Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 3-10-22 E-Edition

Thursday, March 10, 2022
The View From Here
The backroads out in Fres- no County are dan- gerous. Plenty of traffic acci- dents have claimed
hundreds of lives through- out the years.
I arrived at my sec- ond job on the morning of March 5, and was imme- diately assigned my story. I would be covering the fa- tal traffic accident at the intersections of Mt. Whit- ney and Cedar Avenues.
The accident took place shortly after 7 a.m. What I found incredibly inter- esting about this accident is; the two cars that col- lided were each carrying a mother and daughter.
One car was driving north on Cedar, the second car was driving west on Mt. Whitney Avenue and for some reason, the vehi- cle on Cedar failed to stop at the stop sign and broad sided the second car. As a result, a young girl lost her life.
As I talked to the Cali- fornia Highway Patrol of- ficer about the call, I won- dered where they were all headed so early in the morning on a weekend. As the officer and I talked I remembered what usually takes place on Saturday mornings, sporting events. I asked the officer were they going to a tournament or something?
He said yes. He told us that there was sporting equipment in the car. A few days later, the name of the young girl was re- leased. She is 15-year-old, Marissa Cardona from Hanford West High School. Her photo has been circu- lating on social media. A beautiful young girl who seemed to love the sport of softball. Her team photos and photos in her Hanford West uniform have been shared hundreds of times.
The Sanger High School softball team or- ganized a donation drive during their home opener in Sanger against Reedley. By the looks of it, Marissa was a talented young la- dy with her entire future ahead of her, definitely gone too soon.
"She was an amazing teammate and softball sis- terandfriend. Herinfec- tious smile would light up any situation," her team wrote on Facebook. "She alwaus led from the front and would do anything for her teammates."
A young life cut short. Rest easy, Marissa.
Contributed
The Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce is ex- cited to present the Reedley Health and Fitness Expo, a free event with a variety of athletic competitions, free ex- ercise classes as well as work- shops, food and more.
“The goal of this event is to engage and encourage the families in our region to live healthy active lives by in- troducing them to programs and activities that they may not have known about,” said Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce President & CEO, Erik Valencia.
The fitness expo will be held on April 1 and continue throughApril3. Itwillbeheld on the Prima / Wawona Cam- pus in Reedley.
It will also include an event called the Central Val- ley Throwdown; a Crossfit competition that will be tak- ing place all weekend hosted by GnarDog Fitness of Reed- ley. During the second day of the fitness expo there will
Juanita Adame
Health & Fitness Expo coming to Reedley
Contributed / Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce
Children participated in the 2019 Fitness Expo in downtown Reedley.
Reedley man celebrated 100th birthday on March 7
be a competitive 5K run and 2-mile family walk sponsored by Prima Wawona and XCel- erate Fitness.
The family walk is free for students in K-12 using the code PRIMA22.
Throughout the weekend there will also be ongoing pre- sentations and classes for all age groups put on by Fitness Quest Health Club, City of
Reedley Parks & Recreation, Reedley College, and Sierra View Homes.
For more information on registration dates and cost visit reedleychamber.com for a detailed schedule of com- petitive events and workshop times. Or contact the Greater Reedley Chamber of Com- merce at (559) 638-3548.
Concert season kicks off with Musica Viva
Fitness Expo Schedule
- Friday, April 1 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Saturday, April 2 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, April 3 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Contributed
A Reedley local celebrated his 100th birthday on Monday, March 7. Harry D. Willems, the oldest of ten children was born in Corn, Oklahoma and moved to Reedley with his family when he was a teen- ager.
Willems worked several jobs in town including owning his own fiber-sealing business and working as the director of maintenance at Reedley Col- lege.
He married Elvina Epp in October. 1947 and the couple celebrated their 74th wedding anniversary last year with family.
They have five children, Paul, James, Randy, Sandra and Connie. as well as 12 grandchildren and 18 great- grandchildren.
“He has always been a very loving and hardwork-
ing man, managing build his family 3 homes while work- ing full time in maintenance and part-time weekends fiber- sealing,” his family wrote in a statement.
“He loves to ride motorcy- cles, enjoying trips with wife and friends.”
According to his family, Harry and Elvina loved to travel and did so extensively throughout the United States and Canada. They made trips to Mexico and the Caribbean with friends.
The couple are members of the Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church and contin- ue to be involved with their congregation. They currently reside at Sierra View Resi- dential.
If you would like to send a card, their mailing address is PO Box 518, Kingsburg, Ca, 93631.
Contributed
Musica Viva will pres- ent a free concert at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 13 in the First Mennonite Church of Reedley.
The concert will feature local violinist Susan Doer- ing, cellist Dieter Wulfhorst, and guest pianist Faith De-
Bow, the program will con- sist of compositions by be- loved American composers
Samuel Barber, Aaron Copeland and Henry Cowell. The church is located at the corner of 12th and 'L' streets in Reedley, and the pubic is invited to attend
this free community event.
Families attend mini conference
Contributed / KCUSD
More than 200 students in grades K - 12 and their family mem- bers attended the annual Migrant Mini-Conference on Saturday, February 26, at Grant. Renowned speaker Roberto Dansie hosted sessions with elementary and high school students and parents. The parent session focused on strengthening communication in the home, being active in your student's education process and mental and emotional well-being.
Contributed
This photo of Anevay Montiel at her very first Valentine’s Day party last month at Great Western's Pre School was sent in by Anaisa Montiel. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@ midvalleypublishing.com
Photo of the Week