Greetings Friends,
Spring officially started on March 20, but it feels like a totally different spring this year. The blooms, blossoms and the unfolding of our community that has been packed away in so many different format are starting to come to life. As so many have been sheltered for so long, this progressive reopening seem a bit more vivid, as if we are unlocking a series of doors and cautiously passing through each one, hoping that the door doesn’t slam back in our face.
But this may be the month. If we are smart we can do this. We can take the good things we have learned during the last year and blend them with the things we miss the most. As I write this, the movie theatres are planning on opening in town. Our friends at the Brenden Theatre will be open by the first and the State Theatre will be open on the April 9th. This is exciting to see this happen. Hopefully we will continue on this trend are we will see the return of live music to our streets and sidewalks as our local restaurants open up. Our local musicians have been sitting this out, doing as many webcasts on Facebook as possible and trying to stay in it through on-line tips and support. The return of live music is magic for me, and it has been so good to be making music with my friends and actually playing to real people. I know that people have their own level of safety and that this will be slow process, and perhaps that is good. We do not want to treat this like spring break in Florida and we need to do this right. If we do, we can help our community come back safe, sound and smarter.
I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again. Get a vaccine.
I have received my two shots and I did just fine. My family is vaccinated and I am working hard to get all of my employees vaccinated as they have been on the front lines of this for the last year. The vaccine was the key for me to be able to hang out with my grandbaby and I am sure you have your own personal reasons to get it. These are the moments and the reasons that we do these things. You get your vaccine not only for yourself, but also for your family, friends and co-workers. One thing we have learned through the last year, it is not just all about yourself. I have to say that I am shocked how many people still don’t believe in the vaccine despite mountains of scientific evidence that it is safe. We all have to keep spreading the word to get this done.
This is a special month for me. I am not normally tuned in to how old I am, but turning 60 is a milestone. If you didn’t know, I was born in Yosemite. I have always had a fascination with Yosemite and this month, we explore the fact that you can actually see Half Dome from here and you can see it on one of my regular drives to work when it is clear. This month will be a beautiful month to visit Yosemite and I will be making a trip there myself visiting the exact spot. I visited there with my girls a few years ago and took a picture in the same place where my mom stood with me 60 years ago. Crazy huh? So let’s keep rockin’ & rolling as it keeps us all young.
Thank you to the local businesses that stuck with us through this time and I hope that you are happy that we stuck with all of you. I know times have been tough and we have continued to promote our local business and we operated at a loss but still continued our mission to support our local friends. We were there for you and thank you now for being with us and many thanks to those who stuck with us through this pandemic.
Also, huge thank you Pete Grimaldi. Every month, he puts ModestoView together like the total professional that he is. Nothing fazes him as we through curveballs at him, scribble out new layouts and handles it like an ace and we continue to win design awards for his work. Thanks Pete and thanks for sticking with us even though you officially “retired”.
Thanks to you all and I hope that you all open up and explore this new world safely and smartly.
See you out and about,
Chris Murphy
Publisher and Founder ModestoView
chrism@modestoview.com<mailto:chrism@modestoview.com>
