Page 1 - Mid Valley Times 2-6-20 E-edition

Thursday, February 6, 2020
Vol. 1, No. 32
George M. Villigrana / Mid Valley Times Maria Rocca, Dinuba's Junior Citizen of the Year, spoke during the Dinuba Chamber of Com- merce 's annual awards banquet on Jan. 31 at the Dinuba Veter-
ans Memorial Building.
Dinuba
Chamber
banquet
honors
recipients
By George M. VIllagrana
Mid Valley Times
The Dinuba Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet was held Jan. 31 at the Dinuba Veterans Memorial Building.
Businesses who sponsored tables displayed their creativ- ity for the banquet’s theme, “A Night on Broadway”.
It was a great evening for those in attendance as awards were presented.
Roy Brown, Dinuba High School FFA teacher, was named Teacher of the Year and Jerry Carter was Volun- teer of the Year.
The Teenage Citizen of the Year was presented by Linda Conklin, President of the Dinuba Woman's Club. This year’s winner is Karla Gonzalez. Karla thanked the
See CHAMBER on page A6
ABOVE: Evan Sanchez made a fist while he posed for photos during a news conference at the Corral Cafe in Parlier on Jan. 22. The Parlier welterweight signed with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions last month.
RIGHT: Sanchez received advice from his trainer and father, Omar Sanchez, before he boxed in a sparring session on Jan. 23 at the family gym between Parlier and Selma. Evan Sanchez will have his first fight for Golden Boy Promotions on Friday, Feb. 14, in Anaheim.
Photos by Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Evan Sanchez signs with Golden Boy Promotions, welterweight will next fight Feb. 14
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
A little more than 12 months ago, Evan Sanchez was ready to to give up his boxing career. But a fateful turn of events has the 21-year- old Parlier resident with a professional contract and re- newed dreams of someday becoming a world champion.
After two notable knockout victories caught the eye of Jo- el De La Hoya and his former world champion brother Os- car's Golden Boy Promotions, southpaw welterweight San- chez last month signed a con- tract with the lucrative boxing company. He'll make his for- mal professional debut (he's already 6-0 with five knock- outs in amateur/tryout fights) on Friday, Feb. 14 when he takes on Vincente Morales in an undercard bout of the Ryan Garcia-Franciso Fonseca main event at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
SeeSANCHEZonpage A12
50 cents
Parlier's boxing prodigy
Contributed
The 1951 first-ever Valley Championship football team, which helped to fuel Sanger’s long commitment to Apache football, will be the second team inducted into the Sanger High School Athletic Hall of Fame, said Brian Penner, SHS Athletic Director and chair- person of the hall of fame com- mittee.
Others in the 2020 hall of fame class to be honored in May include aquatics stars Mark Wallin and Scott Jett, three-sports standouts Tony Herron and Staci Mosher, wres- tler Jaime Garza, track record holder Diana Macias Copeland, Sanger High program contrib- utor Pat Henry, and coaches Jack Tiftick and Del Beshore.
As Penner noted, the com- mittee worked to emphasize
diversity in sports and eras in coming to agreement on these inductees. Coming classes chosen from the growing list of nominees will continue to emphasize athletic renown, contributions to the overall his- tory of Sanger High athletics, and effect on our community and its traditions and history. 1951 Valley Football Championship Team
The 1951 team won Sanger’s first-ever Valley Football championship against Coalinga with a 26-20 victory on a pass from Nick Papac to Gene Green with 20 seconds left in the game.
Team member names dot Sanger history, including Hank “Scooter” Vasquez, lat- er inducted into the Reedley College Hall of Fame, Dan
See HALL OF FAME on page A12
Photo courtesy of Sanger High School
The 1951 Sanger High School varsity football team was pictured in a team photo from the 1952 Sanger High yearbook. Names of the players are pictured above the photo. The Apaches team — inducted as part of the 2020 class for the school's Athletic Hall of Fame — won the school's first-ever Valley football championship with a 26-20 victory over Coalinga High in December 1951.
Reedley council may donate to Dinuba Vietnam wall
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The Reedley City Council will consider making another donation to the organizers of a replica Vietnam Wall in Dinu- ba that is planning to expand the project.
Officials spoke to council members in a workshop at
the council's regular Jan. 28 meeting. They shared plans to construct trenching and supports for the completed wall, which will be an ellipse 240 feet in length and contain 2,320 names of the 58,000-plus who paid the ultimate price.
"I'm from Orosi, the wall's in Dinuba, but this is your wall," said Romelia Castillo,
who was joined at the work- shop by Navy Gulf War vet- eran Emily Burnias and Ruth Padilla. "I told veterans who are still living, this is for your friends who stood next to you, and they didn't come home."
We're kind of like the invis- ible soldier. People are forget- ting things, and we can't let that happen," Burnias said.
The council had donated an initial $1,000 for the wall when it was first erected four years ago, and work is under way on phase two. Burnias said more than $220,000 has been spent to put up the first portion of wall.
On Jan. 28, the council moved to discuss at a future meeting possibly donating an- other $1,000 to the project.
Sanger High's 2020 Hall of Fame inductees announced
Classifieds - B4 Directory - B5
Legals - B6-11 Sports - B1-2, B12
Lifestyle - A7-9 Lights & Sirens - A3 Health & Fitness - A10-11 Obituaries - A2 Opinion - A4