Linda Abeldt believes in SMERFS.
So much so that she spent 15 years pursuing them.
The SMERFS she chased weren’t the funny looking blue cartoon characters. They’re the ones that form the acronym SMERFS - Social, Military, Educational, Religious, Fraternal & Sports visitors markets. And if they had to be given a color it would be the green they bring to fill cash register tills, generate additional room and sales taxes, and help support Manteca hospitality sector jobs.
Abeldt was the driving force in the successful launch of the Manteca Convention & Visitors Bureau more than 15 years ago. The strategy from Day One was to capitalize on Manteca’s location as being equal distance from San Jose, San Francisco, and Sacramento to build the SMERFS trade to fill motel rooms, help bring more business to the private sector, and increase taxes for the city.
She stepped down from the CVB’s executive director’s job last year. Abeldt now works as the marketing and promotion director for The Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley where she helped open the Manteca Visitors Center three years ago.
Abeldt is among the 10 Women of Distinction being honored during the upcoming Feb. 17 Women’s Conference hosted by the CVB. The others are Dorothy Indelicato, Evelyn Prouty, Rose Albano Risso, Lucille Harris, Toni Raymus, Bea Bowlsby, Sister Ann Venita Britto, Patty Reece, and Karen McLaughlin.
“I was fortunate to have an incredible board,” Abeldt said. “They made it work.”
Going after the SMERFS and tourist trade meant going to expositions throughout the West including Mexico. She recalls how the Manteca booth in a travel convention in Guadalajara managed to pull among the highest number of visitors during that event. The reason was simple. It was Manteca’s name.
“People kept coming up to us wanting to know if we knew what ‘Manteca’ meant in Spanish,” Abeldt recalled.
Manteca, of course, means “lard” in Spanish.
Abeldt gets high praise from her former bosses on the CVB board for her drive, determination, creativity, and work ethic.
She credits all of that to her father Joe Freitas.
“He was a sensational businessman,” Abeldt recalled of the days when Freitas ran Joe’s Food Center that is now the Fisherman’s Outlet on East Highway 120. “He worked hard every day. He instilled a strong work ethic in me.”
She started while in elementary school stocking and stamping food items. That was in the days before bar codes and every item in the store had to have a price stamped on it.
The 1970 Manteca High graduate started a baton and dance studio shortly after graduating. It was a business she had for 13 years before a stint as owner-operator of Manteca Travel for another 13 years.
During that time she assumed the presidency of both the Manteca Chamber of Commerce and Manteca-Lathrop Boys & Girls Club.
She also has served on the United Way Manteca-Lathrop Community Council. Abeldt is currently a board member for Manteca District Ambulance. She also continues to play a key role in the Boys & Girls Club’s telethon, the organization’s major annual fundraiser.
Abeldt was part of the group that launched the Crossroads Street Fair and established the Manteca farmers market.
Abeldt said she has been fortunate that she has loved all of the jobs that she has had.
That segues into advice for those trying to find their lot in life.
“Get involved,” Abeldt said. “Find an organization that fills your passion and run with it.”
