Names of Note: Honors for Blue Diamond and a Gallo. Book and play relive Dust Bowl
Bob Gallo is the first-ever trustee emeritus of the University of California, Merced, Foundation, recognizing his support for the young campus.
The honoree is co-chairman of E.&J. Gallo Winery of Modesto, which donated $5 million in 2002 toward the planned Ernest and Julio Gallo School of Management. Bob Gallo joined the foundation board in 2000, five years before the campus opened.
“This university would not be where it is today without Bob’s support, and that of the entire Gallo family,” Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said in a news release.
The family also has helped fund scholarships, serviced learning projects and the Beginnings Sculpture, a steel work rising 40 feet above the quad.
“I have many fond memories of the campus, including attending commencement and watching students walk through the Beginnings Sculpture as they start their own new beginnings as graduates of UC Merced,” Gallo said.
Blue Diamond goes green at Salida plant
Blue Diamond Growers was certified by the California Green Business Network for conservation efforts at its Salida almond plant.
The company met standards for saving water and energy, preventing pollution, recycling waste, encouraging alternative transportation and partnering with local vendors.
It was the first Stanislaus County honoree in the program, run locally by the Modesto Chamber of Commerce.
The grower-owned cooperative employs about 1,800 people in Stanislaus and Sacramento counties. It is the largest player in the global almond industry.
Blue Diamond celebrated Thursday with a “green ribbon cutting” attended by business and government leaders.
“Blue Diamond has a long 110-year history as an almond cooperative, and within that history has been a commitment to sustainability across all our facilities – Sacramento, Salida and Turlock,” said Brian Barczak, senior vice president for global supply.
Festival features ‘Migrant Mother’ play
An online theater festival will present a video recording of “Migrant Mother,” written by Ken White of Modesto.
The title refers to Dorothea Lange’s iconic photo of Florence Owen Thompson in a Santa Barbara County pea field in the 1930s. Thompson went on to live in Modesto before her death.
Jason Conley recorded a 2017 performance of the play at the Prospect Theater Project. It is now on the 2021 program for the NorCal Fringe Festival, based in Grass Valley.
The festival runs the first two weekends of April. “Migrant Mother” is part of both Sunday afternoon sessions. More information is at norcalfringe.org.
‘We Ain’t Okies’ explores migrants, too
Dale Presson has published a historical novel about the Dust Bowl migration to the San Joaquin Valley.
‘We Ain’t Okies’ is about an Arkansas boy who leaves the farm and ends up in California in the 1930s. The author lived as a boy in migrant communities that emerged in Modesto.
“I grew up poor as an ‘Okie’ in south Modesto and the Airport District, so I have first-hand knowledge of what I’m writing about,” Presson said in an email. He is a retired Army colonel.
“We Ain’t Okies’ can be purchased on amazon.com.
Names of Note recognizes people and organizations for their contribution to their communities. Submit items to jholland@modbee.com.
