Claude Delphia mini bio
For how this Website came about
and who owns it,
please read Website History
Claude Delphia is a native of Stanislaus County living in Patterson. His parents were farming in Vernalis when he was born. He moved to Patterson when he was about 3 years old and lived there off and on until moving to Ceres in mid 1998.
His grandfather settled on the West Side in the mid 1890's. His father, John Delphia, a large scale farmer and general contractor, served on the Patterson City Council and as mayor for many years. He later served as Stanislaus County supervisor for District 5 in the 1950s. The family owned the Del Puerto Hotel from 1953 to 1976.
In 1969, Delphia helped found the Patterson Township Historical Society and was its first president. In 1970 he was part of the group that created the first Fiesta. In the '80s he served 8 years on the Patterson planning commission, four years as chairperson. He chaired the 1976 combined Fiesta and US Bicentennial celebration.
In the '80s, he ran for city council and for mayor on a slow growth platform, but lost. In 1991 he was a member of SAFE, a county based organization that put a save farmland initiative on the Stanislaus County ballot. Developers defeated that initiative. The next year, Delphia and Kennethy Tyler opposed the general plan revision on the basis that it would promote massive growth and their statements of opposition are on the official record.
In 1996 he was instruamental in forming a committee under the Historical Society to save the fire damaged Del Puerto Hotel which was deamed unsaveable by the city.
Delphia is currently a PTHS board member, serves on the General Plan Advisory Committee, is a member of Federated Church and Vice President of WS-PACE.org. He is also a member of the West Side Democrats and serves on the Patterson Centennial Committee.
Delphia returned to Patterson in the Spring of 2006 after retiring.
He continues as a Modesto Bee community columnist and occassionally writes for the Patterson Irrigator.
Delphia can be reached by phone at: 209-892-5037 or contact@patterson-ca.com.
Copyright information:
Claude Delphia and Ron Swift own the
copywrite to the Apricot Emblem. The only organization licensed
to use that emblem is the Patterson Apricot Fiesta Incorporated.
This is clearly noticed on the main page.