00:00:00.000 - 00:00:27.000

Jeremy Hays: The library will have the video so that people who are looking into and researching around a park will have them, but they may want to turn it go a step further and turn it into like a book of some sort. Mm-hmm. So if that happens, then Andy will want to get a lot more of those photographs and things to illustrate the book. George Geister: OK, they I don't know if you know this, but there was a couple of books that were put out about, OK. Jeremy Hays: I saw those. Yeah. Yeah. They kind of wanna. Jeremy Hays: Because all of you weren't in them.

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George Geister: No. Well, I. George Geister: I was just a little bit I had. I had one or two pictures in the book. They was sports and that's that's where I've come into just basically sports coaching and that thing with the youths and so it. Jeremy Hays: OK, OK. Jeremy Hays: Right, right. Yeah, yeah.

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Jeremy Hays: OK, OK. Jeremy Hays: All right. Well, we'll give us the go ahead and then I'll just start asking questions. Alan Fitch: Start and then just look at Jeremy. Don't look at me. George Geister: OK. All right. Yeah, OK. OK. Sorry about. Sorry you have to.

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George Geister: Look at this. George Geister: And now it's OK. Jeremy Hays: All right, George. So let me start with where the beginning in a way. Like where did you grow up? Where? Jeremy Hays: Was your family?

00:01:03.000 - 00:01:54.000

George Geister: From I'm raising from San Francisco and I went to a Denman junior high there, which is right next to Balboa High School. George Geister: And my father, when I was a after my freshman year, my sophomore year, my father opened up a donut shop in and a restaurant in Santa Rosa called Chucks. Fountain was on 4th Street, right next 4th Street, right next to E, almost E Street. There was a. George Geister: Theater right next door called the Tower Theater and and he opened up a donut shop and a fountain. And I grew up there. George Geister: Went to high school at Santa Rosa High School for two years and my father's business didn't do quite well and we moved down to San Rafael. We have a I have a lot of relatives in San.

00:01:54.000 - 00:02:32.000

George Geister: Rafael and so my senior year, I moved to San Rafael, graduated from San Rafael High School. George Geister: Went two years of college at College of Marin. George Geister: Played basketball at College of Marin and to be truthful, it was probably the only reason I went there was to play ball rather than to open up a few books. Met my wife there. My second year she was from Drake High School and she and I started dating and. George Geister: And then see it was the Easter vacation of 1950.

00:02:32.000 - 00:03:44.000

George Geister: 4 I'm 53, you know, 53. We came back from Easter vacation and looked around and I said I don't want to go to school and well, my eligibility was up and and I and she said the same thing. So we quit and went to work and got married in 1955 in San Rafael. George Geister: We had three girls. One girl was born down Marine marine general and the other two girls were born up at Memorial Hospital. We moved up up to Rohnert Park in 1961 and I had a friend that a very good friend, he says. George Geister: Oh, I just bought a house up in Rohnert Park and I said, you what? And he says I just bought a house in Rohnert Park. And I said, you're kidding. Well, I knew. George Geister: Cotati and. But Rohnert Park wasn't here when I was going to school at Santa Rosa, but I knew the area, and so I said, well, you're going up this weekend. He says. Yeah. And I said, well, maybe I'll go up with you. Take a look. So I went up with him. My wife didn't go and went. Just look at his house.

00:03:44.000 - 00:04:37.000

George Geister: And the salesman was there. And he says you're interested. And he says, well, yeah, it's a very nice house. It was a three bedroom, 2 bath, two car garage. George Geister: $13,900 and I said, yeah, I'm quite it, she said. Well, we got a house just down the street here from your friend that we just like this. So I went down and looked at it said, yeah, I'm very interested. And he says, well, good. And he says, but he says he put something up to hold. I said, well, all I got on me is $10. George Geister: And he said that's OK. And so I gave him $10, put down, got to hold the house, went home, told the wife. I said I put a down payment on the House, son, she said. Yeah, sure you did. And so we went up the following week and we bought it. George Geister: Didn't have a dime to put down, didn't have a dime to put on the closing cost, and the guy the salesman said Oh well.

00:04:37.000 - 00:05:10.000

George Geister: He says that's going to be a little problem, but he says let's do this. The house is 13-9. Let's show that it costs 14. Three that you've put $400.00 down, and now the price is 13-9. Would you be interested in that? And I says, well, yeah, sure. So there's No Down Payment paid less. George Geister: A monthly payment that I was paying renting down in San Rafael. George Geister: And Rohnert Park was great. It was one of the best things I've ever. Jeremy Hays: Done. Let me go back just a little bit. First of all, that's an amazing.

00:05:10.000 - 00:05:40.000

Jeremy Hays: Story $10. George Geister: And it's it's truthful, very truthful. You can't blame someone for what I read from down in Marin County, which was very expensive then. Even like now it is, you know? But. Jeremy Hays: Yeah. So you, you, you were at when you're here at Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park didn't exist. No, just Cotati was there. George Geister: I moved in 19501951. I moved from Santa Rosa to Marin County.

00:05:40.000 - 00:06:35.000

George Geister: So how did you hear about Rohnert Park? I mean, did you hear that it was, was it advertised? How did you hear? No, he was my friend. He had bought a house up here. And I I really didn't know where Rohner Park was. But he told me, you know, he says, was right. Right next to Cotati. Well, I knew where Cotati was from going to school at Santa Rosa. George Geister: No, it was no. Just my friend told me that was it, and I ended up telling a lot of other friends. Hey, come up. Look and run a park. You know, it's a great place so far. So I'm I'm concerned you. Jeremy Hays: Know. And So what did he tell you about Rohnert Park when he when he said, hey, do you want to come look at the house in Rohnert Park? Did you say what? Who? What's Rohnert Park? What's it like? George Geister: No, I I just, you know, he said it was a development and I came up and looked and thought I, you know, I I that was a an advantage for us because I couldn't afford to live in Marin County. I don't think I ever buy a house in.

00:06:35.000 - 00:07:23.000

George Geister: County I was delivering milk for a local dairy down in called Lucas Valley Down in Marin County and I wasn't making very much money. And for that area and I was able to pay the same amount of money buying a house as I was renting down down. And I I think I paid $102.00 a month. George Geister: For our first our monthly payments. Jeremy Hays: So when you came up here and met your friend in in Rohnert Park, what did you think? George Geister: I thought it was great because it wasn't really moving away from things because I had a lot of friends in Santa Rosa and I the years that I I left Sonoma County, I was 10 years, that I was gone from 1951 and 1961. I was playing ball.

00:07:23.000 - 00:07:59.000

George Geister: Basketball with my friends in Santa Rosa. They were playing in tournaments, said what happened. They asked me to play with them and and I was playing so I was in contact with my friends in in Santa Rosa, so it was kind of like hardly even moving, you know, because now I got. George Geister: All my friends 8 miles away in Santa Rosa and still had friends in San Rafael so it it was a win win situation for me so. Jeremy Hays: Did Rohnert Park have a reputation at the time as as in in any way? George Geister: Not at the very beginning, things the the developers.

00:07:59.000 - 00:08:09.000

George Geister: We're trying to get. Jeremy Hays: Ohh could you start that one again? Jeremy Hays: Go ahead. So. Jeremy Hays: OK.

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Jeremy Hays: I guess if you could start it by saying Rohnert Park didn't have a reputation at the time. George Geister: OK. You ready now? Rohnert Park at the time did not have a bad reputation. The developers were having some problems selling the houses, so they started advertising. No Down Payment. Six months free rent. George Geister: And then if the payments would start, well would start happening. People were coming from all over the place. They get six months free rent to buy a house. Well, after five months living there, they started moving out. So they didn't have to make their first payment on the six months after the six month. So. George Geister: We had trouble.

00:08:52.000 - 00:09:53.000

George Geister: This went on for quite some time and my wife and I had troubles cashing checks in Santa Rosa, cashing checks in Petaluma. You go buy something in one of the stores and you write out a check and they say, oh, we're gonna park just one second and they go in the backroom and I guess, check our our credit and. George Geister: It was it was difficult we they just had. We had a bad reputation and and it became the land of the land of the midnight movers. And there were so many houses that were vacant after these six months that they'd move in. George Geister: They put holes in the walls and they just kind of trashed them up a bit and it was a bad situation for quite some time. But over the years we've been 1962, I believe Mr. Coleman probably told you that 1962 we became a city. George Geister: And after that happened, Pete was our first mayor.

00:09:53.000 - 00:10:38.000

George Geister: Pete Callahan was our first mayor and also after his term there he became the first city manager and he was. George Geister: Really, really good with developing the place he he had. He was very smart. He had great thoughts on different things and to me he's he's Mr. Rohnert Park and he was that that he was did a lot of the good things that pools and different neighborhoods we had each neighborhood. George Geister: Is located like a Section B section C-section as we were starting to grow. George Geister: We start going higher in the alphabet and each section had names like the A section. All the names of the streets started with a.

00:10:38.000 - 00:11:24.000

George Geister: We had a pool, we had a Park B section, had a pool, had a park C-section, same thing all the way through the took through. George Geister: Oh, God, let's see about FGH probably through they pools were all over the place. Tennis courts, basketball courts, parks, the to barbecue. George Geister: And it just became a nice city. He had a lot of opportunities for your kids to you'd have to worry about them, go to the pool. Well looked out. You know, the lifeguards and the people there were on duty that it was just a great place to live. So. Jeremy Hays: You were living in a section. Yes. OK.

00:11:24.000 - 00:12:00.000

George Geister: That don't answered Ave. Jeremy Hays: And it was great. I mean that was a great place to. Jeremy Hays: Yeah, yeah. You don't have to worry about the kids, you know, in in those days. George, could you start that with saying I lived in a section and it was and then fill in the money. George Geister: OK, I I lived in a section 404 ansen and it was just nice. Nice house and a nice section. When we moved there, there was actually not one store in Rohnert Park or one stop sign.

00:12:00.000 - 00:12:45.000

George Geister: And that's, you know, it was kind of like. George Geister: OK, we have to go to Petaluma or we have to go to Qatari. We have to go to Santa Rosa to do our shopping. And there was a little. George Geister: Store in Cotati. In fact, I just saw today with one of the owners just died. I saw in the paper today, Dan Dudley. He was one of the owners at the Cotati store and our girls used to call it the Little Red Store. George Geister: And it was in the Plaza, the cathode Plaza there and. And we used to shop over there quite often. I at the time was working for foremost dairies. And that was one of my stops. So I got to know the, the, the owners quite well. And and we shopped over there quite a bit and then.

00:12:45.000 - 00:13:21.000

George Geister: Stock, we first store that opened up the first grocery store opened up was sister's market and Rotor Park. George Geister: And that was only about 1/2 a block away from Anson Ave. where I lived. And so we it's, you know, a lot more convenient. Instead of running the center, we usually shop at Santa Rosa, but it would make things a lot more convenient and. Jeremy Hays: Tell me. Tell me more about sisters market. George Geister: Well, starting with scissors market, we're OK. Sisas Market was our first market.

00:13:21.000 - 00:13:45.000

George Geister: I I would hold for a minute. OK? I didn't have a very. I didn't have a very good relationship with them. And I don't. I don't want to. I don't want to make it. Look. If I say some stuff I don't want to make sure the manager and I did not get along and the owner. Jeremy Hays: OK, fair enough. Fair enough. I I don't I. George Geister: OK. George Geister: Don't want to say anything bad.

00:13:45.000 - 00:13:53.000

Jeremy Hays: About it, how about we do this then? Jeremy Hays: If you talk about if you say. Jeremy Hays: Excuse me. See, I told you. Jeremy Hays: That would happen.

00:13:53.000 - 00:14:15.000

George Geister: So far I haven't got to cut the water pretty soon. Jeremy Hays: I'm ahead of you. If you say after sister's market and and then and then tell me about the other businesses that started to. George Geister: Open. Yeah, we're park. We only had the one store that's opened up and that was sisters market and I'm not sure if that was exactly the 1st. George Geister: Organization opened up, but that was one that was.

00:14:15.000 - 00:14:50.000

George Geister: Helped everyone because we we did a lot of shopping. George Geister: There, the exchange Bank had an office in Qatada. They opened up a little branch in Rohnert Park. Jim Harris was the manager. George Geister: Of the store and there was a art. Roberts was on the City Council. He opened up a pharmacy. George Geister: And then let's see, there was a little clothing store, I think a children's clothing store.

00:14:50.000 - 00:15:05.000

George Geister: And then. George Geister: I'm trying to think it's hard to remember back. It was quite some time ago a. George Geister: Little by. George Geister: Little things just started opening up, made it more convenient for the people in Rohnert Park.

00:15:05.000 - 00:15:47.000

George Geister: It it it just it, you know, it grew so, so much. Sports were a very big thing in the early days. George Geister: I was on the after about. George Geister: Two years I joined the 2030 club and they they were looking for members and I and I wasn't at that time, wasn't one of those kind of people that when they belonged to one of those clubs, but I was working part time for fellow named John Hoover. He had a landscaping business and he belonged in the 2030 club. George Geister: And he talked me and going down and join him. So I went down and I met.

00:15:47.000 - 00:16:30.000

George Geister: I was a pretty good pool player and they had a pool hall, a little pool table down at the Wigwam Wigwam. It was called the Wigwam, and it was a little restaurant in Cotati, and that's where we had our meetings and they had a pool. George Geister: Table and I was hooked. I was paired up with a new fellow. George Geister: I met Doctor Don Davis and he was the 1st dentist in Rohnert Park. George Geister: And he and I became partners playing pool, and we didn't lose that night. So the next night, the next week we went, I went to the meeting, and he and I were partners again. And we didn't lose again. So he and I became pretty good friends. And we.

00:16:30.000 - 00:17:23.000

George Geister: He got a he was on the Recreation Commission and he talked me into getting on the Recreation Commission in Rohnert Park, and I did and enjoyed it. I think I was on it for four or five years and in that four or five years. George Geister: Jim Harris, who was the manager at Exchange Bank. We were trying to get the Little League in River Park. Cotati had the Little League franchise and Little League. George Geister: You cannot start another franchise unless the population is at to a certain point. And Rohnert Park didn't reach that point, so we couldn't get Little League. So we decided to get what was called boys baseball and I believe to this day it's still called boys baseball and Jim. George Geister: For some reason or another, my memory is a little.

00:17:23.000 - 00:18:33.000

George Geister: Little off on this. Maybe he went to Sebastopol and picked up a whole bunch of used uniforms, youth uniforms and brought them back to Rohnert Park. And we they started the the, the, the boys baseball program. I wasn't involved in starting it. I just happened to be on the Recreation Commission. George Geister: And that was the start of the boys baseball program and the the population of Rotor Park was growing all the time, and a lot of lot of kids, a lot of little kids coming in because no one had any money in those days. And that's it was a great place to come to Rohnert Park. George Geister: I at the time was coaching CYO up in Santa Rosa at Saint Rose. I worked for foremost areas at the time and my boss. George Geister: Was coaching CYO program at 5th grade. He had a son that was a fifth grader and he found out that I played ball and so he says George, he says, why don't you come out after work today and help me at my practice, see what I'm doing wrong?

00:18:33.000 - 00:18:58.000

George Geister: Well, I went down to practice and. George Geister: Watched him for a while and I said, Oh my God, he doesn't know a thing. You know, this is horrible. So I kind of got in and said, OK, we've got to do this. Got to do that. And then we started our stuff and he says, so why don't you take over? Why don't you why don't? George Geister: Your coach just take. George Geister: Over the coaching job well, this being my boss.

00:18:58.000 - 00:19:34.000

George Geister: I didn't want to say no, so I I did and one of the best things I started I I I really enjoyed it and I did that for. George Geister: Oh, I'm going to say three or four years up in Saint Rose. And so one day I was thinking to myself, why am I coaching up in Saint Rose? George Geister: Why don't we get something started in Rohnert Park? I mean, they've got our youths down there. I know that a lot of the kids. And so I talked to Doctor Davis and I said, Don, I says, uh. George Geister: Why don't we start a CYO program and I said.

00:19:34.000 - 00:20:20.000

George Geister: Well, let's do it. George Geister: So I oh OK, so I started to get a bunch of people together to have a meeting with Saint Joseph's Church. That was the church in Cotati at the time. And you had to get. George Geister: Their parish. You had to belong to that. It not belong to the parish. But you had to use that parish name in order to get into the CYO. George Geister: So I decided, well, we better go over and talk to the the priest over there. Doctor, Father Donahue. So I got Don Davis, who was Mormon. I got Ken Bell who was on the City Council at the time. He was Catholic. I got Sid. Delbert.

00:20:20.000 - 00:20:53.000

George Geister: He was Jewish. Now this did. I wasn't doing this on purpose. These were just my friends and myself. And I was a Piscopo palian. George Geister: So we go. George Geister: Over and we have a meeting with Father Donahue. George Geister: I I kind of set the meeting up and everything and I like I was. I was the spokesman, so I talked to Father Donahue and I said, well, he would like to have this, this you sponsor us. I don't want any money from you as one of the main things, I didn't want any money from the church. I didn't want him involved. I didn't want the church involved. I just wanted.

00:20:53.000 - 00:21:29.000

George Geister: They use their name to put across our our uniforms, St. Josephs. George Geister: And I told him about how we can get more youths together and more, more, maybe more people who turned Catholic after playing with the CYO. And this would be a win, win situation. And he said no. George Geister: And I mean what? George Geister: Do you mean you say, what do you mean? No, I couldn't understand why he didn't go for this and he just wouldn't do it. So we left and I was really down on on this. And I said that's something we got to do something wrong. So I talked to the four guys we went and I talked. I said maybe we ought to get Pete.

00:21:29.000 - 00:22:05.000

George Geister: Not bad. George Geister: So we went and talked to Pete. George Geister: And told him the situation and he was Catholic also and he he came with us with the next meeting and by him being there he had a lot to do with us getting the CYO program. So we started the CYO program and we started out with the 4th, 5th and 6th grades. George Geister: And that that goes age wise in those grades and you have you have to stand by the the age limits and so on. So it it's pretty pretty well organized and.

00:22:05.000 - 00:22:32.000

George Geister: We we got that started and that and we were in the B league, they have an A league and a B league but being we were just starting out we had we we we we should have been in the B league and that's where we belong because no one on the team had any basketball experience not so as it turned out. George Geister: OK. Jeremy Hays: I'm picking up crinkling from your envelope. George Geister: Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry.

00:22:32.000 - 00:22:49.000

Jeremy Hays: If you. Jeremy Hays: If you want to refer to the paper, hold on to that. Maybe set the envelope. George Geister: Just down by the. Yeah, let me do that. George Geister: Yeah. Let me put this there. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I forget you're doing that. I I I really forget you're even there. That's good. Yeah.

00:22:49.000 - 00:24:01.000

George Geister: Sorry, I got I got Pete and we he said yes. So when we had the 4th, 5th and 6th grades like I said and as it turned out, the 4th grade they won the championship and that was surprising. Dr. Davis and I coached coach together and then I had the 6th grade. George Geister: Also, and we didn't do too well in the 6th grade or the 5th grade, but that was the start of it and in the following year we got 4th, 5th, 6th and 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grades and then 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades the following year. Then we had to go in the A league which we had a full complement of of ages there. George Geister: The following year, we had, I mean, the following years we had to go in the A league and then we started A&B teams. We were getting more people, more kids playing and. George Geister: It's now they have. I don't know how many kids they have playing now. It's it's still going. My great grandson has played CYO just this last year and it's uh, it was kind of fun. I was out there watching him and kind of helping him a little bit, but I look around and see all those kids playing. And I said, you know.

00:24:01.000 - 00:24:28.000

Jeremy Hays: It must be really, really. George Geister: Gratifying to know, it is very gratifying, very gratified at. George Geister: Just I enjoyed basketball and I enjoyed coaching them. You know? It was just a lot of fun at the and and hope they learned something in over the years and. George Geister: Everything was just popping in Rohnert Park. I mean, people were coming in and in 19.

00:24:28.000 - 00:25:03.000

George Geister: Let's see what year was that, 19? I'm going to look at notes. I have some notes that I wrote down here. George Geister: 19 CYO. George Geister: OK, started to grow softball. All right, my. I have three daughters. I have three daughters and I kind of always led them towards sports. If I could, didn't push them, but let let him in that direction, I thought. George Geister: Kids that played sports were nice kids. They all are, but most of them are.

00:25:03.000 - 00:25:39.000

George Geister: And I wanted, you know, one of my daughters to to be involved in it. And so that we had them as got them as CYO cheerleaders. And there's several other girls. I have a list of them for you. You want me to name the list out or sure. OK. George Geister: I don't have it. It's it's. I'm sorry. That's OK, Andy. She has. I gave her all that stuff, OK? And it's on the, the the the names are all on the black back. Jeremy Hays: OK, OK, that's fine. George Geister: Let's see. Where am I OK?

00:25:39.000 - 00:25:58.000

Jeremy Hays: Talking about your daughters becoming cheerleader. George Geister: Yeah, they became like we got him doing cheerleading and then and the my oldest daughter, she was. George Geister: Involved in sports and she became actually at our home games. She was our our scorekeeper and she. George Geister: It's like.

00:25:58.000 - 00:27:04.000

George Geister: 12 years old at the time. Or 13, maybe. And she did a good job. She knew how to do it. I kind of taught her how to do it, and she was our our scorekeeper. We had to get the gym time for the for the the program and. George Geister: We played all our games out at Sonoma State and we did at that in the field House, not the Jim that's out there now, but they had a field house that they they used to play their. George Geister: Games in and it was just one basket at both ends of the court and very little seating on the mats from the the wrestlers on the on the sidelines that that's where that all the seating was and we we had to. I had to make sure that we were scheduled. George Geister: Up there and make sure that they open the gym on time and and it was and it's an almost stayed at that time was not a very good school. It was a.

00:27:04.000 - 00:27:47.000

George Geister: In the hippie area in the in the late 60s, and I hated going out there, but I had to and got involved with the the coaches out there and and setting all this up, but we. George Geister: We had later on when Rancho Cotati opened up in 67. George Geister: We just started where we couldn't get the gym there for a while and then the new principal came in. Bob Daggett was his name and he was he had a son. That was a very good basketball player that played at Petaluma High School, so he was involved in sports himself, the, the, the Father. George Geister: So I went to him and asked if we could use the gym.

00:27:47.000 - 00:28:46.000

George Geister: Because I knew we used to have to probably get janitors to come in and we'd have to pay, we couldn't afford to pay the janitors, so I talked to Bob and Bob Dagged the principal, and told him that if if you don't get a jet, if we don't have to get a jet, I will clean up, I will clean up everything well that time. George Geister: Everyone was smoking. George Geister: And I had a bunch of butts cigarette butts outside the gym, wherever in between halves, and that the parents would go out there and smoke and put all their butts on the on the ground and had to clean all that up. And I was out there on Sundays from 8:00 to 5:00. Probably almost. George Geister: On our home games, not only coaching, but became a janitor so, but Bob Daggett was really good with us. He did a lot of stuff for us and helped the program quite a bit so it.

00:28:46.000 - 00:29:30.000

Jeremy Hays: So I'm trying to think you've brought up so many things. Let me go back to the 2030 club, sure. Jeremy Hays: You said you weren't the kind of guy who would join those clubs. Tell me why. Why? You told me why you joined. But tell me like what it meant to you when you joined and and what it how that helped you become part of the. George Geister: Community. When I joined the 2030 club I. George Geister: Went to a couple of the meetings and met. Met a bunch of new people, which was great. I didn't know. I I worked down in Marin County at the time, so I didn't have a lot of time to to spend with other people. I was commuting back and forth and met a lot of a lot of new friends.

00:29:30.000 - 00:30:29.000

George Geister: And one of the things the 2030 did for me, I used to have a hard time getting up and talking in front of people and. George Geister: We would have projects that we'd have to do, we would go out, maybe paint, paint the fences along the freeway, we get 10 or 12 of us on a Saturday or Sunday, go out and paint, and then we have other things where we did the barbecues. George Geister: To raise money for the 2030 club and different things that raise money, and I never done that before and it was all brand new to me and. George Geister: After doing it a bit, I kind of enjoyed it because it was something that you you did that not only was helping you, but you were helping other people and I was able to talk in front of people, got to a point where I couldn't stop talking and.

00:30:29.000 - 00:31:00.000

George Geister: That was that was one of the big things and. Jeremy Hays: Did it did it? Did it help you feel like more and more? George Geister: Part of the community? Absolutely, absolutely. I felt just part of it because we were doing things for, for the Community, you know, we we thought we were Sonoma State. Sonoma State had some temporary classrooms at a in an apartment. George Geister: I guess or something and I guess the city was going to tear it down. So one of the things the 2030 club did, we got about 10 or 15 or 20 of us and.

00:31:00.000 - 00:31:40.000

George Geister: We went in and tore the thing down. George Geister: The city didn't have to hire anyone. You know, we we were doing it for the city and we got together. We were having fun drinking a few beers at the same time. And. And you just got to know a lot of people and got got to know him really well because you you out out with them and enjoying what you're doing and. George Geister: So it was it was good for me, you know, for the wives too. The the our wives met each other and we there was a bunch of us that became very good friends and still are, you know, to this day so. George Geister: It was very gratifying.

00:31:40.000 - 00:32:10.000

Jeremy Hays: It made me think when you're talking telling that story about tearing down the apartment and also when you the building and and also when you're telling me about how that the CIO would, they're still used to play at LSU at this at this. It's no mistake. That made me think that like, you know, you know the phrase. Jeremy Hays: Obviously like pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and and Rohnert Park started with like 0. Nothing. And can you talk to me a? Jeremy Hays: Little bit about. Jeremy Hays: What that experience was like of kind of creating something out of nothing.

00:32:10.000 - 00:32:50.000

George Geister: Well, I, you know, at the time it was in the in the, in the, in the CYO program. George Geister: The teams around were all established and we had we did not. We did not have very good teams because we were starting out from scratch and. George Geister: We took we we had a. Jeremy Hays: No, I'm sorry, George. I I wasn't clear. Let me just ask the question again. My fault. What? What I was trying to get at was like as a city, not just the SCIO, but as a city. What it was like as a resident of the city, what was it like to help build something from nothing?

00:32:50.000 - 00:33:32.000

George Geister: Well, it it was great. I I look around now and I see all these kids playing ball. George Geister: There's probably several hundred kids playing CYO basketball, and at the time I thought about. George Geister: You know, in the future what it would be like if if this was successful and I'd I'd been proud of it myself personally and to have you people come in and want to do this, I I feel really good about it. Like, you know, I was part of the the growth of the city. Jeremy Hays: How did you?

00:33:32.000 - 00:34:31.000

Jeremy Hays: See, because that was kind of a unique perspective that you had like of how Rohnert Park was growing. You had a way of seeing that through the CIO and through the kids you were coaching and everything. How did you see the city changed through, you know, your perspective well, the the land of the midnight movers, were there anymore as we grew? George Geister: The houses were we were building new sections A&B. We were being built CI guess was being built at the time, so the there was a lot of of new houses going up, new people coming in. George Geister: More stores opening up. We didn't have to go to Petaluma. We didn't have to go to Santa Rosa. It was just the stop signs we had stop signs, which we didn't have in the beginning. Schools were starting to be built more swimming pools, more parks for the kids. George Geister: Uh. Uh.

00:34:31.000 - 00:35:13.000

George Geister: I've you know, I've been involved with the youth is what I the youth was the thing that I was really interested in that because I knew if you know, if you if they stayed out of trouble, we were going to have a good citizens, you know and and as it worked out. George Geister: Rotor Park is, you know, just a great place. I've enjoyed it all for the 55 years or whatever it is. I've been here it. George Geister: Just seeing her grow and. Jeremy Hays: It's the when you first moved to a, it was still being built.

00:35:13.000 - 00:36:03.000

George Geister: Yes, yes, yeah. George Geister: So we if you if we if you if you could start when I first moved to to when I first moved to Rohnert Park, we didn't have a street in front of the house. That was it was still just gravel. They were they still doing it. You know it and the other parts of the of the A section were being built. George Geister: And B section was starting up at almost at that time there was in 1961 when I moved there, there were probably, there were probably 2000 people in Rohner Park. I think they started moving in in 1958. George Geister: Somewhere in that area there peak Peak town. I would probably know more, and he probably got a lot of information from him on that.

00:36:03.000 - 00:36:34.000

George Geister: There were. George Geister: There were about 2000 people, but we still didn't have stores, you know, it was not big enough yet and. George Geister: B. Section started growing and it's just everything's just started. Started growing at the growing parks reputation. We didn't have to worry about getting checks signed in Bethlehem and Santa Rosa. George Geister: And in fact, there was a was a time.

00:36:34.000 - 00:36:52.000

George Geister: I forget what year? Let's see. It must have been 78. It's. George Geister: 19 probably 70. George Geister: 60 Let's see about 68. George Geister: Jim Rogers, who used to be a bread man.

00:36:52.000 - 00:37:29.000

George Geister: For Kilpatrick's and at the time I had switched jobs, I worked for Wonder Bread and Jim Rogers. George Geister: Was a supervisor for Kilpatrick's, and he lived in Rohnert Park and he became a real estate agent for Bart Mitchell. Twenty 20th century. I believe it was and. George Geister: After after he started his real estate business there. George Geister: A new section was was coming up and was called going to be called D section.

00:37:29.000 - 00:38:18.000

George Geister: And Jim Rogers got ahold of Paul Gollis, who was the the builder and the developer, the first developer of Rohnert Park. He he got got in touch with Paul and. George Geister: He wanted to buy Jim wanted to buy 30 acres of land from Paul. Well, Jim didn't have that kind of money, so he wanted to get 30 people to buy an acre apiece. George Geister: He got in touch with us. I I knew Jim. He got in touch us and quite a few other people and told what was going on and if we can get 30 people, we could buy this land. George Geister: Well, I try. I went to Santa Rosa and all my friends that I went to high school with and everything and played ball with, I asked all them if they'd like to get involved and invest in.

00:38:18.000 - 00:38:44.000

George Geister: Not in Rohnert Park. New Sir Reed. Not in Rohnert Park. We're not getting invest in any money in Rohner Park. George Geister: Well, at the time. George Geister: We had a hard time getting 30 people, but we did have 15, so he went to Paul. Jim went to Paul Gollis again and said well, instead of 30 acres, can we buy 15? And he agreed to. George Geister: It so we paid.

00:38:44.000 - 00:39:32.000

George Geister: 5050 three $100.00 an acre. I believe it was. George Geister: 173451 it was and we were going to be able to break the acre into three lots and the lots were going to be called would cost would be $1700. So it was 15 fifty $100 to buy an acre. George Geister: And Paul agreed upon it. We the spitzen of us agreed upon it and justice before we agreed upon it. Jim says to Paul Golis. George Geister: He says that Paul, he says, we don't have a road from Snyder Lane into our property. And he says we'll need a road in there. And Paul goes says no problem. He says I'll have a road in there within two years.

00:39:32.000 - 00:40:15.000

George Geister: And so Jim, he was a very smart guy, Jim. Joggers was a really a smart person. And he said, Paul, he says if you don't have it in within two years. George Geister: We will only pay you 50% of what we're coming to you until the road is put in, he says. No problem. It will be in in two years. George Geister: Well, it took 10 years to get the road in, so we went eight years of paying him 50% of what we were supposed to. Well, my wife happened to be, there was our organization was called Rodanthe O Rogers for Roe. George Geister: Davis Don Davis, for D and Co for corporation. So it was called Rodolfo.

00:40:15.000 - 00:41:01.000

George Geister: My wife was the treasurer. George Geister: And so when this happened, when the two years was up and we didn't have our Rd. in there. George Geister: Everyone was to pay the same amount of money, but we were opened up. My wife opened up another account and took that half. That belonged to this account. Over here we put it into another account. Over over here. So when the time come. George Geister: For us to maybe start moving in there, we had to get hudis engineering to put in the gutters and streets and what have you. Well, that extra money that we had didn't pay. Paul Gollis took care of that amount for to help us. So we didn't have to come up with any more money. So I eventually built a house on Davis.

00:41:01.000 - 00:41:14.000

George Geister: And it was called Davis Circle for Don. George Geister: Davis and I eventually built a house there in 1976. Jeremy Hays: Pretty smart move. George Geister: Of a very smart move. It was very smart.

00:41:14.000 - 00:41:46.000

Jeremy Hays: Yeah, that's clever. George Geister: And Jim had a thing that at that time 1976 or when we actually got the thing that. George Geister: Organized that when we built the house. George Geister: We had been had to build it for more than $40,000. That sounds ridiculous in 1976, but I billed mine for $44,000 and it was quite a nice investment. So, but that that was running.

00:41:46.000 - 00:42:05.000

George Geister: Parks started growing really, really well and nice streets were going in and. Jeremy Hays: What was it like? Like socially in in a neighborhood when you moved in? Jeremy Hays: Like you know what? George Geister: Was that like 20-30 club had parties all the time, all the time and there was a little place called the.

00:42:05.000 - 00:42:52.000

George Geister: Off Roberts Rd. called Maple Leaf. George Geister: The Maple Leaf, I think it was. And there was a little building there. George Geister: It was, I don't know, deserted. I think in the 2030 club we used to have our parties out there all the time and and that was our social life made mainly 2030 club always had parties. How did you get to know your neighbors in a section when you moved in? George Geister: Like how you were saying earlier, like there weren't very many people there. So everybody you met became your. Yeah, they were. They weren't neighbors. We had barbecues on the block. We had 20-30 with put on things at the park.

00:42:52.000 - 00:43:51.000

George Geister: The we'd have the the end of the baseball season, everyone we, we'd all kind of get together and be, you know, 100 people maybe they go to a BBQ for after the the baseball season. We didn't do it in CYO. George Geister: Just neighbors I worked, I got. I used to get up early in the morning. I used to get up 2:30 in the morning. I had to be to work at 4:00 and I come home and I didn't have a lot of time. I rested, took a nap, maybe in the afternoon. George Geister: We just met people as we went along, you know it was. George Geister: Barbecues, mainly barbecues. What kind of? And I knew a lot of people from the parents, from the CYO and the baseball. I helped coach baseball. So, I mean, softball. I helped coach Dr. Davis in Little League or boys baseball for.

00:43:51.000 - 00:44:26.000

George Geister: Four or five six years maybe we had the the Pirates and there was a we used to go out and get sponsors. And one of the sponsors we got was a. George Geister: First drive in in Rohnert Park. George Geister: Drive up driving for the kids and it was called Mr. Swiss. George Geister: They where was it? It was on Southwest Blvd. Probably right in the middle. There was a shopping center.

00:44:26.000 - 00:45:22.000

George Geister: Jimmy Rogers opened up a delicatessen called Manor Delicatessen and there were pizza parlor. In fact, Jimmy Rogers tried to get 30-30 guys the the best in the pizza parlor was going to call the 30 thieves and he he got 15 again. I didn't get involved with that. George Geister: Thank God they went bankrupt. George Geister: And the striving was it was a place the kids went after the ball games during football season in 19. George Geister: 72 and 73 I think the high school had, I believe, 2 undefeated teams and Jimmy Rogers was involved at the high school and the kids and he went to the football coach and he told told the kids that every game they win.

00:45:22.000 - 00:45:54.000

George Geister: He'll buy hamburgers and milkshakes for all the for the football players at Mr. Swiss at Mr. Swiss and and so after their games the place was loaded. If you didn't get there early, you weren't gonna get get inside. Jeremy Hays: Was it the kind of place where, like with car hops? George Geister: No, it was just a place. George Geister: You drove up and parked, parked there, and I I don't know where was like a drive in it was, I mean, everybody went there after the football games. You know it.

00:45:54.000 - 00:46:26.000

George Geister: And Jimmy did that for two years, cost him a fortune. They were undefeated, I think in two years, I think. But he he didn't mind, he he enjoyed doing that stuff. So it. Jeremy Hays: What did? Jeremy Hays: Give me one second here. What kind of folks? You know, we're moving to Rohnert Park and and we're living there in. George Geister: The early years we all have the same problem, no money and and several kids. And it was a place.

00:46:26.000 - 00:47:24.000

George Geister: I mean we we had more kids coming there and families of two and three we had like I say, I had three girls. Doctor Davis had three boys. Jimmy Rogers had three kids. Everyone had three and four kids, and it was all the same thing. We came from different places. Don Don Davis. George Geister: Came from Idaho. Don and I. Like I said, Don and I became very good friends. His wife and my wife were good friends. We come to find out that he was born. I mean, he was born. He was married on the same date that we were married at the same time. In the same year. George Geister: It's, you know, we just get people came married, Jimmy. Jimmy was, I think from Arkansas someplace. He he he had a. He had a little draw on him and he he could. George Geister: It just everyone came from different places, you know.

00:47:24.000 - 00:47:56.000

George Geister: What? What was it? Jeremy Hays: Like because and you know, like you were saying, kind of in a Rohnert Park, didn't have any history cause it didn't went around before, but it had a whole future ahead of it. Can you just tell me, like, what it felt like to be part of that kind of place? George Geister: Well, I felt great into. George Geister: To find out what other people you know thought I you know, I don't. I don't really know. I I hope they felt the same way I did it.

00:47:56.000 - 00:48:21.000

George Geister: It was a whole new life for us when we moved up here, met new people. Like I say I. George Geister: I knew a lot of people in Santa Rosa because I went to high school there, so I was spending, I was spending a lot of my time in Santa Rosa playing ball with, you know, friends that guys I went to. Jeremy Hays: High school with did you end up playing ball with it? Did. Jeremy Hays: It end up.

00:48:21.000 - 00:49:10.000

George Geister: Was there like a like an adult league in Rohnert Park later on in years after after I got a little older, we played a 35 and under league. I think it was and couldn't fast break. We did play. Jimmy played Don Davis played myself. George Geister: Kenny Bell. George Geister: Sid, delbert. These the same fellows we've tried to get the CYO the, the, the, the meeting together the same, the same people. They had a league. But I I played in it for a couple of years. I I I was getting kind of old. I my wife kept saying I'll get hurt now. When I went to the game and and. George Geister: I was worried about getting hurt and never, never played very well because I was worried about other things, you know? But.

00:49:10.000 - 00:49:26.000

George Geister: They they had a leak and but I wasn't involved in the leak at all. That much. It was a couple of years, I think we played, I think so. Yeah, it's getting. That's the point is this time out. Jeremy Hays: You want some water? Jeremy Hays: Just a short one, yeah. Jeremy Hays: You're doing great.

00:49:26.000 - 00:49:37.000

George Geister: Could you could you could you get? Yeah, absolutely. George Geister: I got arthritis so bad that. Jeremy Hays: No sure thing. Jeremy Hays: You're doing great, George. I hope so. I.

00:49:37.000 - 00:49:49.000

George Geister: I got some other. Jeremy Hays: Stuff. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to ask you about that, and then you can bring up any of. Jeremy Hays: The things that you want to as well I'm gonna. Jeremy Hays: OK. So we've been going.

00:49:49.000 - 00:50:07.000

Jeremy Hays: We got 45. George Geister: Minutes left. OK, let me get this thing over there. Jeremy Hays: OK. Jeremy Hays: So what were some of the things you wanted to talk about?

00:50:07.000 - 00:51:08.000

George Geister: My youngest daughter was probably about 11, I guess, and she started playing softball. There was a softball league going on and run a Rohnert Park that was run by Cotati. Actually, the Cotati Little League, I believe. George Geister: Had the franchise or some kind of a franchise with the girls Softball Girls, softball was just girls. Sports were just really starting in and my youngest daughter was, I think 11. George Geister: And she wanted to play. I said OK. And it was, it was held. The park was down in Penngrove they have a park down there, and they used to play softball down there. So that's where they were going to play and. George Geister: So I went down and there was quite an age differential. They they had some little tiny kids and older kids, and to me that wasn't very good. Just looking at it the first game and.

00:51:08.000 - 00:51:26.000

George Geister: They got an. George Geister: An umpire out of the stands. Not the stands we the the cars used to park on the side there. George Geister: Was logs going down the cars used to park on right field and left field and. George Geister: They got a guy, the umpire and.

00:51:26.000 - 00:52:15.000

George Geister: OK. Then the next thing I see the umpires drinking beer. George Geister: And I'm saying this is not going to work for me at all, not at all. And the games would last about 3 1/2 hours night time. We played night well. I was getting up 2:30 in the morning and that was that was not going to work very well for me. So the next game, we go down. George Geister: And I volunteered the umpire and there was number beer at that time with me and so. George Geister: The girls would meander out there and so I start getting them girls. She might get them run out. You gotta run in. And I told the coaches get your girls if they're not going to bat, make sure they have the catcher hazard catching gear on so we don't have to wait for it to put it on. And this and that.

00:52:15.000 - 00:52:39.000

George Geister: And that whole season was miserable. It's just miserable and so. George Geister: I got got. George Geister: Touch with the couple of people that were involved with that league and I said, you know this, this is terrible. This this is not good. You can't have guys coming out of the car drinking beer. And I'm hiring with a bunch of little girls around here. You can't do that. George Geister: So myself.

00:52:39.000 - 00:53:14.000

George Geister: Jim and Millie placed and Marilyn Salvini they were all involved in the in the lead and myself. And we went to Kattadi and asked them if we could take. George Geister: Franchise or whatever it was that they had. George Geister: And breathed the Rohnert Park. They said we'd love to. They gave it. They just wanted to get rid of it. They didn't want any part of the girls. George Geister: They gave us their equipment, two chest, two chest protectors, 2 masks and two baths. That was the equipment.

00:53:14.000 - 00:53:58.000

George Geister: So we got together and we started the Girl Runner, Park girls softball and the first year we had four teams. There were the. George Geister: The Lions, the Indians. George Geister: The Red Sox, which I coached. George Geister: And I forget we forgot the other hit. We can't remember the other team and we started the girls softball program and we started with the four teams the very first year. And that was in 1977. I believe it was. I hope I can look down here and find this without.

00:53:58.000 - 00:54:28.000

George Geister: I believe it was 19. George Geister: I believe it was 1977, if I may be mistaken, and we started the girls softball and the next year we had several more teams, girls sports were coming into the whole picture and we just ballooned. George Geister: And we had our first games were over at the L Park and the L Section and Rohnert Park grew from a section all. George Geister: The way to.

00:54:28.000 - 00:55:06.000

George Geister: L by this time, and we played our games over there. George Geister: And the field was pretty good. George Geister: No lights or anything, so we had to start early and get the games in. George Geister: We started there and then Rohnert Park started growing more and more and more. And Jim Mccane became the recreation director. And I don't know the years here and the very first year when we started the girls program, Jim Jim was the recreation director, and we knew him.

00:55:06.000 - 00:55:59.000

George Geister: And he played softball with us. We had a softball league. George Geister: Men's softball league and run a park, and Jim played on an opposing team from US. We were called the Manor man. Anyhow. Jim was the recreation director at this time and so we had our first draft and I noticed Jim had his daughter involved. She was going to. George Geister: She signed up to be involved. Well, I thought. See, I think I'm going to draft his daughter because then maybe he'll help me coach the team. George Geister: Well, sure enough, I thought, right. I drafted her, and Jim helped. I said, Jim, your daughters on the team, why don't you give me a hand help. And he said I'd love to. So he became my assistant, and we did that for all several years. And and it, it just started growing and growing. And so then Jim.

00:55:59.000 - 00:56:27.000

George Geister: The park everything was growing and. George Geister: E Park opened up. George Geister: And Jim came to us and he said. George Geister: I can make epoch the girls softball park rather than L Park E Park is going to be the middle of town someday, so he park was about two blocks away from where I lived and I lived on David Circle and and so I talked tried.

00:56:27.000 - 00:57:10.000

George Geister: And I was president of the league. I was president of League for. George Geister: About 10 years, I believe. And so I went to the league and talked to everybody and said that we'd like to, you know, move from a some one or two, did some didn't want to. And I said, well, this is going to be the center of town. One of these days. And and Jim said he'd give this part to us. George Geister: So we decided that's where we do. And so E Park became the girls softball park that was our own park. Boy, that was, you know, really something. George Geister: And but the only problem was we had grass in the infield and playing softball. You can't have grass in the infield like you can hardball?

00:57:10.000 - 00:57:59.000

George Geister: So I went to Pete Coleman and I asked him if he would. George Geister: Cut the cut the the diamond out and and cut the grass away so we could have a baseball diamond. No, no, no, no, we can't do that. George Geister: Says it wouldn't look good. The the wind comes along, the dust would blow the wind and he says the grass is kind of nice out there. I said pee. We can't. We can't place off ball grass. The ball bounces all over the place and he says, yeah, but it's just for the girls, you know, he he at that time. Girls were, you know, not really good athletes, but. George Geister: They were good athletes, but they didn't know how to play it, you know? And so I kept after Pete, kept after Pete. And finally he did. He went in and they trimmed back and we got. We had a nice softball diamond there. And the thing just exploded and we had.

00:57:59.000 - 00:59:07.000

George Geister: Probably 4 or 500 girls playing softball within a short period of time, and we had, I don't know, 1010 teams and I forget how many teams we had it. It was just tremendous amount every everyone wanted to play and and we had we had great success one year we had our. George Geister: First tournament, we held the tournament and we invited teams from all over and there was a team from San Jose. George Geister: That came up and they were called the Quicksilver, and I helped. I helped coach. That is the tenant under league. OK, now 10 and under, you know, girls, you know, they're just learning how to do things. This 10 year old group we had. George Geister: We're exceptional good athletes and we played Quicksilver and we played them in the very first game of our tournament and our little girls, we we just we had several bats for them with Quicksilver come in blowing their horns. They all come up in a caravan blowing their horns. When they got to the park.

00:59:07.000 - 00:59:42.000

George Geister: And all their cars were decorated with stuff on it. Quicksilver is the best and the. George Geister: Just come out. They all come out. Uniforms all have the same kind of bats. They all have their own bat in their, in their, in their bag. And I said, Oh my God, this is going to be horrible. Well, we we lost that. We lost to him in a close game. Make a Long story short. We came back to the losers. George Geister: Bracket and we ended up playing Quicksilver for the championship and we beat him three to. George Geister: Two on a.

00:59:42.000 - 01:00:19.000

George Geister: Last of the 7th inning, base hit with a close out at home plate and she was safe and we win and it was the greatest thing. These girls were so happy that parents were goofy and we had a nice little party after that so it it was the start of our girls program and. George Geister: And from that point on the the at the high school, well, then I then I I I got involved. I going too quick. Jeremy Hays: That's a great memory for all, I imagine. All the girls in that on that team have still have that memory to say, yeah. George Geister: Absolutely, absolutely it.

01:00:19.000 - 01:00:44.000

George Geister: And these same girls. George Geister: These ten and unders. George Geister: I ended up coaching them at the high school. Mm-hmm. Same girls. And so I had, you know, now they're they've got their kids of their own. I I see they got their kids playing soft. I just ran into one just the other day. And she says, oh, my got three girls. They're all playing softball. And she was just, you know. Jeremy Hays: That must be one of the nicest things, George.

01:00:44.000 - 01:00:56.000

Jeremy Hays: Like you see. Jeremy Hays: Like people, I mean, like you see the kids who you coach, who have kids now and you probably know some of their kids. Jeremy Hays: And tell me about that. What's? George Geister: Yeah, I.

01:00:56.000 - 01:01:23.000

George Geister: That like it's fantastic and Pete Town and I keep referring to Pete, Pete and I have very good friends and I run into girls all the time. George Geister: That I coached and I get hugs and when Pete's with me, he says. George Geister: He never. You. Never. George Geister: Introduced me as your assistants. I can get a hug, he says. I I never get hugs from those girls, you know? And I said, well, Pete, you didn't, you didn't coach long enough where he didn't coach at all, but he didn't have time. But.

01:01:23.000 - 01:01:57.000

George Geister: It it is good, I just I run into more girls that I coached to. Jeremy Hays: That's kind of a small town, like one of the great things about having a small town that became a. George Geister: Big City, right? That's right, it is. It's I, I I run. I just. I saw. Well, I saw actually saw 2 girls in the last. George Geister: Two weeks that I hadn't seen for quite some time and their girls are playing CYO and they're playing softball. One of them's at the high school right now. She's really the.

01:01:57.000 - 01:02:10.000

George Geister: Her name is Casey Allison. Her daughter is really, really a good softball player. Really good softball player. She's just a a junior this year. Jeremy Hays: Have you gone over and seen? Jeremy Hays: Her play. Yeah. Oh, to see her, of course, yeah. George Geister: I haven't seen her yet. They're just starting the the the season. Yeah, they're just starting the.

01:02:10.000 - 01:02:32.000

Jeremy Hays: Yeah, that would be nice, huh? George Geister: Season. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I saw it at the she. She also plays basketball and the and she was on the high school team that played a playoff at the the the New Gymnasium. And I was out there and I saw. I saw Casey. And I got a big hug from Casey. George Geister: So it's it's nice, it's great. I I've, I've. George Geister: Met a lot of.

01:02:32.000 - 01:02:56.000

Jeremy Hays: The parents you know of the kids, you know, over the years, it's so it's it's. It's nice. Yeah, I'm. I'm going to go back to your your sheet but I want to ask go back right to the beginning for a second here because you moved here in 61 and the vote to to make Rohnert Park a city and to incorporate was in 62. George Geister: 62. Jeremy Hays: Tell me about that. Did you vote? Yes. Ohh, absolutely. Tell me. Jeremy Hays: Why you voted and start with it, I voted yes.

01:02:56.000 - 01:03:45.000

George Geister: Yes. Well, I voted yes on the corporation. I I believe it believe it got voted down the first time and they they had another vote and there was no reason not not to incorporate to to me that was a why wouldn't you want to incorporate? Why would you want to incorporate? George Geister: I knew some of the people in the city, you know, that were going to possibly be city councilmen. They were friends of mine. George Geister: They talked me into it and I didn't have to talk me into it much because I was all for it in the 1st place I. George Geister: You know, places. You're just part of something that starts and you I I just wanted it to grow and and it has. And I've never, never once thought about.

01:03:45.000 - 01:04:08.000

George Geister: Putting the stop on building. George Geister: Why you know this? George Geister: That's why I moved up there. If someone put a stop on building would before I moved, then I wouldn't have been up there. George Geister: You know, so I I just never. I I wanted people to come. I wanted to grow big who we are. We're growing big and we're growing bigger. Now we got another 1500 homes going in down there so.

01:04:08.000 - 01:04:25.000

Jeremy Hays: Over on by University Place there. Yeah, that's great. George Geister: By the high school. And then I mean by the college and then down by the old he would he would pack it down there, yeah. George Geister: That's a big development. Yeah. When? When we're close to the college is big too. Yeah. Jeremy Hays: Yeah, that's really a big one. So what else you got on there?

01:04:25.000 - 01:04:41.000

Jeremy Hays: You want to tell me about? Yeah, well. George Geister: Start a girls softball, OK? George Geister: Let's see. Who about I was president. Who was president for about 10 years, Jim. George Geister: Became assistant OK.

01:04:41.000 - 01:05:25.000

George Geister: In 1970. George Geister: Eight, I guess it was 78. My neighbor next door across the street from me, Jenny Smark, was her name. A softball player. She played at the high school. She was a. George Geister: Bobby, a senior. I guess that was her senior year. She came to me one day and said the coach at the high school, Mark Alton, wanted to know if she knew of anyone that wanted to become the JV coach. And she said I I told him that you know, that you live right across the street from me. George Geister: That you coached, you've started this girls program in Rohnert Park and.

01:05:25.000 - 01:06:15.000

George Geister: She came to me and asked me if I was interested. I said well, yeah. Tell tell. Mark. Give me a call and I'll meet with him. He called me and I went out and met with him and. And it was OK by the school and I became the first JV coach. And in the girls softball program. George Geister: That we had run apart, it was slow pitch. George Geister: We didn't ever great fast pitch and at the high school level it's fastpitch. George Geister: Well, I had a big problem for coaching the JV's. We didn't have any pitchers and we didn't have any catchers and I I had for you know, we started our first year and well first thing I gotta do is I gotta I gotta get a catcher #1 so.

01:06:15.000 - 01:07:08.000

George Geister: No one had caught fast pitch. They are, in fact, when you played slow pitch, you didn't put a very good player behind home plate catch him because they didn't have much much to do back there. Any tags or anything. We used the picture to to to play, to put a home plate and take over. But in hard and fast. George Geister: Pitch. You got to have a picture and you gotta have a very good catcher. And so my first duty was I got to get a catcher. So I we girls warmed up and I saw about 3 or 4 girls that had good arms. Catchers always had to have. George Geister: Carbs. So I said, OK, you, you and you. One of you three are going to become a catcher. Well, I never caught. I know you never caught. I know that. So my first thing was I put. George Geister: Chest protect, your honor. Put the mask on.

01:07:08.000 - 01:07:57.000

George Geister: And I took this off ball and I started throwing the ball at her chest. I said, I'll want you to catch the ball. Just let me just let me hit you with the ball. She hit me with the ball and I said, yeah, I'm not going to do hard. So I threw the ball against them a couple of times. Nice and soft. Has that hurt? No, no, that don't hurt. So I started throwing a little harder. George Geister: I was close to him. I wasn't too far away and I said that hurt. No, that don't hurt. I said, well, just see, you know, this this is not going to hurt you if it hits you. Then I started throwing it harder and. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It doesn't hurt at all. So then I put the mask on and I started throwing the ball at the mask. And then it's the blanket each. George Geister: Time I threw it. George Geister: And so I said, well, I said you got it. First of all, you can't bleed. You can't believe the ball's not going to hurt you. I'm just going to keep throwing it at you until you stop blinking.

01:07:57.000 - 01:08:29.000

George Geister: And so I did this with all three girls and finally ended up one of them was going to be my catcher. Now I've got to get a pit. George Geister: No one knew how to throw fastpitch, so all I wanted was someone that didn't walk anybody they figured? Well, if they don't walk anybody, we got a chance of getting them out. And that's how I started the damn program. And it it was very hard at first. Very, very hard at first. Jeremy Hays: That's a big challenge. George Geister: Overcome, right? Very big challenge. Yeah. We played Redwood High School. I'll never forget this.

01:08:29.000 - 01:08:49.000

George Geister: Fled Redwood High School. George Geister: And they beat us 33 to 2. George Geister: 33 to 2 and I was upset with that coach. I thought he was. George Geister: Running the score up so after the game was over, I went up to the coach and I said thanks Coach for running the score up.

01:08:49.000 - 01:09:26.000

George Geister: And he looked at me and he says, coach, if you don't like it, then get better. George Geister: Well, that even made me worse. I was really upset with him then, but I went home that night. George Geister: And I couldn't sleep too well and I thought about it. George Geister: And that darn coach is right. He is absolutely right. If I don't like it, then get better. Well, we got better and we played Redwood about three years later and we beat him. And I told the coach I said thanks for the information. We got better, pretty satisfying, very satisfying.

01:09:26.000 - 01:10:08.000

George Geister: This program that they have out there now I I coached 17 years on the JV and it was my job allowed me to do it because I I went to work so early in the morning. I was I. George Geister: Was off about 1:00. George Geister: O'clock, you're still at the bread company, still with the bread company? Yeah, and. George Geister: I would go home, take a little nap until about 3:00. That's when kids got out of school. And then I'd hustle down there and have practice. Yeah. And I did that for 717 years and was very successful. We were extremely successful because our girls program, they also went fast.

01:10:08.000 - 01:10:44.000

George Geister: Once I got into JVS, I went down and talked to the new president and we tried to get them to go fast pitch and there was some opposition to them going fast, pitch that some of the coaches didn't want to do it and we lose a lot of girls and this and that. And so they went. One year they went to what they called a modified fast pitch. It was some. George Geister: Certain rules that. George Geister: Would pertain to fast pitch and some that didn't, and and then the following year they went full fast pitch and they had between 5 and 600 girls playing softball at 1:00. Jeremy Hays: Time. Right. Right. Wow. And you're and. And it must have been amazing to have.

01:10:44.000 - 01:11:22.000

Jeremy Hays: Been a part of that. George Geister: Oh yeah, it was. Not only was it amazing, but we were getting so many good players coming up. After a while. There was one girl that moved, moved here from Stockton. Mary Chapman was her name and she was a pitcher Stockton had a. George Geister: Very aggressive, fast pitch program over there for youths and everything and she came up through the program and she was like a. George Geister: I don't know how old she was. She was like a maybe a freshman or sophomore in high school, and she could fast pitch, and she was an inspiration to so many little little girls.

01:11:22.000 - 01:11:38.000

George Geister: You would see before she came along, they were just thrown in the sidelines throwing that, just throwing the ball. George Geister: Once Mary Chapman came along and they saw, she saw how she was pitching. George Geister: You could see the girls on the sidelines using the pitching motion warming up like this. Yeah, and it and all of a sudden we had a bunch of pictures. We had three and four pictures coming up for the JV program and three or four catchers. And everything changed everything. Jeremy Hays: Getting her, yeah.

01:11:38.000 - 01:11:51.000

Jeremy Hays: That's great. Jeremy Hays: Right, right. George Geister: Changed everything changed. Jeremy Hays: Quiet took a while, but.

01:11:51.000 - 01:12:38.000

Jeremy Hays: So let me let me take you back and just real quickly to we'll take just sort of looking back over the time what are two or three of the most important things that happened in in Rohnert Park over the first, you know, 10 years or so in the beginning. George Geister: God, I don't know. It seems like we just. George Geister: Just grew up like a normal city, getting different people. I I was never involved in the politics of Rohnert Park. I never got into that. I was in my thing. George Geister: They always talked about the good old boys in the first part of our times.

01:12:38.000 - 01:13:16.000

George Geister: But it was so easy. I know Pete Callahan used to say that it was so easy. In those days, there was some arguments going on between. George Geister: Some business or some City Councilman is they want to do this, wanted to do that, he'd get get him into the office, said one into the table, sit the other one at the other end of the table and then just say, what do you want? What do you want? And. George Geister: Within an hour, everything was cleared up and done and you know no attorneys coming in. George Geister: It was just it was just very easy situation for according to peat and.

01:13:16.000 - 01:13:41.000

George Geister: I don't know. We just we grew like any other city. Jeremy Hays: What are about? What are a couple of things that you look back on the most fondly? George Geister: One of them was that I was able to do the the things with the youth that I I did. To me that I've been sports all my life and without it I I would have been zero you. George Geister: And it's just.

01:13:41.000 - 01:14:07.000

George Geister: It was just that I was able. I was able to coach them. They were there for me to coach him and I was able to do it. My job enabled me to do it. If I had a job that got off at 5:00, I was not going to be able to do it because I wouldn't have the time. But as it was, I got off at twelve, 1:00 in the afternoons, and I had. George Geister: That whole afternoon in front of. George Geister: Me, you know. Jeremy Hays: Seems like your experience of Rohnert Park was.

01:14:07.000 - 01:14:53.000

Jeremy Hays: Entire like you, you would have been so different if you hadn't. George Geister: Absolutely, absolutely. There's no, no, there's no doubt about it. First of all, moving out of San Francisco, that was I'm a San Francisco, but I don't like San Francisco and I'm at the time when I moved, I was really upset that I had to move. George Geister: I was a sophomore. Tough time in your life. You know, you kind of you little boy. And you, you want to get to be a bigger boy, you know? George Geister: I hated it, but after six months I loved Santa. Rosa just loved. The guys were once I once basketball season started and I met the basketball players.

01:14:53.000 - 01:15:20.000

George Geister: Great guys. To this day, we still we still meet for coffee and this and that. So I don't know, just moving up here, moving to Rohnert Park was just really good for me. Jeremy Hays: That's great, yeah. George Geister: I don't know other than the coaching, you know, and the people I met a lot of lot of those people that. George Geister: That was basically it. Yeah, and.

01:15:20.000 - 01:15:26.550

Jeremy Hays: Well, thank you, George. OK, that was great. George Geister: Good, good. Jeremy Hays: Ohh yeah, you gotta your your.