For this issue, we take a look at the second quarter of 2025, reviewing the top headlines from The Oakdale Leader for the three-month period of April, May and June.
APRIL
Oakdale’s Fair Oaks Elementary School has received recognition as a California Distinguished School for 2025, with the official announcement coming from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. California’s school recognition program recognizes two categories of exceptional schools: those Closing the Achievement Gap and those demonstrating Exceptional Student Performance.
A retired Police Captain from the Modesto Police Department is taking the helm – on an interim basis – at the Oakdale Police Department. Jason Grogan has been selected for the post, handpicked for the assignment by Oakdale Police Chief Jerry Ramar, who has stepped in to serve as interim City Manager for Oakdale with former Manager Bryan Whitemyer moving on the City of Folsom. Ramar was glad to have Grogan join the Oakdale team. “I’ve known Jason since I got to Modesto (Police Department) in 2004,” Ramar said. “I know his work ethic, his experience.”
It was a day filled with all things agriculture, from learning about animal care to touring farm machinery, planting some seeds to watching a demonstration of polo. Students at Cloverland Elementary School had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the ag lifestyle on Friday, April 4 with the annual Ag Day celebration observed on campus. Representatives of 4-H, FFA, numerous local ag-related businesses and more were on hand for the day, with nearly three dozen stations set up inside and outside the school.
Shined up and ready for display, more than 100 classic cars and trucks took center stage in Knights Ferry on Saturday, April 5.It was the annual Knights Ferry Classic Car Show, which is sponsored by the Community Club and raises money for a variety of community projects.
Perfect weather, lots of activities throughout the week, and plenty of top-level competition in the arena brought huge crowds to Oakdale for the annual PRCA Rodeo. The two days of rodeo action on Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, wrapped up a busy week that also included the Queen Coronation, the Cowgirl Luncheon, the Saturday morning parade, Cowboy Church on Sunday morning, and more. It was a huge crowd that lined both sides of F Street all along the parade route on Saturday, watching the nearly 90-minute parade make its way from one end of town to the other. Taking home the All-Around Cowboy honor from the 73rd edition of the Oakdale rodeo was Paden Bray of Stephenville, Texas. Bull riding remained a fan favorite and there were plenty of local competitors taking part in the various categories. Grand Marshal this year was Colonel Rett B. Burroughs, an Oakdale native who is career military, having enlisted in the Army as a military policeman in 1992 after graduating from Oakdale High School.
Members of the Oakdale City Council voted 5-0 on Monday, April 21 to approve the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 mid-year budget adjustment, citing strong financial stewardship and minimal discrepancies between original projections and actual expenditures. The mid-year review showed the General Fund’s projected revenues slightly decreased to $16.4 million, down $56,025 from earlier estimates, primarily due to lower property tax and sales tax collections. General Fund expenditures were adjusted upward by $12,000, driven mainly by utility and insurance costs. Despite the adjustments, Oakdale’s projected year-end reserve remains strong at approximately $6.8 million — maintaining a 40 percent reserve level.
Through the clouds and the mist, the residents of Oakdale came out to show their support for their friends and neighbors at the recent Love Oakdale community day of service. An estimated 600 volunteers donned their rain jackets and hoods and came together on Saturday, April 26 to work on various projects from beautifying the schools to cleaning up the river to providing hygiene kits for underserved communities. The groups of volunteers worked hard all morning long to get their assigned jobs completed.
MAY
It didn’t matter that Saturday, May 3 dawned with cloudy skies, a brisk breeze and chilly temperatures. The crowd turned out in force anyway for the first of many Morning Markets, being staged now through Sept. 27. Running each Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., the first offering of the season didn’t disappoint. There were several fresh fruit and vegetable vendors, specialty items including sourdough bread and locally produced honey, a wide variety of merchandise booths, music by headliner Alex Lucero and more. Staged along North Third Avenue, between E and F streets, the market also spills over into some parking lot areas and many businesses on North Third often bring their wares out in front of their shops to join in.
In a unanimous 5-0 vote at its May 5 meeting, the Oakdale City Council approved moving forward with a feasibility study to explore consolidating the city’s electric service under a single provider—Modesto Irrigation District (MID). Currently, Oakdale operates under a dual-provider system with some residents receiving power from MID and others from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). The proposal seeks to assess whether transitioning the entire city to MID would be viable—legally, financially, and logistically. “This dual provider model causes rate disparities for both residential and commercial properties within the city of Oakdale,” Interim City Manager Jerry Ramar told the council. “Those on PG&E are paying a much higher rate than those on MID.”
Raising over $142,000 in the fight against cancer, residents of numerous Central Valley communities – including Oakdale and Riverbank – took part in the American Cancer Society’s 24-hour Relay For Life at Johansen High School in Modesto. This year’s theme was Carnival for a Cure and many of the teams offered up carnival games or carnival-themed food, while a special Kids Camp was set up to keep the youngest Relay attendees occupied. Music from several bands was featured on stage throughout the day and the event started with the Opening Ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 17 with activities continuing through Sunday morning, May 18.
With some Oakdale and surrounding area residents in attendance, former longtime local businesswoman Lana Casey, 63, pleaded “no contest” to a series of felony counts in Stanislaus County Superior Court on Monday, May 19. The one-time owner of Lana’s Spur of the Moment shop in Oakdale, a Hughson resident, Casey was indicted last year on 79 counts of grand theft, money laundering and tax evasion, in what District Attorney Jeff Laugero described as a $1.4 million embezzlement scheme.
As new businesses come in to Oakdale and with the community growing, it is important to ensure that business owners and customers alike can learn about each other and hopefully build long standing relationships within the community. The Oakdale Chamber of Commerce recognizes this and is growing its team to further assist in this endeavor. Joining the team as the new Membership and Administrative Coordinator is Lindsey Holmes along with Mindy VanTil as the new Vice President of Marketing and Operations, who will work alongside the CEO of the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce, Cher Bairos.
It was a night of memories, a time to reflect, a time to thank those that have been instrumental in getting them to this point … and a night of embracing what lies ahead. The members of the Oakdale High School Class of 2025 gathered in The Corral on Friday evening, May 23 for the school’s 132nd commencement. They made it uniquely their own, entering the stadium to the cheers and applause of family and friends that filled both the home and visitor sides of the stands, in addition to standing several people deep in some locations around the fencing surrounding the field. Joseph Yakligian is this year’s Class of 2025 Valedictorian; Tyler Raff is the Salutatorian; and Madison Mattos is the recipient of the prestigious Leo Volz Scholarship.
JUNE
Taking action on what many see as a much-needed project, the Oakdale City Council has unanimously approved a $156,200 contract to retrofit lighting at Field 1 in Kerr Park, Oakdale’s largest park. The project aims to modernize outdated floodlights, paving the way for night games long requested by the community. Council members voted 5-0 at their June 2 meeting in favor of awarding the construction contract to Modesto Executive Electric, which submitted the sole bid in the informal bidding process. The approved contract includes $142,200 for base work and a 10 percent contingency of $14,200. Funding will come from the Parks Replacement Fund.
Fans from all over descended on Knights Ferry to celebrate two of the finest things in life: art and music. With more than 30 musical attractions and plenty of artistic endeavors to enjoy from Friday, June 4 through Sunday, June 6, the annual Knights Ferry Art and Music Festival was a bonafide hit. The trio of organizers included Taylar Mason and Randy and Amanda Russell.
The familiar tune of ‘Row, row, row your boat’ echoed out into the lobby of the Gene Bianchi Community Center as area senior citizens took part in workout sessions at the Senior Information Day. As one group sang and stretched, another group played a rousing game of cards. Still others took the opportunity to catch up with friends they hadn’t seen in a while. Filled with vendors from local businesses such as Astoria Senior Living and Memory Care, Belmare Senior Living and Oak Valley Hospital District (OVHD) along with representatives from Stanislaus County, MOVE (Transportation That Changes Lives) and multiple organizations that provide specialized services for seniors, the June 11 event was jam packed with opportunities to learn, to move and to meet new friends.
At the recent meeting of the Oakdale Fire Protection District Board, there were a lot of pressing items on the agenda including the ‘changing of the guard’ in terms of the current board members. Board President Paul Rivera and Director Eric Feichter both said their goodbyes as their terms came to an end; Gary Cortes, retired Fire Captain from the City of Oakdale, who joined the board a few months ago, was reappointed to the board. In addition to Cortes, Rod Gambini, former Board President and retired firefighter that served in Valley Home for a number of years along with Matthew Cox, longtime resident and volunteer firefighter, will take over the seats vacated by Rivera and Feichter. Erick Vandeveer and Mike Van Dyke will continue to serve as Directors.
What has become a local favorite, A Small Town Christmas, will have an exciting new element this year. Plans are progressing for the Julia Haidlen Memorial Ice Skating Rink to open later this year for a roughly month-long run. And while we may just be heading into the season of triple digit temperatures, the Haidlen family is looking forward to sharing warm cups of cocoa and holiday tunes with the community. The ice skating rink, in fact, has been a dream in the making and thanks to the generosity of the Haidlen family along with other community members, the dream is finally going to become a reality. The rink is scheduled to open during the first week of December 2025 and run through the first week of January 2026.
This four-part series will continue in the Jan. 14 issue, covering the third quarter of 2025, July through September.
