Fowler Visit: March, pt2

My last update ended with learning that our scheduled 3/15 story circle was now being replaced with a community meeting to discuss objections to the proposed partnership (including housing) between the Buddhist church and Cornerstone. We let George and Karen, our main connections at the Buddhist Church, know that we would be in town anyway on March 15 and we’d be happy to attend their meeting or to be on hand in case questions came up that we could answer.

Meaning, we would drive to Fowler just in case we could attend the meeting. (It worked last week!) But George wrote us back to let us know he’d talked with the church president and they agreed we should attend the meeting and my idea of sharing a slideshow introducing ourselves was a good idea.

Michael, Peter and I left early Tuesday afternoon for Fowler. When we arrived in town we went to look at the two most likely venues: the park and the Honda Auto Service building. While we were at the Honda building Fowler’s Public Works Director, David W, stopped to talk with us. He was very friendly and helpful. He let us know that the building was not a viable performance venue. He had strong hopes that the building would be demolished in the next couple months to start moving toward the replacement building that will serve as a new firehouse for the VFD. He also said the building is structurally unsafe.

Dave did suggest a couple of other ideas—the Simonian Fruit packing house has a covered outdoor area at the north end of their property on 7^th Street. The reception/event for the start of Fresno County’s Blossom Trail was held there recently. He also mentioned that the old boarded up brick building on the corner of 7^th and Main is NOT yellow-tagged (unsafe for occupancy) as I’ve been told by many people in town. It’s owned by the DeSantos family. Dave thought that the inside would likely be too small for our purposes.

It’s looking more likely that the park will be our performance venue. We will need to also find an indoor rehearsal space and indoor spaces for production work building sets etc.

We did a tiny bit more touring around Fowler neighborhoods- mostly in the Buddhist Church neighborhood between Hwy 99 and Golden State Blvd. When we arrived at the church for the meeting there were quite a few people already there. George greeted us warmly. As usual there were small plates of snacks shared with everyone and a freshly made berry tart thingy.

There were close to 30 people at the meeting. Many were friendly faces we’d seen last week and at the Food Bazaar. Many were new faces for us.

Craig explained that we should do our presentation and have some Q&A, then we would go away and they could continue the discussion without us.

We set up the projector and computer with a powerpoint slideshow.

Before we even knew what was happening, Karen M was at the front of the room, announcing that she wanted to share her thoughts quickly before she had to go teach a class. Karen introduced us and spoke about Cornerstone, explaining our history, professionalism, etc, and how we work. She spoke about how she thinks our project will be a good one for Fowler and for the Buddhist Church community. She spoke about our proposal and how we’d work with and around the church’s needs. Karen was our champion and it was a heartening way to start the meeting.

Michael introduced the company adding to what Karen said. I presented a slide show that included images from each of our summer residencies. The slides were chosen to demonstrate some relevant factors or things we wanted to feature, such as Central Valley towns, unique performance venues, adapted living situations including outdoor showers, community events, group cast photos, some production photos and before and after shots of the Blue Ox Mill performance space.

There were many questions for us. Some people in the room were really worked up and resistant. Most of them seemed to appreciate the work we do but their concerns were about the space, liability, legalities, etc. We let them know that we’d be happy to create a contract with them and give them a security deposit. We assured them that our insurance was substantial & standard. Concerns were expressed about interference with the Obon Festival, though other people confirmed that it is really a one day event (7/16) with maybe some preparation the day before. One gentleman reiterated that the buildings are old and fragile. Others folks in the group answered some of the questions that were asked. One man who clearly was not interested in us working with them asked, “Why us? Why don’t you go to the Chamber of Commerce?” And another man responded, “Why NOT us?” It seemed clear that some people were partly put off by how quickly everything was happening, that they only learned about this a few days before.

As tempers and voices began to rise, we said our thanks and got out. Shouts were heard from beyond the closed door (“That’s why we have a board!”) as we packed up in the lobby.

The next day we heard from George:

I want to thank you for your nice presentation. Everyone was in agreement as to the wonderful work you people were doing.

The bone of contention seems to have been the presence of people living on the church ground tor a month. All kinds of possibilities issues that were conjured came forth. Most of the issues, ultimately, became a liability issue.

Among those in attendance last night were former City Council member, retired Judge, a former Mayor of the city. An attorney for the church suggested a look at a draft of contract that will absolve the church from any liability that may arise with the presence of so many people living on the church grounds for an extended period. Paperwork that indicates the church will not be in violations of any city ordinance, etc.

I am embarrassed to be sending you this mail. The meeting last night became a shouting match at times and I felt a sense of insanity had taken over.

Egos being what they are flourished and I thought, 'what a scene for a comedy play.'

With high hopes,

George

It’s worth noting that the consideration we are getting on this matter is unprecedented. Mas had said to us in January, “Oh the Buddhists will never let you live there.” Also, the Buddhists tend to be an insular group. They like to keep to themselves partly because they value a balance of hospitality and individual responsibility for community space. George mentioned to me in conversation that many other groups have an attitude of “Someone else will clean up after me” -and that is the opposite of what the Buddhist philosophy values.

Karen (who works at the city office) has already secured a letter from the city saying that there is no violation of permits or code for us to live at the church for a month. Our insurance rider request is being processed. We await word about what the Buddhists would like us to include in a contract and if they want a security deposit.

I believe that George and Karen are working to get the details we need regarding these elements. It seems very likely that we are going to be living at the Buddhist Church.

(tentative) YAY!

Our living at the campus will be the least comfortable yet in some ways—though I said that last year and it worked out to be pretty good. But we will have less “extra” space, less space for people to be alone or to have an extra meeting, etc. I think I mentioned this before, but all staff will have to live on campus which means shared rooms, outdoor showers and limited restrooms supplemented by port-a-potties.

It’s also very likely that we will adjust the schedule so it is exactly 4 weeks- July 17 to August 14. The first few years of the Institute we did this schedule but later added 2.5 days at the beginning for getting oriented and settled. Starting the residency after the Obon Festival is going to make many things simpler for us and for the Buddhists, so we’ll go back to this earlier schedule for I-8. We’ll likely make other schedule adjustments, too.

In addition to settling details with the Buddhist Church, we need to make arrangements with the city for use of park as performance venue and to find an indoor rehearsal space and a indoor production/construction space.

Fowler Visit: March, pt 1

Geoff, Michael and I went to Fowler yesterday with a few goals. On the way up we had time to discuss the breakdown of how many portable buildings etc that we would likely need and options of how to suss that out, as well as venue questions and concerns.

We had lunch at Elaine’s which claims the best hamburgers ever. They have a walk-up window and a sit down dining room. Lunch was good.

George Taraoke met us at the Buddhist Church and let us into all the spaces so we could measure them and assess what it would take for us to live there as well as the possibilities of performing at the Social Hall there.

We could perform in the social hall but it is not ideal. We could perform outside on the church grounds but it is also not ideal.

In all cases we will need to rent a generator for housing. It’s hard to predict what the effectiveness will be of the AC and/or swamp coolers in the indoor spaces.

We’ll need to bring in another refrigerator and possibly and additional freezer.

We’ll need to rent some port-a-potties to supplement the existing limited restrooms (2 stalls, 1 sink in ladies’ room/ 1 stall, 1 urinal, 1 sink in men’s room). There is an outdoor sink that will be much used.

On Saturday, July 16, the Obon Festival is hosted at Buddhist Church of Fowler. This involves use of all or most of the spaces we’d be in for preparation etc on Friday and all day Saturday. I think the event will be an amazing experience for Cornerstone. The sharing of the space as we understand it so far will be challenging.

Geoff, Michael and I checked out other venue options and came up with two priority option ideas: 1. Honda Auto Shop, and 2. City Park.

Honda Auto Shop is a building that has been out of use for 3 years. It’s across the street from City Hall and down the block from The Grange Hall—a run-down space we’ve been seeking access to with no luck so far. It had a long history we’ve heard of from some locals. Owned by the Honda Family for generations it was the perpetual hang out for many older men to sit with coffee and socialize. The City of Fowler purchased the property from the Hondas and has plans to upgrade the building and turn it into a new fire-station. Since the economic downturn however, those plans have been on hold due to lack of funds. If this is our performance venue we save on security costs, and on generator costs, if the power can be turned on to the building. It would require some really serious cleanup both inside and out. It’s possible that we could configure the performance at Honda’s to be split between in and outside- staging and/or audience seating. We might need an additional rehearsal space for part of the time if we perform here.

The city park is really lovely and has a small picturesque elevated stage with a cement pad in front of it. We could use the stage and this pad as a thrust-stage performance area with audience seated on level grass ground around it. The park has movable benches that they use for seating there which we could use, but might also supplement. Support spaces are minimal (to say the least) outside at the park. Additionally we’d have to bring in scaffolding for lights, a generator, and have 24 hour security. We’d need an additional rehearsal space in the area of the park. The Baptist church, the Presbyterian church and the senior center are all nearby.

Both of these venue options require cooperation and coordination with the city.

Geoff, Michael and I stopped in to Dave’s Auto Service to check in briefly with Mayor David Cardenas. He has already spoken with some of his colleagues on the city council about our project. He encouraged us to meet with the city manager to inquire about our requests before the next city council meeting on March 23, in case there are any details for us that discussion or input from the council.

We stopped in to the Fowler Branch Library to say hello to Sara Brown. We learned that while the county owns the library building property, the city owns the parking lot—a venue idea we discussed a bit.

We sat down at Starbucks to talk through all we’d learned. We had told George that we would be available in town from 7 to 8pm in case the church board wanted us to come in and do a presentation or answer questions about our proposal for partnership & housing. But we also didn’t want to wait until 8pm for dinner. So in between ordering dinner at the Italian restaurant on Merced St and dinner being served, George called and asked us to come speak at the beginning of the meeting. Michael and I did. There were about 15-18 people present in the meeting room, they were just getting organized, hadn’t started yet. We were given tea and a plate of snacky things. We introduced ourselves and the project and our proposal. It was a little awkward because I was unclear on what they did or didn’t know already. They asked some questions. A number of folks in the room were people that Julie and I had met and had lunch with at the Food Bazaar last month. It was nice to see friendly and familiar faces. Then we went away thanking George for his advocacy and letting him know we appreciated that he’d done all he could to make it happen.

After Michael and I finished dinner, we headed home to Los Angeles!

Today, George sent an email---

Thank you for staying long enough to make a presentation at the meeting last night. After considerable discussion, A majority voted in favor of the project. However, many concerns came up. Amomg the more serious ones were the living quarters for so many people for a month may be tripping a violation of some City Code.

Karen Mukai volunteered to look into this concern. Another point of concern was that our insurance coverage stipulates that there are no one living on the premise. In the event of any liability that may arise I presume your group will have coverage that will keep the church harmless. At this point, it seems the final approval process will hinge on the clarification of the above concerns.

Perhaps I may be overly concerned, In view of the delicate situation, I wonder if the Story Circle meeting on Tuesday March 15th will be worth your time and effort? I have informed a few people whom I felt may be worthy participants with no exact date in mind. I will alert them, thinking possitively, if you so choose to still retain the date and go ahead as planned..

Always, George

Later Karen Mukai, who works for the city, let me know

“No need to worry about talking to the City Code Enforcement Officer. I already spoke to him and no permits will be required as your group will be staying within the church compound. So, all's well.”

We sent word that our insurance rider would cover any liability their insurance lacked for our residency and that we really want to meet with Buddhist church members for a story circle on Tuesday.

Signs are good for housing, though not quite golden yet, it seems.

Fowler Visit: February

This trip was planned to be our (second) Fish or Cut Bait determiner. We need a place to live and the only place that seemed at all possible to accommodate us is the Buddhist Church. We had not had much luck connecting with anyone from that organization. The church president did not return phone calls and does not do email. Not much to go on in terms of even learning if the facility really was feasible for our housing and/or venue needs.

Julie and I drove to Fowler on Friday February 18. It was a storm-ish day and reports predicted rain all day. However skies were beautiful and dynamic but we didn’t have too much rain to contend with! First we went to explore Del Rey. Stopped into the school office shortly after school let out. We found Dena, the woman Ashley W had been connecting with via email. The principal was in a closed door meeting with no predicted end time. But Dena took a few minutes in the midst of a busy office to answer some questions for us. She recommended going directly to the Sanger School District to really make any headway regarding the Del Rey School facility. (The Sanger Superintendent of Schools just won a nation award for his work!) She said that whenever anything happens in town usually the school, the Boys &; Girls Club and the local church all work together to make it happen. We walked and drove around town a bit. We both were intrigued by a big covered open air area that looked like it was for produce storage or maybe packing work area. It looked like a business/space that was no longer active and it was in an interesting location in relation to the town.

We drove over to Sanger to see what we could learn there. We stopped in to the Chamber of Commerce and talked with a very helpful and informed woman there. We collected various pamphlets and written materials. It was raining and dusk and there wasn’t anything in particular we could do so we called it a night—checked-in, had dinner, rested in preparation for our very busy Saturday.

Saturday we met with Ricky to see the Fowler Improvement Association hall. Ricky manages the building because he lives across the street. And I was reminded about advise we were given by Sandie—everyone is always a little late in Fowler because it just takes a few minutes to get anywhere in town. So people don’t leave until the time they are supposed to be there. We waited for Ricky who had forgotten about us, but it just took him a few minutes to get from wherever he was to meet us at the FIA Hall. It’s a beautiful meeting hall with a kitchen on a residential street. The FIA is like the local Women’s Club and possibly just celebrated it’s centennial.

Then great things began to happen. Before I left home on Friday morning I’d gotten a telephone message from a man named George from the Buddhist Church of Fowler. He had been instructed to get in touch with me and he’d heard we were having a meeting at the library at noon on Saturday so he’d look for us there. I called him back and asked if we could meet him at 11 instead and he said, “Sure—I’m over at the church all day.” Which was fascinating because every time we’ve ever been by the Buddhist Church it’s completely unpopulated, like a ghost town. So we agreed to meet at the Buddhist Church at 11.

When we got there, the place was filled with people and activity.  They were preparing for the Food Bazaar to happen the next day.  We found George Teraoka and met with him in the office. He is 89 and lived in Fowler most of his life.  He grows boysenberries on his farm.  He’s mechanically inclined, internet savvy and a practicing Buddhist, occasionally teaching Dharma class.  George told us his story—the broad outline, anyway.  He entered an internment camp in Arkansas on his 21^st birthday.  While he was there he began to learn what Buddhism is really about-- he was uninterested in it before. When he left that place he settled in St. Louis for some years and met his wife while there.  Eventually he returned to Fowler to help on the family farm and has remained here since.

As we talked about our project we mentioned that we were a bit stymied since we had not yet found housing for our residency.  “Well,” he said, “I don’t see why you couldn’t live here.”  I almost fell out of my chair.  We talked some more then George walked us through the whole “campus” and introduced us to lots of people and once in awhile he’d say, This would be a principle person (for our project).

We had to run off to our story circle at the library but before we left the folks in the main building kitchen made us plates for lunch: sticky rice, tiny weeners, and I can’t remember what else but it was delicious and much needed by that time.

We had a story circle at the library and were joined by about a dozen folks.  Most of them are what I have come to consider “the usuals--” long time residents with generational connections to the town.  There was a family of “newcomers” too—I think a somewhat mixed family.  They’d moved to town in 2002.  Here’s who was there:  Gus Del Toro and his wife Chris Ripley (newcomers), some young people that I think are related to them or friends of their kids: Brenna A., Amanda C. Also, Clara Bedrosian Bousain (her brothers own National Raisin), Marie Gonsalves, Arpie, Jackie Johnson & Sally S. her caretaker, Elaine Roy & her daughter Annalisa & grandaughter Samantha Tyler and  Astine Z.

There was a lot of talk of how things used to be- so many of these women spent their entire lives in Fowler.  Marie had written about her life story so that Julie could take it home with her—a handwritten page in a ziplock baggie talking about her family’s Spanish heritage, how she married her high school sweetheart, and more.    Everyone mentioned the old high school building—it was beautiful, it was replaced with ugly buildings and maybe it wasn’t even as unsafe as they were told because it was so hard to tear it down.  (This is an oft told Fowler topic.  Artist rendering of the old high school building is on display in the McDonalds.)

The “newcomers” love Fowler, too.  Gus used to drive by on the freeway and tell himself, someday I am going to live in Fowler!  But there were never any homes for sale or rent.  In the 90s the Bedrosian family sold some of their vineyard land to developer RJ Hill and new homes were built.  Gus bought one.  Some of the old timers complained that newcomers don’t appreciate the town but use it as a bedroom then do everything else in Fresno—shop, work, send their kids to school.  Gus and Chris however said they do as much locally as they can—that’s why they moved here.  The schools are great. 

We ended the meeting with thoughts about Next Steps.  When we mentioned that it was not a for-sure thing that we would be doing the play in Fowler, because we were having trouble arranging housing, Astine seemed like she pulled back a bit from participating.  She didn’t want to be in the photo we took.  Hard to say what was going on with her. 

After this story circle we visited Don and Marylyn Wilson at their farm out on Lincoln Avenue, not too far from the Masumoto Farm.  They are an older couple that we found because a Cornerstone board member was college roommates with Don’s cousin, David Ehlers.  David lived in Fowler till age 11 then his family moved to Fresno.  He lives in Orinda now (near SF) but he still visits with the Wilsons and another Fowler cousin, too.  The Wilsons welcomed us into their home on the farm—their son does the farming now.  Don’s family came to Fowler from Scotland and his father or grandfather was the beloved doctor in Fowler for many years.  Marylyn is a longtime member of the FIA (Fowler Improvement Association), a women’s club.  At one time she was president of the FIA and there was a controversial political question going on—a developer wanted to build and open a casino on Manning Avenue, in the south, more industrial side of town.  Fowler is historically resistant to any kind of growth, but this casino was being considered – I assume because it could bring revenue to the city.  Marylyn planned an FIA event to discuss both sides of this issue and there was a lot of outcry and hullaballoo that she would actually think there was an “in favor” side to present. 

[ Turns out that they did build the casino!  Here is the second act of that story.   And here is the third act. ]

The Wilsons were lovely and shared their story that includes moving away from Fowler for many years.  They lived in Alaska for awhile.

        

After we left the Wilsons we drove by The Worship Centre.  Ashley had been trying to have a conversation with the pastor there or an assistant pastor, but they were not terribly responsive.  Almost everyone in town mentions the Worship Centre when they hear we’re doing a play.  The city has a lot of their big events there.  We didn’t immediately find a pastor and we didn’t really think that space would be helpful to us in any particular way.  The congregation is largely not from Fowler plus the building is in a part of Fowler that feels like it’s on the outskirts of town.

On Sunday Julie and I had a reservation to attend the Japanese-American Citizens League Day of Remembrance event in Fresno.  It was a brunch with an awards presentation and Mas Masumoto was one of the honorees.  However, we were now much more eager to attend the Food Bazaar at the Buddhist Church of Fowler.  There were table set up to fill the inside of the Social Hall.  George paid our tickets to get a lunch plate:  delicious bbq chicken, rice, slaw, lots of things on that plate!  Additionally they were selling desserts, more side dishes, & raffle tickets.  We bought more food and a bunch of raffle tickets.  We ate with George who break from working the room pouring tea from a big pot.  We met Karen who works for the city and a number of other folks—George introduced us to many people.  Later the mayor David Cardenas joined us.  (He only recently was named Mayor.  He’d been on the city council and the previous mayor, Jim Simonian, stepped down to be a councilmember.  He’d been mayor for a long time.) David was very enthusiastic about a Fowler community play.  He praised the character of the town and referred briefly to his history there as his family emigrated from Mexico when he was a boy.    Soon his beautiful wife Anna joined us and was great to talk with even as she was anxious to get her husband moving toward the door.  Julie and I won a raffle prize—tangerines and a box of cranberry juice drink. 

The whole experience of the Food Bazaar was the most warm and welcome time either of us had experienced in Fowler so far.  Everyone was very interesting and very comfortable and having a good time being social and eating a lot of delicious food. 

Things that didn’t happen on this trip:

We never did get to see inside the Grange Hall which we were pursuing as a possible performance or rehearsal venue or maybe even housing space.  We’ve been told by other folks that the building is unusable due to disrepair from lack of use. 

Neither the priest at St. Gregory’s or the parish council president David got back to us about a conversation or a visit.

But we were quite thrilled with the prospect of living at the Buddhist church as well as a partnership that would include the Japanese & Buddhist perspective.  We already were feeling its influence on us imagining that the play could feature a Buddhist point of view.

 

california raisins

This is a great one about farm workers harvesting raisins but also about the life of one family.

This is from Sun Maid which is in Selma (as opposed to National Raisin in Fowler) but it's interesting to see this part of the process (and it's short!)

 

And finally, I don't know if this was a national ad campaign but California Raisins, but in case you are unaware of the California Raisins phenomenon:

Fowler Visit: January

 

Wednesday, January 19

Paula and Julie drive around to see the town a bit since it's Julie's first visit.

Meet Michael Bedrosian for a tour of National Raisin facility and conversation.  In arranging the meeting told him that aside from the raisin processing tour we were interested in the company’s relationship to the community, as well as the Armenian heritage and family farm characteristics of Fowler, and anything else he wanted to tell us about. The Bedrosian family is one of the major farm/business families of Fowler.

The raisin plant tour was great!  And because Michael has been working there his whole life and has done every job on the line, he was the best guide possible.  Three Bedrosian uncles started National Raisin in 1965-- why? JMM asks.  Honestly, they saw a guy with a really nice car and they thought, How can we get that?  We need to start a business. One of those brothers--Kenny was visiting the plant while Julie and I were there.  

National owns some raisin vineyards and also buys raisins from various farmers.  You can read a bit about National Raisin on their website of course and there is information online about raisins process from grape on the vine to in little boxes, Raisinets and as ingredients in many other things.  One thing I think is interesting is that raisins first dry first by being laid out on paper in the vineyard rows.

Another point of interest is that raisins get cleaned A LOT before they are packaged-- or at least they do at National which is known for innovations in raisin cleaning.

Some farmers are moving away from growing raisins, trading them in for almonds which are more of a cash crop- very popular lately.  It takes 5 years for new almond trees to produce a crop but still some farmers make this leap.  Other farmers-- and this is true over a lot of the San Joaquin Valley-- sold farm land to developers to build homes, though that has slowed down a lot since the housing market dropped.

We were due to meet with Paul Magill, Agriculture Teacher at Fowler High School who also runs school farm. He's born & raised in Fowler. He forgot about us and was not in town that day.

Thursday, January 20

We drove out to meet with David & Marcy Masumoto at their farm. They are Del Rey residents though their farm straddles the border of Del Rey and Fowler.

It was a treat to get to visit them at home on their farm.  Marcy works for the Education Dept Fresno State and a lot of her job is about outreach to local rural schools and how to get the best possible education for those kids who might have less opportunity.  David who goes by "Mas" is both a farmer and a writer.  He's written many books and has a featured column in the Fresno Bee.

We talked about many things.  Mas had just returned from a conference/event for food writers.  We talked a bit about their daughter, Nikiko, and how we met her.

[ We first met her through the experience of Cornerstone’s project in partnership with the Music Center in Los Angeles:  LA Storytellers.  We did this program twice and the second time the theme was FOOD.  People wrote in to the Music Center to apply for participation and about 60 folks were selected.  Cornerstone created a mini-version of our process so there were 2 meetings of this workshop group, the second one 2 weeks or so after the first one.  Those 60 people were divided into smaller groups and each group also included a CTC writer, director and actor.  The first meeting was about community building and story sharing.  The playwrights all spent the interim writing a short play for their groups.  The second meeting was about rehearsing and sharing back these short plays. Nikiko participated in this LA Storytellers workshop and her group, like some others, continued to keep in touch after the workshop ended.  In fact, her group participated together in adopting a Masumoto Farm peach tree for a few years!   Nikiko then participated in a Cornerstone Institute 2Day Intensive because she was inspired by the process and experience of LA Storytellers.  And that is when Cornerstone started thinking we should collaborate with Fowler for an Institute Summer Residency production.]

We talked about our experiences in Fowler so far.  About running a family farm for generations, both daily life and big questions.  We talked about what it means to be neighbors with the same families for generations.  We talked about the history of the Japanese American community in Fresno County.  In Fresno County, including Fowler, the Japanese & Japanese American people living west of the main highway (which at the time was Golden State Blvd) were relocated first.  Most people in Fresno County were sent to Gila River “Relocation Camp” in Arizona.  Mas’ parents were sent there.  

Rather than try to reiterate all that Mas & Marcy shared, I will encourage you to do some exploring on your own regarding David's family history (which he has written about and continues to write about both in books and his newspaper column) and about Japanese American history in California.

an internet guide to learning about history of Japanese internment

Densho

Japanese American National Museum

more resources re: internment