YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 16, No. 32
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Big Cat Poker Run cruises into town by Dawnmarie Fehr
August 10, 2018
East County Sports
Correspondent
The Discovery Bay Lions Club (DBLC) Big Cat Poker Run is making its way back to Discovery Bay Aug. 17 and 18. Boats of all sizes and shapes will gather at the marina to raise money and make memories as they make their way along the poker route. “The Big Cat has always been an extremely fun event,” said Allen Bellinghausen, DBLC vice president. “The run itself is fun, and this year we will be utilizing the Pittsburg Marina for the first time, because the event has grown so much.” The event begins Friday, Aug. 17, with the lunch run to Sugar Barge Marina followed by a welcoming party at the Discovery Bay Marina. On Saturday, the party and poker draw start at the Discovery Bay Marina. Boats will leave around 10 a.m. and head along the route, which will take them to Pittsburg, then Stockton and back to Discovery Bay for the after-party at 4:30 p.m. see Big Cat page 30A
Football, cheer, gymnastics and more are inside this week’s special sports section. Page 1B
Meet The Water Guy
Photo by Erick Bryner, Fast Loud Photography
The Big Cat Poker Run is back for its 18th season. The event runs Friday, Aug. 17 through Saturday, Aug. 18.
Farmers adjusting to area heat waves by Aly Brown Staff Writer
This summer, as recordbreaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfires have engulfed parts of the state and Pacific Northwest, East County farmers have been fighting their own battles against the heat here at home. “Fortunately, we had a lot of water, and that’s your only line of defense: making sure the crops are hydrated,” said Bloomfield Cherries owner Tom Bloomfield, whose family has been farming in the area for more than 100 years. Bloomfield’s crops include grapes, cherries and almonds, and the most delicate of the three were already harvested before the rash of heat waves.
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“ Fortunately, we had a lot of water, and that’s your only line of defense, making sure the crops are hydrated.
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Tom Bloomfield, Bloomfield Cherries “So far, I don’t really see any damage. Grapes are generally very tolerant to heat and so are almonds, and our cherries are already harvested,” he said. “We didn’t really have any warm weather until the end of the cherry cycle, but the trees still have to endure the summer even without the cherries on the branches. You can’t have sunburn on the wood.” Combating tree sunburn again comes back to water supply and making sure the plants
stay hydrated enough to develop a canopy of healthy leaves, which protect the trunks from the sun’s rays. The heat also impacts how and when the crops are tended and harvested. “The laborers get up earlier and some of the crews only work eight hours instead of 10,” Bloomfield said. “The hourly people get up earlier and hope to finish by 2 or 3 o’clock.” For Vornhagen Farms Cherries owner Kevin Vornha-
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gen, who is still the rookie on the farming scene, that labor force consists of himself. “I don’t have any employees … so I get up early in the morning or go out in the evening – whenever I can,” Vornhagen said. Kelli Nunn of the wellknown Nunn farming family said farmers have reported the obvious: being tired and grumpy. “There is a lot of harvesting happening, and they try to get most of it done before or after the most severe heat – very early mornings and after the sun goes down,” Nunn said. In a sign of the times, local farmers can expect more heat waves in the future. “With greenhouse-gas in-
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LOOK INSIDE FOR THE NEW
Activity Guide
Enjoying Wine In The Bay
Popular annual fundraiser is coming to St. Anne Church Aug. 18. Page 10A
see Farmers page 30A
Calendar.............................31A Classifieds..........................26A Cop Logs.............................29A Entertainment..................11A Food.....................................10A Health & Beauty...............15A Milestones.........................12A Opinion...............................22A Pets........................................ 8A Sports..................................23A
LUHSD GODs
MLK Jr. Day
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CONNECTING PARKS TO PEOPLE
Casey Wichert, wastewater operations manager, helps keep the city’s water clean. 7A
Applications are now available for the 2019 Graduates of Distinction Program.
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County’s 41st commemoration of Dr. King’s life and legacy is coming up.