Mid Valley Times 11-25-21 E-edition

Thursday, November 25, 2021
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Vol. 3, Vol. 3,
No. 21 No. 21
Playoff road ends for Emps
Dinuba High's concludes prep football season
for area teams
MVT Staff Report
The Mid Valley Times region's final prep football playoffs participant was eliminated on Nov. 19, when Dinuba High was outscored by visiting Bakersfield Chris- tian 49-27 in a Central Section Division III semifinal at Claud Hebert Field.
Quarterback Brandon Wa- terhouse throw for 233 yards and three touchdowns while Bryson Waterhouse had three touchdowns as the seventh- seeded Eagles (10-3) advanced to the section finals Nov. 26 at top-seed Central Valley Chris- tian (9-4) in Visalia. Dinuba, seeded third in the bracket, finished at 8-5 under first- year head coach C.J. Lester.
More on the game came be found in Sports on page A9.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Dinuba High head football coach C.J. Lester, right, joined his team in a postgame prayer on Nov. 19 after the Emperors' season-ending 49-27 loss to Bakersfield Christian in the Central Section Division III semifinals. The team was mourning the loss earlier this week of a former teammate, Class of 2019 student Johnny Angulo, who was killed in a Nov. 17 traffic accident just south of Dinuba. The Emperors finished the season with an 8-5 record.
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
Patrol vehicles blocked off part of Piedra Road on the evening of Nov. 20 following a two-vehicle crash that took the life of a Sanger man.
Evening
crash on
Piedra Road
Nov. 20 kills
Sanger man
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
A Sanger man who was offering assistance to a neighbor was killed in a late-afternoon rural accident on Nov. 20, when the tractor he was rid- ing on was struck by an oncoming vehicle.
The victim was identified on Nov. 22 as 56-year-old Rodney Wafford.
The accident happened close to 5:15 p.m. The California Highway Patrol reported that Wafford was us- ing the tractor to help a neighbor re- move his disabled pickup truck from a nearby ditch along North Piedra Road near East Weldon Avenue.
Wafford positioned his tractor in the southbound lane of Piedra Road while attempting to connect the trac- tor to the truck, and was struck by a vehicle driving in the southbound lane.
A 41-year-old Reedley woman was driving the vehicle that struck Waf- ford. The woman was in the south- bound lane when the van she was in struck Wafford. The woman had sev- eral children in the vehicle ranging in ages from 8 years old to 16 years old.
The woman and several children were transported to local hospitals with minor to moderate injuries.
See CRASH on page A5
FCSO deputies brighten Del Rey boy's day
ABOVE: On Nov. 9, Fresno County Sheriff's deputies with the Sheriff's Foundation presented birthday gifts — including a new bicycle — to 7-year-old Joseph Mejia, a student at Del Rey Elementary in the Sanger Unified School District.
ABOVE RIGHT: Joseph posed with FCSO deputies and officials on his special day.
Fresno County Sheriff's Office / Photos Contributed
Contributed
Fresno County Sher- iff''s Deputies provided a special 7th birthday on Nov. 9 to Joseph Mejia, a student at Del Rey El- ementary School in the Sanger Unified School District.
Deputies teams with the Sheriff's Foundation for Public Safety came to visit Joseph at the school and present him with a new bicycle and some toys. Deputies also hand- ed out books to some of Joseph's classmates at Del Rey Elementary.
MVT offices will close for holiday on Nov. 25-26
The Mid Valley Times' business offices in Reed- ley and Sanger will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 25-26, in ob- servance of the Thanks- giving holiday.
The Times' two offices will reopen for business at 8 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 29.
Reedley tree lighting is moved to Dec. 2
Popular Electrical Farm
Equipment Parade back in its old format on Dec. 3
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Reedley's annual tree lighting event has been moved off its usual Thanksgiv- ing weekend date, and for 2021 will be held on Thursday, Dec. 2, as part of Reed- ley's Christmas in the Park event.
The tree lighting at Pioneer Park, where a permanent tree stand site was
established during the COVID-influenced event in 2020, is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. during the gathering that runs from 5 to 8 p.m. in the park. Activities include en- tertainment, a train, pony rides and pho- tos with Santa.
Reedley's Christmas in the Park is part of two straight days of holiday sea- son activities. On Friday, Dec. 3, Pioneer Park will feature activities from 4 to 9 p.m. and the annual Electrical Farm Equipment Parade returns to its nor- mal format at 7 p.m. The parade will run along G Street between 8th and 14th streets as in all past years other than
2020, when it was a virtual "reverse" pa- rade.
For more information on Reedley's holiday events, call the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce at (559) 638-3548 or go online to reedleychamber.com.
It will be a busy parade weekend next week, as Sanger is bringing back its annual Toyland Parade at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. The event, hosted by Sanger District Chamber of Commerce, was canceled in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A full program returns this year with
See PARADES on page A16
Classifieds - A10 Directory - A6 Legals - A11-15 Sports - A9, A16
Lifestyle - A7-8 Lights & Sirens - A3, A5
Obituaries - A2-3 Opinion - A4
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