Welcome to September!

I was recently given a tiny 1”x2” black-and-white photo of my grandfather at about 10 years old, likely around 1915, after his family moved to Benicia. Another shows him with his father and brothers beside a car that looked straight out of a mobster movie—no smiles, (it was the Depression). Old photos remind us how far back family stories go.

A century later, I’m part of that story. My dad, now 95, began filming our lives when I was born in 1963. Those 8mm reels were badly worn, but I tried to restore them through a service. Our family album makes it look like all we did was vacation, but it’s still a treasure. Today, my kids in their 30s each have thousands of photos on their phones, though no printed albums

—these are different times.

For six months I’ve been editing their childhood videos, trimming endless soccer practices down to a couple of minutes. Soon they’ll get a USB of their lives from birth to about age 20, before cell phones replaced video cameras. I hope they enjoy it. How will they record their own kids’ lives? … Likely in the cloud.

Make a memory today with Newcomers: snap a photo and share it with us at Newsletter@northcountynewcomers.org or post to our Facebook page.  

(We promise to look at it.)

Steve Gazay

2025–26 President

The October Event will be Wednesday 
October 1st - Oktoberfest Dinner (5:30p)

(more details to come)