This is the Local Turlock Podcast for the week of September 25, 2020. I am bringing you fresh news and interesting stories in Turlock and nearby towns. Let’s begin with Little Red Door as they are opening their secondhand boutique in Downtown Turlock. Next, California Animal Welfare Funders Collaborative has doled out $20,000 grant to Turlock Animal Services to help reduce the number of cats that have to be euthanized each year. To help you ward off the quarantine cabin fever, pack your family into the car as Central Valley drive-ins opens in Stanislaus County and the surrounding area in the next few weeks. Don’t miss the activities and alternative forms of entertainment to stay socially sane during quarantine. On a more serious note, expect for the air quality to worsen as the week progresses due to the ongoing wildfire across California, and the latest news about COVID 19 in Stanislaus County. All that and more today in this week's Local Turlock podcast.
Secondhand boutique moving into permanent downtown home
After just under a year of providing the community with an affordable option when it comes to clothing, consignment boutique Little Red Door is preparing to open its own brick-and-mortar location in 340 E. Main St., Turlock
Little Red Door opened last fall as just a small space inside of downtown shop Rustic Roots. Sisters and boutique owners Marissa Miranda and Isabella Cisneros are now preparing to welcome customers to their new space on the corner of East Main and Thor which will open sometime next month. It will open inside of the former Geiger’s Fine Jewelry building. This second hand boutique aims to give discard fashion a second chance through a selection of up-cycled clothing hand-picked by the duo.
Grant helps Turlock Animal Service wrangle cat population
Turlock Animal Services recently received a $20,000 grant to reduce the number of cat and kitten deaths by at least 250 in one year via a spay/neuter/release program. The grant is from the California Animal Welfare Funders Collaborative, which has doled out $200,000 to animal shelters across the state.
CAWFC is a unique model of funders pulling their dollars together and includes the Annenberg Foundation with support from Wallis Annenberg PetSpace, Best Friends Animal Society, Maddie’s Fund and Michelson Found Animals Foundation.
Turlock’s program is open to cats and kittens trapped within the city limits. The hope is that the grant will help reduce the number of cats that have to be euthanized each year in Turlock and eventually get the shelter to a no kill designation. The program is run on appointment only on Mondays and Wednesdays.For information about appointments call 656-3140.
Air quality expected to worsen this week
While the Valley experienced several days of relief from the thick cover of wildfire smoke, air quality is expected to deteriorate again over the coming days and the District warns residents to stay indoors to reduce their exposure to particulate matter emissions. The District anticipates air quality to be unhealthy in a number of regions in the Valley and to worsen as the week progresses and will remains as the week approaches eventually impacting the entire San Joaquin Valley which includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare counties and the valley portion of Kern County. Anyone experiencing poor air quality due to wildfire smoke should move indoors, to a filtered, air-conditioned environment with windows closed. For information about any current and recently past wildfires affecting the Valley, check the District’s wildfire page at www.valleyair.org/wildfires. You can also follow air quality conditions by downloading the free “Valley Air” app on your mobile device.
What’s showing? At Central Valley drive-ins opened because of coronavirus
In coming weekends alone you can catch movies in Modesto, Ceres, Los Banos and Turlock as pop-up (and permanent) drive-ins proliferate with major movie theaters still closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Besides showing movies, some are also showing concerts and other special events.
So pack your family into the car and see what else is showing in Stanislaus County and the surrounding area in the next few weeks.
Ceres Drive-In, 1651 E Whitmore Ave.
“Frozen” — 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25
“American Graffiti” — 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26
“Avengers: Endgame” — 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27
All tickets $30 per carload; visit www.cerescruisein.com
Frogtown Drive-In, Calaveras County Fairgrounds, 2465 Gun Club Road, Angels Camp
“Frozen II” — 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27
Tickets $25 per car ($20 in advance); visit www.frogtown.org.
State Theatre, John Thurman Field, 601 Neece Dr, Modesto
“The Goonies” — 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17
“42” — 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17
Tickets $30 per car; visit thestate.org.
The Nightlight, Los Banos Fairgrounds, 563 C St.
“Possessor” — 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9
Online tickets $10 first person, $5 for each passenger; gate tickets $15 for the first person, $5 each passenger; visit www.nightlighttheater.com.
Go Drive-Up Entertainment, Stanislaus County Fairgrounds, 900 N Broadway, Turlock
“Boys of Summer Live” (live Eagles tribute band concert) — 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 25
“Beetlejuice” — gates 6 p.m., show sunset, Thursday, Oct. 1
“Annabelle” — gates 6 p.m., show sunset, Friday, Oct. 2
“Mean Girls” — gates 6 p.m., show sunset, Saturday, Oct. 3
“The Conjuring” — gates 6 p.m., show sunset, Sunday, Oct. 4
Tickets $25 per car for movies, $50 for live concert; visit godriveup.com
How to Stay Socially Sane in Quarantine
Although business is not going on as usual, it is still going on in a new way. Turlock and the surrounding area have alternative forms of entertainment to offer as a way for us to ward off the quarantine cabin fever. Here are some ways to stay social and entertained during the on-going pandemic: For the rest of September, Turlock has Farmers' Markets every Saturday from 8-1 p.m., Oakdale has them every Wednesday from 5-8 p.m., and Modesto has them every Thursday from 8-1 p.m. One of the notable absences of this pandemic has been movie theaters. As the return of movie theaters looms near, there is at least one theater nearby that’s currently available! The Regal Theatre in Sonora is open for business and adhering to COVID safety guidelines. With the absence of movie theaters, pop up drive-ins have become a recent occurrence. There is currently a drive-in at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds that has been receiving some attention. You can check them out on their Facebook page, GO Drive-up Turlock. the next drive-in set to show the film “The Greatest Showman” for free on September 19. Billiards is a safe social distancing activity. Such is the case at Diamond Billiards and CR2 Bar & Billiards in Modesto, both of which are currently open. Turlock is offering salsa dance classes every Monday from 6:15-7 p.m. for a fee of $15. Classes are held at Alegria Ballroom Dance Academy. Only six people are allowed to pre-register into each session and temperature checks are enforced, so COVID safety guidelines are clearly being followed. You can check the details of the event at https://www.heyturlock.com/event/salsa-with-xavier. A perfect social distancing sport, many golf courses have remained up and running. More recently, the TopGolf in Rocklin is open again! There are also virtual events ready to entertain, such as online classes in activities such as cartooning and pottery with the city of Ceres, and live performances being streamed by the city of Modesto’s Prospect Theater Project.
Coronavirus update, Sept. 24: Stanislaus County numbers continue to stabilize
Three more county residents have died of the virus, for a total of 342, the Health Services Agency reported Wednesday. The county had 27 new positives tests, for a total of 16,425. Another 85,227 residents have tested negative, and 15,758 are presumed recovered. The county’s five hospitals had 63 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the same as Tuesday.
Wednesday’s positive rate of 6.75% was down from 15.02% the day before. The county had 27 new positives tests, for a total of 16,425. Another 85,227 residents have tested negative, and 15,758 are presumed recovered.
Stanislaus County remains in the lowest, or purple tier, in the state rating system that decides how much restaurants and other businesses can loosen its coronavirus restrictions.
Geographically, Modesto has 6,037 positive cases, Turlock has 2,207, and Ceres with 2,042.
That’s all we have for this week. Thank you for listening to our local Turlock podcast. Make sure to visit our website, localturlock.com, to stay up to date on our local news. You can always email me at turlock@localturlock.com and visit our Facebook at Facebook.com/localturlock and leave us some comments! Have a great weekend & always be safe! See you next week!
