He’s the Man! The Inside Story of Brentwood’s Citizen of the Year May 2006

by Don Huntington
Photos by Russell Byrne

Who is Greg Robinson and why is he Brentwood’s Citizen of the Year? For people who don’t know him intimately, the answers to those two questions are unexpected and inspiring.

Greg was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and moved to California when he was 20 as a way of fleeing the miserable eastern weather, and because the West Coast seemed to be a land of adventure. He lived for a while in Southern California and, among other things, worked at Gucci on Rodeo Drive and did some runway modeling.

Gold, Good Guys, et cetera
After a year or so Greg followed the 150 year-old trail of a hundred thousand other displaced Easterners, and set off for the Sierra foothills on a gold mining adventure. He and his brother-in-law, Joe, staked a claim on the Yuba River about an hour north of Marysville. He went back to Buffalo with the intention of traveling to Europe. His European plans were disrupted when he met a girl named Sandie McNulty who worked near his brother-in-law’s office. Greg was dropping off some papers and got involved in a conversation with the pretty young woman. “One thing led to another,” Greg says, “and we’ve been together ever since.” Greg and Sandie married in 1985 and came back to Southern California together.

For a time Greg lived in Redondo Beach working in retail and doing commercial real estate. When his daughter was a year old, the lure of gold once again became too strong to resist, so Greg quit his job and with his brother-in-law once more returned to the gold fields. Sandie and his daughter, Amanda, stayed with his sister. Greg and Joe found twelve ounces of gold, which they sold at 600 dollars per ounce. Greg says that after paying expenses they cleared about five bucks — which probably put them in the top five percent, or so, of gold mining prospectors who actually made any profits at all.

Returning to reality, Greg got a job with Good Guys in Concord, while Sandie was the apartment manager of the complex where they lived. Greg said that he worked at Good Guys by day and by night performed maintenance duties under Sandie’s directions.

After six years with Good Guys, Greg became Property Manager for IRM Corporation and was responsible for overseeing ten apartment buildings scattered among Stockton, Tracy, and Modesto. The job required him to drive down Marsh Creek Road four days every week through a cute town called Byron. It occurred to Greg that Byron would be a nice place to live, so he began looking at houses, of which there were only a few for sale.

Greg said that the Realtor asked him, “Are you adverse to looking at properties in Brentwood?”

“Where’s Brentwood?” Greg asked.

Greg bought his first house that day. So when he went to bed that night he had become property owner in a town that he didn’t even know existed when he had gotten out of bed that morning.

Almost immediately after making the purchase, Greg was laid off from the property management project and went back to work for The Good Guys.

Moving into Community Service
Greg’s opening foray into community service occurred when he became involved with the Parents Club at his daughter’s school, Brentwood Elementary. He says that a woman named Michelle Howard challenged him and the next thing they knew he and Sandie were co-presidents of the Parents Club. Greg recalls that the school principal, Kathy Hampton, provided a lot of support.

The original Brentwood Elementary School was closing down. Kathy wanted to sponsor an End of the Era celebration and wondered if the Parents Club could buy t-shirts for teachers and students. Greg added the idea of putting business logos on the back of the shirts as a way of paying for them. The project was Greg’s initial contact with businesses. The t-shirts were so popular they had to re-order them three different times.

Greg became convinced that the Neighborhood Watch program was an important part of keeping neighborhoods secure. Janice Gomes inspired him to take a course through the Sheriff’s Department to get course materials and training. Greg approached Larry Shaw, Chief of Police, about conducting Neighborhood Watch classes in Brentwood. Greg believed in starting the Neighborhood Watch program before it was actually needed. He didn’t want to “take back our neighborhoods,” but, rather, wanted never to lose them.

Greg joined BACUP (Brentwood Active Citizen Uniform Patrol). He was instrumental in the program of posting Neighborhood Watch notices at the city’s entrances. He changed the wording on the signs from “warning” to “welcome” so they read “Welcome! We Are a Neighborhood Watch Community.”

Greg became part of the original BANC (Brentwood Advisory Neighborhood Committee) that Mayor John Morrill started in order to provide a liaison with the city for residents from each community. BANC provided a voice of the communities that helped preserve the Brentwood small town charm. It holds monthly meetings to determine issues and concerns with neighborhoods. Now BANC helps with the holiday Christmas Tree Lighting celebration and is involved in selecting the “Home of the Month” to be honored for a nice front yard.

In 1998 Greg founded the First Annual Craft and Safety Fair at Brentwood Elementary School. The fair was begun in memory of two children who had died in a house fire. He grew it into an all-day event sponsored by the school district and the city. Search and Rescue helicopters and dogs are on display as well as CHP Crash Dummies. Representatives from the Sheriff’s Department, Brentwood PD inspectors, and PG&E representatives are on hand. All the schools join together to heighten safety awareness. Greg chaired the event for two years and then turned it over to the Brentwood Kiwanis Club.

Becoming the Corn King
In 1997 Greg worked as back-up volunteer at the CornFest. He discovered that the festival coordinators needed help with security, so the next year he served as Chairperson for CornFest Security, working with the Police Department. The subsequent year, which was 1999, he again chaired security for the CornFest and helped in other parts of its operations.

In 2000 Greg was appointed President of the CornFest. Peggy Schuitemaker, who chaired the CornFest in 1996, was Greg’s mentor. He also worked with Karen Spann, who was President of the Chamber of Commerce that year. Greg says that three other great people served as co-chairs and helped him to success: Janette (“Nutzie”) Brandt, Kay Partain, and Anita MacKusick. Greg credits their help as being the main force in making the 2000 CornFest one of the best ever. Some of the improvements included moving the beer concessions off of the main routes, bringing back the Farmers’ Market, and restarting corn eating and shucking contests. That year the CornFest was able to give more than 60 thousand dollars to non-profit groups that helped at the fair.

In 2000 Greg also became a member of the PAL (Police Activities League) Board, which is the after-school program for school children. He continues to serve on the board.

In 2001 Greg became a member of the Board of Directors for the Chamber of Commerce and two years later became the Chamber President.

Greg served as CornFest Chairman for three consecutive years. During that time the CornFest raised and donated back to the community a total of more than 150,000 dollars. So in 2003 he was President of both the Chamber of Commerce and the CornFest. Greg says that the CornFest was a way to promote the paper and vice versa. “It flourished beyond my wildest imagination,” Greg says. “Who would have thought that I would run the CornFest and be the Chamber of Commerce President? It happened very fast.”

Mr. Brentwood Press
Greg joined the Brentwood Press in October 1999, just following their launch. The hiring manager was concerned that Greg had too much involvement in the community, but in fact Greg was able to use his contacts with the community to leverage advertising sales. His first assignment was selling special projects, starting with the Brentwood Yellow pages, followed by display advertising. In 2001 he was promoted to Sales Manager, and the next year promoted to Associate Publisher.

Greg joined Rotary in 2001. He was sponsored by Elizabeth Silva, who worked with Greg both at the paper and the Yellow Pages. Greg declares that it was a rewarding experience to be part of such a well-noted service organization that does so many good things for the community. Rotary activities that Greg helps with include several pancake breakfasts for local schools and charitable organizations, helping with the high school district’s Every 15 Minute Program, the Dictionary Project, helping man the beer booth at the CornFest, along with working on two major annual fund raisers – the Golf Tournament in the spring, and the Comedy Show in the fall. Greg is the current Rotary President for 2005-2006, which is the national organization’s 100th anniversary.

Greg admits that one of the reasons he was able to provide all this service was because he never had a lot of hobbies and other demands on his time. He was not a huge sports guy and instead of watching the 49ers or the Warriors, he would volunteer his time in one community project or another. Greg believes that his involvement in community service has made his kids proud. He thinks that it was exciting for his children to have a dad who people called “The Corn King.”

As if all his community service activities weren’t enough, Greg is involved with Immaculate Heart of Mary Church where he is a member – serving as an usher on Sundays and helping with the church’s Monte Carlo Night. He also went through the church’s Emmaus Retreat, which is a weekend opportunity for people seeking to reflect on themselves, their relationship with God, and their community.

Greg says that all his activities provided a way to give back to the community, as well as providing gratifying opportunities for him to use his organizational and leadership skills.

Greg freely admits that he could only do the things he has done because of the wonderful people backing him up and working hard to support the goals that Greg was trying to move people towards. He says that the greatest importance has been the ungrudging support from his wife that has permitted him to carry out all his activities. Greg acknowledges that he has paid a heavy toll in the family time that his activities forced him to give up. He’s thankful that people were willing to listen and to provide support and cooperation.

Greg says that his selection as Brentwood Citizen of the Year was a great and unexpected honor. He had been actively promoting someone else for the nomination this year.

“I’m proud to have served the people of Brentwood,” Greg says with evident sincerity. “I look forward to continuing to serve the people and the city I love for many years to come.”