Greetings friends,
Wow, it’s May, and it’s time to get ready for a busy summer as we enjoy the last month of spring. Putting this issue together, it’s crazy how much there is to do, how much we can gather, how much we can volunteer and how much we can do to make sure our family, our community, and our workplaces are moving in the right direction. Spring freshens up everything and we can take advantage of how we make, or remake ourselves. We can’t control the world at large, but we can make sure things are just, fair and positive in our community and make our voices heard.
I officially passed the Beatles milestone and turned 64. I am grateful that my family apparently still needs me and will still feed me, when I’m 64. Actually, I feel refreshed at 64 and I am always looking forward to the next adventure with our grandkids, or what new band will pop up and enjoy a new restaurant or coffee shop. There is truly a Beatles song for nearly every stage of your life and most all of your feelings. More than any other group, their music fills my soul and my grandson is playing the drums along with my guitar or piano, just like Ringo. Now he has a harmonica, just like John. These are great times and magic moments. Can’t wait for our little ones to start a jam with us.
My batteries get charged up when we are out and about. One of the things that Rebecca and I really enjoy is going to dinner and a movie and we have great choices, from the historic State, to the downtown Brenden or the IMAX at Galaxy and you realize how important movie houses are to a community core. The ebb and flow of people going to shows, movies and stage performances is healthy, just like the tide, and we need to make sure that our downtowns are safe, well lit and welcoming so that this daily migration can happen. It’s more than just a movie, it’s the breathing of our community. I am grateful to my friend Saul Trujillo at Brenden who enables us to do the things we do in Modesto like Music in the Plaza, May the 4th, Rockin’ Holiday and so much more. I interview him in this issue.
Speaking of movies, for the next few months, there are two movies that are important to Modesto USA. Star Wars changed the world, and we have our May the 4th Celebration in 10th St Plaza on from 4-6 May 4th. Don’t miss the block-long light saber battle at dusk. See our feature in this issue for the schedule and line up. Then we are revving our engines to celebrate American Graffiti as we welcome people from around the world to Modesto to enjoy our classic car culture, no matter what you drive. These are important things that we can build on, like we are doing with the Graffiti USA Museum, celebrating Modesto’s car, film, Lucas and pop culture contributions. It is already a community gathering place. The economy is weird, but we still need your support to help us build. Our “Let’s Build a Lobby” campaign is on now, and we would like you to team up. If you have mad skills or want to donate, please contact me or the museum. www.graffitiusamuseum.com<www.graffitiusamuseum.com>
We receive so many great comments from people about how they count on ModestoView for knowing what’s going on in our community and being a positive voice. We are here for our local business and our local people that work hard to make a difference. I case you didn’t know, ModestoView is the largest monthly magazine in our region, by far, in print, and on the socials @modestoview. We work hard to embrace and recognize those in our community that are more innovative and do things better and try to learn, collaborate and connect to make it all work together. We never stop learning, and we want to make sure we are the resource you want us to be. If there are things we can do better, or are missing, please let me know at chrism@modestoview.com<mailto:chrism@modestoview.com>
For our family, all of this revolves around our family-owned company Sierra Pacific Warehouse Group, that’s part of the important food supply chain. We get involved at the local and national level to help make sure the food supply chain is strong and safe. Our team is amazing, and we work hard to make sure we have the best people and take care of them. We have our third generation in place and the fourth is a year and a half old. I am grateful to my father-in-law Mike McNulty who started this company in 1987 with his partner Roy Atkins. We are a local business that works hard to support other local business and we encourage our other local businesses to link up, and make sure we create a strong community, and support each other.
That’s how we all, and Modesto win.
With gratitude,
Chris Murphy
Founder & Publisher, ModestoView / CEO, Sierra Pacific Warehouse Group
chrism@modestoview.com<mailto:chrism@modestoview.com>
www.modestoview.com<www.modestoview.com>
