Russell Johnson

From KFSN, FRESNO, Calif.-- Chilled strawberry cheesecake is getting sliced and packaged for customers.

Duncan Cheesecakes is a Fresno based business that loves all things cheesecake, but with a twist.

"Mine's creamy, all my flavors are swirled. You don't get a whole strawberry cheesecake. You get a swirl," said Dottie Duncan.

Duncan is the founder of Duncan Cheesecakes, which makes more than 60 flavors of cheesecake by hand from carrot cake to funfetti.

More than 30 years ago, Duncan found a recipe in the newspaper and fine-tuned it.

"That's very top secret. I don't give it out. There's only five people that know it. The four of us and my other daughter knows it. That's it," Duncan said.

Dottie has been able to share her love of baking with her own children, including daughter Alexi.

"We'd both get up at two in the morning and just start baking things. Cheesecakes, it's something I've been helping her with since I was teeny tiny and could reach the counter," said Alexi McLaughlin, Duncan Cheesecakes

That love they try to create in each slice of cheesecake they serve. They used to sell their treats to friends and now they've started selling them at farmer's markets.

"I cook to get people's reaction. This is fun for me. More than the money or anything, I just want to hear people like it, I like to make people happy and my cheesecake does," Duncan said.

Dottie hopes one day she can take her small business to a storefront and maybe even stores around the country.

A sweet legacy she hopes to pass on to her children.

Posted on: Apr 09, 2020 at 2:37 PM

The opiod crisis has been devastating to the entire country.  More people died from opiod overdose just last year than in the entire Vietnam conflict (ha, ha -- aka war).  Yet, despite losing their 12-billion dollar lawsuit, there is no way Purdue Pharma (PP) will pay that out.  This last week Purdue Pharma declared bankrupcy.  PP will continue to pull these legal shenanigans and will probably pay almost nothing to opiod addiction victims.   Its likely PP will reorganize under the direction of the  bankrupcy courts, pay victims close to nothing, and go on almost unscathed, but possibly under a new corporate name -- but the same old leadership.  Welcome to corporate greed -- even at the expense of epidemic death and family destruction.

Don Tyler, 63, passed away on May 17, 2019. Don was the son of Charles and Claire Tyler of Palo Alto, and the brother to Charles II, Janet, and James, all of whom were raised in Palo Alto. Don's father Charley was the publisher of the now-defunct Palo Alto Times. Don graduated from San Jose State University and had a long career in Marketing in Silicon Valley. He enjoyed fishing, sports, progressive rock, and travel and was working on his second volume of speculative fiction. He is survived by his two children, Maia and Liam of Mountain View, his siblings and nieces and nephews, and many dear friends from 'the old days'.

Posted on: Jul 29, 2018 at 9:24 AM

I recall fun times with Bruce launching model rockets, flying free-flight and radio controlled model airplanes in the Stanford fields.  It's very sad he has passed at a relatively young age.  Bruce died from cardiac arrest/heart failure due to aortic valve disease.

Andy and I shared several adventures in High School.  The most notable was our bicycle ride back from Lake Tahoe in the Summer after 10th grade.  We figured it would be easier to ride back from Lake Tahoe (versus riding up).  We discovered that there are also perils to riding back.  Although there is an 8652 foot downhill from Carson Pass on Highway 88 down to Jackson, its actually fairly up and down, with significant uphills.  Also, we weren't very good at planning the trip or where to spend the overnight.  Instead, we just rode until it got dark.  So, we ended up along side the Clements Diner on HIghway 88, at mile 148.  There was nowhere to sleep except right on the side of the road.  We threw our sleeping bags down by some oak trees on the side of the road.  There were large semi-tractors roaring by all night so we got little sleep -- it was very uncomfortable.  I had just gotten my braces off and I was supposed to sleep with a very uncomfortable positioner in my mouth.  Luckily, I accidently left that positioner near the oak tree in Clements and never saw it again.  I just lied to the dentist about consistently using my positioner. 

Day 2 was even worse.  Today Altamont pass is full of windmills, and there is good reason for that.  We rode along Highway 4 and finally arrived at Vasco Road (near Altamont Pass).  Vasco Road back then was just a winding country 1-lane road (nothing like today's multi-lane road) with a horrible headwind.  We were probably bucking a 30-mph headwind all the way up Vasco Road into Livermore.  This was probably the toughest section of road I've ever been on (worse than any uphill).  Another interesting point, back then some sections of our route were still dirt road, e.g. Camino Diablo road. 

Anyway, we both made into Palo Alto by the end of the second day( day 2 was 107 miles, total 2-day trip was 255 miles).  It was a great adventure.  Andy apparently had enough of that for a lifetime and never did the Lake Tahoe bike ride again.  I've done several times since (both directions).  That first time was probably the most memorable.

I had not seen Andy until the 40th reunion.  I was happy to see him and discuss some old memories.  I'm very sad that he's gone now.  Rest in peace Andy Berte.

Posted on: Feb 07, 2016 at 9:16 AM

Posted on: Feb 07, 2016 at 9:16 AM

Posted on: Feb 06, 2016 at 12:53 PM

I think it is appropriate to post the obituary that appeared in the Los Angeles Times regarding our beloved classmate.

July 28, 1954 - February 4, 2015 Jeffrey Carlson lost his hard fought battle with cancer on February 4, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, surrounded by family and friends. Born in Buffalo, New York on July 28, 1954, Jeff was raised in Palo Alto, California, where he attended Palo Alto High. It was at San Diego State University, where he met and fell in love with his wife Nancy. After graduation, the couple married and moved to Los Angeles where they raised their two sons, Steven and Matthew. While Jeff navigated a successful career in children's clothing manufacturing, he will be more famously remembered as a devoted husband & father, an avid mountain biker, San Francisco Giants & 49ers fan, Grateful Dead / jam band fanatic, skier, outdoorsman, and all around handyman. He will be intensely missed. Jeff is survived by his wife Nancy, sons Steven and Mathew, parents, Rod and Carole Carlson, his brother Tom, sister-in-law Brenda, and their sons James and William, Jeff's sister, Sarah Carlson, her son, Josh, and husband Ras Bonitto.