Help On The Way-

Local Agencies Pitching in to Help in Los Angeles Fires Aftermath

Within days of the news about the intensity of the Los Angeles wildfires, departments from all over the state have been sending crews to help. Photo: City of Merced Fire Department Facebook page.

When a catastrophic event such as the Los Angeles fires occurs, it’s not uncommon for agencies to send help to the scene. We expect it when it happens in our communities, so it makes sense that it would happen when tragedy strikes another part of the state.

Within days of the worst of the blazes, firefighters from Merced were sent to southern California. Merced Fire Department sent a crew of three to assist in Los Angeles.

According to the Facebook page of the City of Merced Fire Department, “Assignments included mop up, structure protection, perimeter control. They were paired up with other Bakersfield and Kern County Fire engines.”

California Highway Patrol in the Merced region has not yet been called in to assist, but communications Officer Eric Zuniga says they are ready if needed.

“Other officers closer to LA are part of the effort,” Officer Zuniga says. “We will go if needed.”

A pick-up truck hauling this trailer from Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS) has been working to help the community of Planada, but MDS is also lending its efforts to the LA wildfire recovery. Photo: Steve Newvine

In Merced, a truck and medium-sized trailer from Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS) was parked in front of Lowes early in the week of January 13.  

MDS Executive Director Kevin King says that particular vehicle was connected to the ongoing effort in Planada to help that community recover from the 2023 floods. Kevin says the organization is heading to Los Angeles to assess how they can help.

“In Pasadena, three of our congregate families have lost their homes, and their church has been damaged,” Kevin says. “So initially, it will be a time for a hug and a handshake as we determine how the organization can assist.”

MDS takes a four-pillar approach to determining whether to respond to a disaster.

The four pillars are:

• Do we have volunteers?

• Do we have the necessary accommodations to feed and house them while they are on-site?

• Is the work meaningful

• Is there sufficient funding for materials?

“It’s our entry strategy and our exit strategy,” Kevin says.

This shot from Alex Ruiz’s Facebook page shows what relief teams are facing as they help the people of Los Angeles in the aftermath of the wildfires. Photo: Alex Ruiz Facebook page.

For the firefighters from Merced and other parts of the state, their stay in Los Angeles will end relatively soon as the need for fire support diminishes.  

For non-profit relief organizations such as Mennonite Disaster Services, the departure dates are a longer way out on the horizon.  

Their work has just started. As was the case with MDS in Planada, the organization came in shortly after the disaster threat was gone, and they are still on the scene helping out two years later.

Leaving Los Angeles for these organizations will likely be well beyond that time frame.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His California books are available for purchase at the Merced County Courthouse Museum.

His latest book, Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, is available there as well or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)

He will discuss the new book on the podcast Talking About Radio with John Leslie. That podcast drops the weekend of January 18-19 2025

Hall of Fame Barber-

Cel Palayo Wraps up 53 Years as the Merced Mall Barber

If there was a barber hall of fame, these three belong there: (L-R) Floyd from the Andy Griffith Show, Eddie from the Barbershop movies, and Cel Pelayo.  

When one thinks of barbers, the imagination can take us back to the days of the Andy Griffith Show and the lovable Floyd, who delivered the laughs, an occasional shave, and a haircut.

A few decades later, in the movie Barbershop, Cedric the Entertainer helped define the profession by playing Eddie alongside Ice Cube.
But neither Mayberry’s Floyd nor Barbershop’s Eddie have anything on Cel Pelayo of Merced.

Cel took over the Merced Mall Barber Shop in 1971 and ran it until the end of 2024.

200,000 Hair Cuts!

By his conservative estimates of twelve haircuts a day, six days a week, for fifty-three years, he’s given about two hundred thousand haircuts since opening the shop in the Mall.

Cel’s work journey began in the military where he served first in the Army and then on a Navy ship where he learned about hair cutting from the ship’s barber.

After discharge from the service, he got his state barbering certificate, worked with an established barber on Main Street in Merced, moved up to the Mall shop, and eventually bought out the owner.  

Among his hundreds of customers was the current Mayor of Merced, Matthew Serrato.  

“(Got my) haircut there multiple times,” the Mayor said. “Longstanding locally owned and operated businesses become a cherished part of who we are as a city.”

Cel is congratulated on his last day at the Merced Mall Barber Shop by Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto. Photo: Mayor Serratto

With two hundred thousand haircuts to his credit, Cel is bound to have a few stories. When I asked him about specific people, he turned somber as he recalled the story of a young man who worked in Mall security years after he took over the shop.

“A group brought in an exhibit of military hardware that they assured the Mall manager did not include live ammunition. The young man came upon a live grenade stored in the Mall storage room. It went off, and the man was thrown into the walkway near the shop. We called the fire department and tended to the man until they arrived.”

Cel says that the young man died from burns suffered in that explosion. Weeks later, the man’s mother came to the shop to thank Cel for his efforts to help her son until the first responders arrived. Cel remembered the mom would bring her youngster to him for a haircut years earlier.

Fortunately for Cel, his recollections from fifty-three years of cutting hair bring more smiles than sadness.

Cel stands in front of the window of his former shop at the Merced Mall alongside his daughter Annette. Photo: Steve Newvine

Actor Paul Newman was a part owner of Merced Mall and occasionally came to the Mall office across the walkway from his shop. Newman occasionally promotes movies and, one time, brought in two actors in full costumes from one of the Planet of the Apes movies.

There was a time when actors dressed like the group Kiss showed up.

“Another time, there were two actors dressed as Disney cartoon characters at the Mall. I looked up, and they were sitting in our shop.”

Cel used the remainder of his GI Bill benefits to get his degree in construction technology from Merced College, going to classes while operating the barber shop.

“I took all the courses: welding, electricity, and the electives,” Cel says. “Twelve credit hours each semester while running the shop.

He raised four daughters, taking them to their school sporting events, dance and music lessons, and just about any other activity, all while keeping his barber chairs filled with customers.

Daughter Annette says she remembers that time well because her dad worked long hours practically every day.

“Many nights, he wouldn’t get home until past ten o’clock,” she says. “The Mall would close, but if he had customers waiting, he’d be sure to take care of them even if it went past closing time.”

Those long days, those two hundred thousand haircuts, and all the memories from his five decades as the Merced Mall Barber are now over.  

Cel wants to travel all over California in an RV and visit his hometown in Mexico later in 2025.

Haircuts in 1971, when Cel started, were three dollars. His price in his closing months was fifteen dollars, but the cost didn’t matter as he closed out his time in the Mall.

“In the end, it was more like a hobby,” he adds. “I was just giving everyone a break.”

So, if there is ever a hall of fame for barbers, Cel Palayo belongs there. His shears belong in a display case.

He gave his last haircut to his grandson two days after Christmas, and he hung up the shears for good.-

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His California books are available for purchase at the Merced County Courthouse Museum. His latest book, Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson and a Friendship Made for Television, is available there as well, or it can be ordered at Jack & Johnny (lulu.com)