Mid Valley Times 11-7-19 E-edition

Thursday, November 7, 2019
Vol. 1, No. 19
A salute to the veterans
50 cents
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Joseph Castro, president of Fresno State, talks about the university during a community conversation event at Reedley College on Oct. 30.
Reedley
College
bonds with
Fresno
State
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
Leaders at Fresno State, the Central Valley's largest university, reinforced their ties to Reedley College and the State Center Community College District with a "com- munity conversation" on Oct. 30 at the RC cafeteria.
Joseph Castro, university president, spoke to an audi- ence that included officials from Reedley College, Sanger Unified School District, Kings Canyon Unified School Dis- trict and surrounding areas. Castro used enrollment sta- tistics to show the connection that area students have to Fresno State.
"The number of Sanger and Reedley students, either directly from high school or through Reedley College, is 1,730 students, which is won- derful," Castro said. "And the last five years, it's over 7,000 students. That's 1,700 out of about 24,000 students."
Castro said the university is taking another 1,400 trans- fer students in January, which
See COMMUNITYonpageA11
Sanger's annual parade honors all who served
MVT Staff Report
Sanger residents, visitors and attendees honored all who have served or are serving in the military at the annual Veterans Parade on Nov. 2 in downtown Sanger.
Onlookers lined the streets of downtown Sanger, from Academy Avenue to 7th Street to P Street and back to 10 Street, to watch the proceed- ings. They honored grand mar- shal Dick Sheppard, retired ed- itor for the Sanger Herald and The Times, and viewed up to 10 divisions of parade entries. Many of the entries will par- ticipate in the annual Veterans Day Parade in Fresno on Mon- day, Nov. 11.
Also held on Nov. 2 was the annual Orosi Veterans Pa- rade, which began in Orosi and winds up at Ledbetter Park in Cutler.
More Sanger Veterans Pa- rade photos can be found on Page A16.
ABOVE: Members of the Native American Veterans Asso- ciation carried flags and performed a traditional cleansing and blessing "smudging" ceremony before the start of the annual Sanger Veterans Day Parade in downtown Sanger on Nov. 2.
LEFT: Parade grand marshal Dick Sheppard, retired editor for the Sanger Herald and Mid Valley Times, waved to the crowd before the start of the parade. In addition to the vet- eran's parade, Sheppard will serve as grand marshal for the 72nd annual Nation's Christmas Tree City Toyland Parade next month.
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Sheriff speaks to Sanger Woman's Club
By Rick Curiel
Mid Valley Times
“How did a girl from Ca- ruthers end up in the West Wing of the White House?” Fresno County Sheriff Marga- ret Mims questioned out loud after being asked about a re- cent encounter she had with President Donald Trump.
Mims was the guest speak- er at the Nov. 5 meeting of the Sanger Woman’s Club and spoke to a large gathering about her role as the Fresno County Sheriff.
Mims told the story of how she got into the profession, re- calling how she once worked and as a school librarian, even
cafeteria worker. Thinking she would eventually go into teaching, sitting in on second grade class quickly made her realize that perhaps the edu- cation field was not for her.
Then, in 1979, a chance en- counter she had while attend- ing a retirement party with her dad changed the course of her life. It was a retirement party for the Chief of Police in Kerman. While speaking to the incoming chief, she heard the words that changed her life forever.
“He told me that his goal was to hire the first female police officer for the city
See MIMS on page A12
Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times
Margaret Mims, Fresno County sheriff, spoke to a large gathering at the Sanger Woman's Club meeting and lunceon on Nov. 5. Mims spoke about her story and role in becoming county sheriff.
Dinuba Veterans honor Ed Coats at Oct. 30 dinner
MVT Staff Report
Those who have served in the military were honored Oct. 30 during another successful Veterans dinner at Dinuba Me- morial Hall.
The dinner also served as an introduction of Edward C. Coats, this year’s Orosi Veter- ans Parade grand marshal.
Ed Coats began teaching for the Cutler-Orosi School in 1960, and served as football coach for 32 years. He won four section titles with the Cardinals before retiring in 1997. In 2018, Coats had the football field named af-
ter him dur- ing the grand opening of the new OHS stadium.
At the
dinner, Coats
received a
fair share of
certificates
of recognition from various organizations as well as the city of Dinuba, Tulare Coun- ty, State Assembly Member Devon Mathis, R-Visalia, and State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger. Coats served in the U.S. Army Security Agency
for three years, and he served in Korea from 1953-54 as a Morse Code radio interceptor.
The master of ceremonies for the dinner was Lt. Col. Lo- renzo Rios. Invocation was giv- en by Jacob Huerta, followed by the posting of colors from Dinuba Veterans. The flag sa- lute was given by U.S. Navy veteran Emily Valdez Burnias while Katelyn Oyervidez, Miss Dinuba for 2019, sang the na- tional anthem.
Ed Coats
A photo from this year's Orosi Veterans Parade, Lifestyle, Page A7
George M. Villagrana / Mid Valley Times
Attendees gathered for the annual Veterans dinner at the Dinuba Memorial Hall on Oct. 30.
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