Page 7 - Sanger Herald 12-28-17 E-edition

SANGER HERALD 7A THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017
A Sanger Christmas Story
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Not everyone in Sanger had presents under a Christmas tree this cold Christmas morning. Not everyone awoke in a warm bed, had a hearty breakfast and looked forward to a traditional Christmas meal with the family.
Vietnam vet Richard Leahy, originally from Worcester, MA, wearing a red sweater, a Boston Red Sox baseball cap and an almost perpetual impish grin surveyed the
covered dining area in Sanger Park, completely encircled with chain link fencing, and wondered out loud, "What are we gonna do when it rains?"
Then, spotting a homeless person nearby, Richard ran to open one of several containers in the back of his pickup next to a table in Sanger Park. The table was stacked with bottled water, containers of hot gravy and other traditional holiday meal items. His arms full, Richard ran to the very obviously grate-
ful, very obviously homeless man, handing him a Christmas meal.
It was Christmas Day in Sanger Park.
Richard's helpers, who heard about his Christmas project and showed up to volunteer, Jennifer Whittington, Matt Lopez, Larry "BLT" Terry and Jeremy Ridlon also handed out meals.
Other volunteers came and went during the lunch hour. The homeless and the hungry just kept coming, expressing thanks for the
Richard Leahy was not stopped by the chainlink fence around the dining area where he was ac- customed to serving free meals. He set up his kitchen on a park table after won- dering, "What are we going to do when it rains?"
unexpected Christmas meal. Richard opened a bag that was in
the back of his pickup and offered blankets and jackets along with the meal.
Sanger police officer Sergio Arguello, who grew up just around the corner from Sanger Park, stopped by to shake hands and wish a merry Christmas to Richard and his helpers and to those enjoying
a Christmas lunch at nearby park tables.
Not everyone Richard served
was homeless. Some were just hun- gry. Homeless or hungry, Richard didn't ask questions.
Why does he show up in the park on a regular basis, asking nothing in return for a handshake, hug and a free meal?
"Somebody's gotta do it ... and I guess I'm somebody." Merry Christ- mas.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald during business hours at (559) 875-2511.
Photos by Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
tion in January 2021.
All of the above
Those who attended gen- erally agreed that downtown is in poor shape and needs major changes, the most posi- tive thing about Sanger is its school system, the city could do a better job of promoting economic development and we need more stores and ser- vices in town.
A workshop to solicit pub- lic opinion that will help shape a general plan and an active transportation study for the city drew a small crowd. About a dozen residents, plus a couple of city council mem- bers, a planning commission- er and a few city employees made up the small group that watched a presentation pro- jected onto a side wall.
While 88 percent of those who responded said they live in Sanger, only 35 percent said they worked here. That may have explained the responses to the next question about the most important issues facing Sanger. The multiple choices were lack of jobs, lack of shopping, crime, traffic and all of the above. All of the above received 45 percent of the votes, lack of jobs 15 per- cent and lack of shopping 10 percent. Crime and traffic re- ceived zero votes.
Chamber honors
The banquet, which hon- ors Sanger's best, brightest and hardest working, drew a capacity crowd, filling the Sanger Community Center.
Mark and Cheri Melko- nian received the Mr. and
Mrs. Farmer title, while Ron Stukey was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and Pam Viar was named Mother of the Year. Jessica Guerra earned the Citizen of the Year, while Firefighter of the Year went to Capt. David Santos, Police Officer of the Year went to Richard Franco and Educa- tor of the Year went to Rich- ard Sepulveda. Rotary Youth Award honoree was Rebecca Munoz.
Chamber funding re- stored
The highlights of the May 18 city council meeting includ- ed: restoring the chamber's traditional funding for the sec- ond year of its contract; and firing the city's grant writer.
The council restored sec- ond year chamber funding of $60,000. Mayor pro tem Eli Ontiveros praised the cham- ber and said putting back the $10,000 was a way to keep "putting wind in their sails."
The council decided not to renew a contract with Acqui- sition Partners of America (APA) for the next fiscal year. APA is the firm that's been writing grants for the city since 2011. Grants submitted by APA have brought in more than $4 mil- lion and produced a return on investment of $14 for every $1 invested.
FFA funding restored
State funding for Career Technical Education (CTE)
high school programs such as Future Farmers of Amer- ica (FFA) was restored after protests. Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed state budget would have cut funding to CTE pro- grams throughout the state. That was met with protest ral- lies and press conferences up and down the Central Valley. A press conference at Sanger High School was attended by city and school officials, county and state agriculture leaders and FFA instructors and students.
Only a few hours later the governor announced that state funding for CTE programs would be put back into the budget.
More than $123,000 in scholarship money was shared by 151 members of the Sanger High School graduating class of 2017 at the Scholarship Awards Night ceremony on May 24 in the high school mul- tipurpose room.
June
The city council on a 3-2 vote at its June 1 meeting af- firmed its May 4 decision to drop out of a county program that has given the city about $300,000 a year in order to be eligible to apply for state grants that could provide a much bigger windfall.
Council members agreed on budget priorities for the next couple of years:
• Annexation north to high- way 180;
• Economic development;
• Sidewalks and related im- provements;
• Parks and outdoor recre- ational space; • Elimination of blight in neigh- borhoods;
• Strengthen/improve code enforcement;
and,
• Public works (water pres- sure and sewer plant.)
Tassel turning time
The Sanger Adult School graduation on June 1 and the Kings River and Taft gradua-
tion on June 2 kicked off the graduation and promotion sea- son in Sanger.
About 600 Sanger High graduates received their di- plomas on June 9 at the Save Mart Center. It was the fourth year officials have staged the event at the facility, and Sanger nearly filled it to ca- pacity.
More than 650 WAMS War- riors filled Tom Flores Stadi- um for the 8th grade promo- tion ceremony. More than 130 headed to Sanger High have 4.0 GPAs.
Construction complaints
While considering ways to help businesses adversely af- fected by the reconstruction of O Street the city council okayed contracts for more road work. After listening to pleas for help from business owners on O Street the city council approved contracts for reconstruction work on P Street between 7th and 8th streets and 8th Street between West Avenue and O Street.
The work will be similar to the project underway on O Street in downtown Sanger.
Elliott Martinez was a man for all seasons.
He unselfishly served his country and his commu- nity. He died June 16 and his body was buried in Sanger Cemetery on June 23. He was 93-years-old. He will be missed.
It took the school board less than half an hour to approve the budget presented by the district's chief financial offi- cer Marsha Alfving. The bud- get for fiscal year 2017-2018 anticipates total revenue of more that $104 million and an ending fund balance of almost $12 million.
Next week the Herald will review 2017 July-December
2017 YEAR IN REVIEW - January - June
Continued from page 1A
Make housecleaning
SIMPLE & EASY!
A clean you can trust.
Gift Certi cates Available
Covering the entire Central Valley
559-892-1098
Emilio Hernandez
Realtor® Lic.# 01829568
559-360-4440
Thinking Of Buying Or Selling??
FREE Home Value. Buy a home without a valid social security, using your ITIN from IRS.
1533 7th Street #309 • Sanger
Notary Service Cal BRE # 02020120
Protect your family. Prepare for their future.
Sieve Insurance Agcy Inc. Ken Sieve, Agent Insurance Lic#: 0609367 1700 Jensen Avenue Bus: 559-875-7106
Kurt Sieve, Agent.
Insurance Lic#: 0746853 1177 N. Willow Ave. insurewithkurt.com Bus: 559-900-7908
1001388.1 State Farm, Home Office, Bloomington, IL
015743