The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 10

A-10 Sunday March 10 1974 THE MODESTO BEE San Joaquin Valley Amtrak Route Draws Some Tart Comments ceremonial arrival at Riverbank on Tuesday service should go through Modesto the population center of (Stanislaus) county" said Mayor Lee Davies "But if SP was going to hold it up several years that be good Madera and Turlock were among other mainline valley towns that vigorously opposed the Santa Fe route Assembly-man Ernest Mobley (R-Sanger) said he felt his Madera constituents were bypassed without hearing Sisk said he would press for a reversal of the decision which he said was made when SP threatened to go to court Amtrak used the SP track beyond Stockton as originally Litigation Delay The litigation Sisk said could have delayed valley service four to five years An SP spokesman said: "Amtrak made the route selection for this service on the basis of its own best judgment and personal inspection paying particular attention to schedules population centers costs and availability of Important factors SP said were one less crew change on the Santa Fe route an speed High-balling at 79 miles per hour is allowed on Santa Fe while a speed limit of 70 is required on the more-congested SP valley mainline Myron Humphrey Amtrak district sales manager saw nothing cozy about the route decision It was reached after careful study of both lines he said primary consideration was the amount of other traffic on SP as opposed to Santa Fe" he said are twice as many freight trains on SP as on Santa An Interstate Commerce Commission regulation effective April 1 forbids the practice of shunting Amtrak passenger trains to sidings in order to let freight trains pass Passenger trains will have priority over freights Rprlntd from The Sin Fnnqlico Eximlntr By Gale Cook Some tartly unenthuslastic comments were voiced over well-publicized new San Joaquin Valley passenger rail service from Oakland to Bakersfield The main question was why Amtrak put the valley service on the Santa Fe line which skirts east and west of Highway 99 instead of on the Southern Pacific which follows the 99 heartland all the way Congressman Sisk (D-Fresno) said the answer was callous and odious decision by the Nixon Administration and the Southern to keep the SP main line clear for profitable freight business This was denied by SP and Amtrak the national passenger rail service But the fact is that route bypasses such valley cities as Tracy Modesto Turlock Madera Tulare and Delano Modesto is served by a stop at Riverbank eight road miles to the east The valley service starts on SP track at Oakland makes a stop at Martinez switches to Santa Fe track at Port Chicago and swings south with these stops: Stockton Riverbank Merced Fresno Hanford Bakersfield Passengers get a glimpse without stopping at such little-known towns as Empire Hughson Denair Planada Le Grand Baton Corcoran Wasco and Shatter Stockton is a plus for the route SP could only serve it by a costly up-and-back turnaround from Lathrop Stockton and San Joaquin County officials were instrumental in the option for Santa Fe Officials Miffed Tracy City Manager Mike Locke was annoyed that his community was bypassed were unaware of the decision until it was he said Modesto officials were so miffed they did not attend Am flee Photo bv Ted Benson Amtrak's southbound 'San Joaquin' passenger train rolls past a hardy young almond tree June 4 Primary Attracts Full Field For Sheriff Supervisor Assembly Races 'vs'sv''Sx- opposed by Euei Glenn None of the other county department heads up for re-election Auditor Robert Hubbard District Attorney Donald Stahl Tax Collector de Camp and County Clerk Steve Nelson drew any challengers and though still on the ballot automatically will be returned to office Judicial Positions Superior Court Judge Frank Pierson Municipal Court Judge Carson Taylor and Turlock Judicial District Judge Augustus Accur-so also have no opponents and by state law are considered re-elected without having to go on the ballot But 0 a a 1 e-Waterford Judicial District Judge b-ert Deabenderfer has a challenger in Charles Cox an investigator for the district office In the 26th Assembly i s- Jim Scott all filed for sheriff but they have to wait until Wednesday to see if anyone else files in an attempt to succeed retiring Sheriff Dan Kel-say Only the filing deadline was extended beyond Friday because the incumbent is not seeking re-election Supervisors William and Richard Vander Wall both have opponents Ulm in District 3 is being challenged by Barry Wyatt Jimmie Coates and Modesto Councilman Phillip Newton Vander Wall has competition from Modesto Vice Mayor Ray Simon and Carmen Saba-tino Betty Ault of the Airport Helping Hand Organization had announced she would run but did not file Assessor Broadwell is being challenged by Gerald Baugh and Superintendent of Schools Neal Wade is being By Dick LeGrand Heated Assembly contests a three-way race for sheriff and a full field of supervisorial district candidates are facing Stanislaus voters in June 4 primary elections Assemblyman John- Thurman and former assembly-man Ernest LaCoste will fight for the Democratic nomination to the 27th Assembly District which includes Modesto the west side of Stanislaus and most of Merced County On the Republican side Vem Bacciarini of Merced almost got a free ride But Modesto dentist George Valentine overcame a shortage of validated voter signatures in a last-minute rush just before 5 pm filing deadline and qualified as an Assembly candidate Chief Deputy Lynn Wood and Sgts Bud Sweeney and trict which includes northeastern part of Stanislaus along with southern San Joaquin County lela Nelson and Supervisors Gary Wiler and Carmen Perino will contest the Democratic nomination Sani Van Dyken and Terry Hull will compete for the Republican nomination Sen George Zenovich of Fresno will have a free ride all the way in the 14th Senate District having no challenger in the Democratic primary and without any Republican filing for the GOP nomination Sisk Unchallenged Rep Sisk of Fresno is unchallenged in the 15th Congressional District Democratic primary and Carol Harner of Atwater has no opposition in the Republican primary The district includes Modesto In the 14th Congressional District though Rep John McFall is being challenged by John Rodgers of Lodi and William Romack of El Dorado Hills Charles Gibson of Stockton is alone in the Republican primary and Roger Blain of Stockton has no competition for the American Independent nomination Howard Gifford of Patterson will challenge US Sen Alan Cranston in the Democratic primary Announced candidates in the 7th Assembly District which includes El Dorado Amador Alpine Mono Tuol umne and Calaveras Counties as well as parts of Sacramen to and San Joaquin Counties are Democrats Ralph Thiel David Mason Norman Wa ters and John Garamend and Republicans Robert Lee Delbert Rotelli Doug Carter Lawrence Cenotto Blair Rey nolds and Don Parises Stanislaus River Park Land Purchases Will Begin Soon Camellia Queen Tamara checks out silver and crystal trophies Trophies Await Show Samuelsen 1800 Cindy Ave phone 523-2762 or Mrs Paul Lagier Ripon phone 599-6634 Space reservations lor arrangements must be made in advance Kindergartener Tamara Elliott daughter of Mr and Mrs Richard Elliott of Modesto has been chosen official "camellia by the Modesto Camellia Society from students at James Marshall School She will reign at the court of honor during the awarding of trophies at the show vance by contacting Mrs Albert Silver 337 Severin Ave Modesto phone 523-5458 Auditorium doors will open at 7:30 am Saturday with the deadline for entry of blooms and flower arrangements at 10:30 am Show committee members will be on hand to assist identification of blossoms Competition will be conducted in 17 different classes The flower arrangement division is under the direction of Mrs Ann Edmiston 1905 Camelot Court phone 523-7360 Lyman show primarily is an amateur exhibition Backyard growers with fewer than a dozen camellia plants are in the majority Exhibitors need not be members of a camellia society or garden club The novice grower is advised to leave at least three-quarters of an inch of stem but no more than one and one-quarter inches Blossoms should have one or more leaves Exhibitors planning multiple entries may obtain entry cards and schedules in ad Thirty-three silver and crystal trophies will be presented winners in the 13th annual Camellia Cavalcade of the Camellia Society ot Modesto The show which is free and open to the public will be held Saturday and Sunday in the Gallo Winery Administration Building Hours are Saturday 2:30 to 7 pm Sunday 11 am to 6 pm General Chairman Pete Grosso said the Blooms are expected to be this year Grosso emphasized the When preliminary plans were drawn for the access sites last year Riverbank balked at seeing the corps merely add some facilities to existing Jacob Meyers Park on the north bank of the river Administrator John Bingham complained Jacob Meyers is too far from the city and suggested a site on the south bank of the river instead As one result the lower river plan has gone to Washington DC for approval without a firm proposal for Riverbank Will Be Followed This does not matter Col Rockwell said The corps has considered proposal and will follow it Bingham in turn hopes to persuade Stanislaus County to help the city buy the easterly 75 acres of the same site All the property is downstream from the Sania Fe Railroad bridge sands for rafting kayaking swimming and fishing But among its numerous benefits is improvement of the 55-mile-long lower Stanislaus with parks wildlife habitat preservation and fresh water all year round In meetings in Oakdale and Ripon Wheeler and his staff will explain to landowners how the corps and its appraisers plan to proceed Both meetings are at 7:30 pm One is March 19 in the Oakdale Union Elementary School the other March 20 in the Ripon Elementary School Access Points The access points starting upstream are to be at Goodwin Dam Two-Mile Bar Knights Ferry Horseshoe Bend Orange Blossom Road Bridge Oakdale Riverbank McHenry Avenue Ripon Caswell State Park and the confluence of the Stanislaus and the San Joaquin Rivers By Thorne Gray The US Army Corps of Engineers will take the first steps next week toward buying a series of public parks along the lower Stanislaus River The first target for purchase is a 25-acre site on the south bank of the river in the City of Riverbank Col Frederick Rockwell Jr district engineer announced Corps real estate man Morgan Wheeler said the goal is to buy one or more access sites before July 1 and to continue buying them as fast as possible This is to fulfill a commitment to Sen John Tunney and others who insisted the lower river program move forward along with construction of New Melones Dam upstream The $225 million dam will remove some nine miles of water used by thou i Afternoon Reception Museum Will Spotlight Hughsons Past arm In a farming accident He earned enough money delivering cattle to miners to rent a farm in Stockton After the accident with the money from his Stockton farming enterprise he 1 1000 acres eight miles east of Modesto in 1882 and progressively bought up more and more land In 1901 at the age of 61 Hughson retired to Modesto disposing of some of his land to promoter Charles Flack and his partners who laid out the town of Hughson in 1907 Event Of Day Almost immediately Flack arranged to have the Gillette Hotel moved from Ceres to Hughson in two sections Old-timers say it was the event of the day as iocal ranch families turned out lo watch 26 mules and two steam engines pull the massive hotel sections on logs inching along for the better part of a month Emigrants from other sections of California soon were arriving on Santa Fe trains to choose land in the rich agricultural area Businesses schools and irrigation development permitted Farmers struggled with floods and washouts during the early years of dirt ditches and the marks of a calamitous break in a Turlock Reservoir headgate in 1914 still evan be seen in the land But within a few years after its founding the town was thriv ing with its own hotel barbershop post office telephone building train depot bank stores livery stable and later garages and its own condensed miik plant In 1935 Hughson got its first oiled streets courtesy of a train wreck Oil spilled from overturned tank cars was salvaged for the project Just 25 years later Hughson embarked on the long road tocityhood Incorporation efforts began In I960 The election which made Hughson the ninth city was held 12 years liter The Hughson display was set up at the museum by Mrs Everett Tomlinson whose husband's family built the elegantly designed Tomlinson house in 1896 at Service and Berkeley Ronds By Elizabeth Leedom The City of Hughson named after a man who parlayed 75 cents into a million dollurs before the turn of the century will be honored at a reception in the McHenry Museum Modesto this afternoon Early pictures household and farm items plus historical accounts of the development of Hughson will be on display all this month as the museum begins a program of spotlighting one Stanislaus County town each month The Hickman Denair area will be featured next month said Heidi Warner museum supervisor Hughson residents will host the community at the reception this afternoon from 2 to 4 When New York-born Hiram Hughson landed in San Francisco with 75 cents in his pocket more than a century ago he was little more than on Ill-fated adventurer who hud gambled with miffing in California and British and lost But some 40 years later the town which bears his name Hiram Hughson was to be developed on a portion of his 7000-acre ranch in the heart of Stanislaus County And his widow Luella who died in the 1950s at the age of 102 was to build the Hughson Hotel in Modesto in 1914 four years after her husband a millionaire one of the richest men in the San Joaquin Valley Hughson made most of his fortune after he lost his left Luella Hughson churches developed to serve the growing population and by 1910 civic pride manifested itself in a Hughson Day celebration which featured a parade circus attractions and community games The La Grange Dam of 1894 and the Don Pedro Dam of 1922 revolutionized farming In the area converting production from wheat to alfalfa cattle fruits and vegetables as Bfip rnoio Dotted lines show proposed corps and local park proposals at Riverbank.