Hi everyone … I hope all is well with each of you.
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This week I am sending out huge thanks to our Modesto Fire Department firefighters. Once again, as you have so many times in so many different ways, you came to Valley Home to support our community. Thank you for coming and helping on our “ Love Valley Home Day “ on April 25. We deeply appreciate all you do for Valley Home.
One of the projects that was given attention that day was our beautiful little Community Park. We are grateful for our townsfolk who work so hard to keep our little park so lovely. We send a special thank you to Dennis McCutheon and our Valley Home School Superintendent Bill Slikker for their support of the park all year round.
Our community takes great pride in our little park and we are blessed with many hardworking Valley Home folks who work to keep it beautiful; these folks do this without fanfare … they simply love and care about Valley Home. We are blessed to live among such great folks in such a wonderful place.
Our community park is owned by each one of us in the Valley Home community. Over the years many of our residents have worked hard to take care of our park. It would be impossible to name all those who did so much to make our park the beautiful treasure it is today. I remember that Kathy Shepherd and her family, Valley Home 4-H, and Glenn and Laura Burghardt were among the first Valley Home citizens to work to save the land where our Community Center once stood. It was at risk, back taxes … the land and our beautiful old building were on the chopping block. Elsie Martin and family were at the forefront of working to save the building and the land on which our Community Center stood. Many townspeople worked hard to save the beautiful old building. I remember Tammie Smith and her family, the Jones family, Sharon Furtado and her family, Mike Tozzi family, Jennie Beasley and Debbie Locker, Tom Winchester, Roger Beymer, and so many more. Time had taken its toll; new rules and regulations would not allow restoration of the building. The decision was made to create a beautiful community park where our Community Center had once stood. It would be impossible to name all those who did so much to make our park the beautiful reality it is today. Joe and Linda Perez and so many more worked diligently to help create what is now our beautiful community park. Our park has become a wonderful source of pride to our Valley Home community. The park has been blessed over the years with amazing helping hands and donations from many folks, including thoughtful and heartfelt donations from folks far and wide who have fond memories of growing up in Valley Home. Our County Supervisor Buck Condit, and the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors have been very generous, donating so much to help Valley Home, including the well and pump at the park. St. Luke’s/St. John’s Church has been so helpful and has made very generous caring donations to our park. We are all blessed. Stockton Fire gave the park a very generous donation. These kind and thoughtful donations go toward taxes, PG&E, insurance, and general park maintenance – water lines, sprinkler replacement, etc. Although our Community Park story started many, many years ago, it still stands as a beautiful treasure to our community today.
Back to the memory of our historic Community Center … oh my goodness … if its walls could have talked, the stories it could have told. I am sure many of you reading this have special memories of your time spent at our Valley Home Community Center. This grand old building would have told of graduations, weddings, baby showers, school plays, birthday parties … and so much more. The Community Center was home to most everything that happened in Valley Home. It was a very special place. I remember while our community worked together, a beautiful fundraiser under the stars was held at Elsie and Augie’s ranch. Many came out to support it. But in the end, due to rules and regulations, our beautiful much loved Community Center could not be saved.
We were all ready to help, all so proud, everyone pitched in and all doing what they could to make our Valley Home Community Park a reality. Over the years it has been truly a labor of love for so many. For me personally I can remember the day so well that my late husband Richard, Melisa Carpenter, Vicki Dickens and my grandsons Cody and Cooper planted a beautiful little Christmas tree in the park. It has grown taller and stronger each year. Today it lights the way for our Valley Home Lighted Christmas Parade and activities in the park at Christmastime. The little tree was a generous donation from our Knudsen Nursery. Our beautiful little community park was dedicated on June 18, 2011. Special guests were County Supervisor Bill O’Brien and his son Alex, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, and Oakdale Mayor Pat Paul.
We send a huge thank you to Oakdale Irrigation District for our beautiful redwood picnic benches, we deeply appreciate you. We would like to say thank you to Mary Fowzer for donating beautiful plants, and trees for the park. We are so grateful to Past Oakdale Garden Club President Brenda Peterson who attended the dedication and represented the group. Thank you all so much for your generous donation of two beautiful Valley Oak trees to the park during its 2011 dedication. Those beautiful trees provide such lovely shade for park events today. You are very much appreciated.
The Community Park has been blessed with so many great, hardworking people over the years … we send a heartfelt thank you to all who have given so generously of your time to our community park. Your helping hands make a huge difference. I will close with a remembrance to our late chairman of the Park Board, a man who deeply loved Valley Home and served many years as Park Chairman, Mr. Don Taro. You are deeply missed, Donnie.
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As always, you may reach me by text or telephone at 209-985-5233.
Until next time, “Happy Trails to All.”
