Page 1 - Sanger Herald 5-10-18 E-edition

Surfing in the Valley
Looking for a home
Relay records obliterated
page 8A
Lifestyles 3B
Sports 1B
Don't forget mom this Sunday -it's Mother'sDay!
50¢
Tom was in town
Mike Nemeth/Sanger Herald
Anjeanette Zapata, a WAMS engineering student explains the construction of a box she's mak- ing to football legend and Sanger native Tom Flores. Flores looks as confused as Amy Williams is amused. Williams coordinated a tour Flores took of Sanger schools on May 4 starting at Jef- ferson Elementary. He also went to Sanger High where he met with Chuck Shidan, Jorge Pena and a group of students who wanted his autograph. Flores was inducted into the Sanger High School Athletic Hall of Fame over the weekend. Can the Pro Football Hall of Fame be far behind?
Playing hardball with the city council
A sold out community center crowd cheers the Sanger High School Athletic Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Hall of Fame committee chairman Brian Penner summed it up, "The most satisfying part for me was watching families of the inductees cherish the moment their inductee wasonstage. Itwasaspecialsighttosee. They were so engaged and so enjoying the event. Thefamiliesandthecommunitywill remember that night for years to come and for that reason I believe our hard work paid off."
The hard work Penner was talking about culminated in the inaugural Sanger High School Athletic Hall of Fame dinner on May 5 at the sold out community center.
The first hall of fame class included 10 liv- ing and 10 posthumous inductees.
Nine of the living inductees were able to attend the event - Tom Flores, Bruce Barnes, Herman Cooks, Jim Merlo, David Naranjo, Bill Powell, Brian Wallin, Brent Webber and Lynette Wilke. Renee Schneider sent her
regrets. The10posthumousinducteeswere Pete
Beiden, JR Boone, Huntley Dayton, Gene Green, Bill Herron, Nick Katzemayer, Dean Nicholson, Lou Papac, Clare Slaughter and Atomic Torosian.
"Only coaches and athletes were consid- ered for induction this year. Next year and in following years, teams and contributors will also be considered," said Penner.
Those who attended were treated to a red carpet entryway, with free bags of popcorn, a stilt walker and music by the high school jazz band while they checked in.
Once inside there was a memorabilia room filled with memories, a no host bar and mood music by clarinetist Michael Higley, whose music sounded remarkably like that of the great Kenny G.
Silent auction tables were covered with items valued from $50 to several hundred dollars and the dessert auction tables were laden with enough sugar and spice to send even the strongest metabolism into a diabetic
George Armenta/Sanger Herald
It was a big smile, arm wrestling handshake kind of evening for master of ceremonies George Takata, greeting former Sac State All American football player Brent Webber.
coma.
The east wall, behind the stage was cov-
ered with the huge breakaway Apache ban-
ner the football team runs through at away games and and the background for a photo area at the south end of the stage was a huge replica of a past Apache logo, featuring an Apache warrior inside a tent shaped design.
"We wanted to do it right the first time," said Ken Marcantonio, Sanger Historical So- ciety president, school board and hall of fame committee member.
Master of ceremonies George Takata, a longtime Fresno TV personality who is now the Reedley College director of marketing and communication, kept the spotlight on the inductees and seemed to have as much fun as they did.
"We didn't want it to seem like we were ranking the inductees. So we decided to have them introduced in alphabetical order, alter- nating between posthumous and living," said Penner.
As each inductee was introduced and es- corted to the stage a series of that inductee's photos was shown on a large screen at the
See HALL OF FAME, page 7A
Zacarias "Zack" Uribes, WWII veteran and founding commander of Sanger's AMVETS Post 98 has died
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
City Manager Tim Chapa received a "satisfactory" performance evaluation from the city council at its May 3 meeting.
But neither Chapa nor
the council got a passing grade from John Estrada or Melissa Reyna who appeared before the council pleading for the city to find a way to create more softball fields.
Reyna and Estrada were obviously put off by the council's "that was then and this is now" attitude toward a presentation by Reyna detail- ing a sports complex that included softball fields, in a Sanger general plan created in 2006.
The softball field advo-
cates wanted the council to carry through with a plan that had been on the books for about a dozen years.
"We were told that in order for the city to move forward with a sports com- plex it would first have to be incorporated into the City of Sanger's general plan and the parks and recreation master plan, which would be a long process," said Reyna.
"But the need for a sports complex has already been outlined and is already included in both the current general plan and the park and recreation master plan."
A city presentation by management analyst Daniel Galvaez was apparently intended to support Chapa's contention that incorrect
assumptions were made when putting together the 2006 version of the general plan and quick action now on the request by Estrada and Reyna is not feasible.
Chapa did say the city could comply with two of the steps requested by Reyna and Estrada. "We can contin- ue to update the general plan and the parks and recreation master plan to address the need and future development of a multi-sport complex and we can allocate continued funding for development of the sports complex," he said.
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
THURSDAY
MAY 10, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 19
2 sections, 16 pages
CLASSIFIED 4B LEGALS 5, 6, 7B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 8B LIFE STYLES 3B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A
By Tom Uribes
Special to the Herald
World War II veteran Zacarias “Zack” Andrew Uribes, a Sanger area native and foundingcommanderof the Sanger AMVETS Post 98, died April 29 at the Califor- nia Veterans Home of Fresno where he resided. Funeral services are set for May 15 and 16 in Fresno to honor his life’s accomplishments and his military and veterans service. He was 96.
Uribes, who was born Nov. 30, 1921, in Minkler east of Sanger, served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1945 during World War II as a staff ser- geant in in the Asiatic Pacific
theater. He had served on Sanger's Redevelopment Agency and the Health Com- mission.
Uribes attended Frank- wood Grammar School near the family’s 8-acre ranch home and Sanger High School before leaving in the 11th grade to help his family when his mother died.
On Dec. 7, 1941, he was assisting his father and seven siblings on the family ranch on Frankwood Avenue near Highway 180, when news broke of the Pearl Harbor attack that launched United States involvement in World War II.
Uribes entered active-
duty service with the U.S. Army on Aug. 7, 1942. He wasassignedtothe 3346th Quartermaster Truck Com- pany of the 523rd Quarter- master Batallion Mobile and served in New Caledonia and the Philippines as a chief dispatcher/driver and sharp- shooter before his honorable discharge Dec. 22, 1945.
Uribes married Carmen Leon on April 11, 1948 at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Fresno.
They raised a family
of five children in Sanger where Uribes worked for Central California Homes, later known as CALHO, from 1948-1962 where he learned
Zacarias Andrew Uribes
the building trades, special- izing in finish carpentry. He also owned and operated Uribes Cabinets as well as U & M Construction Company in the early sixties.
• May 12 - Battle of the Badges Blood Drive, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., fire department, 601 West Avenue.
• May 14 - City of Sanger Successor Agency Oversight Board meeting, 4 p.m., city hall, 1700 7th Street.
• May 15 - Chamber/Mid Valley Mixer at Marechal Vineyards, 5:30 p.m., 1835 N Zediker Avenue.
• May 17 - City council meeting, 6 p.m., city hall, 1700 7th Street.
• May 22 - School board meeting, 7 p.m., WAMS audi- torium, 1705 10th Street.
See URIBES, page 6A
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com