Modesto California doesn’t have a lot of bragging rights mostly crime stories, Gallo Wine, and George Lucas. Lucas put Modesto on the map when he made American Graffiti based on his own experiences of growing up in this sleepy little Central Valley California town.
Actually one of the proposed titles for the American Graffiti movie was “Another Slow Night In Modesto.” As a teenager growing up in Modesto myself I totally relate to the proposed title. We still cruised up and down McHenry Ave. because there was nothing else to do. They finally banned cruising in Modesto sometime in the nineties due to violence. However as a city we still celebrate Graffiti on an annual basis the first weekend of June when the schools are out. It is the opening weekend for Summer Vacation. Graffiti night these days is anything but slow. The weekend starts off with a Classic Car Parade in downtown Modesto and this past year reportedly 20,000 people showed up. Of course George Lucas himself was in town to be the Grand Marshall of our little parade.
We spent the day staking out the best spot to see the parade and take some great pictures. Although it was hotter than blue blazes we managed to stay cool and have a great night.
Our friends joined us for the evening and I got a real kick out of watching Gary take pictures with his IPhone. I finally handed him my DSLR and most of the photos above are from him. I hope he got himself a new camera for Father’s Day.
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