Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 10-22-20 E-edition

Thursday, October 22, 2020 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
History, like service, is worth preserving
If your name or face was in last week’s edition of the Mid Valley Times, congratu- lations! You’ve now been cemented into the history of our Valley.
A century from now, if not centuries, people here may once again see your face or know your name.
On Saturday, Oct. 17. I had the privi-
lege of covering an event at the American Legion Post 23 in Sanger. I had gone with the expectation of interviewing a 17-year-old Sanger student by the name of Christian Gonzalez.
Christian is a senior at Hallmark Charter School in Sanger and has had the fortune and seeing the world through travels with his parents, who for the most part of his life were active service members in the U.S. Air Force.
The family returned to their roots about five years ago and Christian continued to pursue his goal of attaining the status of Eagle Scout. Saturday morning’s event, a beauti- fication project at Sanger’s American Legion, was the final step in his scout journey.
The rank was expected. He had put in all the work. He had collected all the badges (21 in all) and he had put in all the time.
But what was not expected was the discovery of a time capsule embedded beneath the Legion’s flagpole.
I have to admit. I was completely taken aback.
I had heard of time capsules. In fact, one of my earliest childhood memories is of a time capsule placed in front of the Dinuba Branch Library. I remember thinking what it would be like when the capsule was opened. The plaque on the Dinuba capsule reads that it would be opened one hundred years from the time it was buried — something that would happen long after I’m gone.
So witnessing the reveal of an opened time capsule from nearly a century ago was not only an honor for me, and a moment in time I won’t soon forget, but also a hum- bling experience.
While looking over the items that were pulled from the old time capsule, I couldn’t help but feel connected to the past in a way I’ve never felt before. These were items that told a story from 1923.
It was a time marked by the end of the First World War, as well as a world reeling from the affects of the pandemic of 1918. Yet, we often remember that time as “The Roaring 20s”. Perhaps after living through such tragedies the world was ready to celebrate and dance the Charleston.
And here we are nearly a century later, going through our own rough patch in history, looking forward to the day we can once again dance and celebrate life.
Time has a way of putting things in perspective. But the most humbling experience was in learning that last week’s edition of the Mid Valley Times was put in the time capsule, along with some other items indicative of the times.
Those items will remain buried for who knows how long. When they are finally unearthed, my name, along with every other name and face in last week’s edition will be seen by people, perhaps our grandchildren or great grandchildren, once again.
Christian’s effort in achieving the rank of Eagle Scout is a testimony to his commitment to service. His service led to the discovery of those who served long before us. Perhaps service is the key to making and preserving his- tory.
Rick Curiel is Sanger editor for The Times.
The old Magruder Man on American politics
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Rick Curiel
By Carl Buxman
Guest columnist
My writing this opinion piece is in response to the upcoming presidential election. There is much at stake for our democ- racy and what the country is to be. I wanted to express my very concerned thoughts about this election, having taught stu- dents the subject for 10 years at Reedley High School. I have fond memories of those days, and frequently meet former students who tell me how they remember that class.
The scene was like this; every year on the first day of school, students were handed what was the largest and heavi- est imposing textbook they were to receive. There was a quiet moan usually heard as students opened the most uti- lized textbook in the state of California, called Magruder's American Government!
I knew that each of my stu- dents, if asked, probably would be favoring the same political party as their parents. It was very important that I keep my party registration a secret so as not to turn off half of my stu- dents. It was paramount for me that the students would leave that class understanding the most important values of our democratic form of govern- ment, so it could be alive and well for their generation and the next.
I'm listing some of the im- portant values that I tried to
instill in my students some 50 years ago; values that still are so important today:
• Voting is absolutely nec- essary! This is informed vot- ing. Democracies are fragile to maintain, and if people don't give voice by voting and the government turns corrupt, it is their fault! The vote of every citizen must be encouraged and protected. Attempts to suppress the vote must be stopped.
• Freedoms are extremely important; the freedoms of speech, press, religion and as- sembly are considered inalien- able rights given by a Creator God. It is important to respect people with different views and religions and not demean peo- ple in any way with name call- ing and other egotistical "better than you" ways.
• The Constitution, with its unique system of checks and balances between the three branches of government, must be honored by those in office. Why? Because the nature of man is flawed and there always is the inclination to gain power and turn the system into an au- thoritarian form of government if permitted.
• For more than 200 years we have experienced a peace- ful transition of power between outgoing and incoming newly- elected administrations. This is a wonderful tradition to be upheld. There are indications that, at the end of the 2020 elec- tion, there may not be a peace- ful transition for the lack of an
appreciation for this tradition.
• Presidents
represent, when
elected, all the
people of the
entire country
and not only
those who vot-
ed for them or go to their ral- lies. Presidents need to always strive to be the president of all Americans, and strive to bring us together as a nation. A func- tioning democracy is impos- sible without compromise.
Now to the concluding re- marks from the Old Magruder U.S. Government teacher of 50 years ago. I encourage you all to keep our democracy alive. My secret to former students is that I'm a lifelong registered Repub- lican and have mostly voted that way. This election will be differ- ent for me, as I already cast my vote for America and not the man by voting for Joe Biden. The main reason? The values I taught and really still feel are important, are not important to the current president.
I'm a Republican to the end, and hope the Republican Party will rediscover its soul again. To that end, I have joined the Lincoln Project, a very good group of people that are mostly Republicans hoping to rebuild the party to hold the traditional values of the party after Donald Trump.
Carl Buxman is a Reedley resident.
Settlement with county, state closes book on Immanuel Schools' legal battle
Two court actions in the past week officially closed Imman- uel Schools' legal battles with Fresno County and the state of California in its action of opening school for on-campus instruction to students back in August.
The settlement means the county and state would not pur- sue further action against the private Christian school district in Reedley, and that the campus- es could continue on-campus in- struction for elementary, junior high and high school students. But the school didn't get off fi- nancially free, at least according to televised news reports say- ing that Superior Court Judge Tyler Tharpe on Oct. 20 issued a $50,000 sanction against the school for its disregarding a preliminary injunction filed against the school by Fresno
County. Despite the September action by the county, the school remained open for on-campus live instruction of students. The campus only closed for four days in early October while a deal was worked out.
The settlement was expect- ed, as Fresno County earlier this month improved to the red tier "substantial" status for positive COVID-19 cases. That meant that many schools and districts — including Kings Canyon Uni- fied School District — had filed for and were approved waivers to begin partial on-campus in- struction.
In an Oct. 20 news release, the Immanuel Schools Board of Trustees and Superinten- dent Ryan Wood said that it was important that the school enter into a good-faith negotia- tion to seek a resolution. "Our
goal from day
one was to be
obedient to the
Lord's leading
and to step out
in faith to keep
students learn-
ing on campus,"
the statement
read. School officials reiter- ated their principled belief that being open for live instruction was "best for the academic, physical, emotional and spiritu- al development of our students."
It finally looks like private and public schools in Reed- ley finally are ready to work toward in-person instruction across the board; with schools trying to regain a sense of nor- mally during an unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
Jon Earnest is Reedley edi- tor for The Times.
QUOTE
“Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.”
— W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
Carl Buxman
Jon Earnest
Fred Hall recently underwent a medical procedure and has been out of the office recuperating. His weekly column is schedule to return next week.