By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Remembering Jimmy Carter’s July 4, 1980 valley visit
• Editor attended president’s Town Hall meeting in Merced, later followed helicopter to Modesto
Jimmy Carter helicopter
President Jimmy Carter flew to the Modesto home of Frank Damrell for a fundraiser on July 4, 1980. This photo snapped of Marine One, shows the president waving to the crowd over Orangeburg Ave.
It was a memorable occasion when Carter visited the Merced and Stanislaus counties during Fourth of July in 1980. The president and First Lady Rosalynn Carter came to Merced at the request of Congressman Tony Coelho, who I interned for in his Modesto district office in 1979.