A Winters Express op-ed column
By Charley Wallace A few years ago, I helped facilitate getting a tractor placed on the south entrance to Winters. I was proud of that tractor and thought of it as my own, which it was for a week or two. A few people still think it was my tractor, but it belongs to the City of Winters. With the success of the Tractor Parade I thought it was a good idea to start using a tractor as the city’s new logo. So far, the city has decided to keep using the dead orchid that they had designed a decade ago. I may be fooling myself, but I would like to think Winters is still a farming community, even if most of us work in office buildings or commuters to work in nearby cities. Sure, there are still farms surrounding Winters and there is a farmers’ table at the cafe, but not many of us make a living from farming, and fewer farm workers can’t afford to live in Winters. The canneries and packing sheds are long gone, but we still process a lot of nuts. That is the unofficial slogan, “Winters, home to fruits and nuts.” I would rather add a tractor to our logo and keep the idea that we are a farming community alive and well then have a dead orchid representing us. When someone hit the tractor last weekend, it broke into two pieces. I have a couple of pictures that people sent me that I’m hoping make it into the paper, or this column, but as you all know, I’m not in charge anymore. I had heard that it was a hit and run, but when I sent a picture of the car that hit the tractor to Chief Miller, he told me that the person stuck around. I didn’t think that it was possible to be a “hit and run” because the car wasn’t going anywhere. I’m waiting to hear from the city if they are going to repair the tractor and put it back, and if there are plans to add other tractors at the other entrances to the city. I’m sure someone at the Ag Site could weld it back together as a senior project. It doesn’t have to run because it is just law art. After this mishaps, the city might be worried about the liability of putting tractors in the middle of round-a-bouts or traffic islands, but if you worry about stuff getting hit, move all of the street lights and power poles. On another subject, the Historical Society of Winters has received a hard drive with digital files of the Winters Express from 1887-2004. I’m not sure how long it will take before the public will have access to these files, but I’m excited that it is finally happening. I’ll let you know when you can come in to the museum or use a computer to research our past. I feel better now that the old newspapers in my office have a backup. Have a good week.
