Around the Town with Rocky - Nor

April 2014
Around the Town with Rocky
N O R - C A L
L e t ’ s
t a k e
a
We’re drifting away from our usual
format with this edition of Around the
Town with Rocky. With inspiration
from Mr. Don Deary and the marking
of his 60th anniversary with Nor-Cal
Beverage Co., Inc. just this past year,
along with the preparation of the celebration of his 80th birthday, we’d like
to look back at Sacramento and what
was going on when Roy Deary first
started The Hires Bottling Company.
Sacramento 1937—population
113,000: Three bedroom homes cost
$4000.00, gasoline is a mere 10¢ a gallon, and a loaf of bread is 9¢ at the local
Piggly Wiggly Market in town. Some
of our favorite watering holes are: Old
Ironsides at the corner of 10th & S
Streets. This is the first establishment
in Sacramento serving liquor following
the close of prohibition and is owned
and ran by the Bordisso Family. The
Torch Club has been in business for
two years and is run by the Texiera
Family. The Guastalli Family opens
The Monte Carlo Club at 15th & S
Street in 1937.
With financial assistance from President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” programs
to attack unemployment, our beautiful
Tower Bridge was built with 1500 lo-
cal workers directly employed by either
B E V E R A G E
C O . ,
I N C
s t r o l l
building the bridge or getting materials
ready for its construction. The bridge is
now two years old.
Baseball is very popular here with Pacific
Coast League’s Sacramento Solons
making home at Edmunds Field, located
at the corner of Broadway and Riverside
Blvd. Our home team finishes the year
in 1st place, led by pitching ace, Tony
Freitas. Sacramento’s Joe Marty leaves
the Solons and goes to the big leagues
with the Chicago Cubs.
Boxer and former Heavyweight Champion of the World—Max Baer and his
wife Mary, have child #1, Max Baer Jr.
The former Champion is making big
plans with his manager, Ancil Hoffman,
to win back the title he lost 2 years ago.
Currently living in Oakland, The Baer’s
soon move to Sacramento, choosing Land
Park as the ideal place to raise a family.
Sacramento. Roy Deary’s sons, Grant
and Don, will later attend school here and
Don will
woo his
sweetheart
and future
wife, Beverly
Barnes.
Don tells
the newsletter that
“it was
only natural that the prettiest girl in school would
be attracted to the handsome football
star.” Soon after graduation from
McClatchy
High School, an
engagement
party is held for
Don & Bev at
The Zombie
Hut on Freeport Blvd.
With his beverage knowledge acquired at
Coca Cola, Roy Deary and his business
partner open The Hires Bottling Company in Sacramento, bottling Hires Root
Beer and Mission Orange.
With local funding and the WPA, another
one of President Roosevelt’s “New
Deal” programs to stimulate economic
growth, C.K. McClatchy High School
opens, becoming the 2nd high school in
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Brothers, Don & Grant, join their father
in the family business and eventually will
run the business together.
Grant, Roy, & Don Deary
Well, a lot of water has flowed under the
Tower Bridge since then. The Bordisso/
Kanelos Family still own Old Ironsides,
The Torch Club is still in the Texiera
Family, and the Monte Carlo Club was
run by the Guastalli Family until they
sold in 2013. The location is now being
remodeled to reopen later this year.
The Hires Bottling Company is now called
Nor-Cal Beverage Co., Inc., located in
West Sacramento, and is still owned by the
Deary Family. Nor-Cal has a state-of-theart production facility in West Sacramento,
co-packing for Monster Energy, Hansen’s,
& Arizona Teas among others, as well as an
Anaheim production facility producing Minute Maid, Powerade, and other Coca Cola
products and our Loomis facility is the distributor of Anheuser-Busch products in the
Foothills/Sierra region.
Our heartfelt congratulations go out to the
Chairman of the Board, Don Deary, for 76
successful years in business….and a very
special birthday wish to you as you step into
80 years of
marvelous!
The Tower Bridge is a beautiful sight
from Raley Field, home of the River
Cats. Our beloved Sacramento Solons
are gone, as is Edmunds Field, where you
will now find a Target store.
Max Baer never did
win his Heavyweight title back.
Max Jr. went to
work at the Hires
Bottling Company
before making it big
in Hollywood as
Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies television show in the
1960’s.
Don & Bev Deary
Max Baer Jr. as Jethro
with his faithful
companion, Duke
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