A shared love of Manteca brought people to gather in Ken Hafer’s garage 27 years ago to discuss forming a non-profit to preserve the community’s history.
On Sunday it was admiration of Hafer and his role as the driving force that formed the Manteca Historical Society and established the Manteca museum that filled the museum parking lot.
They were there to do something that Hafer never wanted — the naming of the main building in his honor.
Speaker after speaker — and stories shared beforehand and afterwards by those gathered for the hour-long ceremony — made it clear the community needed to honor the man who refused to give up when others wavered on the need for a museum and then devoted a quarter of a century to make the museum collection as complete and vibrant as possible.
“His modesty was genuine,” said founding board member Marion Elliott of Hafer’s steadfast resistance to any efforts to honor him while he was living.
Elliott noted Hafer was a hard worker who refused to let the dream of establishing a museum fade went it was first bantered about more than 30 years ago but didn’t initially gain traction.
“He became Manteca’s No. 1 historian,” said Elliott who has been anonymously penning local and sports history columns in the Manteca Bulletin for more than 30 years.
Elliott also provided a glimpse of Hafer’s legendary sharp wit.
He related how he was working on a history column and gave Hafer a call about an item he wasn’t sure about. After Hafer provided the information, Elliott remarked how that must mean that he was Manteca’s No. 2 historian. That prompted Hafer to retort, “no, more like No. 4.”
Dale Johnson, another founding board member shared how Hafer was a “hard task maker.”
“Sometimes he was a little rough but we learned to live with it,” Johnson said.
Jack Snyder was also among those who Hafer rounded up to serve on the original board.
“Many people talk the walk but he did it,” Snyder said.
Lois Page recalled how Hafer dropped by her fitness business one say and said to her, “let’s start a museum.” The next day she was part of a group he had rustled up to meet in his garage. She became the historical society’s founding secretary, a role Page held for a number of years.
Page shared a story on how people had grown frustrated with Hafer not wanting to be recognized for his efforts. So one year when he was on vacation in Hawaii, they put a sign in place naming the front part of the 8,000-square-foot main building the “Ken Hafer Room.”
The sign disappeared after his return.
“We have no idea where it is,” she said.
The only other surviving founding board member member— Ron Howe — was unable to attend Sunday’s dedication.
The museum that’s run by volunteers is located in the now 100-year-old church that once housed both Episcopalian and Methodist churches. You will find the museum at the corner of two streets named after nearby national parks — Yosemite and Sequoia avenues just over a block west of downtown. The museum is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 3 p.m. as well as Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.
Concern that Manteca’s
past would be forgotten
& lost spurred effort
The desire to establish a museum was driven by the disappearance of Manteca landmarks that ran the gamut from the Manteca High mission-style tower to the Southern Pacific Railroad station. Back in 1989 there was a concern that Manteca would lose more than just landmarks if steps weren’t taken to establish a depository of sorts to collect and preserve historical items tied to Manteca and the surrounding areas.
The goal was simply to establish a place where people could gather to share memories, preserve heritage, and store photographs and other artifacts for future generations to enjoy.
As word spread of the effort, the organizing group was soon inundated with people offering to provide historical items. That prompted a search for a building to store what was collected. The group was officially launched in 1990.
The first museum was the old Christian Science Room in the 200 block of Poplar next to the tennis courts located across from the Manteca Library.
In the fall of 1991 Delicato Vineyards opened their warehouse to host a food and wine tasting event that ended up being the precursor to the annual Gourmet Sampler. The charter membership drive lured nearly 400 people and gave the museum effort a big boost.
In April of 1992, the society decided to purchase the old 1917 Methodist Episcopal Church that is 10 times bigger than the original 800-swuare-foot location. The society took possession of the church in July 1992 even though it was badly in need of repair, including a leaky roof. The museum opened for business 10 days later as remodeling progressed.
A new roof system was installed, 42 windows were closed in, and new steel entry doors were installed along with fire, smoke and burglar alarms. A new electric panel with much new wiring was added and then vinyl siding was used to cover all the blemishes.
This was all accomplished with volunteers, donations of labor and materials, and a one-time grant from the City of Manteca of redevelopment agency funds in the amount of $92,000 along with an anonymous cash donation of $50,000.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, e-mail dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
