoration is complete, the Orange stand will be a permanent exhibit.

Michele says, “Food events will be celebrated during the opening and year round.”

Initially, the stand will be used for private food events with the Center considering whether it makes sense to turn it into a regular refreshment stop for visitors.  The Mammoth Orange Stand at the Fossil Discovery Center will offer an exciting new opportunity for the region.

All these goals will come in time according to Michele. 

“We will eventually move to have the state consider designating the stand as a historical landmark.”

The Fairmead Orange Stand was the last of the California big orange stands to close.    

If all goes as planned, the Mammoth Orange Stand at the Fossil Discovery Center in Chowchilla will be the first one to come back in service.

With that eventual opening day coming up in about a year, one might work up a thirst for a cold cup of orange soda over ice or some other beverage.

It’s possible too that one might get a chance to relive a sentimental moment from the past.  The restoration may help one return to a simpler time when a stop at a roadside orange stand was commonplace in California.  

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  

He has written California Back Roads- Stories from the Land of the Palm and the Pine.  It is available at Lulu.com.

A column about the Fossil Discovery Center will be published on MercedCountyEvents.com in the near future.

To learn more about the Fossil Discovery Center, go to www.maderamammoths.org

To consider supporting the fund drive to restore the Mammoth Orange Stand, go to GoFundMe.com/mammothorange

Lessons Learned on the Job

With about forty years of professional work experience, there come lessons.  This letter was so significant to my life, I’ve held on to it for nearly fifty years.

A letter received in my senior year of high school inviting me to audition for a school news reporter at a local radio station.  Photo: Newvine Personal Collection)

The letter was in response to an inquiry I made to my hometown radio station about doing a weekly school news report over the airwaves.  

The person who had previously done the job had graduated from high school.

In the letter, the station’s News Director invited me to set up a time for a voice audition.  I promptly called the station, set up an appointment, auditioned, was reminded it did not pay anything, and got the job.

It was the first step in my broadcasting career.

Labor Day is as good a time as any to look back on the virtue of work.  Most of us have to work. We support our families, add value to the economy, and reap the benefits that come from doing a job.

In forty years as a working professional, I have had ten employers.  There’s a lesson from each one.

Reading the news on station WBRV in Boonville, New York.  Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

The no-compensation job of reporting school news in my senior year of high school paid off about seven months after graduation.  

The station was in need of a weekend announcer. The weekday morning DJ who would replay my taped school news reports, suggested the station manager give me a call.  

Thanks to my recent successful test for my Federal Communications Commission Broadcast License, I got the gig.

After landing that weekend announcer job at WBRV in Boonville, my outlook for a planned career in broadcasting looked promising.  Now, just a few months after starting college here was a job in the field where I was pursuing my degree. The lesson learned: sometimes you are the link that connects an employer’s need with the solution they are seeking.

Between records on the air, I read announcements for lost pets, weather reports warning of pending snow storms, and generally kept company with my small audience in rural upstate New York.

An art card depicting television station WKTV in Utica, New York.

From the disc jockey job in radio, I secured a television news internship at station WKTV in Utica, New York for my final semester at Syracuse University.  

The college class schedule permitted me flexibility so that I could make that eighty-mile round trip drive from my college dormitory to the station three days a week.  

By the end of the internship, I was filing on-air reports. Those stories helped make up an audition tape to show potential employers.

It was an unpaid internship, so the lesson learned was don’t let money get in the way of a good job.

The Eyewitness News team at WICZ-TV in Binghamton, New York.  Photo: Newvine Personal Collection.

That audition tape caught the eye of the News Director at WICZ-TV in Binghamton, New York.  The interview took place during the finals week at Syracuse.

The News Director is the department head for a broadcast newsroom.  An offer was made one week after graduation.

I was on the job three days later. The lesson learned: when an employer asks “when can you start” the answer is “right away”.

This photo from my personal collection was used as the cover of the book Microphones, Moon Rocks, and Memories. It was taken while I was reporting in the field at station WAAY in Huntsville, Alabama.  Photo: Newvine Personal Collection

WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama hired me a year-and-a-half after starting in Binghamton.  Newly married and looking for adventure, my wife and I headed south. Putting away fond memories of upstate New York, we headed to Dixie for the next chapter.  The lesson learned: never get too comfortable.

Developing some management skills in the latter part of the tenure in Huntsville paid off when a station in Rockford, Illinois wanted to hire a News Director.   I couldn’t wait to start this job. The lesson learned: be ready to move on if you want to move up.

Rochester, New York was the next stop.  With relatives in upstate New York, and one child new to our nest, my wife and I chose family proximity over anything else as I accepted the job as Senior Producer at the ABC affiliate.  

The job lasted eight years. We added another child to our family during that time.

While I enjoyed my coworkers immensely, there was a feeling I had not reached my potential as quickly as I would have liked.  While knowing I would miss my colleagues, I knew it was the right choice to accept a new position with another station in Rochester.   

The lesson learned: know when it’s time to leave.

Working with the WROC-TV anchor team where I served as Executive Producer, rounding out a twenty-year career in broadcasting.  Photo: Newvine Personal Collection.

The post of Executive Producer was mine at WROC-TV for three years.  Oddly enough, and with the benefit of hindsight, I knew that the career I had chosen was no longer right for me about six months into that job.  

It took two-and-a-half years to quietly figure out what my next career would be. The lesson learned: always have a back-up.

Counting that part-time, no-pay, radio job in my senior year of high school, I spent twenty years in the broadcasting field.  It was at times exciting, rewarding, and satisfying. Working odd shifts, including some holidays, often made family time a challenge.  

Every day seemed to bring on new and usually rewarding experiences.

The time in broadcast news also showed me other career paths.  I would eventually embark on a new journey down an entirely new pathway.  

But the lessons are similar:

• Be the link between what an employer needs and the solution they seek.
• Don’t worry about the money.
• Be ready to work.
• Never grow too comfortable.
• Know when it’s time to leave.
• Always have a back-up.

These are lessons learned on the job.  Lessons that started with a letter from that small town radio station offering an opportunity that would help define a big portion of my professional life.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  

In September, he begins his thirteenth year as a director on the Merced County Workforce Investment Board.  

He wrote about working and learning on-the-job in the book Soft Skills for Hard Times, available now at Lulu.com