WILTON, CA (MPG) - Winter Festival time has arrived in Wilton again, and with it, another opportunity to honor local people who have shaped our community over the decades. This year, the Wilton Winter Festival Parade grand marshals are Bill and Alice Kutzer.

Communities are shaped over generations. People are attracted to a place and settle there for any number of reasons. But no matter what brought them there, those people become the fabric of that community. A patchwork of values and lifestyles that grows and attracts people with a desire for the same. Small American communities like Wilton are no exception to this phenomenon. And today, we honor Bill and Alice Kutzer for the impact they have had in shaping and protecting the community we value so much.

Their Beginnings

Bill Kutzer was born in San Mateo. From a young age, he developed a love for the outdoors, spending time with his dad hunting and fishing. He spent several summers at a ranch on the Klamath River helping his aunt and uncle. The ranch was self-sufficient with many farm animals, a large garden, and lots of canning and cooking on a wood stove. 

“There was always work to do,” Bill says. He spent his days milking cows, collecting egg and gathering hay from the fields. This is where Bill says he developed a true “country connection.”

In 1959, Bill graduated from high school and went on to the College of the Pacific (now University of the Pacific) to play football and pursue a career in teaching and coaching. After graduation, Bill stayed at UOP as a freshman football coach and completed a Master’s Degree in education in 1965, along with credentials qualifying him to teach up to the junior college level. Soon after, Bill was hired as an instructor in the physical education department and head freshman football coach at Sacramento State College, a job that launched a long and rewarding career. Bill says, “All my life, God was opening doors.”

Bill served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1963 to 1969. He graduated at the top of his training company and was honored to carry the flag at the ceremony. He also received the Marine Corps Dress Blues for being first in the class.

Alice Schmierer was born in San Diego. At a young age, she moved with her family to one of her grandfather’s ranches, a grape vineyard in Acampo. Alice has many fond memories of growing up on the ranch in Acampo with her brother and sister. They were very involved in the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Lodi. Because many German-Russian immigrants lived in Lodi, much of the congregation spoke German, and the church service pamphlets were printed in English and German. Alice recalls many traditions, including the annual Christmas play and stuffing stockings for the children in the congregation as a member of the youth group. A highlight recalled by both Bill and Alice is a German opera singer named Inga singing “Silent Night” a cappella from the balcony of the church on Christmas Eve. After all these years, the memory still has an effect on them. Alice continues to stay in contact with church families from these days. She says she and her siblings always felt supported by the close-knit community they had.

Also during these years, Alice developed her love for preserving history. A self-described archivist, she followed in her mother’s footsteps by clipping newspaper articles and obituaries of family and friends. She says her church directories and high school yearbooks are stuffed with articles about events and people in the community.

Life Together 

Bill and Alice met at Campus Crusade for Christ in Stockton in 1962, and they were married in 1965. Not long after, they began to consider where they wanted to settle down and raise a family. They wanted to be near Alice’s family, and they were both drawn to rural life. They looked around Citrus Heights, Lincoln and Newcastle but didn’t find exactly what they wanted. They discovered 80 acres for sale on Colony Road (considered Galt at the time) and wished they could have purchased it all, but it was out of reach. They purchased 20 acres in 1967 with the plan to build a home.

By 1970, the Kutzers were a family of four (their two daughters, Wendy and Roxanne, were 4 and 2), and construction started on the home Bill and Alice live in today. Alice describes it as a Capp home: The lumber for the home was pre-cut and delivered to the site, which Bill unloaded on a northern California summer day… it was 113 degrees!

The project was a group effort, with friends and family helping along the way. Bill dug the foundation by hand while working full-time. The family lived in an 18-foot travel trailer on the premises for six months. As one can imagine, there is no shortage of stories from this time, like when the pipes on the trailer froze and ruptured; or when the roof was sheeted with plywood and the family awoke to pouring rain in the night forcing Bill to climb up and nail the roofing paper to stop the water from damaging the furniture they had already moved in; or when Bill and Alice were on the roof nailing the shingles down and they turned to see the sweet face of their 2-year-old daughter, who had climbed up to the roof to see what they were doing. Undoubtedly, this was a time of hard work, sweat, exhaustion and stress. But Bill and Alice recount the stories with smiles. They are the salt of the earth: unafraid of hard work in pursuit of their dreams.

After settling into the new house, their last daughter, Cindy, was born. As lovers of agriculture, involvement in 4-H was a natural next step. The family was given two sheep: one with a bad eye and one with a bad leg. Those gifts led to the construction of pens and a small barn; the flock reached 30 sheep at its peak. As shearing is required for sheep, Bill became quite proficient. This led to the impromptu formation of a sheep-shearing operation with a few of Bill’s local friends that lasted 15 years. The men would shear sheep for people from miles around; their biggest day was 100 sheep! Bill was even willing to stop by ranches after his workday at Sac State to shear a few sheep when requested.

Because their home address was Galt, the girls went to Arcohe School. Alice began volunteering at the school, which slowly developed into part-time work and eventually a full-time job. Over the years and through the kids’ activities, the Kutzers developed relationships with many people in the surrounding area.

The Community 

When asked what the area was like when they purchased their property, the Kutzers describe a few houses, and mostly open pasture, cows, sheep, goats and row crops. Alice recalls that after corn harvest, there would be hundreds of Sandhill cranes in the fields. There were abundant pheasants, turkeys and Canadian honkers that would visit their land regularly. The Kutzers remember the old Dillard Store as a community hub, with two gas pumps and a meat locker in the back. They also reminisce about the post office located in the back of the Wilton Store until the current post office was built.

In the early 1980s, the boundary lines were redrawn, and the Kutzers’ address became a Wilton address. They joke that they moved from Galt to Wilton without having to pack a single item!

It was after this that Bill became involved in the movement to keep Wilton the rural, country community it has been for so long. When Elk Grove began to look southward in the expansion of its sphere of influence, Bill was a vehement opponent. His involvement in keeping Elk Grove from encroaching on agricultural land and wildlife habitat was crucial to defeating the plan.

The Kutzers (mostly Bill, according to Alice) also became involved in the formation of the Wilton History Group, which continues to benefit our community today. For many years, Alice has been part of the military committee within the group, organizing the annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day celebrations in Wilton. Alice and members of the group have collected significant amounts of military memorabilia, which they display at the events. Alice has also been able to put her archival skills to work and maintains binders chronicling information on local veterans, surviving and deceased. The criteria for representing Wilton as a veteran is to have stayed here for at least 24 hours, Alice says with a smile. She is obviously passionate about the importance of recognizing our veterans in this way.

Regarding the Wilton Winter Festival Parade, Bill recalls Mary Morgan being the driving force behind the first one, and Bill and Alice were there. They have attended many over the years and are honored to be named grand marshals for 2025. Their favorite part of the event is seeing community members recognized for their contributions to Wilton.

This year, they plan to have family in attendance at the parade, including their daughter, Cindy, and her family, also residents of Wilton.

 In addition to the Wilton Winter Festival, the Kutzers plan to spend the holidays with family as they always do. When their three daughters married, Bill and Alice felt they had been given three sons. Now, with seven grandchildren, and two of them married, the gatherings are growing. They are grateful that all three children and their extended families still live in California. Alice counts the opportunity to gather and share memories with family as the second-best gift she has ever received; the first being God sending his son, Jesus, to earth for us.

In talking with Bill and Alice, their love for the rural lifestyle shines. As Bill said of Alice, he knew “she had country in her bones.” Of course, things have changed over the years: more traffic, more houses, less wildlife, water worries. But the sense is that the good has been so good it has unquestionably outweighed any changes in the other direction. They love where they live and the life they created here. They love this community, which was forged over the years by people drawn to its rural charm and authenticity, forged by people like Bill and Alice Kutzer.

The 17th annual Wilton Winter Festival is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6 at the Wilton Community Center (9717 Colony Road). The parade is at noon. H