Iron Man of Shafter still just a nice guy
| Monday, Feb 15 2010 11:24 AM
Last Updated Monday, Feb 15 2010 11:24 AM
Once in a while you meet someone who somehow seems very special.
Maybe it's looks, personality, attitude, work ethic, experience or success.
The City of Shafter is lucky to have a person who has all of those qualities and more.
Daniel Escalante (everyone calls him "Danny") is a handsome young man of almost 83 years.
He has a smile that says you're his friend the minute you meet him.
"When Danny is your friend, you have a good friend for life," says Bill Prout, a retired Highway Patrolman and one of Danny's best friends.
The youngest of eight children, Danny was born in East Los Angeles in 1927 and moved with his family to the Mexican Colony in Shafter when he was a year old.
The family was poor, and his parents worked in the fields around Shafter. He remembers picking cotton, potatoes and grapes to help the family when he wasn't in school.
He also remembers shooting rabbits, birds or anything else that was edible to bring food home. Danny attended local schools in Shafter.
In 1943, Danny started work for Nikkel Iron Works and worked there for 55 years before retiring. He started sweeping the floor of the shop and, before long, learned to weld and fabricate farm equipment. He was so good at what he did that the boss, Jack Nikkel, would send him to Buttonwillow, Lancaster, Paso Robles and other farming communities to repair farm machinery. In fact, welding and fabrication are still his favorite things to do.
"He can make anything," says Prout. "If you can imagine it and describe to Danny, or draw a picture, Danny can make it."
There was a short but important interruption to his career at Nikkel.
Shortly after starting his job, he volunteered for military service and served three years in the U.S. Army during the Second World War.
His boss and good friend, Mr. Nikkel, saved his job and upon his return, Dan went right back to work and remained there until he retired. He had even moved up to shop supervisor.
Danny married his sweetheart Julia on Aug. 13, 1948 (a Friday) in Reno, Nev. He had to borrow money from his brother to go to Reno, and people told him it was really bad luck to get married on Friday the 13th.
But he says it is the luckiest thing he ever did.
He and Julia have been married for 61 happy years. They had seven children -- five boys and two girls. Five of the children are still living, one in Shafter. When the kids were growing up, he frequently took them camping to the mountains and to the beach. They all enjoyed the outdoors.
Danny and Julia have 21 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
He feels it is his civic duty to give back to the community, and he has always helped at Shafter High, cooking and putting on barbecues for fundraisers.
In the early years at Nikkel Iron Works, Danny put up the original streetlights on Central Avenue, the main street in downtown Shafter, using a "crane car."
He describes it as a "big, heavy monster" with a crane. Those were the days before "boom" trucks or ladder trucks.
He also set up the Christmas tree and lights in the center of town every year using that same crane car.
When there was a train accident or derailment of a train traveling through Shafter, he used the crane car to lift the chassis and wheels out of the way.
He helps a local non-profit, the Shafter Community Chest, raise money to help citizens that are in dire straits because of medical bills or other problems.
In fact, when I called, he was helping the cooks at Community Chest prepare spaghetti sauce for an upcoming spaghetti feed fundraiser. He served on the Shafter Planning Commission for eight years, the first Hispanic to serve in an appointed or elected office in Shafter.
Joe Kirk, a retired insurance agent and bicycle enthusiast, says, "He is super. He volunteers at the Green Hotel and the Shafter Museum, and he helps me with the bike club, welding bicycle frames. He's a prince of a person."
Adds Shafter City Manager John Guinn, "Danny (and Julia are) the foundation of Shafter. Whenever we have an event, he is always there to help. In fact, I appreciate the contributions of the entire family. I can't imagine Shafter without them."
Most of all, Danny enjoys helping family members at his son Tim's welding shop. He is up early in the morning, goes for a walk and is usually gone to the shop by 7 a.m.
Tim owns the welding shop, but he is a carpenter and general contractor by trade.
At 83 years old, Danny can outwalk and outwork anyone half his age.
But there is nothing brash or arrogant about him.
He is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet. He doesn't smoke, doesn't curse.
He might enjoy a beer occasionally, but says he doesn't chase wild women.
He has values and a great sense of humor.
And he has character, probably gained through heartaches and hard times he has endured. But he's tough, and like that Timex watch, he takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.
He certainly is Shafter's "Iron Man."
Lou Gomez is a community columnist for The Californian. These are his opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of The Californian. E-mail him at lgomez@bakersfield.com.
