Good morning, Lodi! I wasn’t sure what to write, so I went down the Lodi history rabbit hole and wanted to share this fun fact with you all:

Next time someone hands you a fruity bottled drink at a summer party, you can tell them that entire category of beverage traces its roots back to a backyard in Lodi, California.

Michael Crete is a fifth generation Lodian who graduated from Lodi High School and later took a job selling and delivering beer in the Lodi area.  It was a regular weekend barbecue that changed everything. At a barbecue with friends, Crete began mixing up a favorite party drink of wine and fruit juice, stopped, and said to himself, “Everybody loves this. We could sell this. We could sell a lot of this.” 

Crete had been bringing a concoction of tropical fruit juice, white wine, and club soda to Santa Cruz beach parties for years.  He teamed up with his Lodi High School friend Stuart Bewley to turn it into a real business. Crete and Bewley raised $140,000 among friends and family in Lodi to launch their project nationwide, and their “focus group” parties were the stuff of legend, held around Crete’s grandparents’ pool where everyone tried batch after batch of mixed wines, fruits, and carbonated sodas. 

Production began in a condemned farmhouse near Lodi, using repurposed beer bottles and manual bottling, yielding just 50 to 60 cases per day. They began selling the beverages out of the backs of their trucks.

 The name almost didn’t happen either. The product was originally going to be called Island Wine Cooler, but that didn’t seem right. Crete, driving through the vineyards near Lodi, struck on the idea of “California Cooler,” and to avoid the somewhat stuffy aura of wine, they bottled it in an upscale beer bottle and sold it in four-packs. 

The growth was staggering. By 1985 they were selling a reported 12.3 million cases, netting some $125 million each year, and the winery in Lodi needed to be outfitted with “the second fastest bottling line in the Western Hemisphere,” spinning out 1,600 bottles a minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, just to keep up with demand. 

And the timing was not an accident. In the early 1980s, the American wine industry was struggling to compete with global imports, leaving producers with a surplus. As Bewley put it, “There was a lake of wine in California.” The advent of wine coolers helped California winemakers offload their excess inventory and keep the industry afloat. 

Crete and Bewley sold California Cooler in 1985 to Brown-Forman for a reported $146 million.  As for what came next, within four years they had gone from selling cases out of the back of a pickup truck to a multi-million dollar business.  Bewley eventually went back to his farming roots and planted a vineyard. And Crete? He remained in Lodi, continued to give generously to the Boys and Girls Club and Hutchins Street Square, and shared his business experience as an entrepreneur in residence at the University of the Pacific.

Anyways, the main highlights of today’s newsletter will be:

Let’s get into it!

— Kylie Talamantez

Got an event you think the community should know about? We're now accepting submissions from our readers, so if you're hosting something public in Lodi or know about an event that deserves a spotlight, send it our way. We're excited to start featuring your events alongside everything else happening around town.

Pickleball Club | Year Round | Times vary

If you have been looking for a reason to get outside, meet your neighbors, and actually have fun while doing it, this is your sign.

The Lodi Pickleball Club is one of this community’s best kept secrets and honestly it should not be a secret at all. Six permanent courts have been completed at American Legion Park at the corner of S. Hutchins and Vine Street, and the group is friendly and welcoming to all levels.  Whether you have never touched a paddle or you play three times a week, you belong here.

The club plays Saturday mornings year round, with summer hours running 8:00 am to 11:00 am and winter hours from 9:00 am to noon. Wednesday evenings they are back out there from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The courts at American Legion Park offer free access with lighting and dedicated permanent pickleball courts.  There are also additional courts available at Kofu Park on S. Ham Lane if you want to get extra reps in, though you will need to bring your own net for those.

And here is why this matters beyond just a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. Pickleball is a whole body workout that improves cardiovascular health, assists with weight loss, and can help with balance, coordination, and flexibility.  But maybe more importantly for a community like ours, multiple studies show the sport reduces feelings of loneliness, decreases depressive symptoms, and increases life satisfaction, thanks to the consistent social interaction built right into how the game is played.

Find the club on Facebook by searching Lodi Pickleball Club to stay up to date on schedules and connect with the group before you show up.

📍 American Legion Park, corner of S. Hutchins St and Vine St, Lodi, CA 95240

📍 Additional courts: Kofu Park, S. Ham Lane, Lodi (bring your own net)

Flower Pounding | Saturday, May 9 | 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

This one stopped me mid-scroll and I immediately thought of every parent reading this right now.

The Lodi Community Art Center is doing flower pounding this Saturday, and yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. Kids literally hammer real flowers and plants onto paper or fabric to release their natural pigments and create one of a kind prints. The technique is called Tataki Zome, it comes from Japan, and the results are genuinely stunning. Think pressed botanicals but make it hands on and a little chaotic in the best way.

It’s free, open to kids ages 5 to 18, and runs every month at the Art Center. No ticket, no cost, just show up and make something beautiful with your kid on a Saturday afternoon. Honestly? I’d want to try it too.

📍 Lodi Community Art Center, 110 W Pine St, Lodi, CA 95240

Stage and Scene Adventures | June 8 to June 12 | 8:00 am to Noon

Hey parents, this one’s for you!

If your kid is the one who talks nonstop, makes up voices at dinner, turns every car ride into a performance, or just lights up the second there’s an audience, Stage and Scene Adventures at Hutchins Street Square this June might be exactly where they belong.

This five day drama and improv camp has kids ages 7 to 12 diving into character work, scene building, and the kind of spontaneous creative thinking that improv is famous for. And here is the thing about improv specifically: the benefits go way beyond the stage. Research consistently shows that theater and improv help kids strengthen public speaking confidence, learn to listen actively, practice thinking on their feet, and become more comfortable with uncertainty.

 In a world that constantly asks kids to have the right answer fast, improv teaches them that showing up, trying, and adapting is enough. That is a skill they will carry into every classroom, friendship, and challenge for the rest of their lives.

Beyond the skills, they will make friends. Real ones. 

There is something about being silly and vulnerable together in a creative space that bonds kids in a way a regular classroom just does not.

At $170 for a full week of weekday morning programming, this is a genuinely solid value for what your kid gets out of it. But here is the part that matters right now: only 23 spots are left and enrollment closes in 40 days. These will go.

Secure a spot for your kid or kiddos here before they fill up! As someone who’s done improv, I can guarantee you that they’ll have an amazing time. 

📍 Hutchins Street Square, Lodi, CA

There are restaurants you try once and forget. And then there’s El Pazcifico. If you’ve lived in Lodi for more than five minutes, you already know this place, and if you’re somehow still sleeping on it, consider this your wake up call.

Juan and Isabel opened El Pazcifico in January 2018 after Juan spent more than 20 years working in other people’s restaurants.  They looked at spots all over, including the Bay Area and even Oregon, before choosing Lodi for their grand opening. And honestly? Best decision they ever made.

The community has made it official, multiple times over. El Pazcifico has taken home the Lodi News-Sentinel Readers’ Choice Best of Lodi award for Best Mexican Food and Best Margarita several years running, meaning the people of this town have voted them number one again and again. The Readers’ Choice program has no selection committee, so every single win comes straight from the community, through reader nominations and votes.  That’s not marketing. That’s Lodi speaking.

And it makes total sense when you eat there. Every item on the menu is made from scratch using fresh ingredients, with homemade recipes at the heart of everything.  This is not a chips from a bag situation. The food speaks for itself. Locals rave about the tamales oaxaquenos, pescado ala diabla, and the El Pazcifico burrito.  The Enchiladas Al Comal are a standout, full of flavor and unlike anything else in town.  And the guacamole? It’s made fresh right at your table,  which is the kind of thing that turns a Tuesday dinner into a whole thing.

Now about those award winning margaritas. People are not joking. The margarita flight alone gets a 10 out of 10 from guests consistently.  Blood orange, prickly pear, pomegranate with a tajin rim. There is something on that bar menu for everyone, and the high quality tequila selection backs it all up.

And the service. Every review, every conversation, every person who walks through that door mentions it. Juan, Isabel, and their family treat every guest like they matter , and you feel that from the second you sit down. El Pazcifico is a Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite in 44 Lodi neighborhoods,  which tells you everything about how deep the love for this place runs.

So if you’re really stumped on where to spend Cinco De Mayo, look no further than El Pazcifico.

📍 El Pazcifico Mexican Grill & Cantina, 114 W Pine St, Lodi, CA 95240

📞 (209) 224-8126

Thu - May 7

📍  Oak Farm Vineyards - 23627 N DeVries Rd, Lodi

Fri - May 8

📍  Jessie’s Grove Winery - 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi

📍  Bokisch Vineyards - 18921 Atkins Rd, Lodi

Sat - May 9

📍  El Encanto Event Center - 100 N Cherokee Ln, Lodi

📍  Jessie’s Grove Winery - 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi

Sun - May 10

📍  Jessie’s Grove Winery - 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi

📍  Van Ruiten Family Winery - 340 W Hwy 12, Lodi

📍  Idol Beer Works - 100 S Sacramento St, Lodi

Wed - May 13

📍  Idol Beer Works - 100 S Sacramento St, Lodi

Thu - May 14

📍  Oak Farm Vineyards - 23627 N DeVries Rd, Lodi

📍  Five Window Beer Co. - 9 W Locust St, Lodi

Fri - May 15

📍  Jessie’s Grove Winery - 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi

Sat - May 16

📍  Jessie’s Grove Winery - 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi

📍  Oak Farm Vineyards - 23627 N DeVries Rd, Lodi

Sun - May 17

📍  Jessie’s Grove Winery - 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi

Sat - May 23

📍  Jessie’s Grove Winery - 1973 W Turner Rd, Lodi

Thu - May 28

Fri - May 30

Thanks for reading! It means more than you know that you take a few minutes out of your day to stay connected with our little corner of the world. See you around Lodi! 🍇