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SINCE 1889 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CXXXII, NO. III
THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021
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INDEPENDENCE DAY
EVENT
Happy Birthday America, from Sculpterra Winery
Paso Robles Concerts in the Park began with an excited crowd ready to boogie last Thursday, Jul. 1. Contributed photos
20th Annual Paso Robles Concert in the Park Returns Monte Mills and The Lucky Horseshoe Band kick off the series By HAYLEY MATTSON hayley@pasoroblespress.com
PASO ROBLES — After a year of no gatherings and cancellations of most of the community’s favorite events due to the pandemic, last Thursday, Jul. 1, the beloved annual tradition of Concerts in the Park returned with Monte Mills & The Lucky Horseshoe Band. With at least a hundred people gathered around the gazebo in lawn chairs and picnic blankets, the vocals were blasting, and the crowd was on their feet dancing! Paso Robles Recreation Services shared via social media, “Paso Robles turned out in a BIG way last night for our first concert of 2021! What a blast! Monte Mills gave the crowd exactly what they wanted. It feels great to be back!” The evening’s concert was sponsored by J. Lohr Wines, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Rotary Club of Paso Robles, Pioneer Day Committee, and MedPlus of Atascadero. The Paso Robles Concerts in the Park Concert Series in-kind sponsors are Paso Robles Press Magazine, New Times, Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce, Paso Robles Main Street Association, Travel Paso, and Cold Stone Creamery. CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
Sculpterra Winery kicked off its tenth annual celebration with an opening prayer and owner Dr. Warren Frankel giving an impassioned speech highlighting the importance of patriotism. Photos by Randy Coons
Sculpterra goes all-out for Independence Day celebration By PATRICK PATTON patrick@pasoroblespress.com
PASO ROBLES — To call Sculpterra Winery’s Independence Day celebration “patriotic” is akin to calling a Paso Summer “a bit warm.” Independence Day—not simply the “4th of July”—is Sculpterra Owner Dr.
Warren Frankel’s favorite holiday. “One of the reasons I started doing this several years ago,” Frankel said, “was because I went to my daughter’s college campus at U.C.S.B., and I think I was wearing [a patriotic shirt], and my daughter said ‘you can’t go on the campus with a shirt like this.’ I realized at that time that people were afraid to be patriotic, so I decided to start doing this because I wanted to give you an avenue by which you can show your patriotism.” The event kicked off its tenth annual
celebration at high noon with an opening prayer from pastor Gus Bess of Overwhelmed by Grace Ministry, and Frankel gave an impassioned speech highlighting the importance of patriotism. “Today, the New York Times stated that if you have an American flag outside your house or on your lawn, you’re showing your political preference,” Frankel said. “That’s not true. We are all Americans. The purpose of Independence Day has always been from the beginning to unite the
people—Democrats, Republicans, Black, White, Rich, Poor—it unites the country under the flag of being an American.” Laurie Valaau led the crowd of over 1,000 people in the singing of God Bless America and The Star-Spangled Banner, after which attendees were treated to an aerial flyover by a group of local pilots led by Rod Dykhouse. Free apple pie, ice cream, and popcorn were served up, wine was CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
MEMORIAL
Paso Robles Public Safety Center Honors Fallen Officers Bricks hold the names of every SLO County public safety servant to die in the line of duty
GOVERNMENT
By CAMILLE DeVAUL camille@pasoroblespress.com
TCSD Approves Collection of Delinquent Fees in County Tax Roll Annual Pancake Breakfast brought in almost 10k for the community By MELISSA MATTSON melissa@pasoroblespress.com
TEMPLETON — Templeton Community Services District (TCSD) held a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Jul. 6 at 7 p.m. The meeting opened with a reading of the consent agenda, no items were removed for discussion, and Director Geoff English moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Director Wayne Petersen. The consent agenda passed 5-0. The first item of business on the agenda was resolution 13-2021, a public hearing to consider any protests or objections, and if appropriate, to adopt the resolution. This resolution is the adoption of the reports on street light assessments, weed abatement fees, delinquent water/sewer charges, Measure A parcel tax, and community facilities CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
COMMUNITY
PASO ROBLES — The Paso Robles Public Safety Center (PSC) is the town’s epicenter for law enforcement and firefighters. When you are in trouble, or if you are the trouble, this is where you either need to be or need the people stationed here. The desperately needed PSC was built using City funds with the help of Dennis Cassidy, Paso Robles Police Department (PRPD) Police Chief, from 1997 until his retirement in 2007. Cassidy was said to be instrumental in building the PSC, which completed construction just before the infamous 6.5 magnitudes San Simeon Earthquake in December 2003. According to Cassidy, the center was purposefully built to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake, three times the standard requirement. The center itself was built with input equally from public officials and the community. The final design was chosen by Paso Robles residents, who decided on a brick aesthetic that matched the City’s historic buildings. But what might be Cassidy’s favorite part of the center is the Public Safety Memorial. “I felt it was important that Paso Robles and our department and our community come together and create something to honor those just within our county. And that’s just what brought it about,” said Cassidy. When building the PSC, the City did not have
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SMART CASE UPDATE
Dennis Cassidy, Paso Robles Police Department (PRPD) Police Chief, from 1997 until his retirement in 2007 was instrumental in building the Public Safety Center that honors all the fallen officers of San Luis Obispo County. Photos by Patrick Patton
enough funds for the memorial Cassidy has envisioned, so he set out to find private donations. Cassidy said, “I went to private donors with the idea of raising the money to create the memorial wall.” One of the highest donors was Phoebe Hearst, who donated around $50,000 to get the project going. You can’t miss the bronzed statue as you enter the PSC. Cassidy commissioned local Western artist Vel Miller to design the bronzed “Reward for Valour” statue, which stands in the center of the memorial. “I told her that I wanted to make it all-inclusive. I wanted it to be a female police officer. So we had
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a male firefighter handing a small child to a female police officer,” explained Cassidy. Just behind the statue sits the memorial wall. On it are bricks with the names of every fallen public safety servant to die in the line of duty in SLO County. According to Cassidy, the memorial was the only memorial of its kind on the Central Coast at the time of its completion. Constable David Morehouse was the first and only PRPD killed in the line of duty. Morehouse was shot and killed after interrupting a burglary at a hardware CONTINUED ON PAGE A15
WEATHER
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