Antonette Poulos

Art

Antonette Poulos was born and raised in Manteca. She attended Manteca elementary schools and graduated with honors from Manteca High School in 1953. She entered University of California at Berkeley as an Arts major in 1953. In 1957 she graduated from the University of California with a degree in Art.

Shortly after graduating from college, she moved to Rome, Italy and was employed by the Fulbright Commission. The job entailed making arrangements for foreign students coming to Italy tor further studies. She worked in that position for about two years.

Antonette returned to San Francisco and with three other women opened an Art Gallery. In 1961, she was married to Ted Poulos and set up housekeeping in Manteca. In 1963 her first daughter Elisa was born and in 1967 her second daughter Alexia was born. She was very busy exposing the children to music and the arts.

About 23 years ago, she made an arrangement with the City Manager to have different artists display their work in the City Council Chambers. She has been able to arrange a new artist display of paintings or photographs for 2 or 3 months. She interviews the artist and when one artist takes their work down, she had another artist hang their work.

Antonette enjoys her 3 grandchildren; she spends her free time painting, gardening, and loves traveling to other countries.

Arthur Perry

Agriculture

Art Perry was born in 1944 to George and Violet Perry. He has always lived in Manteca, where his passion for agriculture began at a very young age. He attended Manteca High School and graduated in 1962. During high school, he was very involved in the Future Farmers of America. He attended California Polytechnic State University from 1962 to 1966, where he majored in Dairy Science.

He was Agriculture Council President, Vice President of the Alpha Zeta Honor Agriculture Fraternity, and was a member of the dairy judging team that competed at the national level in Waterloo, Iowa.

Although Art went to college to become an Agriculture teacher, his passion for farming and his love for his family kept bringing him back to the family farm.

Working alongside his dad and family members, the family farm grew into a sizable farming and produce marketing company, which is now George Perry and Sons, Inc. The various crops grown and marketed by George Perry and Sons include watermelons, pumpkins, hard-shell squash, tomatoes, beans, alfalfa, grain, and some seed crops.

Art had been instrumental in the development of higher quality and sizing standards in both the watermelon and pumpkin industries that is now used across the country. Art and his wife Diane have two sons and one daughter. Art carries on the family tradition of being involved in the community, donating watermelons and pumpkins to various organizations and events.

Chuck Crutchfield

Community Service

Chuck Crutchtield has a long and distinguished career of community service in the Manteca community. He has been a part of numerous committees and the president of several community organizations, which have benefited our community greatly.

Chuck's most notable achievement, among many, includes his leadership with our local Boys and Girls Club. He made many positive changes in the organization as its Executive Director. The Boys and Girls Club of Mantecal/Lathrop became a model for other clubs throughout California. For his efforts, the club was rededicated in his honor and named "Crutchfield Center".

He also has served on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and was President in 1997. Under his leadership the Chamber flourished and had a very productive year.

For the past four years, Chuck has been instrumental in expanding the services of Give Every Child A Chance. With the teamwork and support of the Board and CEO, the future looks bright for the academic improvement of the children of Manteca. Much of the credit belongs to the efforts of Chuck Crutchfield.

He has been involved in many community activities which has benefited the growth of Manteca economically and artistically. He has been involved extensively with the Pumpkin Faire and has been the only chairperson of the Street Fair. Chuck has devoted many years to the service of residents of the local area and will continue his efforts for many years to come.

Clare Yeakel

Education

Clare Yeakel has been involved in education in some way almost all of her adult life. Clare has experienced teaching grades one through eight in a one room school, full time service in the Manteca Unified School District for 20 years, then establishing a tutoring service through her church upon retirement. Through her career she always impressed her students and fellow teachers with her devotion and dedication to learning.

Clare began her career in Pennsylvania in a one-room school before moving to Stockton after meeting and marrying her husband Dave. Starting her Manteca teaching career as a substitute, Clare became a full time teacher at Yosemite School. She also taught at Sequoia, Golden West, and Nile Garden schools. Her devotion to Manteca Unified spanned a period of twenty years. She was trained as a reading specialist but had a desire to remain in the classroom. She worked extremely well with all levels of students, gifted and students who needed remediation.

Upon retirement from her chosen profession, Clare kept teaching by tutoring at first in her own home, then at St. Paul's Church and at Give Every Child a Chance. Clare was a member of the founding board of directors.

Wherever Clare has lived the adults and children of the community have benefited from her love of education and her willingness to share this love with anyone in need. If someone called her today, she would find time to find resources to help them.

Harold W. Scharmann

Athletics

A lifetime of involvement in athletics as a player, coach, and league official made Harold (Bus) Scharmann a name widely-recognized in area youth and adult sports. After bad knees ended his playing days in the late 1950’s, Bus - as everyone called him - managed in the Manteca Adult Softball Leagues.

Bus didn’t stop with softball, however. During those same years, he managed the Manteca Merchants, a semi-pro baseball team. In the winter months, Bus coached and refereed men's basketball.

With three sons among his four children, youth sports did not escape his interest and involvement. From 1964-70, Bus was president of the Manteca Babe Ruth League. A firm advocate of the Babe Ruth Baseball program, his Manteca teams were always competitive against Stockton teams.

In the late 1960’s, Bus became the founding president of the Manteca High School Buffalo Boosters Club. Nearly 10 years later, he was again a founding president. This time, it was the Manteca Cowboys Youth Football organization. Anytime a group of boys got together to organize a baseball, basketball, or football team, Bus was there to coach, transport, equip, encourage, and pay the bills.

Mr. Scharmann passed away in February, 1992. and is buried in Park View Cemetery, just a mile from where he was a dairyman for 20 years and where he and his wife, Shirley, raised their family.

Mary McCleary

Health Care

Mary McCleary has always had a passion for the health profession. She began her career as a registered nurse at San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp, working there for 25 years. She also served as a registered nurse with Doctors Hospital of Manteca for 15 years.

Mary may have officially retired from nursing but she has never quit nursing. She has demonstrated a relentless ability to care for people in a loving and compassionate way regardless of the severity of the malady. Mary could be found administering to all who were in need, and was a tireless advocate on patients behalf.

Through her efforts as a Family Volunteer of Hospice for nine years, Mary continues to visit terminally ill patients. She provides companionship, answers questions, and aids entire families through difficult transitions. Mary also volunteers at the Delta Blood Bank by serving juice and cookies to donors.

Mary serves on the Ministry of Consolation and Bereavement Team at St. Anthony’s Church. Members of this group serve as greeters at funeral masses and pass out brochures. They also follow-up with families to offer guidance through the bereavement process. Mary can also be found at the Church on Friday afternoons passing out food and clothing through the St. Vincent de Paul charity. This allows her to provide one-on-one contact with the needy members of the Manteca community.

Even now in the later stages of her life, Mary shows no sign of slowing down. She is up early and off for a walk, attending mass, or checking on and visiting with patients. You may also find her at the bowling alley, polishing up her game.

Many have referred to Mary McCleary as a modern day Florence Nightingale.

Richard L. Prada

Business

Thirty-eight years ago, Richard L. "Dick" Prada moved to Manteca with his wife, Velma. A native of San Francisco, Dick had graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and had worked with property developers in Albany, Walnut Creek, and Sacramento.

While continuing to work with Realtors on property development and sales in the Manteca area, Dick finally opened his own real estate company on North Main Street. That firm set about building homes, apartments, and business structures in the community, among them the former Brawley's Restaurant and the Manteca Inn.

Mr. Prada has always believed in businessmen giving back to the communities in which they work. He has served as a mentor for others getting started in business, sharing his experience gained while creating mortgage, real estate, and travel businesses.

Dick has demonstrated his commitment to community service as a 32-year member of the Kiwanis Club, rising to the office of Governor of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District of Kiwanis International.

In the 1980's, Dick and others organized the Manteca CAPS, a program for developmentally challenged adults. He has served on the CAPS board for the past 19 years.

Through his business and community work, Dick Prada has added immensely to the health and wealth of Manteca.

Richard Walter McDonnell

At Large

Richard McDonnell was born in Alameda and raised in Berkeley. California. He graduated from Berkeley High School and attended the California School of Arts and Crafts and the University of California.

At an early age, Richard demonstrated a talent for drawing and the arts, a craft he enjoyed throughout his life. His many friends were the beneficiaries of his drawings, water colors, and woodcarvings.

In 1963, Richard moved to Manteca as the manager of the Genstor Batch Cement Plant. He later sold insurance until his retirement. He was then hired by the Manteca Bulletin as a political cartoonist. His cartoons were always well received by his fellow Mantecans.

Richard was the past president of the Manteca Jaycees, a member of the Fourth of July Committee, and on the Senior Advisory Board. He was an active member of the Senior Citizens Center. Richard McDonnell supported Manteca schools by donating his time and artistic talents to promote fund raising projects that benefited students. He participated in a variety of projects at the Manteca Senior Center including designing a logo for the group, cartoons for the newsletters, set designs for skits, and other senior functions.

Because of his 37 years of community volunteerism and artistic contributions, the community of Manteca has honored Richard McDonnell by his induction into the Hall of Fame.