CALAVERAS CRUSADER REMEMBERED

Robert DeFrees - Calaveras Crusader

Being laid up with a lame leg has given this old geezer ample time to read many more emails that pour in due to his posts. 

An avid reader with buckets of time googled me and came up with the below story from 3 years.  It was done by a featured columnist with the Fresno Bee, Bill McEwen.

Bit of a shock to see how huge meself was, and growing daily.  What a difference three years makes.  The old geezer is shadow of former self and has given up trying to save the world by living in a very wicked neighbourhood.

CALAVERAS CRUSADER THROWS BLOCK PARTY

When I made it out to the Calaveras Street block party early Saturday afternoon, the Fresno High jazz band was kicking out sweet sounds and scores of children were having fun at the Sciencemobile.
Organizer Rob Defrees had hoped to attract at least 1,000 people to his "road" and make it the biggest single-street block party in Fresno history. The crowd didn't reach four figures, but he declared the six-hour event -- a celebration of the street's efforts to oust drug-dealers and build community pride -- a success nonetheless.
"All the smiling faces and the people trying to make people feel brilliant made it worth it," said Defrees, manager of the El Capri apartment complex, just north of Divisadero.
"The U.S. Marines stayed to the bitter end even though they didn't get any customers that day. My surprise violinist was a 7-year-old boy. He brought tears to people's eyes with his performance."
The event was billed as "Evening of Music -- Hands Across Fresno." At 7 p.m., with one hour left in the party, Defrees asked the crowd to hold hands in a link of unity against drug dealers, graffiti and poverty.
"It wasn't a huge circle, but folks of all different colors and ages held hands," Defrees said. "What more can you ask for?"
Tuesday, he announced that there would be a march against drug dealers and their customers on May 27 in the alley behind 433 N. Calaveras. Wrote Defrees in an e-mail:
"This alley is important as it is being used by drug dealers selling 'poison' and is also being used by punters seeking 'poison.' The coppers are doing all they can to get them but they come back.

"Drug dealers hate the bright light of television cameras and the noise of angry neighbors. Doing a very public march will draw attention to them. More important, it will let their punters know that they are being watched. If the drug dealers have no punters for the 'poison' they close up shop."