Arnold, CA…Linda Baker of the Greater Arnold Business Association chose Paul Moeller to be the Grand Marshall for Arnold’s July 4th Parade. Moeller is renowned for founding the Calaveras Community Television Public Access Group. Under his guidance, The volunteers built a studio considered the “jewel of the Mother Lode”. The Studio, which bears his name, is a major source of community pride. The Nearest Public Access studio to the foothills is in Sacramento.  “His accomplishments are so widespread throughout the county, I just felt he is someone under the radar. A person who should be recognized,” Baker said.

Paul as work in 2009

At 89 years old, Moeller is retired. During his 30 years of dedication to “putting this county on the map”, he literally videotaped every major community event from Wilseyville to Arnold. He was always visible on the sidelines with a big tripod on wheels, peering into a camera, amid a snarl of wires, protruding ear phones and wearing his signature beret. He produced over 5,000 shows and taught hundreds of people and students the art of video-production.
It began in war torn East Berlin. Moeller used his skill as a boxer to attend a match in West Berlin and never returned. After his escape, he met and married Martha Baumbach and they settled in Cologne in 1947. “There was no income to speak of. Just to get enough to eat, we became active in the black market,” explained Moeller. “I still remember all the friends who helped me. I wasn’t a good student, but they helped me through the University of Cologne and helped me hang on until I got a Diplome Photographics Engineer. I go back once a year to visit my peers in Germany.”

Moeller came to the United States in the early nineteen-fifties. “We had an apartment, a job and a Volkswagen. My company wanted me to go to America to learn American advertising. We had to give up our apartment and car. Our families thought we were crazy. But a job was waiting for me in San Francisco. We Flew into New York City and went to the car rental. They checked my passport, German drivers license, and gave me the keys to a great big Chrysler. This is it? I didn’t know how to drive it. We had a map and got on the freeway and off we went, amazed at the lack of paperwork and no restrictions. But, this is America! Martha laughed as I learned how to get it out of second gear. But, in San Francisco, the job was no longer available. Martha got a job in a House of Pancakes for $1.25 an hour while I visited every ad agency I could. On that $1.25 an hour, we had an apartment and neighbors that spoke to us each morning, including Jewish people. In Germany, you wait months for an apartment and nobody talks to you. I eventually found work with Kodak. Those two things, the friendliness of people, the low cost of living, we decided then, we would never return to Germany,” said Moeller.

In 1978, Moeller was living in his cabin he had built from scratch on Fullen Road. He read the paper and visited anyone who was hosting meetings, or doing something of interest in the county. He put together a calendar of events, printed with his own money, and distributed them free to hotels and businesses. He volunteered for the Big Trees Association and translated their handouts into five different languages. From his yearly trips to Germany, he would make a photo travelog and show it at rest homes for entertainment.

In 1982, Fred Honold entreated the Board of Supervisors to allow him to install cable television in Calaveras County. Moeller asked Honold at that public meeting, “Will you allow Public Access?” Honold said yes. Moeller immediately advertised for a group of people to form a Public Access Group. Calaveras Community Television was registered as a non-profit with the state in 1983. Moeller then educated the Board of Supervisors to what Public Access was. Given no funds, Moeller charged businesses or individuals $65 per show. At its peak, CCTV had 230 volunteers before management was turned over to the county. Winemaker Bardon Stevenot claimed he got more inquiries from television programs Moeller did, than all of his expensive advertising.

“I found that youngsters from the local grammar and high schools, with guidance, could creatively develop their talents to cover their own school activities and performances, spelling bees, art and sports events with a great deal of eagerness. I realized that the abilities they learned in a video class would be helpful for their total future.”
Moeller learned as much from his students, as they learned from him. Moeller did not seek recognition. GABA made a good choice in saluting Paul Moeller to be their Grand Marshall for Arnold’s July 4th Parade 2017.

Details On The Day…

The Arnold Fourth of July Parade starts at 10:00 A.M. Highway 4 will be closed by CHP at Meadowmont at 9:30. To get a seat, arrive early. The local Lions Club begins serving their traditional pancake breakfast at 7:00 a.m. There will be signs winding people around the parade through the Arnold by-way at Moran Road. The parade ends at Cedar Center and CHP will also be directing traffic from that end through the same by-pass traveling down the mountain. Signs will be posted by GABA officials. The parade takes about an hour and the highway is re-opened when the last parade entry passes through. This parade sponsored by GABA is the 37th Annual Parade and Crafts Fair. The event attracts many visitors to the area and has in past years numbered up to 10,000 people drifting in and out during the day. Come early, be safe, enjoy.