The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 29

Micke Grove Park a dream fulfilled for Lodi grape grower By Bryce White Bee staH writer STOCKTON No one could accuse William George Micke of being ostentatious Wherever he went he was dressed in the overalls or workclothes of a farmer and few who saw him knew he was one of San Joaquin County's most successful millionaire farmers When he died March 3 1961 at the age of 87 he left the county his fortune $14 million and a now the most popular Local regional news The Modesto Bee was to go for development and maintenance of the park Located just six miles north of Stockton off Highway 99 the park is rated by San Joaquin County Parks Director Gene Andral as the best and most developed of the 28 parks It has a zoo with lions and tigers a children's playland a swimming pool and much more Each year it draws thousands of visitors who stroll through the park's Japanese rock garden during a spring festival and bonsai show It has camellia and rose gardens and spacious grounds for picnics and shaded walks And it has a growing section housing the historical museum the repository of San archives and collections of materials from the past Much of the park remains the same as the day Micke died except for the museum the camellia and Japanese gardens which have been added since by groups and individuals San Joaquin Japanese for instance took pride in constructing their addition to the park Micke was bom on a farm in Missouri Feb 15 1874 and his livelihood was farming He moved west as a young man settling in the Lodi area in 1902 working on a ranch before he started a farming operation of his own He became a specialist at viticulture and he planted his vineyards in tokay grapes which he found particularly suited to the sandy soil of the Lodi area Eventually he farmed more than 500 acres producing and shipping table grapes under the Racetrack label He became a millionaire but it is said he never forgot he was a man of the soil Even after he became a Sun Oct 23 1977 Sou rhoto by led Beno Voughn Verdolivo takes a hint from monkeys in cage behind him At right ducks and ripples from fountain give Japanese Garden a serene took park Micke Grove a 210-acre oak tree studded oasis in the midst of the tokay grape-growing center half-way between Stockton and Lodi It was Micke who made the Lodi area famous for tokay grapes for he produced the Racetrack brand of flame tokays that graced the tables of consumers across the nation And today Lodi area growers lay claim to producing more than 90 per cent of the tokays Micke Grove though was his pride and joy and he lavished his affection time and all his money on its before and after his death When he bequeathed his fortune to the county he stipulated that the money director of the Bank of America branch in Lodi he wore his farm work clothes to board meetings It was in 1938 that Micke Grove park was bom On Feb 23 of that year he deeded the original 65 acres of land to the county for the park And later he was to donate 145 more acres The entire park development during his lifetime was built as a memorial to his wife Julia who died in 1952 The first major project in the park was a swimming pool which he had constructed at his own expense It was dedicated in 1953 as the Julia Micke memorial pool and it was deeded to the county Two years later he opened an auditorium-activity center in the heart of the grove and it was built in the shape of a to save some of the old oak trees which would have had to be removed otherwise And his third development was the zoo also dedicated to his wife and it opened in 1957 The zoo came equipped with a kitchen central storage building an animal hospital and a concession building with restrooms During its development Micke often was there to help wielding pick and shovel and helping with whatever had to be done Those who came to enjoy the park often commented on its beauty unaware that the old gentleman sitting and listening on a bench nearby in workclothes was the park's benefactor Micke The beauty of plan for the park is that proceeds from his estate and from a 50-cent admission fee go for park betterment Residents of the county have taken the gift to heart and have added their own ideas toil and time Still to be built on a 125-acre site set aside for it is an 18-hole golf course Pork still growing New museum building will salute grapes wine Micke Grove Park is a place for adults as well as children Construction will start in about two months on the San Joaquin County Historial Museum's third main exhibit building a 4000-square-foot structure which will salute the grape wine and tree industries of the San Joaquin Valley The two present exhibit buildings are devoted to history of the San Joaquin Delta and agriculture Construction of the third exhibit building will be financed by a $25000 grant from the federal government and $35000 each from Micke Grove admission receipts and earnings from the William Micke trust fund Micke Lodi area grape grower died in 1961 leaving the park and his fortune to the county for development of the 210-acre park It will be the first grape and wine museum of its type in Northern California according to Medora Johnson museum director Plans already are in progress for exhibits depicting introduction of grapes to California and to the county she said Also the museum plans to make tape recordings of men and women of the grape and wine industry Exhibits will feature the wine and grape industries of the writings have been on the Napa and Mendocino Valleys and we feel San Joaquin has been overlooked even though our area produces more grapes" she said As evidence of this she said the East Side Winery a Lodi area cooperative crushes more grapes than the entire Napa Valley does in one year The historical museum operated by the San Joaquin County Historical Society under contract with the county is in its sixth year of operation It began in 1970 with construction of the Delta building in which are displayed articles depicting life in the Delta from the days of the Indians to the present The second structure the Micke building contains materials depicting life in the county A fourth exhibit building on transportation is planned for the future The museum contains numerous collections some of which it has no room to display as yet It has a collection of furnishings from Micke's home along with a large collection of his family photographs The museum also has the largest collection of hand-and foot-powered tools west of the Mississippi This is the Jolly '01 England Tracyite studies abroad rs A Thomason of Lodi describes old tools to Mrs ed Dewey of Fullerton By Brian Clark Bee slaw writer CANTERBURY England -Not too many weeks from now Steve Wampler will call vacations girls and his friends just like many of the Britishers around him Wampler a Tracyite and former student body president at California State College Stanislaus is a graduate student at the University of Kent here working toward a degree in political science may sound he said in a recent interview do I sound any different yet? I mean have I picked up a bit of an English accent? You see I had a friend who spent a year over here and he came back talking like an Wampler who arrived in Canterbury Sept 17 has yet to have an alteration in his voice inflection although it undoubtedly will change to what is commonly known as a accent by the time he Floyd Locher collection which contains tools of the carpenter joiner shipwright coach and carriage maker cooper and wheelwright before the days of electricity Also in the storehouse and displays are the Joseph Tope collection of Indian materials agricultural implements and harvesters costumes and mementoes of various ethnic groups and a collection of textiles from the primitive to early American completes his degree next summer Wampler who graduated from the Turlock school last spring is one of four Rotary International Fellows at the university located in the town made famous by several plays and Wampler who said he has the book on his reading list has already found a professor at the school who knows where his alma mater Tech" is located meant a lot to he stated 9000 miles away from Turlock and finding someone who knew where I had gone to school made me feel a lot better about being Canterbury located 54 miles west of London in rolling orchard and farmland is an attractive town of about 33000 dominated by its imposing cathedral Only an hour an one-half away from London by train it is visited by thousands of tourists every year Wampler said the university with a graduate and undergr-duate population of nearly 3700 and an active student government was created 15 years ago in an expansion of the English university system The former student leader who was also active in collegiate forensic activities said he plans to let his political leanings lie See Page C-4 Col 3 The museum contains the county's archives too Maps and plat books dating to the early 1800s are stored there And it has a large collection of home-made quilts donated to the museum by families Some of the quilts are more than a century old and one was made while crossing the plains in a covered wagon It is the only agricultural museum in the state that is accredited by the American Association of Museums The wine and grape building contents are being sought Mrs Johnson said the museum is seeking two wooden wine tanks about 16 feet in diameter old and new photographs of all stages of the industries small and large fruit drying trays new wine casks and barrels representing various sues of wet cooperage sets of bottles sets of outdated and current bottle or shipping box labels two copies each of all advertising material (new and old) from every grape wine and tree fruit industry in the county stamped and printed typo box ends cases of empty green and amber bottles collections of cork bottle openers and wine glasses and records of all kinds having to do with the industries Steve Wampler in Canterbury his home for a year PHotov The Hof Shop a display not yet open to the public Mi mm.