Or will your Family City IQ results show you still need to roll a few
pumpkins & take a couple more trips down the V-Max memory lane?
By DENNIS WYATT
209 Living
Man-tee-ka!!
If you know that Bobby and Shirley Davis — who are now traveling around heaven in an RV — made that pronunciation of Manteca famous then you are an honest-to-goodness Family City native or are a fan of late night TV shows years ago where the trademark commercials for Manteca RV and Trailer council often were found.
But how do you score on overall Manteca trivia and facts? Do you know where you fall on the scale? Do you deserve to be referred to as a “Man-tee-ka” aficionado or are you close but no cigar (Bobby Davis fans will get that one) or simply a Manteca booster?
Or are you what fans of the Trashy High Bulldogs from the 1950s used to call the hometown of Buffalo opponents in Valley Oak League play — “Manstinka” — when it comes to the ins and outs of knowing Manteca’s history, politics and general quirks.
Here’s a quick multiple choice test you ca try to see where you stand on the city known to those fluent in Spanish as “Lard.”
1. The old mission-style tower at Manteca High came down on Oct. 3, 1969. What one of the following four statements is not true:
a) Most of the community was happy to see what they deemed an eye sore being razed.
b) The cable snapped twice and the tower withstood a Caterpillar tractor attack before a wrecking ball was brought in to finish the job.
c) A “Save the Tower” committee was formed to fight its removal.
d) It was the most prominent landmark along Yosemite Avenue.
2. In one of the most bizarre court trials in the 1990s, the late San Joaquin County District Attorney John Phillips made Manteca safe by successfully prosecuting then Mayor Frank Warren for:
a) Littering along Sherman Avenue.
b) Violating the city’s sign ordinance
c) Pulling the bed sheets off a tenant that refused to comply with an eviction notice.
d) Traveling to Ripon one Sunday to help a friend out by cutting their lawn in violation of an ordinance in that community preventing such activity on the Sabbath.
3. Speaking of former mayors, one of Trena Kelley’s successful crusades before running for public office was:
a) Getting the City Council to become the first city in California to outlaw cigarette vending machines where they were accessible to children.
b) Convincing city leaders to add a street sweeper to rid Manteca’s street of summer dust from nearby farmland.
c) Successfully lobbied Spreckels Sugar to add “made in Manteca” on all of its commercial sugar sacks.
d) Securing funds for the building of the Manteca Library.
4. The longest serving vehicle in Manteca’s municipal fleet that is still used from time-to-time strictly in ceremonial functions is:
a) A 1963 patrol car much like the one seen on the Andy Griffith Show that leads the annual Fourth of July parade.
b) A 1952 GMC half ton truck still used by the city’s parks and recreation crew.
c) The 1984 Yugo used occasionally by Manteca Police doing undercover police surveillance.
d) A 1927 LaFrance fire engine.
5. What current municipal project has been “talked about” for 20 years pursued longer than the others —but still hasn’t been started?
a) The performing arts center.
b) An indoor waterpark resort and hotel
c) A new or expanded library.
d) The wastewater treatment plant expansion.
6. One of the most infamous council election races in Manteca history involved:
a) A Manteca native who had a career as a bearded lady in a traveling circus before returning to Manteca.
b) A husband and wife running against each other with entire opposing views who at one point during a Manteca Chamber of Commerce candidates’ forum threw food at each other.
c) A council hopeful who strode into a local bank the day after his picture appeared on the front page of the Bulletin as a candidate and robbed a teller and later argued unsuccessfully in court that he was a political prisoner.
d) A Manteca High football coach who ran for office after losing a bet that the Buffalos would win the Valley Oak League pennant.
7. Which of the following was not the name of an early Manteca area elementary campus?
a) Atlanta
b) Summer Home
c) Castle
d) Raymus
8. What is the name of the earliest newspaper published dn the Manteca area?
a) The Manteca Bulletin
b) The Lathrop Junction
c) The Irrigation Bulletin
d) The Cowell Clarion
9. Walter Woodward is a Manteca pioneer who was responsible for:
a) Devising the pipe and held the patent on a molded redwood flume that carried water over step terrain from the Colorado River to Los Angeles.
b) Excavating the site for Woodward Reservoir on his family farm in the early 1900s to make it possible to form the South San Joaquin Irrigation District.
c) Building the first concrete faced dam in California.
d) Designing the original water slides at Oakwood Lake resort on the western end of Woodward Avenue.
10) Highway 99 and Highway 120 used to intersect at:
a) Yosemite Avenue and Union Road.
b) Yosemite Avenue and Main Street.
c) Yosemite Avenue and Austin Road.
d) Yosemite Avenue and Airport Way.
11) Which of the following statements is not true?
a) Manteca has five McDonald’s and five Starbucks locations.
b) Manteca has more Mexican restaurants than convenience stores.
c) Two former Manteca supermarkets have been converted to health clubs.
d) There are more barber shops than nail salons in Manteca.
12) Manteca’s official city nickname is:
a) The Family City
b) A Sweet Place to Be
c) The Crossroads of California
d) Home of the Manteca Waterslides
13) Which of the following wasn’t a major problem in Manteca in the early days of the 20th century?
a) Sand storms
b) Rabbits
c) The flu
d) Sink holes
14) The biggest crop in the Manteca area is:
a) Pumpkins
b) Almonds
c) Grapes
d) Sugar beets
15) How many young Manteca men lost their lives serving in Vietnam?
a) Ten
b) Six
c) Fourteen
d) Seventeen
16) The highest ranking politician ever to get his start in Manteca politics was:
a) Former California Governor Hiram Johnson
b) Former Congressional Majority Whip John McFall
c) Former State Senator Jack Snyder
d) Former Under Assistant Secretary of the Navy Joshua Cowell
17) The busiest intersection in Manteca for traffic is:
a) Yosemite Avenue and Main Street
b) Mission Ridge Drive and Main Street
c) Louise Avenue and Main Street
d) Union Road and Yosemite Avenue
18) Pick the oldest continuous business in Manteca still operated by the same family:
a) Raymus Development
b) Sadie’s
c) Tipton’s
d) Aksland Real Estate
19) The trailer park queen Velma Melmac who owns a huge RV and communes with nature as long as she can sanitize used to appear occasionally in the San Francisco Chronicle comic strip dubbed “Farley.” Where does Velma get her name from?
a) The Melmac family that originally built El Rancho Mobile Home Park and Manteca Trailer and RV that San Francisco residents heading for the Sierra passed on weekends.
b) The planet where Alf — a furry TV alien — heralded from.
c) A virtually indestructible set of dishware that was all the rage on the 1950s.
d) A Winnebego RV that was designed in Manteca and named The Melmac.
Bonus questions
KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS: If multiple choice isn’t your bag and you want to make up for lost points, here are four bonus questions that all you need to do is come up with the correct answer for on your own without any help from the Man-tee-ka! test masters
21. What does Escalon stand for?
22. Why is Stockton referred to as the Sunrise Seaport?
23. Which city has a higher per capita income, Stockton or Modesto?
24. What do Oakdale boosters like to claim their city is the capital of?
25, What city has a higher per capita income, Manteca or Lathrop
