It is more than just a football game tonight at Manteca’s Guss Schmiedt Field when the Buffaloes host Rio Americano High at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.
The Manteca High student body will be recognizing all veterans for their service. A ceremony devoted to six of the 17 former Manteca High students and graduates who died in Vietnam will be conducted. The six were part of the Class of 1967 that graduated 50 years ago. A flag that was flown over the Pentagon in memory of the six fallen, will be presented and raised at the game.  Donations will be collected with all proceeds going to the Manteca Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall located just across from Manteca High on Moffat Boulevard.
A ceremony will also take place at half time of the game.  The school staff is asking any veterans in Manteca, and from the surrounding areas, to join them on the field to be honored.  Please contact either Stephanie Hjelmstad or MaryAnn Tolbert to have your place reserved (209-969-0099/209-858-8380 or email  shjelmstad@musd.net or mtolbert@musd.net .
A Congressional Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam War and French Camp native — Sammy Davis — attended Manteca High for three years. Footage of him receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B. Johnson was used in the movie “Forrest Gump” with Tom Hank’s face super-imposed.

Manteca still in the
hunt for Great Wolf
Now that the middle man, McWhinney Development Co., is out of the picture, Great Wolf has stepped up talks with the City of Manteca for possibly building a 500-room hotel along with a 70,000-square-foot indoor waterpark plus a conference center to accommodate between 1,200 and 1,500 people
Great Wolf representatives were in town this week for talks between the city and the firm to possibly build a resort.
City Manager Tim Ogden shared at Tuesday’s council meeting that representatives of Great Wolf as well as Big League Dreams meet with a Manteca community stakeholders meeting this week. The City Council had a closed door session last week and Tuesday to discuss negotiations for the project that has already secured environmental clearance and has key infrastructure in place.
Ogden noted that Great Wolf has indicated it wants to have more aspects of its resort open to the general public — meaning you don’t have to check into the hotel to use them — including restaurants, an arcade and attractions such as a climbing wall.
Ogden made it clear that the city will work diligently to secure a waterpark resort on the 30 acres of municipal property whether it is Great Wolf or another operator.
A suggestion for
wine tasting room
that makes sense
Maxine Terry-Sellers shared an idea with the City Council on Tuesday that makes sense: Why isn’t someone trying to open a wine tasting room at The Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley?
The Manteca resident pointed to similar successful endeavors in Lodi’s downtown district.
Given Manteca being on the main route from the Bay Area to the Sierra and Yosemite as well as being home to the nation’s sixth largest winery — Delicato Vineyards — plus having the nation’s second largest winery in the form of The Wine Group just east of the city in rural Ripon and having the No. 1 and No. 3 wineries (Gallo in Modesto and Bronco in Ceres) less than 20 miles away you’d think Orchard Valley would be a natural for a wine tasting room.
Toss in the fact San Joaquin County is the top county in the nation when  it comes to wine grape production and it’s a no-brainer.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com