Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 9-9-21 E-edition

Thursday, September 9, 2021
Sanger prepares for Tom Flores visit
The View From Here
I stared down at the old hardwood floor inside the school house build- ing behind the Sanger Depot Mu-
Juanita Adame
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
It is gearing up to be one of Sanger’s biggest events. The “Welcome Home Celebration” honoring Tom Flores will be held on Saturday, Sept. 18, and large crowds are expected.
“So prior to February, it was about a campaign to get him inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” said Tom Nicholson. “Now, it’s a celebration.”
Nicholson is the son of the late Dean Nicholson, a coach at Sanger High School and one of Flores’ mentions dur- ing his televised Hall of Fame speech.
“Listening to his speech and the recognition he gave to the foundation of Sanger and his experience here including my dad, Coach Dean Nichol- son,” he said.
“What an honor, I mean, here’s a guy with such fame nationwide now and for eter- nity and as a pro football hall of famer still remembers his roots to Sanger, it’s remark- able.”
Karen Pearson is with the Sanger Chamber of Com- merce, and said they are ex- pecting upwards of 10,000 people downtown during the event.
seum.
I walked in with amaze-
ment because as a child I’d play near it and would occa- sionally take a peek inside. Even back then, I was fasci- nated by old buildings.
But I finally had the chance to go inside, I mean yes, it was many years later, (sometime in early 2019) but nonetheless I was still in love with how beautiful it was.
I walked across the room and took a seat. Dick Sheppard was sitting next to me and had brought me a Matchta green tea latte from Starbucks. This was also the first time I met Tom Nicholson. They, along with a group of about seven other people had gathered inside the old school building to dis- cuss the Tom Flores visit to Sanger as well as the Sanger Athletic Hall of Fame dinner that would be held on May 4, 2019.
As I sat down and took a sip of my green tea, I turned to my left and immediately recognized the woman sit- ting next to me. It was Mrs. Harrison. I don’t know her first name because when I met her I was only about 7 years old.
She was a third grade teacher at my elementary school, Jefferson Elemen- tary. She was not my third grade teacher but she was my cousin’s third grade teacher. I couldn’t wait to tell my cousin that I’d run into her third grade teacher.
As we prepared for the Tom Flores visit, I antici- pated meeting him. I’d only ever heard stories from Dick about Tom and how gracious he was each time he visited his hometown.
When the big day arrived, I was told I’d be riding in the bus that would be transport- ing Coach Flores and his family around the various school sites. That would be pretty amazing I thought to myself, what an honor.
That day will be one that lives in my memory forever. Coach Flores and his family are truly genuine and won- derful people, and I’m not just saying that.
He was genuine, ap- proachable and down to earth.
I, along with many oth- ersanxiouslyawait hisnext visit to Sanger and I’m sure this one will be memorable, to say the least.
File Photo / Mid Valley Times
ABOVE: A mural painted by Omar Huerta will be among the presentations during the Sept. 18 welcome home celebration in downtown Sanger.
Reedley United Health Centers celebrates ribbon cutting
“Coors Light has been in- credible in backing up Coach Flores since day one; they were the ones who initiated the campaign to push him in- to the Hall of Fame with their commercial, the one where he opened up the can when he was finally waiting to get into the Hall of Fame,” she said. “With that they wanted to come help us celebrate when he comes back home, so we have a lot of great merchan- dise we want to give and Co- ors Light wants to help Sanger
celebrate him.”
Events will begin on Fri-
day, Sept. 17, during the foot- ball game.
“That will start with a tail- gate, and then Tom Flores will be at midfield for the coin toss and we’ll have the co-captains of the 1951 football team will be there, they are being in- ducted,” Nicholson said.
“That will be a fun night, and that will lead into Satur- day which will be the wel- come home celebration for Coach Flores and his family."
Immanuel Schools to host 9/11 event on Sept. 10
"Tom Flores is a guy with such nationwide fame, and yet still remembers
his roots."
Tom Nicholson SHS Athletic Hall of Fame
Contributed
Immanuel Schools will be hosting a September 11 event on the morning of Friday, Sept. 10 to honor the lives lost during the Twin Towers attacks.
"We have first respond- ers coming from our local agencies," said Julie Torres, spokesperson for Immanuel. "From fire, police, ambulance and game wardens.'
Torres said first respond-
ers will be in uniform with their patrol vehicles and will present short messages, as well as moments of silence and prayer.
"We are encouraging ac- tive duty military and veter- ans to attend, as well as other first responders within our community such as nurses, doctors, EMTs," she said.
For more information contact Immanuel Schools at (559) 559-638-2529 ext. 7109.
Contributed / Danny Jimenez
From left, Colleen Curtis, president and CEO of United Health Centers of the Central Valley spoke to the crowd during the ribbon cutting ceremony on Sept. 2., as Erik Valencia the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce listened in.
Photo of the week
Contributed / Danny Jimenez
The UHC ribbon cutting ceremony was supposed to take place in 2020 but due to the COVID-19 lockdown, it was postponed until 2021.
Contributed / Rumaldo Medina
This photo of Dinuba's Karmelita Francheska Medina from Di- nuba who graduated from Fresno State in 2020 with a bachelors in Kinesiology exercise science during the Pandemic and is now on her way to the University of Franklin Pierce to gain her Doc- torates in Physical Therapy was sent in by Rumaldo Medina. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@midvalleypublishing. com.