Who killed the Memorial Day Weekend Commemorative at Woodward Park?
You know the one.
It had solemn and stirring messages delivered in the first person and via static displays that illustrated the heavy price others paid for our freedom and liberties.
It included military flyovers, demonstrations, a car show, church services, and more.
There was a live USO-style concert and fireworks capping off the event to celebrate those who returned home to a grateful nation
But most important, it included the images and names of those from the greater region that gave their lives in the Global War on Terror along with white wooden crosses for every American solider that died in the conflicts.
So who killed it off?
Mayor Gary Singh?
The City of Manteca?
Try you and me.
The bottom-line truth is it was a time consuming endeavor that required year-round planning, raising a lot of money, and the need to have a dedicated small army of volunteers.
It was a passion for Pastor Mike Dillman and others who made it happen.
As much as it was a passion, it was also all-time consuming to do with just two or three people doing the bulk of the year-round work and taxing for other people to do the behind-the-scene logistics grunt work to pull it off.
As much as it was a labor of love and respect, such endeavors require fresh bodies, if you will, to keep it going.
That is where you and me — and specifically the dedicated malcontents on social media that blame Mayor Singh for virtually everything from the high price of eggs to the 100 degree plus temperatures coming this weekend — come into the equation.
Nothing works in a community if you don’t step up.
Instead of getting carpal tunnel vision typing away on devices as they lash out at the mayor, the city, or whoever their target du jour is for spreading trumped up claims peppered generously with vile, perhaps the Manteca malcontents might want to do something about it.
Action does speak louder than words.
Perhaps that’s why the “voice” of people like Gary Singh and the countless volunteers who step up and help weave and strengthen the community fabric by volunteering as coaches, service club members, mentors, and such are the loudest.
Granted, the Manteca malcontents are the most irritable if you get sucked into the vortex of endless discontent they spew. Singh could find a cure for cancer and they’d slam him for doing so only for personal gain.
Volunteers power the community
The Fourth of July parade coming up is enjoyed by thousands is one example.
The Sunrise Kiwanis stage the parade, which requires a heck of a lot more than just showing up on the morning of the Fourth of July.
It takes volunteers devoting a lot of time and energy.
And the ranks of service clubs and organizations that make such things happen aren’t growing with Manteca or are declining in numbers.
The good news is there are people stepping up in newer organizations such as the Thomas Toy Community Teen Center and outreach efforts of various religions and social organizations.
Back to to the parade for a second.
The Independence Day event has been an on and off event for a number of years.
It takes a toll on one or two persons or so to do the year-round planning and prep to pull it off.
That runs the gamut from securing insurance to endless grunt work no one watching a parade ever thinks about.
Service clubs are a bit of a different animal than solo stand-alone endeavors such as the Memorial Day Weekend Commemorative effort although they too can come and go without new people stepping up.
Another example of what powers the community are unsung solos heroes.
They are everywhere.
One that sticks out is a young teen boy who spent the better part of several weeks for several hours at a time working his way down the Moffat leg of the Tidewater Bikeway knocking down weeds with a hoe.
The volunteer acts don’t have to be big.
It can be picking up litter as you walk down the street or in a park.
Spraying weed killer in vegetation growing through cracks in the street in front of your home.
A community, by its definition, is a collective effort.
The Manteca malcontents also are the ones that slam the city the hardest for not making things like a Trader Joe’s or Cheesecake Factory happen in Manteca.
The fact they have no clue about the market dynamics the Cheesecake Factory requires that Manteca is light years away from offering, cities have little say in the private sector decisions to pluck down hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars to open a location.
And when they do take steps to make something happen that people say they want, the very same people find an excuse not to support it.
A case in point was roughly 25 years ago.
Before social media made it possible to bellyache about the world to the world 24/7 wherever you are, people had to physically go to council meetings to rip into the city.
The big issue was there was nothing for kids to do in Manteca.
More specifically, for the Manteca malcontents of the day, it meant Manteca did not have a roller skating ring.
It was unfair, they said, that they had to drive their kids to Modesto. And they said so every two weeks or so like clockwork when the council met.
An entrepreneur treated the bellyaching as if it were marketing data.
He secured the shuttered Honda dealership that had most of it’s car indoors on North Main Street where NAPA auto parts is located today.
The site lacked needed parking. The city worked with the applicant and made an exception.
After it opened, the Manteca malcontents shifted gears.
It cost too much to go there as it was 50 cents more than a skating rink in Modesto.
Forget the fact between burning through gas and the time to get to Modesto and back that the Manteca roller rink was actually less expensive.
Trashing Manteca is what malcontents look forward to when they wake up each day.
This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
