A New Creation

One of the best things about being a Christian is the sense of family you receive when you become a believer. You become part of God's family. That is a community formed by Him that knows no race or creed other than a unifying belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  The New Testament tells us that when we ask Christ into our hearts, we become a new creation:  the old is gone, and the new has come.

I was asked by The Grove Community Church (my home church) to take pictures at our recent baptism. Twenty people were scheduled to be baptized. They came in all shapes, sizes, age, and backgrounds. There were single women. There was a group of three young brothers. There was a mom and her two daughters. There were old men and there were young men. We often try as a society to form and legislate what a family should look like. But God has already done that His word and His unifying love.

Pastors Kerry Warren, left, and Mike Barnes baptize a man.

There was a nice soft cloud cover over the event which made it easy to capture the moments.

And there were many. There were laughs, tears, and smiles. When folks get into the water, they make their way to the microphone and tell the audience why they want to get baptized.

A young girl makes a commitment to follow Christ.

“I want Jesus to know that I've accepted him in my heart,” said one 6-year-old.

“I want to testify for Him,” said a middle-aged man who wrote out his testimony.

“I want to be a better wife and mother and I can't do it on my own,” said a tearful young woman.

The display of baptism is one of leaving your old self behind and becoming something new. The world and its problems, and our problems in it do not go away. But we begin a new life with a new perspective knowing that we serve the One who has conquered all. And we now live with a new purpose and a new goal which is to serve God by loving Him and serving all people. Our lives become a testament to others that true hope comes from Christ and that all of life's burden is carried by Him.

A young wife and mother starts her life over.

I loved that I was able to capture the beginning of a new life of faith for 20 people that day.For baptism is a life-changing experience:

For those that feel they cannot manage alone, they will now know that God shares their load as described in Matthew 11: “You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

For those that may not have an earthly father that they can turn to, they now have a Heavenly Father who is described in Isaiah 9: 6 as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

For those that feel the unrest of this life, or have ever felt betrayal they can have a new understanding about a true peace. Jesus Himself told his apostles what that means: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14: 27)

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

They will learn how to rely on the Lord and be able to trust Him even when times are tough: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
 (John 16: 33)

I remember fondly when my son was baptized in 2007.  He had made a decision to ask Christ into his heart. He was baptized in same baptismal that I was at today.  Since that time I have seen him grow from a boy towards becoming a man.  But my deepest joy has come from seeing him grow in his faith.  We have served together on many weekend trips with his youth group where he learned about being a to servant to others. He is currently getting ready to embark on his first mission trip which will be to San Francisco.  He's also attending mid-week service with the junior high group and has just started attending a Bible study.  He was able to tell his mother the other day during a discussion, "Mom, God doesn't want me to lie."

Like most parents, we groom our kids to become independent.  Its both exciting and also difficult to watch your kids grow, knowing that one day they will be out from under your wing.  But its comforting to know that they will never be away from God's eternal protection.  Thanks to God that they are new creations that will be groomed spiritually in this world in preparation for the next one in Heaven.

My son's baptism:  A defining moment in both our lives.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3: 26-27)

Katz Alley Records In Redlands: More Than A Feeling

I'm from the '70's.

And because of that, I LOVE records.

Steve Rogers shops for vinyl.

I stumbled upon Katz Alley Record Store in downtown Redlands last year.  It was a cool place filled with vinyl records, rock 'n roll memorbilia and the sounds of some of my favorite bands. Bottom line it was a great place for me to hang out and work on finishing my own LP collection.

There is something about an LP for this music lover that is very special.  You got the artwork. You got the liner notes.  You got maybe a poster or a fan club card.  You got COOL.  So in the Spirit of Radio here is a what I wrote for my gallery that ran online for the Redlands Daily Facts and The Sun on Katz Alley:


Buddy Holly, Diana Ross and The Beach Boys are rocking Katz Alley in downtown Redlands. Owned and operated by Kevin McCurry (see top photo) and Kathleen Wood, the record and book store has become a cool place where the past meets the present for music fans of all ages.

Records, records everywhere:  Inside and outside of Katz Alley.

While many older fans come to the store to walk down memory lane, a bulk of the store's clients fall in the younger age bracket. "People who are becoming the audio files of the future are the 17-28 age group," says McCurry. "They buy the classic Fisher receivers, the two-way speakers and they want the vintage turn tables.” 

A 1978 picture disc album of 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

I wanted to be at my cousins house: They had KISS records.

Kathleen Wood files albums in the cool record store known as Katz Alley.

The store carries many music genres ranging from Blues and Jazz, to Rock and Punk.  While McCurry's favorite music is 1950's Jazz and Blues, he has an eclectic musical palette that includes Led Belly, B.B. King, Johnny Stitz, and Billie Holiday. “I don't think that anybody ever has hit a pitch as beautiful like her,” said McCurry, “To listen to a clean original pressing of Billie Holiday will bring a tear to your eye.” 

I could not have said it better myself!

L to R: Mowtown greats The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, & Smokey Robinson

A 1958 Johnny Cash original pressing- still cool after all these years! 

The Sun Sets In San Bernardino

Good-bye.

I've said that word before.

Reporter Ryan Carter helps to remove The Sun sign.

And as a 21-year veteran of The Sun newspaper,
I've said it plenty of times.

I've said good-bye to co-workers who've moved back east,
editors that I was sad to see go,
and editors that I couldn't wait to see leave.

The hardest good-byes have been to fellow friends and photographers
who lost their jobs due to cutbacks.

I also, like plenty of my co-workers, have said good-bye to

vacation accruals, raises, and a percentage of our salaries.

Opinion writer Jessica with the Letter S

And of course, I've said good-bye to The Sun's downtown office

in 2005 when we moved to northern San Bernardino.

And after all this: I remain.  

But this time good-bye seems a little different.

I guess its because this time, we're saying good-bye 

to an era that has passed.

As I return to downtown, I reflect back to many differences in my job and the business that simply are not present or have changed.

A view of the break room where the TV was always ON.

I was hired straight out of Cal State San Bernardino for my B/W printing abilities. Now I'm a digital photographer.  No longer does my work have a 24 hour life-span, it exists in until the next upload bumps it off the website.

We used to use CB radios back then. My code name was Photo7. Now, I get a text from my editors or an email.

The Sun had approximately 300 + employees back in the 1990's.  The Photo Department had a staff of seven back then.  Now I'm part of tight knit staff of three at my paper, and eight total if you include our sister papers The Inland Valley Bulletin and the Redlands Daily Facts. 

I remember being the first staffer to work at the new office back in October of 2005. I was

on the night shift, was reading Stephen King's The Shining, but enjoyed being creeped

out that I was the only one in the building.  I think I saw a Coyote running around 

as I went to my car that night. OR was that a werewolf?

The building came alive with shapes & shadows.

As we leave behind this big beautiful building we leave 

behind the remoteness that was actually refreshing if you 

had your lunch outside in the patio area.  Until the train that 

separated us from Muscoy came.  At 9, 12, and 2.

We leave behind a two-story giant that had the potential of 

housing most of our Inland Division staffers.  And we got

pretty close there for a while.  But change had come and 

kept on coming.  Our industry was changing even before the

economy took its downturn.  The job stayed fun and satisfying. 

The challenge came in staying focused on the

integrity of our stories in an environment of readers that consumed 

news when they wanted, how they wanted and in

ways that didn't exist a generation ago.

Quickly, we had to not only adapt, but make the case for our viability.

We still do.

After 40 years, columnist John Weeks packs up for the 2nd time.

The Sun has been good to me:

It gave an oil painting artist an opportunity to make a living as a photographer, when he had no idea what he was going to do with his life.

Thanks to the company match on my 401K, The Sun helped my wife and I 

buy our little 1929 home in Riverside.

And with plenty of chances to work OT or a holiday, The Sun has helped me to afford 

raising two kids, and adding onto our house. 

As a journalist, I get a front row seat to a range of adventures from flying in a Cessna, to feeling the

Class of '91: Me, Dave Creamer, Gina Ferazzi, & Mark Zaleski.

flames of the 2003 Old Fire, to seeing a family welcome home their son back home from Afghanistan.  I was  2-feet from President

Clinton at Norton Air Force Base and got within 100 feet of Cindy Crawford at the University of Redlands.

While those are great memories, I live for that 20% of my job that makes it all worth while. Those are the moments that I can barely describe.  Those quiet moments when you are allowed to capture the type of humanity that brings tears to your eyes and nobody sees it cause there's a camera in front of your face.

A piece of the Rock: I saved a tile from the Fox Building on D Street.

 The thing that The Sun has always given me has been a FAMILY atmosphere at work.  The years have been filled with BBQs, potlucks, out-of-town events, and parities.  I truly cherish the friendships that I've developed through the years.  And I am still blessed to work with some folks who were here when I first started:

Nancy Kay- The Rock.  I remember photographing her for Employee of the Year early in my career.  She is always, calm and cool.

Louise Kopitch- The first person I met after I was hired.  I fell in love with that woman at first glance.  She has proven to be a friend I can confide in and someone who I can trust.

John Weeks- The Perpetual Class Clown.  Even on our my challenging days, John Weeks can always make me laugh.  We bond on the old days especially classic rock and pop culture.

Lupe Carrillo-  Lupe has been familia to me from the start.  Always smiling, very gentle, always teasing me.  But, she also knows when to ask if I'm doing okay. 

Shortly after I started in 1991, my dear friend Michel Nolan was hired.

Michel is a very special friend.  We have shared life's laughs and tears.  We share faith and dreams together.  She is my truly my Forever Friend.  We take care of each other.

One last portrait of those that remain.

And so we move forward to a new and different phase of our careers.

And our lives.

Hebrews 11:1 reads 

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."

As I face a future that I cannot see, I trust God for an even brighter time for all of us at The Sun.

I look forward to the challenge of becoming better, stronger, faster:  DIGITAL.

The new day is upon us.  Those of us who still like the smell and feel of books, magazines, and newspapers in our hands are living and working in a world that is now digitized.  

And becoming more so everyday.

And so as we head back downtown, I leave with my memories and dreams.  

I fight the temptation to think this is part of the end-game.

I realize that Glen Campbell captured a lot of what I'm feeling right now 

from his song Rhinestone Cowboy: 

The sun sets on The Sun building on N. Georgia Blvd.

 Where hustle's the name of the game

And nice guys get washed away like the snow and the rain

There's been a load of compromisin'

On the road to my horizon

But I'm gonna be where the lights are shinin' on me

So, yes The Sun sets yet again.

But only to rise once more.

Like a Rhinestone Cowboy.