Crab feeds, youth sports, city business and more helped fill the pages of The Riverbank News during 2024. This week, we begin our look back at the top stories taken from the front page of the issues of January through April. The Year In Review will be presented as a three-part series, with additional installments on Jan. 8 and Jan. 15.
JANUARY
Members of the Riverbank High basketball programs hosted the first day of their Youth Basketball Clinic on Saturday, Jan. 6. Classes in the schools hadn’t resumed yet after the long winter break but students returned to the high school campus for the fun and instructional activity. Sponsored by boys and girls basketball coaches, players from the teams split up with seven groups around the Fauria gym to teach youngsters from first through eighth grades the fundamentals of playing the game. Drills included rebounding, dribbling, passing, passing and shooting the ball.
Riverbank City Council member Leanne Jones-Cruz was named Vice Mayor for 2024 at the regular council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Each year, the mayor suggests a council member to be appointed to the post, and the other members vote on the selection. Last year’s Vice Mayor was Rachel Hernandez.
The City of Riverbank Soroptimist International chapter is seeking applicants for the 2024 Soroptimist Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women. This program has been helping women around the world since 1972. It provides cash grants to women who are working to better their lives through additional schooling and skills training. To be eligible, applicants must be a woman with the primary financial responsibility for herself and her dependents, be attending an undergraduate degree program or vocational training program, and have financial need. The award winner will receive $1000 to assist with meeting the needs as the applicant continues in their educational journey.
In what authorities termed a significant milestone for public safety, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported documenting a substantial reduction in the number of freeway shootings across the state. The number of confirmed freeway shootings in California dropped from 349 to 274 last year – a reduction of more than 21 percent from the previous year and a 38 percent reduction from 2021.
At the recent regularly scheduled Riverbank City Council meeting, the council heard a report on results from the 2023 Cheese and Wine event and pondered making some changes in it for this year. Presented by Parks and Recreation Director Michael Patton, the agenda item was intended to request a resolution to appropriate funds for the 2024 version of the event and provide recommendations on how to proceed for this year.
Her presence is one which is well known throughout the community of Oakdale, as well as Riverbank. Her last name can be found on just about any silent auction table at fundraisers and functions throughout the region. Now, however, Antoinette Rodin and her family need the community help that they have so selflessly given for over three decades. As the owner and operator of Rodin Farms Fruit Stand, at the southwest corner of Claribel and Oakdale roads in Riverbank, the longtime staple is facing what many consider an undesirable effect of valley growth. They have to make way for more traffic and a new road. As a result of a unanimous vote at a Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors meeting in December of 2023, five acres of the family’s 120-acre family farm will be acquired through eminent domain. The acquisition comes by way of plans for execution of the North County Corridor Bypass, a roadway system which has been in the works and planning phases for the last several years. Rodin shared the family has been working with the county since December of 2022. Their hope, to come to a resolution best for all involved. The portion of the family farm which will be largely affected is the parcel where the Rodin Farms Fruit Stand sits currently.
FEBRUARY
Members of the Riverbank Historical Society gathered with classic car owners, city representatives, vendors and a crowd of local residents to celebrate the dedication of a new mural on a downtown building celebrating the Del Rio Theatre. For nearly 75 years, the Theatre stood as the iconic landmark of downtown Riverbank. It was demolished last July. The Society obtained a grant and set about to commemorate the building with a mural that was completed near the end of last year, on the south side of the two-story bank building, on the corner of Third and Santa Fe streets. The mural was designed and painted by Alexandra Riddle, who has done a number of similar projects in the downtown area, all within a few blocks of each other, in the heart of the district.
Rachel Hernandez, a council member and former Vice Mayor of Riverbank, has officially launched a campaign for mayor. She is a Stanislaus County native, and said she has dedicated her career and education to supporting underserved people and promoting her community’s prosperity. She recently celebrated a kickoff rally she says was attended by nearly 150 regional leaders and other community members, with standing room only. Stanislaus County Supervisors Mani Grewal and Channce Condit, Oakdale Mayor pro tem Christopher Smith are among early supporters in attendance, Hernandez said.
In a special, yet informal, ceremony hosted on Friday, Feb. 9, members of Riverbank’s Sister Cities Committee unveiled the first of what will be a number of signs celebrating those ‘sisters.’ The names of the various towns around the world that are designated as Sister Cities to Riverbank will be mounted on the city limit signs. Currently, Tamazula, Jalisco, Mexico and Fuyang, China are sisters to the City of Action.
Riverbank High School celebrated the last day of its Winter Homecoming festivities at halftime of the varsity boys basketball game on Friday, Feb. 9. The weeklong event culminated with the crowning of Jocelynne Castro as Homecoming Queen and Will Mitchell receiving the crown as Homecoming King. The theme was Bruins Around the World, with a different location designated each day, with a special activity each day as well. The varsity basketball team – of which Mitchell is a member – helped cap off the celebration with a Trans-Valley League win over Livingston.
Though it was a few days later than the actual Valentine’s Day holiday observance, the Riverbank Parks and Recreation Department threw a party of sorts at the city’s Community Center on Saturday, Feb. 17. The event, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., was called My Little One & Me, a Valentine’s Dinner and Dance. It was designed to bring together families to celebrate the holiday of ‘love.’ The evening included a DJ, with lots of dance music to share, a photo booth to help commemorate the event, beverages and a dinner.
Members of the Riverbank Chamber of Commerce gathered at the Antigua Event Center in downtown recently to celebrate a landmark 70-year anniversary. With the lighted multi-colored dance floor as a centerpiece, a celebratory dinner was followed by a presentation by Chamber chairperson Monica Perez. She introduced Mayor Richard D. O’Brien, and council members Rachel Hernandez and Darlene Barber-Martinez. O’Brien briefly addressed the crowd, expressing his desire to improve the relationship between city government and its businesses. Perez also introduced directors Bill Robinson, Corinne Santos, Barber-Martinez, Lorrie Faile, and ambassadors Olivia Arambula, Arlene Figlueroa-Morales, Kimberly Evans, Nancy Nape and Nancy Hernandez. The chair noted that the chamber was established on Feb. 23, 1954, exactly 70 years before the evening celebration. She said it was designed to promote, serve, assist and provide resources to businesses and the community.
It was a packed house at the F.E.S. Portuguese Hall in Oakdale on Saturday night, Feb. 24 as the Riverbank High School Sports Boosters hosted their annual Crab Feed. It’s a fundraiser that helps the group provide scholarships for graduating seniors. Other activities the Boosters handle include operating the snack bars for football games, volleyball, soccer, basketball, and track and field. In addition to the scholarships, the Boosters group also helps pay for sports team uniforms.
MARCH
Anticipating a large turnout, the City of Riverbank moved its regular Tuesday, Feb. 27, meeting to the Community Center because of public interest on the River Walk Specific Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Report, EIR, that was to be made. The project is expected to include 1,522 acres bounded by McHenry Avenue on the west, Patterson Road/Highway 108 on the south and the Stanislaus River to the north. It wraps around the MID Solar Farm on the corner of Patterson and McHenry.It is west of the Riverbank city limits and not in the city’s current sphere of influence, about two miles from downtown. By design, Coffee Road would continue north, across Patterson through the heart of the project.
Riverbank Youth Baseball Softball Association, RYBSA, teams celebrated their opening day on Saturday, March 9. Without a hint of rain, the day broke with blue skies, a bit of a chilly breeze but otherwise a great day to hit the local baseball and softball diamonds. The festivities began with a parade around Castleberg Park. The parade participants made their way from the basketball courts on the path all the way around the park before ending up on the north field. The parade of teams was staged just prior to the throwing of the ceremonial first pitches.
A recent map issued by developers John Cumbelich and Associates shows some of the early commitments from businesses coming to the Crossroads West shopping center in Riverbank. Being built at the corner of Claribel and Oakdale roads, the project is seeing some slow but steady progress. Construction of walls for the 152,000 square foot Costco Warehouse, along with the gas station, are evident to those driving through the area. Other businesses indicated for the shopping center on the latest map are a Wendy’s drive-through restaurant as well as a Raising Cane’s restaurant, which features “Craveable Chicken Finger Meals.”
Over the past weekend, the Drama Department at Riverbank High School successfully staged Disney’s Little Mermaid JR in its Black Box Theatre on the Claus Road campus. They put on four shows over the three days. The curtain rose on both Friday and Saturday evenings, March 22 and 23 and there were afternoon matinees on Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24. The stage production was based on the 1989 animated Disney film, and that, loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.
The ASTRO Foundation is set to receive a $15,000 grant investment from national nonprofit Petco Love in support of its lifesaving work for animals in Oakdale, Riverbank, Escalon and closely surrounding areas. Petco Love is a national nonprofit leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has invested $375 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. And Petco Love helps find loving homes for pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations — like ASTRO — across North America, with 6.75 million pets adopted and counting.
APRIL
While everyone else was on Spring Break last week, members of Riverbank High School’s Winterguard competed in the regional Central Valley Guard and Percussion Circuit event, hosted at Enochs High School in Modesto. The competition was on Saturday, April 6. The Bruin team competed against three other squads in the AA division, coming in first against them to bring home the coveted gold medal. Riverbank scored 85.18 in the competition. Second place Turlock scored 81.83, with third place Los Banos receiving an 81.59 and Oakdale taking fourth at 79.54.
The Cesar Chávez Community Celebration Committee is hosting a special event on Sunday, April 7 in Modesto to honor César Chávez and Dolores Huerta and to initiate National Farmworker Awareness Month.
All are welcome and encouraged to attend. The celebration starts at 1 p.m. Sunday with a march from César E. Chávez Park at Fourth and F streets, Modesto. Led by the Azteca Dancers of Casa Cultural, participants will march from the park to the Red Event Center, 921 Eighth St., Modesto. The march pays tribute to farmworkers who in 1966 marched over 300 miles from Delano to Sacramento, claiming the right to form a union and demanding living wages, decent housing and just working conditions.
The ‘State of the City’ was presented by Riverbank Mayor Richard D. O’Brien at the Community Center on Thursday, April 11. A modest crowd was on hand as well as a number of cameras, for broadcasting the event on the city’s Public Access Channel, and its YouTube channel. The mayor covered a number of issues the city has dealt with, or is dealing with, as well as items coming up in the future. He noted “the creation of new volunteer boards and advisory groups will assist the parks and recreation department and best serve the residents of Riverbank. Developing Master Plans for all 16 parks in Riverbank and hosting an open house style event that allows the public to visit each park for input and feedback.”
Stylist Lorri Faile was congratulated recently on her five years in business in Riverbank, as Bling4Nails, an independent stylist providing nail strips to her customers. She was also recognized by Jazmine Velazquez, a Field Representative to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, and Monica Perez, Chair of the Riverbank Chamber of Commerce. A certificate of recognition was also presented by Riverbank Mayor Richard D. O’Brien. The recognition came during a Chamber of Commerce meeting earlier this month.
Back for another year, the popular Food Truck Fridays will begin in earnest on May 3, just a little more than a week away. Sponsored by the City of Riverbank’s Parks and Recreation Department, the food trucks are scheduled to be available at the Riverbank Sports Complex, 2119 Morrill Road. A variety of trucks are anticipated, offering a wide range of food options. Hours for the special event are scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Friday in May. Dates are May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31, for a total five weeks.
