Carlon Perry knows how to put some muscle into a hoe.
On Thursday as the mercury was climbing toward 90 degrees, the former Manteca mayor and commander of Jimmie Connors Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6311 was out along Moffat Boulevard hoeing weeds at the Moffat Community Center/Manteca Veterans Center.
Perry was doing touch up work on the landscaping prior to the Thursday evening VFW meeting that was expected to draw some 125 members.
The post continues to set membership records. Today there are 429 members up from 241 last year and from 60 two years ago. Not only was the decision by the City Council to make a three-prong investment in veterans, the community and Moffat Boulevard paying off but it adds credence to the saying, “build it and they will come.”
That represents a 159 percent game in the past year. It is tops in the nation so far for 2016 with the closest competition being a post in Louisville that has registered a 139 percent gain in membership to date. That means there is a strong possibility for the Jimmie Connors Post to three-peat as the fastest
A lot of credit goes to Perry and other VFW members who saw the need for programs for their fellow veterans and then set out to make them possible.
At the same time a lot of credit for Perry’s hoeing ability goes to the arm that he developed pitching 50 some odd years ago at the Manteca High baseball diamond just a few blocks away while playing for the Buffaloes. It’s the same arm that got him drafted to be part of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball organization where one of his roommates was future Dodgers great Tony Lasorda.

Hob Nob donating
part of proceeds
to Vietnam War mural
The Hob Nob — arguably Manteca’s most unique dining option if not the smallest — is donating 5 percent of all sales May 23-28 to the Vietnam War Mural project of the Manteca Mural Society.
The Hob Nob at 1315 North Main Street serves Casper dogs, soft serve ice cream, floats, shakes, and cones.
The gesture is “to our servicemen and women with our sincere appreciation and gratitude.,”

Water conservation
is the new norm for
Manteca & California
Water conservation is the new norm for California.
It’s a view Manteca City Manager Karen McLaughlin preaches and practices,
McLaughlin, for an example, has no intention of ending her at-home conservation endeavors even though Modesto where she lives has eased restrictions for outside watering of landscape going from one day a week to two days.
Her biggest water recycling effort is to fill a bucket with water when taking a shower and then taking it into the backyard to water the landscaping.
“It takes a while for the water to warm up,” she said of her shower. “It makes no sense to waste it.”
The wet winter has prompted some easing on water use. That said, the drought is far from over. Ninety-percent of the state is still in drought conditions according to the federal government.
Even if California returns to what has passed as normal rainy and snow seasons for the past 200 years and is not lapsing into a mega-drought cycle that rules much of the West for centuries based on scientific studies of tree rings, the state’s continued population growth and water management policies aimed at shoring up fish and habitats is putting bigger demands on water that is captured in the state’s reservoirs.
Add in new state mandates for groundwater stability meaning regions can’t take more water from the ground than they put back in coupled with the watershed Manteca relies on for domestic an farm water wasn’t as well blessed this year as river systems farther north and water is a resource residents, businesses, and farmers can ill-afford to waste.

Former astronaut
presenting his
son his UOP diploma
Former astronaut and current University of the Pacific Regent José Hernández will have the rare opportunity on Saturday to hand a diploma to his son, Julio, who will receive a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in engineering science during a ceremony for Pacific’s School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Julio Hernández, who also wants to become an astronaut, is scheduled to attend Purdue University’s PhD program in the fall.

Hernández, born in French Camp and raised in Stockton, attended Pacific through the Community Involvement Program, a scholarship program for underrepresented students, and earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He later received a master’s degree at UC Santa Barbara.
 Hernández was rejected by NASA 11 times before being accepted for the 2004 astronaut candidate class. Hernández served as the flight engineer aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009 and operated the shuttle’s robotic arm as it circled Earth 217 times. Hernández continues to keep close ties to Pacific: He was first elected to the Board of Regents in 2007; he inspired the PrepUSA/Reach for the Stars annual summer program at Pacific that prepares promising students, especially girls and underrepresented minorities, for STEM careers; and his engineering firm, Tierra Luna Engineering, recently helped Pacific’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers test launch a “cubesat,” or small, cube-shaped satellite, into space.
Hernandez now resides in Manteca

About those KKK
flyers found
around Manteca
It was brought to our attention Thursday flyers promoting the Pacific Coast Knights of the Klu Klux Klan have been posted around town including on the Fremont Avenue side of the Bulletin’s building.
The flyer — that calls for people “to join the struggle for separation” —has phone number and an email address . It also states “call this Manteca Bulletin!”
It goes without saying the Bulletin has no connection with whoever is posting the flyers

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com