 On The Line -- Issue 620 -- February 2, 2007  Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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On The Line -- Issue 620 -- February 2, 2007 Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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February, with 28 days, is the shortest month of the year. Even with the addition of another day at its very end every four years -- Leap Year - it is still the shortest month.
But for all that it is packed with observances and holidays. Feb. 2 is Ground Hog Day, when weather experts claim to know the coming weather through a shadow cast by a ground hog emerging from its hole. Feb. 12 is Lincoln's Birthday, commemorating the date on which Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809. Feb. 22 is Washington's Birthday, honoring our first president, George Washington, born on that day in 1732. About 30 years ago, some bureaucrat figured out that by combining the two birthdays as Presidents' Day on the third Monday of February, it would make a good excuse for a three-day weekend. The third Monday never falls on the birthday of one of the two thus honored. Feb. 14 is Valentine's Day in commemoration of the saint who became an early Christian martyr. For centuries sweethearts have exchanged valentines on that day, and confectioners, florists and restaurateurs love it because it makes their cash registers ring. Probably the only sweethearts who come closest to its actual celebration are young people and the elderly. The former group is just beginning to experience that divine malady known as love, and the latter enjoys looking back on the world when it was young and promising and there was only one person for them. I submit that a day that is celebrated as National Inventors' Day in the United States -- Feb. 11 for the birth on that date in 1847 of Thomas Alva Edison -- should have more prominence than is accorded it now. Edison is the man who practically created the modern world, with such devices as the incandescent light and the vast infrastructure needed to implement it. He also produced the phonograph, his own favorite, and the motion picture camera among more than 1,000 inventions for which he is credited. He himself pointed out that many of them were developed by others working under his guidance in the large laboratory he conceived in Menlo Park, N.J. Some scientists have maintained that that laboratory ranks high in his list of inventions. In San Benito County, many people are very much aware of Feb. 27 as John Steinbeck's birthday as he was born on that date in 1902. Although he was born in neighboring Monterey County, Hollister was the first California home of the Steinbeck family. German-born John A. Steinbeck came here from New England in the 1870 just as the new city of Hollister was being built. He was a master carpenter and got a job right away. Within a few months he sent for his wife and four sons to join him. The Steinbeck family was prolific and produced many public servants, business people and educators. Some remained here for a generation or so but others left for other communities, including Salinas. Wherever they went, they added to their adopted communities. The last time the future Pulitzer Prize-winning author was known to have visited Hollister was shortly after his 21st birthday in 1923 to attend the funeral of his grandmother, starting from the home of his grandparents on Monterey Street. His grandfather had died there nearly eight years earlier. The house has changed owners several times since and is still occupied. The number of prominent Hollister residents who claim February birthdays is astonishing. It is as though Nature was trying to cram the short month with some of the town's most productive people. Take Ruth Erickson, for example. She went outside on Ground Hog's Day, Feb. 2, saw her birthday, but did not duck back in. Mrs. Erickson was born in England, came to the United States as a young woman, and eventually settled in Hollister. She has been involved in many community enterprises, including the Friends of the Library, the county Historical Society, the Hollister Airmen's Association and one in which she is usually identified most closely, the Sister City Program. On Feb. 14, another lady who has made a profound difference in local education observes her birthday. Barbara Anderson stresses the word "teacher" when discussing her career as a teacher and administrator "Don't list as an ?administrator'" she said in a long-ago interview. She was known then as someone who could connect with her young charges. Now in retirement, her full-blown wit and sense of humor still captivate and delight her friends. Feb. 16, John Hodges' birthday, will also be the day this month for his retirement dinner. A businessman turned politician, he has served as mayor of Hollister, as county assessor, and for the last 24 years until he left office last month, as the county clerk. His friends are legion, and they are tickled at the prospect of roasting him at the dinner. He can hardly be said to be in retirement as he spends many hours a day at ranching, an activity he was born into and which he loves. On that same day, Adam Breen will notch another birthday. He grew up here, also graduated from San Benito High School as Hodges did, and pursued journalism as he entered adulthood. Breen later switched to education and is now a teacher of -- among other things -- of journalism at the high school from which he graduated. He also contributes a weekly column to The Free Lance, of which he is a former editor. Just five days later, another double header is observed by two more local graduates. The first, because of his year's seniority, is Robert Scattini, a former San Benito County sheriff and former mayor of Hollister. Scattini's family moved here while he was a boy and he has made many, many friends over the years. He also was a moving force in restoring the Independence Day motorcycle rally after it was skipped last year. His fellow Feb. 21st celebrant is Gordon Machado. Machado grew up here and entered politics while still in his 20s. He was elected to Hollister City Council, and won re-election. He has served as mayor more than once. He is a member of the Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital's board of directors and has attracted other local residents to take up its cause. Several years ago, the county Chamber of Commerce named him its Man of the Year. So, although shorter by two or three days than the other months, February is long on observations and notable residents. |
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