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| Fast Talk |
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| Written by Ron Swift / Fast Talk | |
| Saturday, 01 December 2007 | |
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Getting ready for a rare celebration It isn’t just every day — or year, or decade — that a community gets to celebrate its 100th anniversary. And that’s what Patterson residents will be do just 13 short months from now.  Ron Swift The year 2009 will be Patterson’s 100th birthday. We’re the youngster on the West Side, with Tracy, Newman, Gustine and Los Banos already past the century mark. Being a planned community surrounded by rich farmland, Patterson was founded to serve the new landowners who came here to work the soil. A new irrigation system and the railroad served the area and were keys to its success. Now comes the time to celebrate our past — and to understand and appreciate it. Hopefully, all segments of the community will actively take part in the celebration. That would include civic clubs, churches, youth groups, schools, lodges and specialty organizations, City Hall, the business community, persons of maturity (senior citizens) and, of course, the Patterson Township Historical Society and the Apricot Fiesta. A core group of Pattersonites has met to kick around celebration ideas for 2009 and will soon structure an organization to tackle the major task of planning and orchestrating a number of events throughout the year. Fortunately, a newcomer to Patterson — Jenifer West — has stepped forward as the volunteer chair of the centennial committee. Having lived here only two years, she has already shown a vitality that will be needed to organize the largest celebration in Patterson’s unique history. Jenifer and her committee will soon ask not only for the input of ideas, but also for volunteer assistance to stage the events to be planned. Stay tuned; this will be a big one. A visiting tom Once in a great while, each of us is likely to experience a strange circumstance.  Photo courtesy of Ron Swift Such happened at our house the day after Thanksgiving. Coming home at mid-afternoon, I was greeted by Housemate (HM), who asked if I had seen the turkey in our front yard. “A turkey?” I asked with a doubting tone, thinking maybe one had rolled off a South Seventh Street table the day before. “Yes, he’s under the rosebush,” HM retorted with a smile. And sure enough, there he was, hunkered down under our historical yellow rose, one that grew from a clipping taken from a rose planted close to 1910 at an entrance to the Center Building, now Patterson’s downtown museum. Because of the configuration of the rose, which has nothing to climb on and spreads low near the front of our house, Mr. Tom had wiggled himself into a safe position. It wasn’t likely that a wandering dog would challenge him in his thorny environment. I was told that Adam Wertz, a next-door neighbor, was blowing leaves when the turkey suddenly darted from his yard to ours. Within an hour, Mr. Tom was dining on seeds, intermittently clucking and seemingly enjoying my clucking in return. Shortly after 5 p.m., just about the time it gets dark, he hopped up on our 3-foot fence, where he quietly and safely roosted the night away. That’s where we left him the next morning when we headed out of town, and that’s where he was found when we returned late in the afternoon Nov. 24. Although Mr. Tom didn’t display any signs of affection, at that point he did show signs of becoming more communicative. That’s when the gobbling began. I gobbled back, but by 5 p.m., he was back on the fence, where he roosted a second night. All this time, HM was weighing the options of who to call for turkey removal. Animal control might think it a joke on the weekend after Thanksgiving, I surmised. Meanwhile, we learned that Mr. Tom had no hankering for dry cat food placed in a bowl at his disposal. By daylight the next day, there was a steady stream of gobbling as he continued to perch on the fence, all the time ignoring our cat, which chose to lounge nearby with an amused look. “What is this danged turkey doing in my yard just after Thanksgiving?” our feline seemed to say. You never know where you’ll find help under such circumstances. You just have to begin looking. So we looked at church late Sunday morning, and sure enough, rural Pattersonite Vi Parker came to the rescue. It seems that Vi has turkeys of her own, three hens and a tom. She changed clothes after church, whisked over to our house, and did some amazing turkey talk that soon had our guest under control. He relaxed enough in Vi’s arms for me to bind his feet with cord for his short ride to freedom. Vi even gave us visiting rights, which we plan to exercise when the need dictates. I can’t speak for HM, but I was kinda getting used to having a large turkey perched on our front yard fence. By the way, anyone needing to learn turkey talk should contact Vi. Ask her for a recital. Late-breaking news When the Patterson High football team takes the field today in Stockton with its section football title hopes on the line, a longtime PHS coach will be on hand to witness the clash against small-school power Central Catholic. Carl Selee, retired and now living in Idaho, was scheduled to arrive in time for the team dinner Friday evening. Then, he will take in today’s clash. Selee, whose teams were noted for their tough defensive play, coached the Tigers for 17 seasons, guiding them to a Trans-Valley League title in his second year (1968). Possibly his best team was the 1975 squad, which went 8-1, losing only to the Raiders on a touchdown in the final minute. For the sports fan Talk about your high-scoring football games! Here’s an example of two good small-college teams squaring off in a regular-season finale. Final score: Chadron State 76, Abilene Christian 73, in three overtimes. Playing at home, undefeated Chadron State (12-0) trailed 35-14 at halftime and 49-20 after three periods. The winners then tallied 36 points over Abilene Christian (10-3) in the final quarter to make it 56-all in regulation play. ACU standout Bernard Scott rushed for 303 yards and caught passes for 79 yards, scoring six touchdowns in all to give him 39 for the season, or an average of three per game. (The San Francisco 49ers might not score 39 touchdowns in their entire season.) But Chadron, a western Nebraska school, racked up 716 yards of total offense and rolled to an amazing 41 first downs. How’s that for offense? And how’s that for lack of defense? And in basketball, Methodist beat Emory & Henry 142-119 in a game that didn’t go into overtime. And finally… There was the guy who went to San Francisco where he found someone’s heart. Now what? Ron Swift is editor/publisher emeritus of the Patterson Irrigator. His column appears most weeks in this space.
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