Page 1 - Reedley Exponent 5-2-19 E-edition

Washington School educator under national spotlight
Panorama
Vol. 130, No. 17 | Thursday, May 2, 2019
Relay for Life 2019
Annual event stirs emotions for families of cancer victims By Juanita Adame
Juanita@midvalleypublishing.co
It was one of the many photographs displayed during the city’s annual Relay for Life event on April 27.
A woman with brown hair, glasses and a smile on her face. Dressed in a gray and black top and a pair of white angel’s wings on her back, underneath the photo, words that read, “In memory of Margaret Ruiz.”
Ruiz died of ovarian cancer on May 23, 2017 and was one of the many can- cer victims honored
during Reedley’s Re-
lay for Life.
The 24-hour fun-
draising event is held
to honor cancer vic-
tims and raise money
to benefit the Ameri-
can Cancer Society.
It includes an open-
ing ceremony, sur-
vivor and caregiver
walking laps around
the track, and lighting luminaries at dusk to honor those who lost their battle with cancer.
“It all happened really quick,” said Darla Gonzalez, daughter of Margaret. “She found out March 23, 2017 and she passed in May. She was gone within a month, a month-and-a-half.”
Gonzalez was at Relay for Life along with her sister Amanda Ruiz, her brother-in-law, Greg Hicks, niece, Emma Hicks and brother, Joseph Ruiz.
The two sisters said losing their mother to cancer has not been easy.
“So for us, the timestamp for Re- lay for Life, every year now it gets to us because we are doing this to honor her,” said Gonzalez. “Because not every- one knows about ovarian cancer. It’s a cancer that you can’t detect, it’s hard to find and by the time you find it, you’re already at stage 4.”
Gonzalez added that both the diag- nosis and the death of her mother was a shock to her entire family.
“She had been coughing a lot but every time she went to the doctor they told her go take some cough medicine,” said Gonzalez. “The way we found out actually, on my brother’s birthday, he showed up to her house and she was unresponsive to him.”
“She didn’t know who anybody was,” she continued. “So we took her to the hospital and then she was sent to an- other hospital after that. They ran some tests on her and that’s when they told us she had ovarian cancer.”
Gonzalez said the event has served as a time for remembering their mother and a time for healing.
See RELAY on page A9
Immanuel volleyball standout will attend Cal State Fullerton
Sports
www.reedleyexponent.com
Reedley (Fresno County) CA 93654 | 50 cents
Annual
Street
Faire set
for May 5
Contributed, Staff Reports
Under new direction, the 32nd annual Reedley Street Faire will make downtown Reedley buzz with activity this weekend.
The Greater Reedley Cham- ber of Commerce — working with just two months of preparation — is quickly pulling together last- minute details for the 32nd Annual Reedley Street Faire which will be held on Reedley’s main street on Sunday, May 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“For reference, we start plan- ning for the Reedley Fiesta near- ly six months in advance, so it’s a miracle we’ve been able to get ready for this huge event in such a short amount of time,” said Erik Valencia, executive director for the Reedley Chamber.
The chamber recently inherited the Street Faire from the Reedley Downtown Association, which cur- rently is working through the pro- cess of dissolution. Without the Chamber stepping up to the plate and the continued efforts of the Nomad Car Club the event may not have happened this year.
This year’s event will continue with the tradition of a car show in front of Pioneer Park put on by the Nomads Car Club. Cars will be lined up along G Street between 8th and 9th streets to be judged for prizes. The event traditionally has attracted custom vintage vehicles from Fresno County and Central California.
Vehicle entries will be accepted from 7 to 10 a.m., followed by judg- ing. An awards presentation will take place at Pioneer Park at 2 p.m.
Continuing south down G Street and ending at 12th Street, there also will be food, crafts, retail, in- formation, pony rides, train rides, bounce houses and entertainment.
There will be two headline acts on two stages. “Without A Doubt,” featuring Merlinda Espinosa, will play at the 12th & G Street Stage from noon to 2 p.m. “Thee Fabulous Enchantments” will occupy the stage at 11th & G from 1 to 3 p.m.
There also will be performanc- es by the Reedley High School Jazz Band & River Rats at the same stage from 11 a.m. to noon. At the 12th and G Street Stage, the Silas Bartsch K-8 School Folkloric Danc- ers will perform at 11 a.m., and actors from Reedley’s River City Theatre Company will perform at 3 p.m.
Relay for Life will once again
See STREET FAIRE on page A3
Margaret Ruiz in 2013
ABOVE: One of the Relay for Life volunteers sent in a photo of the lu- minaria bags that were lit the evening of April 27 and burned throughout the night at the annual Reedley for Life event.
Contributed Photo
LEFT: Photos of Margaret Ruiz were displayed by Ruiz’s family at the annual Relay for Life event. While volunteers and attendees honored survivors
in their battle with cancer, they also shared memories of loved ones and friends they have lost over the years.
Juanita Adame / The Exponent
Stop signs in place at G Street and 9th, 12th
City makes the additions after Feb. 26 approval by City Council
City of Reedley workers spray white paint onto G Street at 12th Street to mark a four-way stop on April 30. The City Council voted in late February to add the two four-way stops.
A truck driving south along G Street stopped at the intersec- tion of 9th Street on April 30, the first day stop signs had been installed at the intersections of 9th and 12th Streets.
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
Downtown Reedley now has traffic controls along six consecutive four-way intersections of G Street.
The morning of April 30, city workers put up stop signs for G Street traffic at the intersections with 9th and 12th streets, respec- tively. For now, the signs include stop signs on the center line of G Street to notify motorists of the new permanent all-way traffic control.
Mary Fast voted against the reso- lution, saying she was in favor of an all-way stop at 9th and G but not so for 12th and G.
Fast said she received feed- back from business owners near the 12th and G intersection that the additional stop signs could potentially harm business. In the end, however, the council major- ity went with the side of safety concerns involving motorists and pedestrians in the downtown area.
John Robertson, city engineer, said the council conducted a pub- lic hearing on Feb. 12 to discuss state and city requirements for the placement of regulatory sig-
See STOP SIGNS on page A3
Classifieds - B5 Directory - A8 Legals - B6-7 Sports - B3-4 Health & Fitness - A6-7 Lights & Sirens - A3 Obituaries - A2 Opinion - A4
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
A resolution to put in the ad- ditional stop signs was approved on a 4-1 vote by the Reedley City Council on Feb. 26, two weeks af- ter the issue initially was brought to the council. Council Member
Jon Earnest / The Exponent