I have been pretty enthused lately looking for locations where a person, or business fly's the American Flag in support of our troops currently serving as well as in support of this great Country we Americans live! In my travels around town I have witnessed all types of Flag displays at residences and businesses and not all are displayed so that they attract attention, but displayed because it is a statement that needs to be made; We support our troops and the United States of America!

Although off the beaten path, the Flag in this article is flown proudly daily by the business, but the statement is no less important just because it is not seen by throngs of people passing by! I remember being inside of this building many times over the years and I must admit I have sipped more coffee there from a stained coffee cup than I probably should have, but the price of the coffee (free), company (mostly crusty old men) and gossip (well the gossip was sometimes very juicy) was always good! It was where, as we would like to say, we would discuss and then solve all the problems of Fillmore! When we were done with Fillmore we would move on to Santa Paula and so on! Thanks to friends, the result of a surprise birthday party, I even celebrated my Fiftieth Birthday inside this building!

The owner, at that time, of this building was the late Fred Krone, owner and operator of Norkro Clock Parts located at 340 Fillmore Street. It is sandwiched between a residential home and an apartment complex and across the street from Butch Foy's Fillmore Building Supply. At that time Norkro Clock Parts was one of two clock parts suppliers in the United States for not only clock repair shops, but for the hobbyist as well. Fred was one knowledgeable person about clocks! He also was a considerable character; former real estate broker, Hollywood Stuntman (known then as Crunch Krone) and periodic Fillmore City Council meeting speaker. I learned with those credentials you never knew who would be in the back room sipping coffee with him when you got there! They did include at least two City Council Members after one of his visits to a City Council Meeting, former and current stunt men and more than a few law enforcement officers.

But, this building didn't always house a distributor of clock parts. I learned that fact purely by accident! One day when I was in the front part of the building with a friend of mine, the late Dick Southwick, he paused while we were walking around the building and with his arms outstretched he proclaimed, “I got married right about here!” Thinking I heard him wrong I asked him what he meant by that? He said this building use to be a Baptist Church and he was married in this building when it was a Baptist Church. Fred concurred it had been a church and soon I was being shown the building in a whole different perspective! It then became clear to me that the building had been in fact been a church! Built, by estimates of others, in the late 50's, or early 60's it had been constructed to last. The church even included classrooms in the rear of the building built, block by block, by a good friend of mine, and a friend of anyone who liked to hike, Manuel “Vic” Victoria. Vic drove a small red pick up truck with signs on the door; “Like to Hike, Call Vic!” A short note about this building; much of the block work making up the walls of the building were built by the late Manuel “Vic” Victoria. Manuel for many years, and at the same time, built block walls and brick planters all over Fillmore. He did this while he owned and operated Vic's Shoe Repair at the corner of Sespe and Central Avenues. The building, known as the Masonic Building, where Vic's Shoe repair was located on the bottom floor, was destroyed by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake! Vic's Shoe Repair continued business at the temporary business district located where City Hall is now situated. For a few more months after the Earthquake and eventually he moved from the temporary building to work out of his home.

Eventually Fred would retire. His retirement party was held inside of the building. After retirement Fred began to collect 60's and 70's Cadillac limousines and at least one ambulance! Sticking with his Hollywood roots he would rent to the movie industry many of his Cadillac automobiles for use in films. After installing some large roll-up doors the building soon filled with his collection.

Then, on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Fillmore was rocked by the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake. With the knowledge that Fred had been known to sleep inside his building I quickly drove there to check on him before reporting in to work. I did find Fred barefoot, in his pajamas, walking stunned outside and on the sidewalk in front of the building. The former Fillmore Hotel was in shambles and there were many people milling about trying to absorb what had just happened. Soon Fillmore was filled with a variety of agencies there to help Fillmore recover from this dramatic event! Later that week 340 Fillmore Street would begin another phase in its life.

After ensuring the building was determined safe to inhabit, the City of Fillmore was offered, by Fred, the use the building to house the many Building and Safety inspectors that had arrived to inspect the damage and to begin the recovery process. Contractors and residents visited there daily to obtain building permits, or to schedule inspections of their properties. To my memory this use lasted over a year as Fillmore went through the recovery process. Throughout all this time the coffee continued to flow not only for those of us who frequently visited there, but also for the inspectors and their staff. As I recall, and according to Fred, the lease on this building was simple; my friends stay, you buy the coffee, pay the utilities for the building, make all repairs of damage and alterations made for this use and paint the building when you leave! Pretty fair I thought!

One day, after the Earthquake, while visiting Vic I asked him if he, out of curiosity, had checked on any of his work to see if any of it had been damaged or destroyed by the earthquake? He quickly replied, “No!” When I asked him why not he responded as quickly, “Because I know my work!” Well I can tell you that he was right because the only damage at 340 Fillmore Street was a crack in the concrete slab that had not been poured by Vic! Also the brick wall surrounding my home was build by Vic over 45 years ago and it did not receive the slightest bit of damage either!

After the Building and Safety folks left the building a very interesting business entered into negotiations, and eventually an agreement, with Fred to lease the building. There was one caveat placed in the lease by Fred; the coffee shop and Fred's friends would remain! With that settled Solid Terrain Modeling, a business begun in August of 2000, set up shop around October of 2000 within the walls of 340 Fillmore Street. Owners; Lawrence Faulkner and Mark Fisher's company builds 3-D models, of any spot on earth, cut by a computer that takes images from aerial photographs, satellite imagery, maps, pictures, graphics and text that can be printed on a 3D model. Solid Terrain Modeling builds models for museums, land planners, oil, gas and mining companies, universities, aerospace, research, legal professionals, emergency response, border patrol, police, bureaus of land management and all branches of the military, as well as any company trying to convey a project's scope through a 3D model.

The process involves a computerized cutting machine slowly cutting precise images on thick polyurethane sheets. Then a photographic-quality image is printed directly onto the bumpy surface using a custom 3D ink jet printer invented by Mark Fisher. This photographic-quality image realistically presents a scale image of what the client is looking for in a display. I can attest to that quality because I remember one particular model of Fort Irwin, located out in the desert near Barstow, that was so precise that the ruts on the desert floor cut by storm water runoff were dramatically visible to the human eye.

I remember a number of other models made for the military for use in the Middle East, one of the entire Grand Canyon for the Smithsonian and one particular one of an area in Moorpark known as Happy Camp where a developer wanted to develop. He brought this model to a Moorpark City Council Meeting to display. My colleagues at the time were surprised when I told them I had been where the model was made and even saw it while it was being developed. I am happy to say, Solid Terrain Modeling President Mark Fisher and Vice-President Justin Luton continue with the same energy for their product today as they did twelve years ago when they began their business in Fillmore.

All of this brings me to the reason for this article. Soon after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Solid Terrain Modeling installed a very nice commercial type flagpole. The American Flag would be raised daily by Administrative Assistant Sylvia Meza and building owner Fred Krone. President of Solid Terrain Modeling, Mark Fisher told me, “Although there are many reasons to fly a flag at one's place of business, I have two very specific reasons for doing so. First, I am proud to be an American - plain and simple. I believe that, despite our problems, this is still the greatest country in the world and I am deeply grateful for the sacrifices that others have made so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today.

Secondly, we fly the flag in remembrance of 9-11. At that time, I had been wanting to install a flag pole for quite a while, but we were really struggling financially and did not feel it was a necessary expense. The events of that day, however, changed my attitude and the flag pole was installed shortly thereafter.

Every time I see the flag flying above our building I say a prayer for those who experienced loss as a result of that tragedy, and for those who serve to protect us.”

As I have said, I spent a lot of time in the back room of Solid Terrain Modeling drinking coffee! Because of this I know Sylvia took this task of raising the American Flag each morning seriously! Sylvia would walk into the coffee shop every morning about 8:00 AM holding the Flag, give Fred “the look,” or have her hands on her hips, and if none of that worked she would just say in a strong, but kind voice, “Fred!” Fred would respond, “Yes Dear!” and he would sheepishly rise and walk with Sylvia to raise the Flag! The two of them repeated this ritual daily. Once the Flag was placed proudly on the top of the pole, the rope would be secured by Fred and the day would officially begin!

After Fred's passing Sylvia has continued to raise the American Flag at this location. Sylvia does this not necessarily for others to see, because as I have said this building is located off of the beaten path, but because the owners and employees of Solid Terrain Modeling are proud Americans. Solid Terrain Modeling is also proud to be located in Fillmore and a good portion of their employees have been, or are from Fillmore.

Thank you Sylvia, Mark and Justin for continuing to proudly display the American Flag at Solid Terrain Modeling in support of all of those men and women from the Fillmore/Piru area currently serving as well as all of those men and women currently serving from other communities to keep the United States of America strong.

If any of the readers of the Fillmore Gazette have a good story regarding the display of an American Flag, or a particular location where they believe an American Flag on display is interesting, please contact the Fillmore Gazette, or me either by email, dickdiaz@roadrunner.com, or by cellphone, 805-279-3599. I will follow up on the information! Otherwise I will continue to ride around town and finding those stories I think readers may be interested in hearing about. I have a couple of ideas right now so keep those Flags flying! If you don't have one yet please consider getting one to display at your home or business. Our men and women currently serving do read the Fillmore Gazette online while they are away from home and they appreciate the support we all are giving them. We thank them for their service and sacrifices and their families for the sacrifices they are now making and will make in the future. You all are truly American Heroes!