Page 2 - Mid Valley Times 12-3-20 E-edition

Thursday, December 3, 2020 | A2 | Mid Valley TiMes
Despite dip, Fresno County again tops nation in ag production
Contributed
The Fresno County Depart- ment of Agriculture’s 2019 Crop and Livestock Report was presented to the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 24. For the
Obituaries
Bonnie Lou Ensz
Bonnie Lou Ensz of Fresno died Nov. 14 in Fresno. She was 89.
Mrs. Ensz worked as a school teacher.
She is survived by her daughter, Lorie Ensz.
No services were scheduled. Dopkins Reedley Funeral Chapel is handling the arrange- ments.
Romualdo
C. Escutia Romualdo C. Escutia
of Reedley died Nov. 29 in Hanford. He was 79.
Mr. Escutia worked as in farm labor.
He is survived by his wife, Alicia Escutia, four sons, four daugh- ters, 25 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchil- dren.
A private burial will be held at a later date. Dopkins Funeral Chapel is handling the arrange- ments.
Israel Garcia
Israel Garcia of Reedley died Nov. 20 in Fresno. He was 69.
Mr. Garcia worked in farm labor.
He is survived by his wife, Martha Garcia, three sons and three daughters.
A graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Friday,
second year in a row, Fresno County is the number one ag- ricultural county in the nation.
“Fresno County’s 2019 Crop and Livestock Report once again showcased how this region is the food capital
of the world,” said FCFB CEO Ryan Jacobsen. “A significant amount of the nation's plate originates right here in our backyard with over a third of the country's vegetables and two-thirds of the coun-
try's fruits and nuts grown in California, a great majority of those here in the San Joa- quin Valley. In total, California holds seven of the nation's top 10 agricultural counties, in- cluding Fresno, Kern, Tulare,
Monterey, Stanislaus, Merced, and San Joaquin."
Overall, the 2019 agricultur- al production value in Fresno County totaled $7.717 billion.
See CROPS on page A8
Dec. 4, at Reedley Cem- etery. Dopkins Reedley Funeral Chapel is han- dling the arrangements.
Roger Griggs
Roger Griggs of Orosi died Nov. 28 in Orosi. He was 56.
Mr. Griggs was a business owner.
He is survived by his wife, Kristol Griggs, four sons, three daugh- ters, six grandchildren and nine great-grand- children.
A private burial will be held at a later date. Dopkins Funeral Chapel is handling the arrange- ments.
Sharlene Hayakawa Sharlene Hayakawa
of Dinuba died Nov. 24 in Modesto. She was 75. Mrs. Hayakawa worked as an office
manager.
She is survived by
her husband, Kay Hay- akawa.
A private burial will be held at a later date.
Dopkins Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements.
Richard Holguin
Richard Thomas Holguin of Sanger died Nov. 21 in Fresno. He was 69.
Mr. Holguin worked as a tree trimmer.
He is survived by two sons, two brothers and two sisters.
No services were scheduled. Dopkins Reedley Funeral Chapel is handling the arrange- ments.
James Mize
James Mize of Squaw Valley died Nov. 23 in Squaw Valley. He was 65.
Mr. Mize worked as a sales manager.
He is survived by his wife, Deborah Mize, three sons, six grand- children, three grand- children and his moth- er, Bonnie Mize.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Dopkins Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements.
Maria D. Sandoval
Maria D. Sandoval of Reedley died Nov. 25 in Fresno. She was 84.
Mrs. Sandoval was a homemaker.
She is survived by six sons and five daughters. No funeral services were announced. Dop- kins Reedley Funeral Chapel is handling the
arrangements.
Sanger family gets help from Valley Caregiver Resource Center
Contributed
The COVID-19 pan- demic has plunged mar- ginalized groups into a depression both liter- ally and figuratively. No group has felt the impact by the lack of socialization and inter- action more than the se- nior community.
Dr. Linda Fried, dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Colum- bia University, stated in a university publication, “They’re wondering if they’ll be able to get the care they need. And most profoundly, they’re wondering if they are going to be cast out of society. If their lives have value.”
However, one non- profit 501(c) 3 corpora- tion has been advocat- ing for, empowering, and protecting seniors and their caregivers – the Valley Caregiver Resource Center.
Since July 1988, the center has provided much needed support for seniors and their families trying to navi- gate the challenges, costs, and complications of senior living.
VCRC has been an ad- vocate and a teacher, a counselor and a friend to both seniors and caregiv- ers without the resources or support they need.
In October 2020, Sanger resident Bar- bara Lammons reached out to VCRC looking for help. Lammons became one of three dozen fam- ily caregivers from the Sanger area to become a client with VCRC.
Her husband, Mi- chael Lammons, 78, suf-
Photo Contributed
Michael Lammons is surrounded by his wife and children. With the Valley Caregiver Resource Center's assistance, Lammons was able to receive the proper care at home with his family.
fered a stroke, resulting in her husband becoming non-verbal and unable to use the right side of his body. Lammons and her daughter Merrian Mills needed assistance.
Luckily, they found the Valley Caregiver Re- source Center.
“When my father first had his stroke in September, we had no clue of where to start in terms of securing home healthcare. In addition to the massive concern we had for the overall health and progress ex- pectancy for my father, we had the added stress of wondering how to pay for the amount of care that he would need beyond what insurance would pay for,” Mills said. “Being the one or- ganization that could of- fer us hope and security was everything for us emotionally and allowed us to focus on a plan for helping to support my father in his journey in- stead of the costs associ- ated with home care.”
With the personal, one-on-one help from VCRC, Lammons and Mills found the resourc- es and the financial assis- tance that allowed them
CANCEL Continued from page A1
escalating and uneasy nature of the outbreak, led to what they called the difficult decision to cancel.
The parade, present- ed but the Sanger cham- ber along with the Ro- tary Club of Sanger and support from the city of Sanger, is traditionally held the first Saturday in December. Before the cancellation announce- ment, the parade was planned to be a "reverse parade" with spectators driving the parade route
to bring professional care into the home.
“If you are ever in a situation like we have been in, where a massive health event has hap- pened completely unex- pectedly, you know the stress and the fear that you have every second of every day,” Mills said.
“When my family consultant reached out to us from Valley Care- giver Resource Cen- ter, from that moment on we felt like we had someone on our side, an organization that we were partners with.”
To be eligible for ser- vices from VCRC, a cli- ent must be caring for an adult with a cognitive impairing condition that occurred after the age of 18 (for example: demen- tia, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s dis- ease), or someone 60 years and older in need of assistance with daily living activities.
Moreover, like Lam- mons and her daughter, VCRC serves seniors and caregivers in Fres- no, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, and Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne counties.
past socially-distanced participants.
Also, the city’s an- nual tree lighting cer- emony was held Nov. 28 at Brehler Square in downtown Sanger. For what may have been the first time in the event’s history, the tree lighting ceremony was held with- out an audience.
Only a few dignitaries were present at Friday’s tree lighting ceremony, including outgoing May- or Frank Gonzalez. For Gonzalez, the tree light- ing ceremony was his final event as mayor for the city of Sanger.
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