Rancho Cordovan of the Year

Rancho Cordova has launched many successful people worthy of the title of Rancho Cordovan of the Year. NBC Anchorman Lester Holt, for example, certainly reflects favorably upon his old hometown. Jerry Manuel was a Rancho Cordovan who went on to be Major League Baseball’s Manager of the Year. My colleague Ken Rudulph is a proud Rancho Cordovan, too.

But success can be measured many ways. And that brings us to Wayne Harmer, Rancho Cordova’s super-duper, non-stop, half-crazy, fulltime volunteer.

Wayne is a real-deal Rancho Cordovan, graduating from Cordova High School way back when. He served in the US Air Force as a crew chief on a KC-135 stratotanker before retiring out of Mather, then beat the streets of Rancho Cordova as a mail carrier for another decade and a half.  

One thing about Wayne is he likes to keep busy, and he likes to build things. To say he has a little bit of Rube Goldberg in him is not an exaggeration. Whatever Wayne does, he does it 110 percent, and volunteering is no exception.

Wayne is a go-to volunteer for the Cordova Community Council, in part because he will do anything… and if he can build something in the process, well, all the better. He will build anything, haul anything, repair anything, paint anything. As a result, over time, Wayne has made himself indispensable.

Need to throw up a couple dozen tents at Kids Day? Wayne’s your man. Parking management needed at iFest? Here comes Wayne. 

He helps maintain the yard at the Sacramento Valley Live Steamers Railroad. He spends long hours directing traffic at Heartstoppers Haunted House. He helps set up and take down the 30-foot Community Christmas Tree. The list goes on and on.

Some of the jobs he does are important, hard and thankless.

For example, one of the least glamorous, most important jobs at the California Capital Airshow is picking up litter and debris that can find its way into jet engines. The Airshow calls it “FOD” – which stands for Foreign Objects and Debris. The reality is, it amounts to picking up other people’s garbage.

With his many years in the Air Force as his credentials, Wayne wormed himself into the Airshow hierarchy by volunteering to be the Leader of the FOD Team. And, lo and behold, he has developed a team of 100 volunteers who pound the pavement for two long days in the most thankless – but critical -- job at the Airshow, thanks to Wayne’s determined efforts.

Wayne has also become something of a Rancho Cordova master of disguise. He has portrayed Elvis in the graveyard of the Live Steamers Halloween ride, was the blue genie for the Aladdin-inspired Volunteer Awards, and he has been our community Santa Claus for years –his favorite volunteer assignment.

Wayne is quite a patriot and his favorite holiday is the Fourth of July where he has been breaking his back for more than a decade. He is part of the all-volunteer logistics team which transforms Hagan Park into a spectacular amusement park each year. Lest you think this is a two-day commitment, understand it is more like two weeks. Wayne starts earlier and keeps working later than just about everybody else, fueled by warm sodas and cold pizza, because that’s how he rolls.

He has shaved his head for St. Baldrick’s Day, been the official Santa Claus for Police Activities League Holiday Run, preschools, Concert Band and others. He worked long hours helping build our Holiday Ice Rink years ago. Wayne keeps an eye out for elderly folks along his old mail route, and fixes their fences, repairs their homes and so much more. Wayne is a fantastic neighbor.

He is fantastic at something else, too.

Wayne has become famous for building big, crazy Fourth of July floats, which he starts in his backyard on January 1 each year. It is a family requirement to work on the float, which stars in not only the Rancho Cordova parade, but the Citrus Heights parade each year. This year was a banner year for Wayne because for the first time there was a Holiday Light Parade. He built a float for his family and starred as Santa Claus, a double-header tailor made for Wayne.

The Harmers have won way more than their share of trophies building, which led Wayne to proclaim himself the “Floatmaster of Rancho Cordova.” He even tattooed that on his arm. Did we mention that Wayne is a little crazy?

Wayne has racked up thousands of hours volunteering in the blistering heat, driving winds, and drenching rain. After a big wind, Wayne will drive around town to make sure signage advertising our next event made it through the storm. He will paint anything that will not move, move anything that needs to be hauled, then ask for another assignment.  

Wayne will never host the NBC news like Lester Holt, or become the Manager of the Year of Major League Baseball. He will not host Good Day, or any of the other accomplishments mentioned at the top.

What is so special about Wayne is his unwavering love of his community and unfettered enthusiasm to get out there and volunteer to make it better. He says when the time comes and he can volunteer no more, he will have a lifetime of memories to play in his head.

Wayne, you are a Superhero Volunteer. In addition to that, you are now the Rancho Cordovan of the Year. Congratulations!