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Grape Festival board is a hands-on group

By Alejandro Lazo
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Every year, the 36 members of the Lodi Grape Festival and Harvest Fair Board of Directors give their spare time to help put the Grape Festival together.

The longest-serving member of the board, Ole Mettler — who has been a director since January 1950 — spent many years with the festival helping to receive and display the grapes.

“So they’re as nice as can be for the public to see,” he said.

Mettler became involved with the festival after coming home from service in World War II.

“We had vineyards. I was involved with grapes and so it was very natural for me to be involved,” he said.

Mettler was also the president of Farmers and Merchants Bank in 1960. He is still at F&M as chairman of the board and he still has his vineyards.

Board directors serve for three-year terms. Every year, 12 directors are elected from the members of the Grape Festival Association, a nonprofit organization run in partnership with San Joaquin County. Anyone can join the association for $5 a year.

The board of directors' members come from various professional backgrounds.

“It’s a very diverse group of individuals,” said Mike McCay, a stock broker at Beckman and Company, who has served on the board for five years.

McCay is currently the second vice president of the board. He joined the festival association because he liked the yearly event.

“You feel very safe when you’re there,” he said. “There are a lot of different things to learn about. It’s a normal, traditional country fair. There’s always something new. There’s always a reason to go to fair.”

McCay, who now lives in Acampo, grew up in the Bay Area before attending the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

Philip Abeldt has been a dentist in Lodi for 21 years. He was elected to the fair’s board of directors in 1986.

Abeldt joined the association to support the community and because he enjoys good wine.

Abeldt, who grew up in Lodi, said that from the seventh grade on he participated in either marching bands or driving his car in the now-canceled parade.

Abeldt’s mother, Elsie Goehring Abeldt, was a third generation grape grower in area. Abeldt is member of the San Joaquin Dental Society, the California Dental Association Board of Directors and is in the Navy Reserves as a dentist. He spent part of August stationed on the USS John C. Stennis, a nuclear aircraft carrier based in San Diego, doing dental work on crew members.

Peter Hetzner, an eye doctor who has spent 20 years on the Grape Festival board. This year he is working on the Spring Wine Show because the parade was canceled. He has also spent time looking for the hottest acts available to perform while on the entertainment committee.

Hetzner grew up in the Bay Area. He came to Lodi in 1976 after his professor at the University of California, Berkeley — Frank Johnson, a Lodi optometrist — offered him a job. Johnson was very active in the community.

“He was very active in Lodi before I came here and he was probably the one that paid my first 5-dollar membership (to the association),” Hetzner said.

Here's a list of other board members:

• Glen Baltzer, retired public works director of the Streets Department for the city of Lodi

• George Barber, former member San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors

• Henry Baumbach, former owner of Baumbach’s Nursery.

• William E. Bechtold, co-owner of Bechtold Tractor Service

• Elmer Brown, retired cement contractor

• Leonard Cicerelo, area wine broker

• Steven Crabtree, local attorney

• Carl Crug, of the Bank of Lodi

• James De Mera, local attorney

• Patrick Donahue, funeral director for Gierhart, Wells and Donahue Funeral Home

• Stan Foster, retired owner of Foster Lumber

• Wes Fujitani, engineer with the city of Lodi

• Mike Henry, assistant executive director of the California Farm and Water Coalition

• Tom Hoffman, grape grower and small-business owner, and this year’s festival president

• Douglas Holck, local contractor

• Al Inman, retired from the city of Lodi

• Frank Johnson, local optometrist

• Keith Land, of Farmers and Merchants Bank, and a member of the Lodi City Council

• Caroline Lange, independent bookkeeper

• Mike Locke, owner of Christensen’s Fashions Inc.

• Mike Manassero, area grape grower

• Steve Manildi, human resources director at Canandaigua Wineries

• Ernest Meier, former owner of Ernie’s Loader Service

• Bruce Mettler, local grape grower

• Victoria Mettler, local financial adviser

• Jean Rauser, area grape grower

• Harold Rohrbach, before retiring worked in management and sales for Northern Fruit Co.

• Robert Schulenburg, area grape grower

• Diane Steen of Salisbury Market

• Donn Thompson, local educator

• Gar Wright, area insurance broker