Hometown News Since 1916 Making Communities Better Through Print.™ VOL. CIV, NO. LI
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020
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COMMUNITY
New book on Lighthouse Atascadero Available on Amazon
GOVERNMENT
Mayor Moreno Spotlights Atascadero at State of the North County By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com
Carol Freed Gobler authors Lighthouse, Weapon of Rescue: One Town’s Battle Against the Monster of Drug Abuse By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com ATASCADERO - Lighthouse Atascadero, a local organization founded in 2011 to combat drug and alcohol abuse in Atascadero through awareness, prevention, and intervention, has published a book chronicling the fight of several local families with the help of a supportive community against an unseen evil like addiction. Lighthouse: Weapon of Rescue: One Town’s Battle Against the Monster of Drug Abuse is written by local first-time author Carol Freed Gobler and is now available in paperback on Amazon.com. “This story is true — and proof that pain, sorrow and loss can be the very thing needed to unite a town,” The provided excerpt on Amazon reads. “The narrative unfolds at the beginning, as the town first begins its battle against the monster of illicit drug abuse. The war then broadens as it becomes waged, as well, on the subsequent devastation of its many treasured young people.” Gobler spent 30 years working in the Atascadero School District as a music teacher and has become an author in her retirement. “I retired and started working with Donn Clickard down at the Lighthouse,” Gobler told the Atascadero News. “The more I learned, the more I interviewed the people involved, I was deeply drawn in and so moved by the stories of how their boys died, how the families coped, and how they have decided to help other families not experience the same situation. That is how Lighthouse grew.” Gobler conducted many interviews with local community CONTINUED ON PAGE A16
PERSEVERANCE
was that Wall noticed through his research that one of the medicines he was receiving was made from a fungus. That began a journey that has landed him in his new role at Farmer Frank. “I started to investigate and discovered that mushrooms have all kinds of health benefits. I started growing them as a hobby, and love to eat them, of course. Oyster mushrooms have been shown to prevent tumors,
ATASCADERO — The Atascadero and Paso Robles Chambers of Commerce teamed up Thursday morning for the fifth annual State of North County event. The Chamber event featured speakers from the Economic Vitality Corporation, Dan Baum, Shutterfly’s founder, and community updates from Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno and Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin. Newly-elected District 17 State Sen. John Laird opened the event with brief remarks, expressing his excitement in serving SLO County and the rest of his constituents. Laird, who was sworn in on Monday, said he’d began working on getting San Luis Obispo County out of the Southern California Region as it relates to the regional stay-at-home order. Atascadero Mayor Moreno shared what the City has done during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as what the City plans to do in the future. Atascadero hosted Movies in the Park drive-in style, a virtual Brew at the Zoo, and a Santa’s reindeer pop-up and Trail of Lights for the holidays. Charles Paddock Zoo has been focusing on a virtual education video series with zoo tours. Moreno touched on a variety of topics, including the information meetings coming up for measure D-20, the City’s continued work with Bridgeworks, and a focus on improving the connectivity and broadband issues in North County. “What is really important for us in the City is to hear from our constituents and our business owners. We are having a series of public meetings that are being scheduled in early 2021,” Moreno said regarding the passing of Measure D-20. Atascadero’s 1-cent sales tax increase, Measure D-20, was passed by voters on Nov. 3 and is expected to bolster the City’s fire and police departments. Moreno said 2021 was going to be significant for the City as it begins updating the General Plan. The City completed its Housing Element Update. Following a spirited presentation from Mayor Martin, where he transported the listeners to
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Santa Maria Locals Isaiah Price-Baker, and his two sons Isaiah (6), Kaiden (5), visit the Atascadero Lake after the recent trout plant for a day of fishing. Photo by Nic Mattson
500 Pounds of Catchable Trout Planted in Atascadero Lake By CONNOR ALLEN connor@atascaderonews.com ATASCADERO - Local anglers can rejoice as The California Department of Fish and Wildlife planted 500 pounds of full-size catchable fish into the Atascadero
Lake on Dec. 22, just-in-time for the Holiday weekend and end of the year festivities. The fish drop off came from the San Joquin Hatchery in Fresno and contained up to 1000, half-pound or bigger, rainbow trout. This is the third plant of fish into the lake this year, a welcome sight after the
Jewel of Atascadero went nearly a decade without being stocked before 2020. For years, the Department of Fish and Wildlife refused to stock the Atascadero Lake for fear that the rainbow trout would CONTINUED ON PAGE A16
VETERAN
Hometown Hero Finds New Purpose
By SHERI HARRISON for the Atascadero News
ATASCADERO — Atascadero’s peaceful Farmer’s Market is a very different environment than the Triangle of Death in Iraq and the battlefields of Kandahar in Afghanistan. After witnessing so much death and destruction and sacrificing much, veterans like hometown hero Frank Wall are finding a new direction and solace from their war experiences by becoming farmers. Wall, the creator of Farmer Frank’s Mushrooms, has been working with the Homegrown by Heroes program and the Farmer Veteran Coalition to become Atascadero’s latest gourmet mushroom farmer. He can be found at Farmer’s Market in Sunken Gardens every Wednesday selling his exotic and brightly colored mushrooms: Pink, Golden, Blue Oysters, Lion’s Manes, and Shitakes. Wall moved to Atascadero as an adolescent and graduated from Atascadero High School in 2002, became an Army Infantryman at 18, and was initially stationed in Germany after training. A rapid deployment to the war in Iraq came soon enough, and on those
CONTEST
Frank Wall creator of Farmer Frank’s Mushrooms, has been working with the Homegrown by Heroes program after his medical retirement from the Army. Contributed Photos.
battlefields, Frank earned the Combat Infantry Badge, a Purple Heart after taking mortar round in Iraq, and the Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan during his nearly 13 years of service, which included three tours into combat. Because of the injuries he received in the war, Wall had to leave the Army with a medical retirement after training other infantrymen at Ft. Hood, Texas, and Fort Lewis, Washington; he then returned to the Central Coast.
COVID-19 UPDATE
Upon retirement, he was looking to provide stability for his two children as a single dad and for a new professional direction. Wall used his vast military experience to accept a job at Fort Hunter Liggett as a civilian, thinking that his battles were behind him. But that was not to be. Wall was about to go to war again, but not against a foreign enemy this time. This time his battle would be against cancer. However, the unexpected benefit of undergoing chemotherapy
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JAKE EYRE’S WALK Across America ends in Morro Bay | A3
CITY OF ATASCADERO announced winners of Gingerbread House Competition | A4
STAY-AT-HOME order extended by Gov. Newsom | A7
2021 BEST OF Reader’s Poll now open for voting | A13
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