A Winters Express opinion column
By Charles R. Wallace
Publisher Emeritus
The older you get, the more friends you lose. There is a George Jones song, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” about Country Music legends that have passed on. Should we be worried about who will fill the shoes of the people who have helped make Winters a special place to live, work and raise our children?
I’ve been writing this column for over 40 years and I can’t count the number of times I’ve written about this subject. Usually, it is when a prominent citizen dies and I feel like a piece of Winters is missing, forever.
Harold Anderson passed away last week and my heart sank with the news. Harold was a constant in Winters, whether serving on the City Council or heading Rotary’s Pancake Breakfast. How many times did he walk down to the Little League field, or other sporting events, to help out? How many meetings did he attend over his lifetime?
Harold was a calming influence on Winters. Never one to get upset or angry, but when needed, he got his point across with a stern look and tight lips. One of his dreams was for a sports park where the old city dump used to be on Moody Slough Road. He didn’t live long enough to see his vision come true, but he did make sure that it is in our General Plan. I would suggest that our General Plan map be edited to mark that 20-acre parcel as Harold Anderson Sports Park. Can I get a second on that motion?
I spend too much time picking out the Yesteryear photos for each week’s Express. I can spend days going through old photos, and finding the ones that I think our subscribers might like. If they are too old, no one will remember who is in them and I can’t get too current or they aren’t Yesteryear-worthy.
Currently, I’m going through the 1981 and 1993 photo files. I find pictures that I like and then I have to find the printed photos in the Express to help identify all of the participants and why the photo was in the paper in the first place. You might think that is an easy task, but I get lost reading old newspaper stories and remembering the people in the photos.
I found a Lions Club group photo in the paper with my brother, Jim. I remember him living in Winters for a few years before he moved away, but I don’t remember him being in Lions Club with me and my brother John. I would like to run the photo in the Express, but I can’t find the original photo in our archives.
Only a few photos that we take end up in the newspaper. When we used film, there would be one roll for general news (24 pictures) and one roll for sports (36 pictures) each week. Maybe we used six or seven in the paper and the rest were just filed away. With digital photos, we might take a hundred photos a week, use eight or nine, and file or delete the ones we don’t use. Since I retired, I don’t have access to those files, just “stuff” on my old computer.
It might take me an hour, or so, but I’ll find a picture of Harold for next week’s Express.
Have a good week.
