Whether creating a beautiful homage to the great marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson, or painting a loving, whimsical memorial to her cats, Modesto artist and arts advocate Linda Knoll’s canvases are always vividly colorful and arresting. But Ms. Knoll is not only an extraordinarily talented artist; she’s a gifted arts educator as well who has headed the Central California Art Association’s (CCAA) arts outreach program to Valley schools for […]
Dr. Richard Anderson’s Life Lessons in Citizenship
One of the Valley’s great community leaders, Dr. Richard Anderson took an often-adventurous path in life prior to arriving as a Professor of Microbiology at Modesto Junior College in 1989. Along the way, he experienced things that helped to shape the dedicated and caring activist he is today. Not surprisingly, he has always worked fiercely as an advocate for a wide array of worthy causes – from fighting for social […]
Kate Trompetter: Dedicated Advocate for Social Change
Community advocate and Organizational and Systems Coach Kate Trompetter was ten years old when her mother gifted her with one of the more important lessons she could ever receive. “I’ve shared this story many times, but it continues to inform my life,” Ms. Trompetter recently recalled. “I had read this story in the newspaper of a child who had been born HIV-positive and this child’s family needed money. So I […]
Michael Baldwin Senior: Bringing Cops and Community Together
In the late 1980s, I worked in the mayor’s office in Houston, Texas. One of my colleagues was a police officer named Alan who worked on the mayor’s security detail. Alan and I occasionally worked together on events or projects, and in listening to him over numerous lunchtimes, I began to understand the sacrifices police officers make to protect us. Alan was as community-minded as anyone I’ve ever known. He […]
Gillian Wegener – Award-Winning Poet, Community Leader
Gillian Wegener was twice the recipient of the Dorothy Rosenberg Poetry Award (2006, 2007), and was honored as one of Stanislaus County’s Outstanding Women in 2015. She served as the City of Modesto’s Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2016. In these troubled, chaotic, and tragic times, the power of poetry to mend wounds or express our deepest feelings is there to be tapped by all, though poetry is often left […]
Leng Power: Award-Winning Community Advocate & Volunteer
Thailand is over eight thousand miles away from the Valley — just about a third of the way across the globe — but that’s where this inspiring local success story begins. The Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia had fallen the year before, leaving in its wake a legacy of terror and genocide. But as volatile and traumatic as the situation must have been for thousands of refugees displaced by all […]
Lindsey Bird – Award-Winning Educator, Advocate, Candidate
When Language Institute Co-Founder Lindsey Bird decided to leave her fledging career as a banker to become a teacher in her hometown of Modesto, she could not have imagined the profound impact that decision would ultimately have on the lives of the students who would enter her classroom. She only knew she wanted to make a difference. But within a few short years, Ms. Bird would find her calling as […]
Hard Road to Redemption: Part II
A Community Advocate and Paralegal, Michael Baldwin Sr. moved to Modesto in November, 2018, following a stint of almost 27 years as an inmate of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). While in the CDCR system, he resided at Corcoran State Prison and San Quentin State Prison, among others. Mr. Baldwin readily admits he was guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced, but his story does […]
Michael Baldwin Senior: Hard Road to Redemption
A Community Advocate and Paralegal, Michael Baldwin Sr. moved to Modesto in November, 2018, following a stint of almost 27 years as an inmate of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). While in the CDCR system, he resided at Corcoran State Prison and San Quentin State Prison, among others. Mr. Baldwin readily admits he was guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced, but his story does […]
Award-winning Patty Castillo Davis: A Voice for Social Justice
MAMA award-winning singer/songwriter Patty Castillo Davis is quick to admit that, even as a little girl, she was all about the words, the music, and the beat as she sat in front of the television watching Nancy Sinatra power through the lyrics of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” “I loved Nancy, and I wanted those white boots, and that blonde mop top – I wanted to be her.” Ms. […]