I was in town on Aug. 16 visiting family and happened to catch
the Free Lance weekend edition headline
”
Cannery Roar.
”
My first thought was, they must be joking.
I was in town on Aug. 16 visiting family and happened to catch the Free Lance weekend edition headline “Cannery Roar.” My first thought was, they must be joking.
After reading the stories, I realized it was yet another attempt by newcomers to change Hollister into the town they’d like it to be.
The conclusion of every comment, story and opinion piece was, in essence, the cannery has to go. The “belching” steam, the smell, the lack of parking (street parking is open to the public last I checked), rumbling trucks causing bad TV reception and the eyesore buildings make life unbearable and don’t fit their image of the town. However, the canneries have always been an extension of the agricultural life that defined Hollister and the people of the community. They signified life and that was good.
Growing up in Hollister, I experienced 16 summer and fall seasons of cannery operations, both running at the same time, shift whistle blowing throughout the day (early morning and late evening), rumbling trucks, the smell of cooking tomatoes (and the sewer at that time), the noise of production and the “belching” steam.
To me, they represented a separate season, falling in between summer and early fall. As kids, we knew there was still stime to play at night even though the dime stores were putting out their school supplies.
We lived on Line Street, a few miles away, but my grandparents lived on East Street, three houses down from the canneries from 1953 until they died in the early 1970s.
When they first moved to town in 1944, they lived on South Street, four houses down from the canneries and a few blocks from the train tracks at a time when the train still went through town.
During the early years, the season for canning started in early spring and lasted through mid-November. There were more issues to contend with then, living that close to the canneries, but my grandparents knew what to expect when they moved to the neighborhood and never complained nor felt the need to.
My father and aunt made it through their school years without losing sleep and so did my siblings and I. We all survived and thrived.
I understand newer residents having no connection to Hollister’s past, but a business established in the early 1900s and still in operation demands respect, consideration and gratitude. It helped create the town they’re living in and still provides jobs for people in a time when unemployment is high. Attempting to shut the cannery down so Hollister can be remade into something it’s not is what I find odious.
Paige Hackney, San Jose
