From a poignant program at Oakdale High School focusing on the dangers of drinking and driving to some fun in the mud at the annual Oakdale Saddle Club PRCA Rodeo, there were plenty of events and activities to fill the pages of The Leader in 2024.
This week, we begin our look back at the year gone by, presenting the top stories from the front pages of the January through April issues in Part 1 of a three-part series.
JANUARY
Following an investigation of several days, a New York man was taken into custody on fraud charges by the Oakdale Police Department. In a post on the department’s Facebook page, Oakdale Police reminded residents to “Beware of skimming devices that can steal your personal information.” The post also indicated that, with the help of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office and City of Turlock - Turlock Police Department, the 55-year-old man was arrested for placing skimming devices on several area ATMs. Enache Sandumarian of New York was arrested and booked into the county jail on felony fraud charges.
Visit Oakdale, the destination marketing organization for the City of Oakdale, has announced the relocation of its Oakdale Visitor Center to a more central and accessible site in the heart of Oakdale. And they will just happen to share space with another all-Oakdale organization. Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, residents and visitors can find the Oakdale Visitor Center in the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce building at 590 N. Yosemite Ave., the Center moving from its previous spot at the River Road Plaza, corner of Highway 120 and River Road.
For the fourth consecutive year, National Night Out was an award winner for Oakdale. The 2023 event, coordinated through the Oakdale Police Department in cooperation with community partners and ‘block party captains’ earned both state and national recognition. “Congratulations Oakdale,” department officials noted in an announcement regarding the honors. “Once again, you have demonstrated why our community throws one of the best National Night Out (NNO) events in our country.” For the population category (15,000 to 50,000), Oakdale placed number one in the state of California and also earned an eighth place ranking nationally.
Her presence is one which is well known throughout the community of Oakdale, as well as Riverbank. Her last name can be found on just about any silent auction table at fundraisers and functions throughout the region. Now, however, Antoinette Rodin and her family need the community help that they have so selflessly given for over three decades. As the owner and operator of Rodin Farms Fruit Stand, at the southwest corner of Claribel and Oakdale roads in Riverbank, the longtime staple is facing what many consider an undesirable effect of valley growth. They have to make way for more traffic and a new road. As a result of a unanimous vote at a Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors meeting in December of 2023, five acres of the family’s 120-acre family farm will be acquired through eminent domain. The acquisition comes by way of plans for execution of the North County Corridor Bypass, a roadway system which has been in the works and planning phases for the last several years. Rodin shared the family has been working with the county since December of 2022. Their hope, to come to a resolution best for all involved. The portion of the family farm which will be largely affected is the parcel where the Rodin Farms Fruit Stand sits currently.
FEBRUARY
Oakdale High School has once again been named ‘Champion’ of the Stanislaus County Academic Decathlon. On Saturday, Feb. 3 the small but mighty OHS Aca Dec Team of 16 students proved to be the best in the county, winning both the Super Quiz, as well as the overall title, securing the 21st win for the school at the 44th Annual Stanislaus County Academic Decathlon. The event was hosted at Johansen High School. The competing team of nine will now advance to the state competition, which will be hosted in Santa Clara from March 21 through 24. They will attend representing Stanislaus County.
It may equate to roughly only five percent of the total staff … but for the 28 employees losing their jobs at Oak Valley Hospital District, five percent is too much. “These are painful but necessary cuts,” President and Chief Executive Officer Matt Heyn said regarding the layoffs, which were announced in early February. Some took effect immediately, with some laid off senior management and supervisory personnel let go as of the Feb. 2 announcement of the pending changes at the hospital in Oakdale. Those changes include closing the five-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and discontinuing the Family Support Network (FSN) Department, as well as the staff layoffs.
What seemed to be a regular Thursday, was anything but for Oakdale High School juniors and seniors on Feb. 8, 2024. Thanks largely to the coordinated efforts of the OHS administration, area first responders, sponsors and a grant through the California Highway Patrol, the impactful Every 15 Minutes program returned to the high school campus. A two-day program, Every 15 Minutes is targeted at high school juniors and seniors, challenging them to think about driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or other substances. “Every 15 minutes in the United States someone is killed or seriously injured in an alcohol (related) collision,” California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Olsen shared with the members of the classes of 2024 and 2025 on Thursday morning. As the classmates sat shoulder to shoulder on the west soccer fields, what was ahead of them was unknown. Last staged in 2019, the Every 15 Minutes program is one which the current student body was unfamiliar with. Shortly after being asked to silence their phones and put them away, a loud bang echoed through the field. Before the students, tarps were pulled back from a staged collision.
Under a brilliant full moon that rose into the night sky, the Distinguished Young Women of Oakdale Class of 2025 program took to the stage on Saturday evening, Feb. 24. Sponsored by Soroptimist International of Oakdale, the event was hosted at Magnolia School Auditorium. Family, friends, and community members attended the showcase that featured eight junior class participants from the Oakdale High and Oakdale Charter schools. At evening’s end, Oakdale High senior and Distinguished Young Woman of Oakdale for the Class of 2024 Grace Miller passed her title to Madison Mattos. The honor for Mattos included a $2,500 scholarship for the Distinguished Young Women of Oakdale Class of 2025 title award. She also earned the Scholastics and Community Service awards for an additional $450 in scholarship awards. She will move on to represent Oakdale at the California Distinguished Young Women competition in July for an opportunity to earn additional college scholarships.
It was a turnout befitting of its honorees as the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual awards dinner on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. The Gene Bianchi Center was filled with family, friends and community members of those being acknowledged. Serving as speaker on behalf of longtime friend and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Dr. Albert Lee Scaief, Melinda Owen shared insightful background, as well as fun facts about the optometrist. She included the fact that Scaief was responsible for the inception of the Oakdale Rotary Testicle Festival some 41 years ago. Also announced as the Chamber Award recipients during the evening were: Will Jones, Board Member of the Year; Jenna Sanders, Junior Achievement Award; Susan McCarthy, Citizen of the Year; Bri Swan, Young Professional of the Year; Promotoras, Non-Profit/Service Club of the Year and Roberts Ferry Gourmet, Business of the Year.
MARCH
Boxes and bags were ready and the line of vehicles stretched along Mann Avenue and down around the corner on to West G Street in Oakdale, as residents from throughout the area drove in for some free food on Monday, March 4. It was the first Monday of the month commodity distribution, hosted at the Center for Human Services. And it’s just one of the programs offered through the Oakdale Family Resource and Counseling Center, operated through CHS.
It’s a new season of possibilities for the Oakdale Community Garden, as the group overseeing the project was awarded a grant this week from The Stanislaus Senior Foundation. Gary Jones, Chair for the Community Garden, applied for and was awarded a grant of just under $1,000 to help build a number of taller boxes to add to the Community Garden. “We invite everyone to check out the community garden this year and see the amazing transformation that has occurred here,” noted Oakdale Garden Club President Lauren Dutch. “We also have a few plots and boxes available for people to rent for the 2024 season. The Club is incredibly grateful to be awarded this grant and look forward to watching things grow in 2024.”
The Oakdale Junior High School Colorguard Team is once again having a notable year. Earning championship status for the 2022-23 competition season, this year’s team of 10 students is picking up where last year’s team left off. With two Second Place finishes and a recent First Place Award at the most recent Turlock High School competition, the OJHS team is excited for what’s to come. The 2023-24 squad features six returning teammates and four newcomers. Three of the four new participants are seventh graders, all under the guidance of OJHS English Teacher and Colorguard Coach Danesa Menge.
Oakdale Police Department officials have issued a word of warning, noting that a community member reported to them receiving a letter in the mail recently, asking for donations. The letter highlights the “Oakdale Area Police Officers” in soliciting the funds. Department officials posted an announcement on the police Facebook page, indicating that the letter received by the local resident indicated the money being sought would be to “support the Oakdale Police Department.” However, said Oakdale police officials, the local department is not connected with the organization seeking the funds.
City Council members in Oakdale have unanimously approved the construction of a $6 million sports park on Greger Street, anticipated to attract the community to a new, top-tier sports complex. City Manager Bryan Whitemyer stated, “We’re responding to a community need.” The $6,807,124 Greger Sports Complex will be funded through Park Capital Facilities Fund 349 ($4,750,124), Parks Replacement Fund 549 ($250,000), and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds ($1,807,000). George Reed Inc. secured the contract with the lowest bid, while the highest bid of $7.2M was submitted by Sinclair General Engineering.
Thanks to the leadership of Pacific Project Heroes President J.R. McCarty, as well as his board, the Military Banner Project is going full force. Earlier this month the organization received approval from the Oakdale City Council to implement the hardware needed to hang a total of 32 banners of photos of local military personnel on North Third Avenue. “Now that everything’s back to normal and people are living their lives as they should be we decided to go forward with this project,” McCarty said of the project first considered by the organization close to five years ago. McCarty further shared he’s seen similar projects implemented in other Valley towns and felt it was due time for the City of Oakdale to show their pride in their men and women serving this country.
Some might say Emily Frantz needs to take a ride to Vegas and stop in at a few casinos. The Oakdale High alumni and Oakdale Joint Unified School District substitute teacher has proven that luck is indeed on her side. Frantz recently appeared on the hit television game show Let’s Make a Deal. Not only was she a selected contestant, but also came away the winner of a 2024 Nissan Sentra.
The ASTRO Foundation is set to receive a $15,000 grant investment from national nonprofit Petco Love in support of its lifesaving work for animals in Oakdale, Riverbank, Escalon and closely surrounding areas. Petco Love is a national nonprofit leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has invested $375 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts.
Oakdale High School’s Academic Decathlon team has finished out the season on a high note. The weekend of March 21 to 24, the team traveled to Santa Clara to compete at the state level in the 45th Annual Academic Decathlon. In addition to a number of individual awards, the team earned First Place honors for the Super Quiz, Division 3.
APRIL
Tuesday morning, April 2 saw the first shovels full of dirt turned as the City of Oakdale had a groundbreaking ceremony for the Greger Sports Park project. The event was pulled together following the April 1 regular City Council meeting and is the first step in what will become another major sports complex for the community.
A first of its kind event for Oakdale, organizers want you to put the date on your calendar and get ready for a special night of history at the Oakdale Citizen’s Cemetery. Being put together by the Friends of Oakdale Heritage in cooperation with the cemetery, the Saturday, Oct. 5 tour is a fundraiser for the local cemetery at 701 E. J St., Oakdale. Helping coordinate this ‘Once Upon A Tomb’ event is Amy Velasco, who said tickets will be on sale for $25 and this will be a walking, nighttime tour. Several local residents will be taking on the roles of notable Oakdale figures, with the tour stopping by the selected gravesites to learn the history behind the people.
It may not have been a ‘total eclipse’ of the sun on Monday, April 8 but that didn’t stop a sizeable crowd from gathering at the Oakdale Library to make the most of the opportunity to safely view the celestial scene. California was not in the path of totality – that was further east and north – but there was about a 35 percent coverage of the sun by the moon visible here, peaking about 11:15 a.m. Library branches throughout Stanislaus County welcomed in representatives from the Modesto Children’s Museum, setting up activities, providing information on the eclipse and offering safe viewing ISO glasses for the occasion.
In a week full of sunny skies, arrests for charity, cowgirls enjoying a multitude of luncheon opportunities, the crowning of new royalty and a weekend deluge, the 72nd annual Oakdale PRCA Rodeo, hosted by the Oakdale Saddle Club, capped off the week in style. Competition at the rodeo grounds on Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14, played out with an inch of rainfall pelting the crowd and the competitors on Saturday. While it let up for Sunday, the damage was already done, with the track around the arena looking more like a lake and the arena itself ready for hosting some mud wrestling. But competitors were there for a rodeo, competing in everything from saddle bronc riding to team roping, steer wrestling to the fan favorite bull riding. At the end of the competition, it was Brushton Minton who took home the coveted All-Around Cowboy title.
The small community of Valley Home got a little love on Saturday. While many cities around the region are gearing up for their ‘Love’ events on April 27, the Love Valley Home effort was undertaken on Saturday, April 20. The work saw dozens of volunteers turn out, with the main project being the sprucing up of the small community park, which also features a covered pavilion and picnic tables. Serving as co-chairs for the event were Jessica Caudle and Amanda Beltrami; both were pleased with the turnout and the work accomplished.
