Hallowell, James, 1995 Leon S. Peters Distinguished Service Award recipient
Item
Title
Hallowell, James, 1995 Leon S. Peters Distinguished Service Award recipient
Description
Talks about growing up in Clovis, talks about his father buying a Chevrolet dealership and growing up working there and eventually taking over for his father. He discusses his early education in Clovis, attending Fresno State and meeting his wife, Coke Hallowell in high school. He talks about working with Leon Peters on several boards and how he got into giving back to the community, especially the with the San Joaquin River Parkway and the Fresno Business Council.
Creator
Hallowell, James
Mehas, Dr. Peter G.
Relation
Leon S. Peters Legacy Collection
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
2000
Format
Microsoft word 2003 document, 4 pages
Identifier
SCMS_lspl_00014
extracted text
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: James Hallowell, Leon Peters recipient. A name Hallowell,
well-known throughout this valley stands not only for successfully business but
clearly the Hallowell family of philanthropy and caring about our community. For
the record: name, place of birth, and date of birth.
>>James Hallowell: James Hallowell. Raleigh, California. July 25th, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to the Central Valley?
>>James Hallowell: When I was one year old. My father was born in Oklahoma, and
my mother in Missouri. They met in Clovis where my grandmother was a floor lady
at the packinghouse on Clovis Avenue. She was 16, and my dad was 21. And they
met there. My dad was building boxes, and my mother was tying ribbons on the
grapes which they did in those days to send to the East Coast. And they met and
fell in love and ran off and got married, and obviously my grandparents were
very much upset. He was what we call a fruit tramp, and a fruit tramp would be
that they actually lived and had a home in Raleigh. And they would move with the
crops all the way up to Stockton, and then they would go back for the winter
season to Raleigh. And I had a brother--I do have a brother who's 12 years older
than myself. And then at that time when they were in Raleigh that my sister and
I were born. I have a twin sister named Jane. And we were there for one year,
and my mother was not well. And she wanted to leave that. That was a hard
lifestyle, and so they came to Clovis because my uncle Phil Garver had a garage.
And my dad opened a service station in the front. And he had that for some
years, and then he in the late ‘30s had International Truck and Studebaker. And
in 1944 I was 11 years old. It was right in the middle of the war, and there was
like a distributorship for Chevrolet, and that man died. So my dad bought the
franchise which included three parts bins for 1,500 dollars. So I've kind of
grew up in the business and have worked there all of my life. I always worked
because I kind of liked earning money, and so right now I've been there fulltime since I graduated from college in 1955, being 44 years.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You graduated from Fresno.
>>James Hallowell: Yes, I went to Clovis Grammar School, Clovis High School and
Fresno State College. And in 1957 I marred by high school sweetheart, Coke. And
we have two daughters. One lives in San Francisco. The other one is here. And we
have two wonderful grandsons, Alden and Taylor, who are six and nine.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What changes have you seen from those early years in
Fresno?
>>James Hallowell: Well, when I was a kid growing up people would ask me how big
is Clovis? I would say there was 3,000 people, which now I think it's probably
about 70. And it was 11 miles to Fresno, and now obviously you can't tell the
difference between Fresno and Clovis. It's all one big metropolitan center. So
I've seen a lot happen over the years. I guess you might say it happened so
gradually that you really don't realize that it's happening.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew Lee Peters well.
>>James Hallowell:
Very well.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew him very, very well. And clearly the Lee Peters
Award is one of the most prestigious award given and rightfully so knowing the
man that Lee Peters. It stands not only for excellence in business but for
philanthropy and giving to the community. What did it mean to James Hallowell to
be a Leon Peters recipient along with Lew Eaton, Earl Smittcamp? Just personally
what did it mean to you?
>>James Hallowell: I knew Lee very well and worked on a number of boards with
him, and you might say he was my mentor. I even wrote him a letter and told him
that. And he knew how I felt about him. I was very pleased, and I was surprised
and obviously felt very honored by that, so it has meant a great deal to me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The culture of giving, some people have been successful.
But some people it's difficult for them to give to the community. What triggered
in the Hallowells, because I know your wife well. I know your family, and
they're all that way. They're all giving people. What started that culture with
you, James?
>>James Hallowell: People have asked me that. And I've always credited it with
my father in that he did not have great means, but he was always very generous
in the community and did a lot. He was active in the community. He was on the
school board. He was on the council for many, many years. And he always gave,
and so I always just grew up thinking that was an obligation. That was a
commitment. That's what we should do. And it gives Coke and me a great deal of
pleasure to do the things, and we do now because we want to be able to see some
of the benefits rather than wait until we lay down and die to do it. And we get
a great deal of pleasure out of doing things for our community. It feels good.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; There are a lot of young people today that want quick
success. They want immediate gratification. What advice would you give to our
young people who are starting off on their careers whether it be in business,
based upon your experience to give to them?
>>James Hallowell: I think that that with myself, my success today or apparent
success or whatever it is, is beyond my greatest expectations. I never dreamed
that we would have the financial success that we've had. And from being a young
man starting in the business, I always everyday was better than I thought it
could be. And I never had great expectations, and I just liked my work. And I
liked to work. And so things just progressed and just happened over the years.
So I would tell young people to just enjoy your life. Take the most that you can
and be happy. And it will happen if you give back.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: People in the business world oftentimes say that's a tough
dog eat dog business. But when they speak of James Hallowell and Hallowell's
business they say integrity. They say honesty. They say your reputation is
really impeccable. How did that come about?
>>James Hallowell: I guess I've always said one thing is that my name is on the
front of the building. I think that makes a big difference. And I've often told
Coke that I've always lived in sort of constant fear that somebody's going to
screw up and going to take our reputation. So I think the people that I work
with know that, and so they want to live that also. And so I think that's where
it comes from is that we want to continue to be considered a quality operation
and an honest operation. And in our business, a great majority of our business,
overwhelming majority is repeat business. And the only way a business can be
successful over the long pool, and we're 55 years old now too.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: If you had a crystal ball and you've seen a lot of changes
in Clovis, in Fresno, and Central Valley. Just your observations, what do you
see Central Valley, this area growing? And what do you think we're going to be
like as we approach the new millennium, the third millennium?
>>James Hallowell: I think it's scary. I think we're going to become huge, and I
think we have an incredible commitment and obligation to try to do it the best
we can for our future generations. I always feel, you know, you hear people talk
about property rights and I believe in that. But I feel that also with this
property rights we have commitments and obligations to, you know, future
generations and to our neighbors. And so we just can't do anything we want. So I
really do think it's scary. And I think one thing though I feel some
encouragement because I feel now in this community that we have people who
really care and who are standing up and who are willing to get in and to work
with who maybe haven't over the years. I'm thinking of business people who are
standing up. And then we're expecting more things of our elected officials, and
I think the elected officials know that. And I feel very positive about what can
be taking place and what I hope will take place in the future. And keep your
fingers crossed at the same time.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; Besides the arts which people associate that the
Hallowells have been so generous and supportive of, and many, many other areas
whether it's the Metropolitan Museum, et cetera. But two things that stand out
when I talk to people about James and Coke Hallowell, of course, the first
immediate thing, the vision with the San Joaquin River Parkway Trust. Cleary
something that will benefit generations to come. How did you all get involved
with that, and why is that so important to our community?
>>James Hallowell: Coke was the first one. Obviously you know, over the years if
I'm involved in something, she's involved. If she's involved in something, I'm
involved. But she many years ago with Mary Savala and some other people, they
saw that there was some scary things that were going to happen. There were
people that were wanting to develop right down to the river edge. And so that's
when she became involved. And I've even teased her over the years because she's
been president for quite some time now. And I've always teased her and said
that, you know, her and Castro for life. And yet she has done a wonderful job,
and she’s a real presence there. And I encourage her to stick with it because
people trust her and she's works well with people and she cares like nobody
could care except there are a lot of them that do care as much as she does. But
she really cares about the place--she eats, sleeps, and drinks it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Why is that parkway so important to future generators?
>>James Hallowell: Because if we don't protect it, everything's going to be
asphalt. And the river is really beautiful. And if you haven't ever gone down
there in a canoe then you don't know how really wonderful it is. So it’s very
because this is our last chance. This is either we do it. Meaning the community
and help it develop in the proper way, or it's all over. We aren't going to have
it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A new emerging force in our community is the Fresno
Business Council.
>>James Hallowell: Yes.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And James Hallowell, Dick Johanson, Bob Carter amongst
others were charter members of that, that organization. Not a political driven
group but yet a voice of reason, a voice of respected community leaders. What
prompted James Hallowell to get involved with the valley business?
>>James Hallowell: Well, number one they asked me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>>James Hallowell: It's like most of the things I've gotten involved in over the
years. If someone asks me, and so I said yes, and I did it. But the most
exciting thing about the business council is people like Bob Duncan and Dick
Johanson and Claude Laval and those people. They're involved in it because they
care about the community. And there's no vested interest there. And I know even
Deborah Nankivell who's executive director said it's been amazing to her to see
the business people and how they really are committed to the community where
oftentimes you think business is just strictly for the pocketbook. But those
people really care. And so it's a very exciting thing, and I'm amazed at the
influence that it has in the community now, and I think it does because people
trust the group, trust the people involved.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Old Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne once wrote,
"When the great recorder records the final score, it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played." Now we're not about to record James
Hallowell's final score.
>>James Hallowell: Oh I hope not.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You have many, many good years ahead of you, particularly
you're always biking. You and Coke out in Europe or someplace around. So you
stay very physically fit. But someday when they do record the final score, what
do you want them to say about James Hallowell, about the Hallowell family?
>>James Hallowell: It's giving me shivers. That I lived a good life. That I
loved my family and I loved my work and my community. What more can you ask for?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, James, on behalf of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce
and the Valley Business Conference Committee we would like to thank you and your
family for a lifetime of achievement. Clearly if anyone personifies what the
Leon Peters Award is all about it's James Hallowell. And so the poet Popham once
wrote, "There is a destiny that makes us brothers. None go his way alone. All
that we send into the lives of others come back into our own." Certainly you and
your family have given a great deal to this community which all of us have
profited from. So we thank you.
>>James Hallowell: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
well-known throughout this valley stands not only for successfully business but
clearly the Hallowell family of philanthropy and caring about our community. For
the record: name, place of birth, and date of birth.
>>James Hallowell: James Hallowell. Raleigh, California. July 25th, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to the Central Valley?
>>James Hallowell: When I was one year old. My father was born in Oklahoma, and
my mother in Missouri. They met in Clovis where my grandmother was a floor lady
at the packinghouse on Clovis Avenue. She was 16, and my dad was 21. And they
met there. My dad was building boxes, and my mother was tying ribbons on the
grapes which they did in those days to send to the East Coast. And they met and
fell in love and ran off and got married, and obviously my grandparents were
very much upset. He was what we call a fruit tramp, and a fruit tramp would be
that they actually lived and had a home in Raleigh. And they would move with the
crops all the way up to Stockton, and then they would go back for the winter
season to Raleigh. And I had a brother--I do have a brother who's 12 years older
than myself. And then at that time when they were in Raleigh that my sister and
I were born. I have a twin sister named Jane. And we were there for one year,
and my mother was not well. And she wanted to leave that. That was a hard
lifestyle, and so they came to Clovis because my uncle Phil Garver had a garage.
And my dad opened a service station in the front. And he had that for some
years, and then he in the late ‘30s had International Truck and Studebaker. And
in 1944 I was 11 years old. It was right in the middle of the war, and there was
like a distributorship for Chevrolet, and that man died. So my dad bought the
franchise which included three parts bins for 1,500 dollars. So I've kind of
grew up in the business and have worked there all of my life. I always worked
because I kind of liked earning money, and so right now I've been there fulltime since I graduated from college in 1955, being 44 years.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You graduated from Fresno.
>>James Hallowell: Yes, I went to Clovis Grammar School, Clovis High School and
Fresno State College. And in 1957 I marred by high school sweetheart, Coke. And
we have two daughters. One lives in San Francisco. The other one is here. And we
have two wonderful grandsons, Alden and Taylor, who are six and nine.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What changes have you seen from those early years in
Fresno?
>>James Hallowell: Well, when I was a kid growing up people would ask me how big
is Clovis? I would say there was 3,000 people, which now I think it's probably
about 70. And it was 11 miles to Fresno, and now obviously you can't tell the
difference between Fresno and Clovis. It's all one big metropolitan center. So
I've seen a lot happen over the years. I guess you might say it happened so
gradually that you really don't realize that it's happening.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew Lee Peters well.
>>James Hallowell:
Very well.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew him very, very well. And clearly the Lee Peters
Award is one of the most prestigious award given and rightfully so knowing the
man that Lee Peters. It stands not only for excellence in business but for
philanthropy and giving to the community. What did it mean to James Hallowell to
be a Leon Peters recipient along with Lew Eaton, Earl Smittcamp? Just personally
what did it mean to you?
>>James Hallowell: I knew Lee very well and worked on a number of boards with
him, and you might say he was my mentor. I even wrote him a letter and told him
that. And he knew how I felt about him. I was very pleased, and I was surprised
and obviously felt very honored by that, so it has meant a great deal to me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The culture of giving, some people have been successful.
But some people it's difficult for them to give to the community. What triggered
in the Hallowells, because I know your wife well. I know your family, and
they're all that way. They're all giving people. What started that culture with
you, James?
>>James Hallowell: People have asked me that. And I've always credited it with
my father in that he did not have great means, but he was always very generous
in the community and did a lot. He was active in the community. He was on the
school board. He was on the council for many, many years. And he always gave,
and so I always just grew up thinking that was an obligation. That was a
commitment. That's what we should do. And it gives Coke and me a great deal of
pleasure to do the things, and we do now because we want to be able to see some
of the benefits rather than wait until we lay down and die to do it. And we get
a great deal of pleasure out of doing things for our community. It feels good.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; There are a lot of young people today that want quick
success. They want immediate gratification. What advice would you give to our
young people who are starting off on their careers whether it be in business,
based upon your experience to give to them?
>>James Hallowell: I think that that with myself, my success today or apparent
success or whatever it is, is beyond my greatest expectations. I never dreamed
that we would have the financial success that we've had. And from being a young
man starting in the business, I always everyday was better than I thought it
could be. And I never had great expectations, and I just liked my work. And I
liked to work. And so things just progressed and just happened over the years.
So I would tell young people to just enjoy your life. Take the most that you can
and be happy. And it will happen if you give back.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: People in the business world oftentimes say that's a tough
dog eat dog business. But when they speak of James Hallowell and Hallowell's
business they say integrity. They say honesty. They say your reputation is
really impeccable. How did that come about?
>>James Hallowell: I guess I've always said one thing is that my name is on the
front of the building. I think that makes a big difference. And I've often told
Coke that I've always lived in sort of constant fear that somebody's going to
screw up and going to take our reputation. So I think the people that I work
with know that, and so they want to live that also. And so I think that's where
it comes from is that we want to continue to be considered a quality operation
and an honest operation. And in our business, a great majority of our business,
overwhelming majority is repeat business. And the only way a business can be
successful over the long pool, and we're 55 years old now too.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: If you had a crystal ball and you've seen a lot of changes
in Clovis, in Fresno, and Central Valley. Just your observations, what do you
see Central Valley, this area growing? And what do you think we're going to be
like as we approach the new millennium, the third millennium?
>>James Hallowell: I think it's scary. I think we're going to become huge, and I
think we have an incredible commitment and obligation to try to do it the best
we can for our future generations. I always feel, you know, you hear people talk
about property rights and I believe in that. But I feel that also with this
property rights we have commitments and obligations to, you know, future
generations and to our neighbors. And so we just can't do anything we want. So I
really do think it's scary. And I think one thing though I feel some
encouragement because I feel now in this community that we have people who
really care and who are standing up and who are willing to get in and to work
with who maybe haven't over the years. I'm thinking of business people who are
standing up. And then we're expecting more things of our elected officials, and
I think the elected officials know that. And I feel very positive about what can
be taking place and what I hope will take place in the future. And keep your
fingers crossed at the same time.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; Besides the arts which people associate that the
Hallowells have been so generous and supportive of, and many, many other areas
whether it's the Metropolitan Museum, et cetera. But two things that stand out
when I talk to people about James and Coke Hallowell, of course, the first
immediate thing, the vision with the San Joaquin River Parkway Trust. Cleary
something that will benefit generations to come. How did you all get involved
with that, and why is that so important to our community?
>>James Hallowell: Coke was the first one. Obviously you know, over the years if
I'm involved in something, she's involved. If she's involved in something, I'm
involved. But she many years ago with Mary Savala and some other people, they
saw that there was some scary things that were going to happen. There were
people that were wanting to develop right down to the river edge. And so that's
when she became involved. And I've even teased her over the years because she's
been president for quite some time now. And I've always teased her and said
that, you know, her and Castro for life. And yet she has done a wonderful job,
and she’s a real presence there. And I encourage her to stick with it because
people trust her and she's works well with people and she cares like nobody
could care except there are a lot of them that do care as much as she does. But
she really cares about the place--she eats, sleeps, and drinks it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Why is that parkway so important to future generators?
>>James Hallowell: Because if we don't protect it, everything's going to be
asphalt. And the river is really beautiful. And if you haven't ever gone down
there in a canoe then you don't know how really wonderful it is. So it’s very
because this is our last chance. This is either we do it. Meaning the community
and help it develop in the proper way, or it's all over. We aren't going to have
it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A new emerging force in our community is the Fresno
Business Council.
>>James Hallowell: Yes.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And James Hallowell, Dick Johanson, Bob Carter amongst
others were charter members of that, that organization. Not a political driven
group but yet a voice of reason, a voice of respected community leaders. What
prompted James Hallowell to get involved with the valley business?
>>James Hallowell: Well, number one they asked me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>>James Hallowell: It's like most of the things I've gotten involved in over the
years. If someone asks me, and so I said yes, and I did it. But the most
exciting thing about the business council is people like Bob Duncan and Dick
Johanson and Claude Laval and those people. They're involved in it because they
care about the community. And there's no vested interest there. And I know even
Deborah Nankivell who's executive director said it's been amazing to her to see
the business people and how they really are committed to the community where
oftentimes you think business is just strictly for the pocketbook. But those
people really care. And so it's a very exciting thing, and I'm amazed at the
influence that it has in the community now, and I think it does because people
trust the group, trust the people involved.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Old Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne once wrote,
"When the great recorder records the final score, it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played." Now we're not about to record James
Hallowell's final score.
>>James Hallowell: Oh I hope not.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You have many, many good years ahead of you, particularly
you're always biking. You and Coke out in Europe or someplace around. So you
stay very physically fit. But someday when they do record the final score, what
do you want them to say about James Hallowell, about the Hallowell family?
>>James Hallowell: It's giving me shivers. That I lived a good life. That I
loved my family and I loved my work and my community. What more can you ask for?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, James, on behalf of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce
and the Valley Business Conference Committee we would like to thank you and your
family for a lifetime of achievement. Clearly if anyone personifies what the
Leon Peters Award is all about it's James Hallowell. And so the poet Popham once
wrote, "There is a destiny that makes us brothers. None go his way alone. All
that we send into the lives of others come back into our own." Certainly you and
your family have given a great deal to this community which all of us have
profited from. So we thank you.
>>James Hallowell: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: James Hallowell, Leon Peters recipient. A name Hallowell,
well-known throughout this valley stands not only for successfully business but
clearly the Hallowell family of philanthropy and caring about our community. For
the record: name, place of birth, and date of birth.
>>James Hallowell: James Hallowell. Raleigh, California. July 25th, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to the Central Valley?
>>James Hallowell: When I was one year old. My father was born in Oklahoma, and
my mother in Missouri. They met in Clovis where my grandmother was a floor lady
at the packinghouse on Clovis Avenue. She was 16, and my dad was 21. And they
met there. My dad was building boxes, and my mother was tying ribbons on the
grapes which they did in those days to send to the East Coast. And they met and
fell in love and ran off and got married, and obviously my grandparents were
very much upset. He was what we call a fruit tramp, and a fruit tramp would be
that they actually lived and had a home in Raleigh. And they would move with the
crops all the way up to Stockton, and then they would go back for the winter
season to Raleigh. And I had a brother--I do have a brother who's 12 years older
than myself. And then at that time when they were in Raleigh that my sister and
I were born. I have a twin sister named Jane. And we were there for one year,
and my mother was not well. And she wanted to leave that. That was a hard
lifestyle, and so they came to Clovis because my uncle Phil Garver had a garage.
And my dad opened a service station in the front. And he had that for some
years, and then he in the late ‘30s had International Truck and Studebaker. And
in 1944 I was 11 years old. It was right in the middle of the war, and there was
like a distributorship for Chevrolet, and that man died. So my dad bought the
franchise which included three parts bins for 1,500 dollars. So I've kind of
grew up in the business and have worked there all of my life. I always worked
because I kind of liked earning money, and so right now I've been there fulltime since I graduated from college in 1955, being 44 years.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You graduated from Fresno.
>>James Hallowell: Yes, I went to Clovis Grammar School, Clovis High School and
Fresno State College. And in 1957 I marred by high school sweetheart, Coke. And
we have two daughters. One lives in San Francisco. The other one is here. And we
have two wonderful grandsons, Alden and Taylor, who are six and nine.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What changes have you seen from those early years in
Fresno?
>>James Hallowell: Well, when I was a kid growing up people would ask me how big
is Clovis? I would say there was 3,000 people, which now I think it's probably
about 70. And it was 11 miles to Fresno, and now obviously you can't tell the
difference between Fresno and Clovis. It's all one big metropolitan center. So
I've seen a lot happen over the years. I guess you might say it happened so
gradually that you really don't realize that it's happening.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew Lee Peters well.
>>James Hallowell:
Very well.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew him very, very well. And clearly the Lee Peters
Award is one of the most prestigious award given and rightfully so knowing the
man that Lee Peters. It stands not only for excellence in business but for
philanthropy and giving to the community. What did it mean to James Hallowell to
be a Leon Peters recipient along with Lew Eaton, Earl Smittcamp? Just personally
what did it mean to you?
>>James Hallowell: I knew Lee very well and worked on a number of boards with
him, and you might say he was my mentor. I even wrote him a letter and told him
that. And he knew how I felt about him. I was very pleased, and I was surprised
and obviously felt very honored by that, so it has meant a great deal to me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The culture of giving, some people have been successful.
But some people it's difficult for them to give to the community. What triggered
in the Hallowells, because I know your wife well. I know your family, and
they're all that way. They're all giving people. What started that culture with
you, James?
>>James Hallowell: People have asked me that. And I've always credited it with
my father in that he did not have great means, but he was always very generous
in the community and did a lot. He was active in the community. He was on the
school board. He was on the council for many, many years. And he always gave,
and so I always just grew up thinking that was an obligation. That was a
commitment. That's what we should do. And it gives Coke and me a great deal of
pleasure to do the things, and we do now because we want to be able to see some
of the benefits rather than wait until we lay down and die to do it. And we get
a great deal of pleasure out of doing things for our community. It feels good.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; There are a lot of young people today that want quick
success. They want immediate gratification. What advice would you give to our
young people who are starting off on their careers whether it be in business,
based upon your experience to give to them?
>>James Hallowell: I think that that with myself, my success today or apparent
success or whatever it is, is beyond my greatest expectations. I never dreamed
that we would have the financial success that we've had. And from being a young
man starting in the business, I always everyday was better than I thought it
could be. And I never had great expectations, and I just liked my work. And I
liked to work. And so things just progressed and just happened over the years.
So I would tell young people to just enjoy your life. Take the most that you can
and be happy. And it will happen if you give back.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: People in the business world oftentimes say that's a tough
dog eat dog business. But when they speak of James Hallowell and Hallowell's
business they say integrity. They say honesty. They say your reputation is
really impeccable. How did that come about?
>>James Hallowell: I guess I've always said one thing is that my name is on the
front of the building. I think that makes a big difference. And I've often told
Coke that I've always lived in sort of constant fear that somebody's going to
screw up and going to take our reputation. So I think the people that I work
with know that, and so they want to live that also. And so I think that's where
it comes from is that we want to continue to be considered a quality operation
and an honest operation. And in our business, a great majority of our business,
overwhelming majority is repeat business. And the only way a business can be
successful over the long pool, and we're 55 years old now too.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: If you had a crystal ball and you've seen a lot of changes
in Clovis, in Fresno, and Central Valley. Just your observations, what do you
see Central Valley, this area growing? And what do you think we're going to be
like as we approach the new millennium, the third millennium?
>>James Hallowell: I think it's scary. I think we're going to become huge, and I
think we have an incredible commitment and obligation to try to do it the best
we can for our future generations. I always feel, you know, you hear people talk
about property rights and I believe in that. But I feel that also with this
property rights we have commitments and obligations to, you know, future
generations and to our neighbors. And so we just can't do anything we want. So I
really do think it's scary. And I think one thing though I feel some
encouragement because I feel now in this community that we have people who
really care and who are standing up and who are willing to get in and to work
with who maybe haven't over the years. I'm thinking of business people who are
standing up. And then we're expecting more things of our elected officials, and
I think the elected officials know that. And I feel very positive about what can
be taking place and what I hope will take place in the future. And keep your
fingers crossed at the same time.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; Besides the arts which people associate that the
Hallowells have been so generous and supportive of, and many, many other areas
whether it's the Metropolitan Museum, et cetera. But two things that stand out
when I talk to people about James and Coke Hallowell, of course, the first
immediate thing, the vision with the San Joaquin River Parkway Trust. Cleary
something that will benefit generations to come. How did you all get involved
with that, and why is that so important to our community?
>>James Hallowell: Coke was the first one. Obviously you know, over the years if
I'm involved in something, she's involved. If she's involved in something, I'm
involved. But she many years ago with Mary Savala and some other people, they
saw that there was some scary things that were going to happen. There were
people that were wanting to develop right down to the river edge. And so that's
when she became involved. And I've even teased her over the years because she's
been president for quite some time now. And I've always teased her and said
that, you know, her and Castro for life. And yet she has done a wonderful job,
and she’s a real presence there. And I encourage her to stick with it because
people trust her and she's works well with people and she cares like nobody
could care except there are a lot of them that do care as much as she does. But
she really cares about the place--she eats, sleeps, and drinks it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Why is that parkway so important to future generators?
>>James Hallowell: Because if we don't protect it, everything's going to be
asphalt. And the river is really beautiful. And if you haven't ever gone down
there in a canoe then you don't know how really wonderful it is. So it’s very
because this is our last chance. This is either we do it. Meaning the community
and help it develop in the proper way, or it's all over. We aren't going to have
it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A new emerging force in our community is the Fresno
Business Council.
>>James Hallowell: Yes.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And James Hallowell, Dick Johanson, Bob Carter amongst
others were charter members of that, that organization. Not a political driven
group but yet a voice of reason, a voice of respected community leaders. What
prompted James Hallowell to get involved with the valley business?
>>James Hallowell: Well, number one they asked me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>>James Hallowell: It's like most of the things I've gotten involved in over the
years. If someone asks me, and so I said yes, and I did it. But the most
exciting thing about the business council is people like Bob Duncan and Dick
Johanson and Claude Laval and those people. They're involved in it because they
care about the community. And there's no vested interest there. And I know even
Deborah Nankivell who's executive director said it's been amazing to her to see
the business people and how they really are committed to the community where
oftentimes you think business is just strictly for the pocketbook. But those
people really care. And so it's a very exciting thing, and I'm amazed at the
influence that it has in the community now, and I think it does because people
trust the group, trust the people involved.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Old Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne once wrote,
"When the great recorder records the final score, it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played." Now we're not about to record James
Hallowell's final score.
>>James Hallowell: Oh I hope not.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You have many, many good years ahead of you, particularly
you're always biking. You and Coke out in Europe or someplace around. So you
stay very physically fit. But someday when they do record the final score, what
do you want them to say about James Hallowell, about the Hallowell family?
>>James Hallowell: It's giving me shivers. That I lived a good life. That I
loved my family and I loved my work and my community. What more can you ask for?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, James, on behalf of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce
and the Valley Business Conference Committee we would like to thank you and your
family for a lifetime of achievement. Clearly if anyone personifies what the
Leon Peters Award is all about it's James Hallowell. And so the poet Popham once
wrote, "There is a destiny that makes us brothers. None go his way alone. All
that we send into the lives of others come back into our own." Certainly you and
your family have given a great deal to this community which all of us have
profited from. So we thank you.
>>James Hallowell: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====
well-known throughout this valley stands not only for successfully business but
clearly the Hallowell family of philanthropy and caring about our community. For
the record: name, place of birth, and date of birth.
>>James Hallowell: James Hallowell. Raleigh, California. July 25th, 1933.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: When did you come to the Central Valley?
>>James Hallowell: When I was one year old. My father was born in Oklahoma, and
my mother in Missouri. They met in Clovis where my grandmother was a floor lady
at the packinghouse on Clovis Avenue. She was 16, and my dad was 21. And they
met there. My dad was building boxes, and my mother was tying ribbons on the
grapes which they did in those days to send to the East Coast. And they met and
fell in love and ran off and got married, and obviously my grandparents were
very much upset. He was what we call a fruit tramp, and a fruit tramp would be
that they actually lived and had a home in Raleigh. And they would move with the
crops all the way up to Stockton, and then they would go back for the winter
season to Raleigh. And I had a brother--I do have a brother who's 12 years older
than myself. And then at that time when they were in Raleigh that my sister and
I were born. I have a twin sister named Jane. And we were there for one year,
and my mother was not well. And she wanted to leave that. That was a hard
lifestyle, and so they came to Clovis because my uncle Phil Garver had a garage.
And my dad opened a service station in the front. And he had that for some
years, and then he in the late ‘30s had International Truck and Studebaker. And
in 1944 I was 11 years old. It was right in the middle of the war, and there was
like a distributorship for Chevrolet, and that man died. So my dad bought the
franchise which included three parts bins for 1,500 dollars. So I've kind of
grew up in the business and have worked there all of my life. I always worked
because I kind of liked earning money, and so right now I've been there fulltime since I graduated from college in 1955, being 44 years.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You graduated from Fresno.
>>James Hallowell: Yes, I went to Clovis Grammar School, Clovis High School and
Fresno State College. And in 1957 I marred by high school sweetheart, Coke. And
we have two daughters. One lives in San Francisco. The other one is here. And we
have two wonderful grandsons, Alden and Taylor, who are six and nine.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: What changes have you seen from those early years in
Fresno?
>>James Hallowell: Well, when I was a kid growing up people would ask me how big
is Clovis? I would say there was 3,000 people, which now I think it's probably
about 70. And it was 11 miles to Fresno, and now obviously you can't tell the
difference between Fresno and Clovis. It's all one big metropolitan center. So
I've seen a lot happen over the years. I guess you might say it happened so
gradually that you really don't realize that it's happening.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew Lee Peters well.
>>James Hallowell:
Very well.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You knew him very, very well. And clearly the Lee Peters
Award is one of the most prestigious award given and rightfully so knowing the
man that Lee Peters. It stands not only for excellence in business but for
philanthropy and giving to the community. What did it mean to James Hallowell to
be a Leon Peters recipient along with Lew Eaton, Earl Smittcamp? Just personally
what did it mean to you?
>>James Hallowell: I knew Lee very well and worked on a number of boards with
him, and you might say he was my mentor. I even wrote him a letter and told him
that. And he knew how I felt about him. I was very pleased, and I was surprised
and obviously felt very honored by that, so it has meant a great deal to me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: The culture of giving, some people have been successful.
But some people it's difficult for them to give to the community. What triggered
in the Hallowells, because I know your wife well. I know your family, and
they're all that way. They're all giving people. What started that culture with
you, James?
>>James Hallowell: People have asked me that. And I've always credited it with
my father in that he did not have great means, but he was always very generous
in the community and did a lot. He was active in the community. He was on the
school board. He was on the council for many, many years. And he always gave,
and so I always just grew up thinking that was an obligation. That was a
commitment. That's what we should do. And it gives Coke and me a great deal of
pleasure to do the things, and we do now because we want to be able to see some
of the benefits rather than wait until we lay down and die to do it. And we get
a great deal of pleasure out of doing things for our community. It feels good.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; There are a lot of young people today that want quick
success. They want immediate gratification. What advice would you give to our
young people who are starting off on their careers whether it be in business,
based upon your experience to give to them?
>>James Hallowell: I think that that with myself, my success today or apparent
success or whatever it is, is beyond my greatest expectations. I never dreamed
that we would have the financial success that we've had. And from being a young
man starting in the business, I always everyday was better than I thought it
could be. And I never had great expectations, and I just liked my work. And I
liked to work. And so things just progressed and just happened over the years.
So I would tell young people to just enjoy your life. Take the most that you can
and be happy. And it will happen if you give back.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: People in the business world oftentimes say that's a tough
dog eat dog business. But when they speak of James Hallowell and Hallowell's
business they say integrity. They say honesty. They say your reputation is
really impeccable. How did that come about?
>>James Hallowell: I guess I've always said one thing is that my name is on the
front of the building. I think that makes a big difference. And I've often told
Coke that I've always lived in sort of constant fear that somebody's going to
screw up and going to take our reputation. So I think the people that I work
with know that, and so they want to live that also. And so I think that's where
it comes from is that we want to continue to be considered a quality operation
and an honest operation. And in our business, a great majority of our business,
overwhelming majority is repeat business. And the only way a business can be
successful over the long pool, and we're 55 years old now too.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: If you had a crystal ball and you've seen a lot of changes
in Clovis, in Fresno, and Central Valley. Just your observations, what do you
see Central Valley, this area growing? And what do you think we're going to be
like as we approach the new millennium, the third millennium?
>>James Hallowell: I think it's scary. I think we're going to become huge, and I
think we have an incredible commitment and obligation to try to do it the best
we can for our future generations. I always feel, you know, you hear people talk
about property rights and I believe in that. But I feel that also with this
property rights we have commitments and obligations to, you know, future
generations and to our neighbors. And so we just can't do anything we want. So I
really do think it's scary. And I think one thing though I feel some
encouragement because I feel now in this community that we have people who
really care and who are standing up and who are willing to get in and to work
with who maybe haven't over the years. I'm thinking of business people who are
standing up. And then we're expecting more things of our elected officials, and
I think the elected officials know that. And I feel very positive about what can
be taking place and what I hope will take place in the future. And keep your
fingers crossed at the same time.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas; Besides the arts which people associate that the
Hallowells have been so generous and supportive of, and many, many other areas
whether it's the Metropolitan Museum, et cetera. But two things that stand out
when I talk to people about James and Coke Hallowell, of course, the first
immediate thing, the vision with the San Joaquin River Parkway Trust. Cleary
something that will benefit generations to come. How did you all get involved
with that, and why is that so important to our community?
>>James Hallowell: Coke was the first one. Obviously you know, over the years if
I'm involved in something, she's involved. If she's involved in something, I'm
involved. But she many years ago with Mary Savala and some other people, they
saw that there was some scary things that were going to happen. There were
people that were wanting to develop right down to the river edge. And so that's
when she became involved. And I've even teased her over the years because she's
been president for quite some time now. And I've always teased her and said
that, you know, her and Castro for life. And yet she has done a wonderful job,
and she’s a real presence there. And I encourage her to stick with it because
people trust her and she's works well with people and she cares like nobody
could care except there are a lot of them that do care as much as she does. But
she really cares about the place--she eats, sleeps, and drinks it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Why is that parkway so important to future generators?
>>James Hallowell: Because if we don't protect it, everything's going to be
asphalt. And the river is really beautiful. And if you haven't ever gone down
there in a canoe then you don't know how really wonderful it is. So it’s very
because this is our last chance. This is either we do it. Meaning the community
and help it develop in the proper way, or it's all over. We aren't going to have
it.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: A new emerging force in our community is the Fresno
Business Council.
>>James Hallowell: Yes.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: And James Hallowell, Dick Johanson, Bob Carter amongst
others were charter members of that, that organization. Not a political driven
group but yet a voice of reason, a voice of respected community leaders. What
prompted James Hallowell to get involved with the valley business?
>>James Hallowell: Well, number one they asked me.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Okay.
>>James Hallowell: It's like most of the things I've gotten involved in over the
years. If someone asks me, and so I said yes, and I did it. But the most
exciting thing about the business council is people like Bob Duncan and Dick
Johanson and Claude Laval and those people. They're involved in it because they
care about the community. And there's no vested interest there. And I know even
Deborah Nankivell who's executive director said it's been amazing to her to see
the business people and how they really are committed to the community where
oftentimes you think business is just strictly for the pocketbook. But those
people really care. And so it's a very exciting thing, and I'm amazed at the
influence that it has in the community now, and I think it does because people
trust the group, trust the people involved.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Old Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne once wrote,
"When the great recorder records the final score, it matters not who wins or
loses but how the game was played." Now we're not about to record James
Hallowell's final score.
>>James Hallowell: Oh I hope not.
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: You have many, many good years ahead of you, particularly
you're always biking. You and Coke out in Europe or someplace around. So you
stay very physically fit. But someday when they do record the final score, what
do you want them to say about James Hallowell, about the Hallowell family?
>>James Hallowell: It's giving me shivers. That I lived a good life. That I
loved my family and I loved my work and my community. What more can you ask for?
>>Dr. Peter G. Mehas: Well, James, on behalf of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce
and the Valley Business Conference Committee we would like to thank you and your
family for a lifetime of achievement. Clearly if anyone personifies what the
Leon Peters Award is all about it's James Hallowell. And so the poet Popham once
wrote, "There is a destiny that makes us brothers. None go his way alone. All
that we send into the lives of others come back into our own." Certainly you and
your family have given a great deal to this community which all of us have
profited from. So we thank you.
>>James Hallowell: Thank you.
==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====