February 13-14, 2016
Written February 15
Dear Diary, Friends, and Families,Written February 15
For the Valentine's Day weekend we traveled to exotic Newman, California. Before going, I had asked around and no one I asked had even heard of the place! Google Maps showed it out in the rural San Joaquin Valley, about 45 minutes west of Merced. I hadn't even thought there WAS 45 minutes of road west of Merced, but there it was, surrounded by orchards, cattle ranches, and fragrant feed lots.
Why were we there, you might ask. We had been invited by Marianne's brother Tom
for an evening of bluegrass and we have always enjoyed his shows,
whether in his East Bay home grounds or in southern France and western
Germany. Seemed worth an overnight in Merced (no operating hotels
in Newman) and a drive across our SJ Valley.
The
venue was the West Side Theatre, on Newman's Main Street in since
1940. The movie theater was reportedly the first air-conditioned
building in Newman, undoubtedly a reason for its initial
popularity. 
By
the mid-80's, television at home had taken away business and the
run-down theater was converted to a roller skating rink by removing all
the seats. A decade later, that business had also died, but local
visionaries convinced the town fathers to spend some redevelopment
money, creating an entertainment and meeting center. After
considerable volunteer labor and generous donations, The West Side Theatre was re-born. Saturday night would open with Red Dog Ash, a local quartet from Denair, another SJ Valley village I had never heard of. I think there are lots of those. The feature band would be High Country, a traditional bluegrass band that Tom has fiddled with for more than a couple of decades. The band itself was founded by Butch Waller in 1968, over 40 years ago, and he is still the leader and mandolin player. This is a group with decades of credentials and shared experience. (Tom said Butch had given him his first real mandolin lessons, over forty years ago!)
I
took advantage of the band sound check to take some people pictures,
before the glare of stage lights make picture taking very
difficult. (A lesson I had learned at one of Tom's concerts a few
years back.) In fact, as good as the concert would be, I think
this informal playing by incredibly talented musicians may have been
even better.Butch Waller, Larry Cohea, Jim Mintun, Tom Bekeny, Bob Waller, Glenn Dauphin         
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Meanwhile, back in the "green room", Red Dog Ash was warming up too. A fun back stage scene.
Then it was time for the glare of stage lights and Red Dog's set. A talented bunch for sure, and most flattering of Butch Waller and High country.
High
Country's ninety minutes were as great as we have come to expect.
Of course, we are particularly impressed by brother Tom's work on the
fiddle (aka "violin", outside the bluegrass and country world), but
each of the "seasoned" (THEIR words) professionals makes magic from
their instrument. And together, they sound like they have played
together forever. They have. Definitely a worthwhile trip and now we know where Newman is. Who knows, maybe we will return.
On Sunday morning, we all woke early and left our modest Merced motel (that shall remain unnamed in keeping with site policy to not mention places we don't recommend. But it was only $40, so what did we expect?)
We
drove through downtown Merced and, I have to admit, I was
impressed. Downtown Fresno is so abandoned that it is scary, yet
Merced, a far smaller town, seemed to have a reasonably vibrant center
business district. For breakfast we stumbled upon the Cinema Cafe
and were impressed by this tiny place. With less than 20 seats
inside we were lucky to get the only four-top table. (It was
still a bit too chilly for the sidewalk tables.) The food was
old-fashioned good, the service genuinely friendly, and the prices very
reasonable. We may be back here too.An hour later we were showing Kate and Tom around our house since it was their first visit. They said all the complimentary things we like to hear about our old-for-California home.
Marianne
had to show Kate especially the art studio and works that are underway
for an April show. Kate's job has her exposed to a wide range of
San Francisco artists and art students, so her positive comments were
particularly encouraging.Then it was time to test the Bocce court for the first time in 2016. The weather was perfect and, after a rusty start, I actually felt like I made a shot or two. Of course it helps to play with folks even rustier than I am.
   
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Now
that we had worked up appetites, we went over to Mamo's. As
usual, she enjoyed the pre-dinner chit chat and amazed Tom and Kate, as
regularly she does Marianne and me, with her wit and
conversation. And, at 96 years old, she can do it in
English, Hungarian, and German.
Dinner
on this Valentine's Day was at New City Restaurant, the neighborhood
Chinese favorite. I was a little worried about crowds, but New
City managed to seat us immediately and to serve us at an acceptable
pace. Their food is always good. (The Red Lobster across the
parking lot had a line out the door and half-way around the
building. Even the nearby, divey, Mexican bar-restaurant looked
like standing room only.)
By
now, it was getting late and we had to return home. Marianne and
I did manage a cute Valentine's Day picture of our two visitors just
before we jumped in the car to find the Fresno Amtrak train station.We had never been to the train station, and it was pretty dark outside, but it seemed like a nice old(-for-California) building. We will have to come back, maybe for our own trip. (We need to check with Tom and Kate about the actual Amtrak performance back to the Bay Area. Their 8:20 pm departure had them arriving after midnight, so it should have been a decent test.
So, that was our Valentine's weekend. Pretty darn good: music, food, sports, and family.
No pending plans. We need to create something.
John and Marianne