There is a great wealth of information about Manteca and its people available at Rick’s Donut Shop just about any morning during the week from a group of men who have been there and who have done that in the earlier days of this town.
In what started out nearly 30 years ago with only Jerry DeGroot, Jim Perez, Al Richina and Jerry Rollard, the group has grown to as many as 20 at any one time.
Many of the faithful over the years have included members of St. Anthony’s Young Men’s Institute (YMI) with a heavy representation from the farming community.
They often speak with reverence toward those who have passed from their midst and who have left a positive mark in the community they served. Names like Bob O’Rourke, Leo Voller, Duane Ploehn, Ed Neswick, Roland Pitts and Ken Von Reuden stand tall.
Dairyman Jerry DeGroot said it all began with four friends going to lunch at Larimore’s Restaurant and finally ending up at the donut shop on the east side of Manteca where the men take two or three tables – whatever fits in a given day.
And those fishing trips that dated back some 25 years saw few of them eating their catch – they had a better idea. The donut shop owner gave them a key to his business and they would stop there on the way home and drop the fish off inside the business – hundreds of fish were left in the shop over the years.
DeGroot said his bunch of guys have debated just about every issue imaginable over nearly three generations. They pretty much agreed to disagree and have actually solved few of the problems of the world.
“You know when guys get together they talk about everything – lot of talk about baseball, football and baseball,” he said.
Pete Padron – with the guys for about 10 years now – said recent chat was about an YMI dinner they had planned and the first crab feed in the community they had launched in 1986.
Vocations before retirement are well represented within the membership. Four had worked for the Tracy Army Depot after service in the military, one a truck driver for Alpine Meats, a quality assurance food inspector, a railroader for Western Pacific and DeGroot who produced milk and cheese and had a series of milk drive-ins from Manteca to Hayward in the ’80s.
DeGroot came to Manteca with his parents and 15 siblings – working first in Lodi milking cows 11 to 12 hours a day – remembering that after six months he was given one day off. At the end of that first year he received his greetings from Uncle Sam and went into the Army.
DeGroot’s dad passed away after moving to the U.S., leaving his mother to raise the family. Described as a strong and determined woman, she saw to it that her children grew up headed in a positive and God-fearing direction. Like DeGroot and his parents, they have all left their mark for the better having started out as immigrants.
In what started out nearly 30 years ago with only Jerry DeGroot, Jim Perez, Al Richina and Jerry Rollard, the group has grown to as many as 20 at any one time.
Many of the faithful over the years have included members of St. Anthony’s Young Men’s Institute (YMI) with a heavy representation from the farming community.
They often speak with reverence toward those who have passed from their midst and who have left a positive mark in the community they served. Names like Bob O’Rourke, Leo Voller, Duane Ploehn, Ed Neswick, Roland Pitts and Ken Von Reuden stand tall.
Dairyman Jerry DeGroot said it all began with four friends going to lunch at Larimore’s Restaurant and finally ending up at the donut shop on the east side of Manteca where the men take two or three tables – whatever fits in a given day.
And those fishing trips that dated back some 25 years saw few of them eating their catch – they had a better idea. The donut shop owner gave them a key to his business and they would stop there on the way home and drop the fish off inside the business – hundreds of fish were left in the shop over the years.
DeGroot said his bunch of guys have debated just about every issue imaginable over nearly three generations. They pretty much agreed to disagree and have actually solved few of the problems of the world.
“You know when guys get together they talk about everything – lot of talk about baseball, football and baseball,” he said.
Pete Padron – with the guys for about 10 years now – said recent chat was about an YMI dinner they had planned and the first crab feed in the community they had launched in 1986.
Vocations before retirement are well represented within the membership. Four had worked for the Tracy Army Depot after service in the military, one a truck driver for Alpine Meats, a quality assurance food inspector, a railroader for Western Pacific and DeGroot who produced milk and cheese and had a series of milk drive-ins from Manteca to Hayward in the ’80s.
DeGroot came to Manteca with his parents and 15 siblings – working first in Lodi milking cows 11 to 12 hours a day – remembering that after six months he was given one day off. At the end of that first year he received his greetings from Uncle Sam and went into the Army.
DeGroot’s dad passed away after moving to the U.S., leaving his mother to raise the family. Described as a strong and determined woman, she saw to it that her children grew up headed in a positive and God-fearing direction. Like DeGroot and his parents, they have all left their mark for the better having started out as immigrants.
