GreetingsView – Graffiti Summertime


Greetings friends.

Here we are in August, on the verge of a rebirth of our culture, hopefully. August has brought the return of Graffiti Summer, so sadly missed last year. The cars are out, the chrome is polished, the music is rockin’ and we are taking tentative steps for some big celebrations as we prepare to induct a new class of the Legends of the Cruise and Cruising returns to downtown Modesto, if only for one fun night. It is magic to see all of the cool cars, all over town and making people of all ages smile. There is so much to be hopeful for as the Gallo Center and the Prospect Theatre opened for live performances and school is about to start. Could this be the return to school plays, talent shows and school band and orchestra?

I, like you have been digging our live music on the various patios and in our cafes and restaurants as our local musicians are booking up their schedule again. As a musician, it is so good to play for people again, taking requests and interacting. The live performances are truly what we missed over the last year and it feels good and Music in the Plaza will be back on Friday evenings in 10th St Plaza. The chance to hear a live band, socialize with friends and family is truly worth getting vaccinated.

July had me up at 4 am daily to watch live feed from the Tour de France and the Olympic trials and games. The excitement and achievement is truly amazing with athletes keeping their condition for an extra whole year. One of the things that always blows my mind is the balance beam in gymnastics. I feel like our whole society is on the balance beam right now. If we do it right, get vaccinated, stay safe in groups, we are going to win the gold medal. BUT, if we wobble, get off balance, we fall, maybe break our leg, and our Olympic dreams are dashed after all the hard work. This is where we are right now, there are so many that have done it right; masks, distancing, and getting vaccinated and these are the ones that are making the team. Now we are at the mercy of the unvaccinated and this is where we will fall. This is not over friends, we have to stay on our game and be world class. If we want to enjoy Graffiti Summer, go to concerts, keep our stores and businesses open, hang out and socialize, please, lets do this right. Get vaccinated. I did. My family did it and you can too. It’s not all about you, it is about all of us together.

Ok, you’ve heard enough, but I hope it set in. We mustn’t go backwards.

OK Modesto, what do we want to be? Are we a town that is going to take advantage of Modesto Forward? Are we going to leverage some of these one-time funding opportunities and really move the needle? Can we become a destination with great museums for kids, special needs people, and for those that celebrate our classic culture? Can we refresh our city with wayfinding so that all of our residents and visitors and learn to navigate our city? Will we link our social services so that we are doing a better job and connecting the dots? Will we make our neighborhoods safer for all of our people equally? Yes we can. What’s cool about Modesto is that is big enough to have the momentum of the big machines, but small enough where each of us can make a difference. People, couples, individuals can create ways to change Modesto for the better. I know I can count on you, the creative and engaged ModestoView reader to be a leader for positive change.

Let’s celebrate and embrace our local, let’s make each thing we work on better and build better connections. Join one of our local non-profits or committees and lend a hand, your skills and energy. Let’s collaborate with our city leaders and engage our businesses to invest to make our city more interesting to visitors and more importantly our own people.

We need the shot in the arm right now, both literally and figuratively to move Modesto forward. We are standing on the balance beam and let’s make sure we compete, win and stay on and go for the gold.

We can do this. Thank you to each and every one of you that read ModestoView and pass on this civic goodness each month. Thank you to the wonderful writers in the ViewCrew for making it through the last year and for creating the cultural events in town and sharing what they do with our readers. We thank our advertisers so that we are able to design, print and distribute the awesome ModestoView Magazine. It has been a hard year and ModestoView has been here, day in and day out, to celebrate and promote our community events and people.

With gratitude,

Chris Murphy
Founder and Publisher, ModestoView
chrism@modestoview.com<mailto:chrism@modestoview.com>

Posted in: news

About the Author:

Chris Murphy is the President and CEO of Sierra Pacific Warehouse Group and Publisher and Founder of ModestoView Inc. Chris worked globally in the cycling industry returning to Modesto in 1996. He is also the founder of the Modesto Historic Graffiti Cruise Route, Legends of the Cruise Walk of Fame, Modesto Rockin’ Holiday, the Modesto Music History Organization and co-founder of the Modesto Area Music Association. Chris is married to his artist wife Rebecca since 1985 and has two daughters Madison and Abigail, both graduating from Modesto High and UC Berkeley. He is lead singer and guitarist for his band, Third Party that donates their performances to non-profits.