THE CENTURY BUSINESS EDITION
THE SAN JOAQUIN COlTNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEU~1
FALL 1998
honoring
THE TRACY PRESS
1898-1998
Volume XII • Number 3 • Fall 1998
The San Joaquin Historian
Quarterly Journal of the San Joaquin
County Historical Society
1898·1998
The San Joaquin
The Tracy Press
Historical Society. Inc.
still a family operation
Micke Grove Regional Park
P.O. Box 30, Lodi, CA 9S241-0030
he first edition of the Tracy Press came off the presses on April
209-331-20S5 • 209-953-3460
•
Helen Trethewey - President
T 2, 1898. It was a time when Tracy Steam Beer was ice cold and
only 5 cents a glass, and the best meal in town could be found
at the Commercial Hotel.
From its rustic genesis 100 years ago, the Tracy Press has become
Craig Rasmussen - Past President
one of the fastest-growing newspapers in California. Over the years,
Elise Austin Forbes - Secretary
the paper has won numerous awards for its writing and advertising,
Mel Wingette - Finance
created a Web site and ridden the innovative wave of technology.
Christopher Engh - Publications
The paper has been owned by the Matthews family for 55 years,
Robert F. McMaster - Treasurer
which is an anomaly in these modem times of corporate takeovers
Christopher Engh - Puhlications
and newspaper conglomerates.
Today the Press employs 57 full-time and part-time workers, who
Gary Christopherson - Past President
staff five departments: advertising. administration, graphic arts, edi
torial and production. Each department is instrumental in the con
The Society, a lwn-prQnt corporation, meets struction of the
thefourth Monday eve?)' wo months except daily paper.
July, August and December. Membership • The advertis
includes subscriptions to theSan Joaquin ing department is
Historian and the monthly newsletter; News the paper's finan
cial fortress, gen
and Notes. Additional copies may be erating a substan
purchased at the museum. tial portion of the
The Society operates the San Jocu{uin paper's revenue.
County Historical Aluseum at Micke Grove The staff, mostly
account represen
Regional Park in partnership with San
tatives, sell retail
Joaquin County. The Society maintains an space and classi
office at the Museum. fied ads.
Manuscripts relating to the history Clf San • The adminis
Joaquin County and the Delta will always tration staff
includes account
be considered. The editor reserves the right ing, employee
material based on local
to slwrt€1l interest benefits, payroll
and space consideratiork'l. Inquiry should be and customer-ser
made through the Museum office. vice representatives. These key people grease the Sam (left),
wheels of all departments and keep the company and Tom
running smoothly. Matthews
•
San Joaquin County Historical
• The graphic-arts department builds ads and joined their
designs pages and layouts. mother, Laura
• The editorial department is staffed by 13 fulI
Society Be Museum
time employees, including reporters, editors and Matthews, in
photographers. The newsroom staff is responsible 1957 at the
Michael W. Bennett for daily news and features coverage of the Tracy Tracy Press
Director area. and became
• The production department brings the final co-publishers
•
"'1998 Tracy Press, Inc.
elements of construction together. The worlds of with her in
advertising, art and journalism meet on aluminum 1960.
plates to be printed in the middle of the night while
The material in this publication was previously most readers are sleeping. The final architecture
in the Tracy Press Centennial edition. greets early-rising subscribers just before dawn.
The Press is in operation nearly 24 hours a day to bring its readers
the most comprehensive and up-to-the-minute news. The Press is the
community's voice and, sometimes, its conscience, but it is always
dedicated to the news that affects Tracy area residents most.
3 - Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian
The publishers who
gave the Press its start
he first Tracy Press publisher was California native Thomas C. Duffy, who lived in
T Tracy from 1897 to 1903. He was not just a publisher he was also the justice of the
peace.
In his 1919 obituary, Duffy was described as "a man of unusual intellect (who) had reform
ideas in politics, which he defended strenuously in his newspaper career."
It is believed that Duffy sold the paper to Dennis J. Looney after a devastating fire in 1898
leveled the downtown area. Other reports say that Looney, a Bethany native, didn't buy the
Tracy Press until 1902.
As Press publisher/editor, Looney was recognized as a major political power in the coun
ty and a vigorous editorial writer. His uninhibited writing style personified the Press.
In 1904, Looney was elected justice of the peace for Tulare township, holding the office
for 12 years. It was during his tenure as justice of the peace that Looney acquired the title
of "Judge" Looney.
According to records from that era, Looney was a colorful figure, who sold the paper after
Henry Hull
several years for the more lucrative job of owning the Barrel Saloon on Front Street.
Publisher
A shrewd businessman, Looney realized after the panic of 1907 that business (including
1912-1927 the newspaper business) was so bad, it would drive everyone to drink.
After retiring from his justice office, Looney remained a major political figure in the area
and a "power to be reckoned with." He
died in October 1936.
Looney had sold the Press to S. Cornell,
who quickly sold the paper to two young
newspaper men from Oakland Frank B.
Anderson and Charles P Fox. Anderson
tackled the job of editor, while Fox han
dled the business end of the paper.
At 19, Anderson was thought to be the
youngest editor in California. He left
Tracy after a year, but he made his mark
by writing a story that exposed police
cover-ups, corruption and a violent mur
der.
Following Anderson's departure, Fox
swore to continue publishing the Press.
He eventually sold to Presbyterian pas
tor WP Friedrich. Friedrich advocated for
a Tracy bank, a high school and irrigation
in his editorials. He was a founding mem
ber of Tracy's Board of Trade, the fore
runner to the Tracy Chamber of
Commerce.
Looney, Anderson, Fox and Friedrich
had all pushed for the city's incorporation,
The office of the and finally, in 1910 during Friedrich's tenure, the city of Tracy was incor
Tracy Weekly porated.
Press moved Friedrich sold the paper to Ida M. Ross of Modesto, in October 1911.
around Tracy's In a front-page farewell, Friedrich asked employees to remain faithful
business district to Ross and described her as a "clever writer, an experienced journalist
near the turn of and a most excellent young lady."
Editors of the Modesto Morning Herald called her a fluent writer "with
the century. This exceptional zest ... a rare business woman."
location is on Like Press publishers before her, Ross was a political reformer and
Central Avenue, town booster. She also introduced the centerpiece into the design of the
between Seventh front page, which featured the day's top story.
and Eighth streets. Ross sold the Press in February 1912 to Henry A. Hull and real estate
Publisher Dennis partner Warren Henshaw. Henshaw served as editor for a year, and then W.P. Friedrich
Looney is at right. Hull, a journeyman printer and experienced newspaperman, served as Publisher
editor and publisher for the next 30 years until he retired in 1943. 1909-1912
When Hull and Henshaw bought the Press, the plant was very small.
4 - Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian
The Press was still published on a Washington hand press and a "shirttail full of type."
By October, the partners bought a "modem" cylinder press and a Model Five Mergenthaler
Linotype, updating the paper's production.
A Press editorial by Roy Miller upon Hull's death in 1961 said, "Conservative in most matters,
he was like most newspaper men - always interested in everything new in printing equipment.
A view of Only a few days before his death, he discussed new developments in offset printing while paying
Central Avenue the office a visit."
from Sixth For several months in 1914, the Press had a competitor - the Tracy Booster, run by publisher
Street in the Ada French. But French soon closed the paper and moved to Oakland.
Hull was one of the principal backers of irrigation in Tracy, and from 1912 to 1915, his edito
mid-1920's rials favored the formation of the West Side Inigation District.
shows that Hull was a Tracy booster. When he first stepped off the train, the streets of the quaint Tracy
cars have village were dusty in the summer and muddy during the rainy season. The paper's editorials
replaced applauded the transformation of the small town to a "modem city" with paved streets, sidewalks
horses as and a sewer system.
the motive Hull leased the Press to c.P. Button, who had been on the staff for five years, beginning on
power for Jan. 1, 1927.
Button published the paper until 1941 and was a newspaper man for 60 years of his life.
transportation. He increased the frequency of
the paper to twice a week on
March 19, 1928. That same year,
he installed a new Huber
Hodgeman printing press. For an
annual subscription of $2.50, the
Press was delivered Monday and
Thursday evenings.
In an article introducing the
new press, Button said, "The
Tracy Press has faith in Tracy. It
has seen the town grow from a
mere village to a city. And the
Press believes that Tracy will con
tinue to grow. As a result of our
faith in the city and the surround
ing tenitory, we have made an
investment of several thousand
dollars - all to better be able to keep pace with the development of the community."
After the crash of 1929, advertising dropped, and by Jan. 5, 1934, the Press returned to pub
lishing once a week.
During his term as publisher, Button was active in politics and Masonic groups.
He left the Press in 1941 to marry Buena M. Harper, the publisher of the Corning Daily
Observer. He died of a heart attack one day after his wife died, also from a heart attack, in 1954.
Matthews buys his family a newspaper
racy Press Publisher Harvey E Matthews bought himself a family business and a
C.P. Button
Publisher
1927·1941
T legacy on July 1, 1943, which has endured for three generations.
The late publisher is described by his sons as an intelligent, generous man who doted
on his family and knew the ins and outs of the newspaper business.
Harvey was born and raised in Washington, Iowa, graduating from high school at 15. After
attending Monmouth College in Illinois, he served 15 months in Europe with the Army
Transportation Corps during World War L
'Mer the war, my father petitioned to be discharged in Europe," said Harvey's oldest son, Tom,
who remembers working side by side with his father as a child. "Then he attended the Sorbonne
in Paris. He was an extremely bright person."
Once back in the United States, Harvey held a variety of jobs before becoming the business
manager of the LaGrande Evening Observer, in LaGrande, Ore. It was in this Pacific Northwestern
town that Harvey met and mamed Laura Thomas, a school teacher from Minnesota whom he
affectionately called "Lot"
In 1930, the couple moved to Ontario, in Southern California, where Harvey was business man
ager and part owner of the Ontario Daily Report. When his partner died and Harvey couldn't get
5 - Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian
along with the widow, he decided it was time to move on.
In November 1937, Laura and Harvey arrived in Tracy with their two boys, 6-year-old Tom
and 5-year-old Sam. Harvey opened the Federated Store, a clothing business on Central
Avenue.
"It was a working man's store," said Harvey's youngest son, Sam. "It carried both men's
and women's clothing, but Tracy was a big railroad town in those days, and the store catered
more to the railroad men."
Tracy was beginning to experience the harsh realities of the
Depression, and the Federated Store soon closed.
With a background in the newspaper business, Harvey went to
work for the Tracy Press, selling ads and writing news stories.
"I really admire him for that," said Sam. "He had managed two
other papers, and it was a step down for him, but he liked Tracy and
wanted to stay."
Harvey worked for Publisher c.P. Button, who was leasing the
Press from owner and former Publisher Henry Hull.
After Button left in 1941, Harvey became manager and then
bought the Press from Hull in 1943.
During World War II, a shortage of men brought the entire
Matthews family into the business.
"Everyone in the family had to work at the paper, because all the
printers went to war," recalled Tom, who was 12 at the time. "My
father was always very appreciative of the way his family rallied
around him."
Following the war, Tom and Sam concentrated on high school and
sports. Tom remembers his father rarely missing a sporting event
that involved one of his sons. Harvey
The Tracy Press building was on the south side of Seventh Street, just west of Central
Avenue - close to the railroad tracks and railroad life. Matthews
"My father was a generous person," Tom said. "People down on their luck would come Publisher
into the office, looking for help. He would always give them something." 1943-1949
As Tracy grew after WWlI, Harvey realized the town's industry and job market needed to
grow. The publisher's cousin was a vice president of production for H.J. Heinz Co. During a
family visit, Harvey took his cousin on a tour of the city and its surrounding tomato fields.
"My father was instrumental in bringing H.J. Heinz into town," said Tom. "That was quite
a feather in his cap."
The post-war era was prosperous for the Tracy Press. The paper doubled in size, outgrow
ing its original building and production equipment.
Work started on a new Press building at 1024 A St. in 1948. Harvey purchased state-of-the
art typesetting equipment and a Goss Cox-O
Type web perfecting press that could print
3,400 copies of the paper an hour. The cost was
approximately $75,000.
A grand opening for the new equipment and
building was planned for April 8, 1949, but
Harvey died the same day, shortly after 4 a.m.,
of a massive heart attack. He was only 56.
"It was a shock for everyone when my father
died," said Sam. "I remember he was a very
fast-moving guy - a 'type-~ personality. He
covered a lot of territory in a short amount of
time. He was a very effective newspaper pub
lisher."
H.J. Heinz Co. factory was placed
into production in 1946 and was
the company's largest processor
of fresh tomatoes until It was
closed early in 1998.
6 - Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian ~A
~
Laura Matthews takes over publishing
aura Elizabeth Matthews abruptly inherited the job as Tracy Press publisher when
L
her husband died.
Not only was it press day for the then-weekly edition, but a fonnal grand opening of
the paper's new building and equipment had been scheduled for that day.
The grand opening was postponed, but the paper was
delivered on schedule, with an obituary of Harvey F.
Matthews on the front page.
"Of course, Mother took over at a moment's notice," said
Tom Matthews. "Fortunately she had some really good people
working for her."
There was never any talk of selling the paper. Laura decid
ed to run the business until her teen-age boys were of age and
could take over.
"She was a schoolteacher by training, and being a publish
er was not her cup of tea," Tom said. "But she kept the paper
for us. That was the culture she came from - you take care
of the kids. So she worked and supported Sam and me
through college."
Laura was born Oct. 5, 1900, in Lake Crystal, Minn. She
attended Hamlin University in St. Paul, Minn., for two years
before receiving a bachelor's degree in history from the
University of Minnesota.
She taught history at high schools in Virginia, Minn.;
An open house at Pleasantville, N.Y.; and LeGrande, Ore, where she met her
husband, Harvey, the business manager of the Ontario Daily Report.
the new Tracy During World War II, Laura taught migrant-education classes and worked as a substitute teacher
Press building at in Tracy schools. She also was a bookkeeper for the Tracy Press.
1024 A Street, "I can remember her and my father working on the books at home," said Tom. "She knew very
postponed from little about the day-to-day of the paper. But she was a very good manager."
April 1949 After her husband died, Laura hired Roy Miller as the paper's general manager. Miller, a veter
because of the an newspaper man from Iowa, had been publisher at the Arlington Times in Riverside County.
death of Harvey
The new publisher's next decision was to increase the paper to twice a week. Laura also bought
new machinery and expanded the Tracy Press building. In the early 1950s, the Tracy Press print
Matthews, was ed a weekly shopper that featured grocery-store ads. The shopper was mailed to everyone in town.
held that October. Laura had a strict sense of rules of how people should conduct themselves, Tom said.
Publisher Laura "She exercised the necessary authority to get the job done," he said. "Once the owner of a
Matthews looked sewing-machine shop owed her money for advertising. He wouldn't pay her, so she went to the
over a copy of the shop, picked up a sewing machine and walked out. She wouldn't put up with anybody giving her
Pre.s fresh off problems."
the press with
In 1957, Laura asked her two sons to come home and help her in the
business. Tom was married, attending the University of San Francisco
Mayor William and working for a trucking company at night. Sam had graduated from
Larsen. Stanford University and had just been discharged from military service.
"It was a pretty intense time," Sam said. "We determined we'd put out
the best paper we could. We really worked at putting out the best prod
uct."
In 1960, when the Matthews brothers were named co-publishers,
Laura spent most of her leisure time traveling on study-mission trips for
the National Newspaper Association.
She lived in the same house on Wall Street until she died on March 27,
1995, at the age of 94.
Laura Matthews,
Publisher
1949-1960
7 Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian
Brothers were active publishers
eanwhile, Tom and Sam Matthews ran
M the newspaper until 1996.
Tom handled the business side of the
newspaper, and Sam wore the hat of editor. They
are both still active in the paper, although Bob
Matthews, Tom's son and Sam's nephew, has
taken over as publisher.
Tom's first memories of working at the Tracy Press
go back to when he was 12.
"I had to work at the Press, because all the printers
went to war," Tom says. "Sam went right along with
me. I can still see Sam sitting on this little stool behind
Laura Matthews met the folder. I would feed the flat sheets into the machine,
in the Pre.. and Sam was at the other end. He was always very glad when that job was over."
Tom learned the newspaper business from the ground floor up at the Press
composing room in building on the south side of Seventh Street. During the World War II era, he
1950 with Art worked in the print shop, ran the presses, broke down pages and put away the
Stormes (left) and headline letters in the California Job case.
Interlype operator He even swept the floors and washed the windows.
Tom McDermott. "We did everything, because we had no help," Tom recalls. "Then all the print
ers came back at the end of the war. That's when the pressure eased."
In 1953, Tom enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he was stationed at Camp
Parks, Air Operations School in Biloxi, Miss., and Hamilton Air Force Base.
He was discharged in 1956 and attended the University of San Francisco to complete his bachelor's
degree. But before he had enough units to graduate, he was called home to help with the family busi
ness.
Another paper, the Tracy Guide, had set its sights on the Tracy market in 1957, and Tom and Sam
returned to the Tracy Press.
"We were able to prevail," Tom says. "By that time, Sam and I had been known as pretty fair oper
ators. No one would take us on after that."
In 1960 the paper made great strides. The Press changed from a
twice-a-week afternoon paper to three morning editions per week.
One year later, the Press installed a web offset press. "Cold-type" com
posing equipment produced type to be photographed and reproduced
on the new 12-page press.
"I didn't want to deal with the hot-metal process anymore," he says.
"We bought the first offset press in Northern California - and the sec
ond in the state. It was quite a time."
The new equipment enabled the Matthews family to develop a sec
ondary business, printing dozens of other publications.
In 1970, the Tracy Press expanded again, adding to the existing A
Street buildings with its current two-story building on the comer of A
and 10th streets.
Like his father before him, who was instrumental in bringing H.J.
Heinz to town, Tom realized the importance of a strong industrial base
in Tracy, and he played an important part in bringing the Laura
Scudders and Owens Brockway plants to Tracy.
Before retiring as co-publisher in 1996, Tom was a member and
president of Big Valley Ad Club and served on the San Joaquin County
Fair Board for 14 years. He was president of the Tracy Chamber of
Commerce, was the chamber's industrial chairman for 15 years and
was named "Mr. Tracy" in 1964. He was one of the founders of
Westside Bank, serving as board chairman. He also served on the board of Tracy Tom Matthews is at
Community Memorial Hospital for six years. home In his office at
Tomwas the head of the committee to build a new city hall and served on the board the Tracy Press,
of directors for Tracy Golf and Country Club. He was director of the California where he stili takes
Newspaper Association and served on the group's executive committee. He was active care of business.
in the American Newspapers Publishers Association and California Press Association.
8 - Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian iO'O
YEARS
Still the quintessential newsman
itor Sam Matthews has always been known as the quintessential newsman by his
E
readers and the people who work with him.
e's modest about the role, but even as a retired publisher, he works full time, teach
ing reporters and editors, covering breaking news stories and writing, every day.
He writes several editorials a week and a column, Tracing Tracy Territory, from his second-floor
office, which also holds the Press archives.
"I often wonder if Sam has such a keen sense of Tracy's history because he spends so much time
with those past issues of the Tracy Press and all those old files," Managing Editor Cheri Matthews
says. "He is a true intellectual, with a better memory for dates and local events than anyone
around."
Looking back, Sam refers to the Tracy Press during the war years as a "true family operation."
Sam and his older brother; Tom, worked at the Press doing production work during World War
II, because the majority of Tracy's work force was overseas. Sam was only 11 years old.
"We made show cards for the Grand Theater," he recalls. "Tom and I punched holes in the top
so people could hang them on a nail in the kitchen."
The brothers also delivered job work and other odds and ends.
"It was part of the family business," he says. "You just did it."
Writing was also a part of the Matthews' business, and it's where Sam found his niche. He wrote
his first story in the sixth grade, and it was published in the West Park school paper.
Sam attended Tracy High School and took a special interest in its paper, the Scholar
and Athlete.
He also wrote for the family newspaper.
"I wrote a lot of sports and feature stories - especially in the summertime," Sam
says. "1 enjoyed that part of the business and I had some talent in writing a news story."
From 1954 to 1956, Sam served in the U.S. Army. He returned full time to the Press
in 1957, when another Tracy paper competed for Press advertising dollars.
"I just kind of volunteered," Sam says. "It was a fact of life if you wanted to keep
going."
Naturally, he worked in the newsroom.
"Sam floated into that part of the deal, because he graduated from Stanford's jour
nalism school," Tom says. Tom also returned to the family business in 1957.
In 1960, when the Press switched to morning delivery, Sam looked to the future."1t
was the beginning of the morning-paper trend, and that positioned us to be the domi
nant paper in Tracy."
Sam hired the Press' first full-time sports writer in 1966, which lightened staff writ
ing duties, and he moved into the job of editorial manager.
"Everybody did all the stories and all the coverage in the '60s and '70s," he says.
In 1978, he hired his first news editor, Jack Eddy, to work directly with the reporters,
and he dove into writing the Tracy Centennial edition full time.
"It was a major undertaking," Sam says. "But it worked out very well, and it was the
first real history of the town."
"You still have to The next two decades brought even more technological advances to the Tracy Press,
go out and get the as reporters' typewriters gave way to computers.
news. That part But the job of a reporter really never changed.
hasn't changed
"You still have to go out and get the news," Sam says. "That part hasn't changed that much. Only
the rhythm has changed."
that much (over Many of the reporters who got their start at the Tracy Press have gone on to larger newspapers.
the years). Only Sam has been proud of his work in grooming young journalists.
the rhythm has "It's the nature of the business," he says. "We've had some very talented people come through
changed." here."
Sam Matthews, When he's not writing stories or taking photos, Sam has served as president of the Tracy Rotary
Tracy Press editor Club and Tracy Safety Council, vice chairman of the Tracy Tomorrow Committee and a director of
the Tracy Chamber of Commerce and Tracy War Memorial Association. In 1997, he was named
Tracy Citizen of the Year.
Sam also was chairman of the San Joaquin County Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention
Commission and vice president of the San Joaquin County Easter Seals Society.
In newspaper organizations, he has been president of the California Press Association, a direc
tor of the California Newspaper Publishers Association and chairman of the CNPA and National
Newspaper Associations' Governmental Relations committees.
160
YEARS
9 - Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian
A new generation takes over
ike his father and his uncle, Tracy Press
L Publisher Bob Matthews, 42, started his
newspaper career when he was very
young. In the summer of 1969, when he was
all of 13, he started working in the darkroom
of the old Press building on A Street.
Before that, Bob had worked occasionally on
the neighborhood farms that surrounded his rural
home.
'f\t the time, a lot of my friends were farmers,"
he recalls. "In the summer, most kids worked for
their parents, picking walnuts. You weren't cool if
you didn't have green hands in the third grade."
Bob's first job at the Press included cleaning up
In the summer of around the darkroom and developing film.
"Working at the paper seemed like the natural thing to do," he says. "I start
1954, the expanding ed in the dark room. I can remember being intimidated by film reels. I really
platoon of Tracy messed up the first roll of film I developed."
Press carrier boys He graduated to part -time sports photography, shooting Tracy High football
donned Tracy Press games on Friday nights. As a Tracy High student, he also took pictures for the
T-shirts and boarded school yearbook.
a bus for an outing. After high school, Bob left for college to
The carriers
major in biology at the University of
Oregon. Then in 1980, he returned to the
continued delivering Press to fill in for a few months doing "scut
the paper two work" - the dirtier side of the business.
afternoons a week He ended up staying.
until March 1960 "I really enjoyed working the press
when the Press room," he says. "It was my favorite job at
moved to a three- the paper - except for the job J have now."
tlmes-a-week As time went on, Bob moved from press
man to sales representative to sales manag
publishing schedule er when openings became available.
and started "I never walked in to a job they created
delivering the paper for me," he says. "I always filled a vacant
in the morning on position, and J learned the job from the
Mondays, ground up. It was an invaluable experi
Wednesdays and ence."
Fridays.
Bob brought his production knowledge
to the sales department, eventually manag
ing the company's computer systems and
writing software programs.
"To be quite honest, I didn't like sales at first," he says. "I
didn't understand how important it was in my own personal
growth. But I had people egging me on, saying, 'You should
never pass up the job experience.'"
He moved into the position of general manager in 1988 and was instrumental in the Publisher Bob
decision to increase publication from three to five days a week and, finally, to the current Matthews, left,
six-day publication. gets the daily
"For 10 years, it's been constant change," Matthews says. "With competition from pressroom update
regional newspapers and changes in advertising, the same old business model didn't work from pressroom
anymore." foreman John
Bob took a sabbatical from work in 1995 to complete his master's of science degree Wilson.
through the Sloan Program at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
10 Fall 1998 • The San Joaquin Historian - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -..- - too
yEARS
"I'll always be grateful to Tom and Sam for giving me the opportunity to be able to walk away
from here for a year to complete my education," he says.
When he returned to the paper, he was named publisher and president of Tracy Press Inc.
Meanwhile, the rising costs of ink, paper and other materials had brought new obstacles to the
newspaper industry.
"I couldn't walk away from the challenge," Bob says. "While I was at Stanford,
I thought about the business a lot and found its challenges intriguing."
He started talking to Terry Kroeger,. publisher and president of Stockton
Newspapers Inc., owners of The Record, and worked out a partnership that
allowed Press subscribers to receive the Sunday Record as part of their Press sub
scription package.
Then in July 1997, Bob announced that Stockton Newspapers Inc. had made
an investment in the Press. While control of the Tracy Press would remain with
the Matthews family, the two companies planned to share some operating
resources, including computer systems and administrative services.
"The partnership enabled us to take our products and services to a new level
for our readers and advertisers," Bob says.
Outside of his newspaper duties, Bob has thrown himself into community ser
vice, just as his parents and grandparents did. He served as chairman and board
member for the United Way of San Joaquin County and chairman and vice chair
of Tracy's Downtown Revitalization Task Force.
"You have to cultivate the garden you're in," he said of his work in the com
munity. "It's a family mantra. For the Matthews family, it has always been an
honor to give something back to the community."
His plans for the future of the newspaper are clear: To be successful, the Tracy
Press must concentrate on what it takes to be Tracy's hometown newspaper for
another hundred years.
"We're just going to get better and better - going local, local, local- that's our
goal. And we're almost there."
Bob Matthews,
standing on the
ladder, starting
working full time
in the press room
in 1980.
We're proud to serve our hometown, Tracy
100 years, 1898-1998
hile it doesn't include everyone, this photo
W represents the largest group ever to work for the
Tracy Press. These are the people who make it
possible to publish our community newspaper. They keep a
constant vigilance of what's going on and then take all the steps
to replay the march of time in Tracy's passing parade. They are
sales representatives, reponers, graphics anists, pressroom
workers, customer senlce reps, editors, bookkeepers and
photographers.
They beliew not only in newspapering as a tradition and as a
function necessary to a community's well-being, but as a way
to make a living for themselws and their families.
It is to these people and to all the others who have passed
through our li\'es and the pages of our lOO-year-old newspaper
- our ad\'enisers, readers and people in the news - that the
owners of the Tracy Press dedicate our continuing
centennial celebration.
100
YEARS
- The Matthews family
189B 1998
Non-Profit Org,
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 48
Lodi, CA
P.O. Box 30
Lodi, CA
95241
Address Correction Requested