Rio Vista CARE

By Harry Warren Green

Publisher

      RIO VISTA - Rio Vista CARE’s 25th Anniversary Celebration will be held Tuesday, April 20 at 6:30 p.m., St. Joseph’s Catholic Hall. Along with celebrating 25 years of service to Rio Vista and other Delta communities, local resident Dan Simpson will receive the Citizen of the Year Award from Rio Vista CARE and Jim and Vickie Baumann, owners of The Point Waterfront Restaurant have been named Volunteers of the Year.

      Executive Director of Rio Vista CARE, Araminta Blackwelder said, “Those of us involved with Rio Vista CARE – our Board, staff and dedicated volunteers are excited to be celebrating 25 years of service to the children and families of the Delta. Our success is due in large part to the steadfast generosity of the Delta community.”

      Continuing, she said, “25 years ago this month – it seems like just yesterday – a group of 50 or so local citizens came together in response to a grass roots survey. They were unanimous in identifying youth and family counseling as a glaring unmet need in our community. With a groundswell of support, Rio Vista CARE was launched “overnight” as a non-profit agency to address this need.”

      “Unfortunately, the need has not diminished over the years. Today, in 2010, CARE’s three professional therapists counsel 60 children and teens per week at the Rio Vista and Isleton schools and the CARE Counseling Center. There are waiting lists at each of these locations. We have also had the welcome opportunity to serve as a Family Resource Center for the last 15 years.”

      “It has been my privilege to lead this agency alongside so many incredible members of CARE’s staff, Board of Directors and other dedicated volunteers. Our Pal mentors are the unsung heroes and heroines of Rio Vista CARE, gently providing a lifeline for especially vulnerable children,” she added

      Both Simpson and the Baumann’s have offered tremendous support to Rio Vista CARE over the years.

      Vickie Baumann said, “I’m really honored to be on the same level as Dan Simpson. He’s done a lot for Rio Vista CARE and has always given so unselfishly. There have been times he’s been out of the country during the Rio Vista GALA but on the phone bidding on an item during the auction. It’s just a real honor.”

      The Baumann’s, who have three children-Danny, 25, Stephen, 23 and Trevor, 17, have helped out quite often with Rio Vista CARE.

      Vickie said due to the economy, the couple have cut back on their donations regionally, but have still done what they can locally. So many times they have given food either free or at a greatly reduced cost to benefit many organizations.

      The Baumanns have owned the Point Waterfront Restaurant since 1994. The restaurant was built in 1964, just five years after Jack Baumann, Jim’s father, built the marina.

      Vickie recalls working at the Point as a teenager, and later after returning back to Rio Vista from college. She later started a sign business which she ran for 17 years and Jim went to the California Culinary School in San Francisco. The couple married in 1981 and later, after purchasing The Point, worked many years side-by-side.

      “We always worked well together and managed to learn from each other,” Vickie stated.

      She also said it’s an honor to be associated with Rio Vista CARE because the organization touches so many lives. “To think it has been helping people for 25 years is amazing. It has really made a difference in the community,” she said.

      At the urging of Jerry Rubier, a local real estate broker and Fred Harris, former Mayor of Rio Vista and a realtor himself, Dan Simpson brought his business and moved here in 1996.

      He felt Rio Vista offered the perfect atmosphere to allow his business the opportunity to grow and was also a great place to raise his daughter, Danielle.

      Simpson’s business, DES, Inc. and Dry Vac Technology which is patented, removes liquids from solids and has made a huge impact in the oil industry.

Along with his local business he also has two companies in Canada and Calgary serves as the company’s home base.

      In addition, he has purchased The Gym, in Rio Vista and the business has grown tremendously though he has owned for just a short while.

      Simpson also owns World Champion Percheron horses and is involved in auto racing. But through all of his activities both business related and recreational, he finds time to help out the community and various organizations.

      He has served on the school board previously, and was instrumental in securing portable buildings which are used for after school programs ay D.H. White.

      The Gym purchase is something that has had a major impact on the community and Simpson has received many thank yous for all sorts of people who are grateful to have a place to work out.

      He is also bringing more recreation to Rio Vista in the form of go-cart racing and quarter midgets for young kids aged 4-10.

      But non-profit organizations which care foe the young and the elderly hold a special place in his heart.

       “It’s just always been important to me to help people who are young and those who are elderly. Rio Vista CARE does that and it’s been special to be associated with that group. My hat goes off to those who volunteer their time. I help out in other ways, but people who donate their time are really to be commended,” Simpson said.