Everyone is Invited to Sign Up and Donate a Pint

This next Tuesday, you’ll have the opportunity to help save a life, by merely taking an hour out of your day and donating a pint of blood at the Antioch Rotary Community Blood Drive.

The event will take place at the Lone Tree Golf & Event Center from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Please register online at www.helpsavealife.org or call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (448-3543) and provide the Sponsor Code antiochrotary.

This is the second blood drive, this year, sponsored by the Antioch Rotary Club, thanks to the efforts of event coordinator Dale Hudson, the American Red Cross and the Lone Tree Golf & Event Center, which is generously donating the use of their banquet room.

“We collected 41 pints at our blood drive in January,” Hudson said. “We’re hoping to exceed that. Every pint is used to help save the lives of multiple people, right here in our community.”

For information about the American Red Cross, visit their website at www.redcross.org. For information on Antioch Rotary Club, which is now in its 68th year of serving both the Antioch community as well as supporting international projects and programs, please visit www.AntiochRotaryClub.org or see them on Facebook.

By Allen Payton, Publisher

As of this week, the parade in Antioch, to celebrate America’s 235th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is on, according to event coordinator and Antioch School Board Trustee Walter Ruehlig.

Walter and I have been working on bringing the event to fruition over the past several weeks. While the fireworks couldn’t happen, again, this year, due to a cost of approximately $80,000, the good news is the Antioch Independence Day Parade will happen on Monday, July 4th. 

Details are still being worked out and some funds will have to be raised (only a few thousand dollars), but the Antioch Chamber of Commerce has allowed the use of their Antioch Community Foundation for tax-deductible donations to pay for the costs, and the route along 2nd Street, in historic downtown Rivertown has been selected, beginning at 10 a.m.

Any individual or organization wishing to march please notify Walter at walter.ruehlig@gmail.com for an application which he will e-mail or send  by mail. The application is also posted for downloading on line on this site and at www.art4antioch.org. Put it on your calendar and be sure to join us in celebrating our nation’s freedoms!

If you’d like to contribute, please make your check payable to “Antioch Community Foundation” and put “July 4th Parade” in the memo area, and mail it c/o Antioch Herald to P.O. Box 4672, Antioch, CA 94531 or bring it to the ECC Bank branch at 1411 A Street, and they’ll deposit it for you. Be sure to email or mail us a copy of the top of your check for your and our records.

Sponsors of $25 or more will be listed on this site and given special recognition in the July issue print edition of the Herald.

This is a community effort and we need your support and participation to make it a success.  Visit our Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/Antioch.JulyFourth or for any questions, please email walter.ruehlig@gmail.com at or antiochjuly4th@yahoo.com.

From Contra Costa County Fair

Just as you’d expect the Fair Queen to be, Brittney Ray is poised, outgoing, and charismatic. But would you guess that she has been riding horse since before she could walk? Meet your 2011 Fair Queen Brittney Ray!

The 19-year-old Antioch resident is no stranger to the Fair. Brittney sang with her pageant friends when she was just five or six years old. She also showed livestock at the Fair for the past seven years. Her favorite Fair memory is camping out on the fairgounds with her 4-H club. What Brittney looks forward to most during her reign as Fair Queen is the week of fair itself.

“I love the atmosphere and this year is going to the most special to me because I get to live every little girls dream and be the queen,” said Brittney. “I can’t wait to see all the kids faces when they get to meet a ‘real queen’!”

You can meet Brittney at the Contra Costa County Fair, June 2 – 5. You can find her helping out with kid’s contests, the livestock auction, opening ceremonies and interacting with guests during the entire Fair. She will also make special appearances at community events as a spokesperson for the Fair during her yearlong reign.

We are so pleased to have Brittney as this year’s Fair Queen and look forward to her being an excellent example for youth in the county. Please make sure to come and visit her and all of us at the Contra Costa County Fair June 2 – 5 and celebrate with us as “The Tradition Continues”. For more information visit the Annual Fair section of our website at www.contracostafair.com/fair.

Be sure to visit their website www.contracostafair.com/fair/ for all the details!

Additional photos by John Goodner can be viewed at his Elite Photography and Design website by clicking here.

“Honor, Respect and Remembrance”

By Allen Payton, Publisher

On a sunny day with a cool breeze, under a cloudy sky, Antioch and East County officials and residents gathered at the

Oak View Memorial Park to honor those who fought and died for our freedom during the annual Memorial Day ceremonies.

Labeled the Antioch Memorial Thunder, official ceremonies began with the roaring arrival of a 100 motorcycle procession of military veterans escorted by Antioch Police from Antioch City Hall.

Officials in attendance were Antioch Mayor Jim Davis, Mayor Pro Tem Wade Harper, Councilman Gary Agopian, Antioch School Board Trustee Walter Ruehlig and Oakley Mayor Jim Frazier.

It included a 45-minute musical tribute by the Temple Hill Choir and ended with a rare, in public, flag retirement ceremony, with the proper disposal of a tattered flag by burning, and a 21-gun salute.

Led and coordinated by Mayor Davis with the help of members of the local veterans organizations, this year marked the 12^th year in a row that residents gathered at Oak View on East 18^th Street in Antioch.

“We started with 12 of us standing around the flagpole,” Davis said. “This year we have about 600 [people in attendance].”

The invocation was offered by American Legion Chaplain Michael Geltz followed by bagpiper Bryan Reynolds playing “When the Battle’s O’re.”

The day featured a variety of speaker, with VFW 6435 Post Commander Henri Veilieux focusing on recent events.

“It took us 10 years to get Bin Laden,” Veilieux stated. “But we got him” to the cheers of the audience, dressed in patriotic attire.

The next speaker was the most inspirational, former Navy man Chuck Kohler, a Pearl

Harbor survivor. He gave “honor, respect and remembrance to all those through the years who have sacrificed for our freedom and liberties.”

He quoted the book of John, chapter 14 verse 13 from the Bible, “Greater love hath

no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Kohler spoke of the “most drastic event in the history of the U.S. Navy,” the attack on Pearl Harbor.

“It is my privilege to pay honor and respect to the 2,405 individuals who because of that event were not able to be with us for over 69 years past,” he stated. “And another 80,000 who survived that event but have since passed on.”

He spoke of the 1,177 sailor that went down with the U.S.S. Arizona and encouraged the audience, when in Honolulu, to visit the memorial, there.

“If you listen not with your ears, but with your heart, you will hear the voices of all who are still entombed in that ship at the bottom of the harbor as they speak in one voice ‘remember us, remember us.’”

The next speake was Lt. Colonel McLaughlin of the U.S. Army Reserve 483^rd Transportation Battalion, which Antioch has adopted as its own. He thanked those who served and are currently serving in the military.

Another speaker was Operation Iraqi Freedom war veteran Maurice Dellmer, a representative from Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla’s office. He spoke of his experiences with PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder and the help he received from the VA in his transition back to civilian life.

The Wall of Honor, replicas of the World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War memorials in Washington, D.C. wereuncovered by veterans Terry Andreasen, Duane Colvin and Dick Lamb, followed by the beautifully sung “America the Beautiful” by 13-year-old Brynna Autumn Finley, of Vallejo, who opened the ceremony with the National Anthem. She is the niece of Antioch residents Joe and Lesli Reano.

Mayor Davis was then joined by Major Eldon Strand and the Honor

Guard of the Army Reserve 483^rd Transportation Battalion, in the placing of a rose on the 9-11 Monument and laying a wreath on the Veterans Memorial at the park. The procession was led by bagpiper Reynolds playing “Amazing Grace.”

That was followed by the dove release, then the retirement of the flag that covered a casket of a World War II veteran. The flag had flown in his family’s yard for years, but had become tattered and U.S. Code requires the proper treatment and respect of our flag, and that includes disposal by burning. The crowd stood and gave the Pledge of Allegiance to the old flag, then quietly watched as members of Boy Scouts Pack 251 led the solemn ceremony.

Two buglers concluded the ceremonies with the playing of Taps.

By Mayor Jim Davis

Publisher’s Note: Apologies for the late posting but, we just received this information, this morning and the time of the event, late last night.

Remembering those who have died to provide Americans freedom is what Memorial Day is all about. In Antioch, the observances set for Monday May 30, 2011 are about providing a way for grateful residents to say thank you.

There are a lot of people who are looking for a way to say thanks; this is one way you can do it.

Now over a dozen years old and still growing, the name of this year’s observance is appropriately dubbed Antioch Memorial Thunder. It will begin with the arrival of one hundred plus riders from patriotic motorcycle groups. The ceremony will feature many local musicians, speakers, a 21-gun salute, a dove release and other traditional activities.

We’d like to invite all the public to join us in paying tribute to those who fought for our liberty and are no longer here.

In addition to VFW Post 6435, participating sponsors of this year’s event include the City of Antioch, Oak View Memorial Park Cemetery, and the Army’ Reserve 483rd Transportation Battalion, American Legion Post 161, the Boy and Cub Scouts of America, and the Patriot Sentinel Riders.

Memorial Day Tribute begins at 10am, with a 45 minute performance by the Temple Hill Choir, made up of members from as far away as Gilroy to Santa Rosa.

Followed by the traditional Memorial Day Ceremony:

Place: Oak View Cemetery  East 18th Antioch

Arrival of the 100 + Motorcycle Procession from Antioch City Hall escorted by Antioch PD

Flag Salute

Guest Speakers

Musical Numbers

21 Gun Salute

Dove release and more…

Followed by the BSA -flag retirement ceremony.