Page 5 - Mid Valley Times 4-9-20 E-edition

The View From Here
Juanita Adame
City of Reedley has alternative to Easter event
The greet-
er at Costco
was visibly frustrated.
As he hand-
ed out Clo-
rox wipes,
he directed people to a
line forming against a
wall inside the store.
“Just follow the line,” he grunted.
I was curious, what would Costco be like now?
As I took my place in line, I looked around. To my left, all was normal. I was in the electronics section. Flat screen tv’s, computer moni- tors, nothing out of the ordi- nary.
On my right, however, the scene was much differ- ent. I first noticed a large sign. “These items are out of stock.” The sign listed the items in a bullet point fash- ion.
“Toilet paper, Clorox Wipes, paper towels, water.” The items listed were written in big bold letters, as if em- phasizing to customers, don't even ask about these items because they’re not available.
Next to the sign was a long makeshift wall about waist high, constructed from shopping carts and tied to- gether with yellow caution tape.
Two young men, who looked to be in their late teens or early 20’s, snuck between the carts and under the tape to make their way inside the store. The pair laughed as if they were in middle school misbehaving.
This was my first time visiting Costco since the CO- VID-19 pandemic, the pan- demic that has turned all our lives upside down.
My last normal visit to Costco was sometime in ear- ly March. At the time, there was still plenty of toilet pa- per and paper towels, and Clorox wipes.
Luckily for me I’d stocked up on paper towels and toilet paper, just not the wipes. Not sure when I’ll ever see those again.
I used Clorox wipes reli- giously, on the counters, in the restroom they worked wonders. Since the pan- demic, I’ve switched over to Mrs. Meyers Cleaning prod- ucts. Not too bad, the cleaner smells good and its done an excellent job so far. Maybe I won’t ever go back to Clorox wipes, who knows?
I waited in line for about five minutes. After the wait, another associate opened a small makeshift gate to let me inside the store. The gate was basically a red link chain with a latch. I felt like I was
SEE COLUMN on page A7
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
Normally during the first few days of April, the City of Reedley’s activities depart- ment is busy preparing for their annual Easter Egg Car- nival at Mueller Park.
This year however, things were much different.
Instead, city staff were cautiously handing out Eas- ter egg kits and books while practicing social distancing and remembering to pump hand sanitizer and wipe down areas after each encounter.
“So today we gave out an Easter egg kit to everyone in the community since we couldn’t do our Easter egg carnival that would have taken place on April 4,” said Madison Leighty, recreation coordinator.
“Because of the social dis- tancing, and the COVID-19 issue, we decided to do an alternative,” she said. “We’d heard from other agencies, they were also going to do something similar to this and we thought it would be a great idea.”
Leighty said they had decorated eggs left over and they were trying to decide if
Mid Valley Times
The Sanger Fire Depart- ment took extra measures for its first responders as the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic continued.
In a statement on their Facebook page, the depart- ment wrote that the safety of its crew, as well as the safety of the community, is their top priority.
“We will continue to take measures ensuring safety throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement ex- plained.
“The fire department is working hand in hand with the Fresno County Public Health Department to implement the necessary precautions to protect our first responders from an exposure while en- suring the continued delivery of emergency services to our community.”
Crew members will now arrive on scenes wearing per- sonal protective equipment, more commonly known as
PPE.
According to OSHA.gov,
the gear is worn to minimize exposures to hazardous mate- rial. The website also explains that, personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glass- es and shoes, earplugs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits.
The department wanted to urge that the need for the additional PPE’s is solely a precautionary measure to pro- tect responders and the public from any exposure.
Photo Courtesy The Sanger Fire Facebook Page
The Sanger Fire Department announced they will respond to calls during the pandemic dressed in full personal protective equipment or PPE.
Photo by Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
ABOVE: Practicing social distancing while handing out Easter eggs, city staff posed for a photo on the afternoon of April 3 in front of the Reedley Community Center. Back row from left, Jesus Hinojosa, Frankie Hernandez, E. Amaya. Front row from left, Jesus Rodriguez, Madison Leighty, Jodi Botello.
they should wait for next year to continue the event, or do something now.
“In the end we decided to do something,” she said. “We used the drive through where people could pick up eggs.”
Leighty and the staff didn’t realize there would be such a big response from the com- munity.
“At one point we didn’t know how many people we would have stop by or if we’d have enough eggs for every- one,” she said.
“We posted the event on
Facebook and it was viewed nearly twelve thousand times, a lot of people shared it so we
knew it would be huge.”
The overall attitude from the community, Leighty said, was one of extreme gratitude. “People were really excit- ed that we still had something for them to do because our Easter egg carnival is a big
event in Reedley,” she said. As for city team members, Leighty said the COVID-19 situation is one that’s affected
them all in many ways.
“We are all taking it day by day,” she said. “We’re all still
See EVENT on page A7
"We used the drive- thru where people could pick up Easter eggs."
- Madison Leighty, Activities Coordinator
Sanger Fire takes extra precaution while responding to calls
"We want the public
to know this is solely
a precautionary measure to protect our responders."
- Sanger Fire Department.
Annual plant exchange event canceled due to pandemic concerns
Contributed
Participants from a plant exchange in 2017 enjoyed the day with friends. It was canceled this year due to coronavirus concerns.
Mid Valley Times
The annual Reedley Plant Give and Take was suppose to be held on April 4 but the event was canceled due to coronavirus concerns.
The yearly event takes place at the First United Methodist Church parking lot and is free of charge for
attendees.
“There are plants of all
types, including seeds, bulbs, and cuttings, donated by local home gardeners,” said Diana Bulls.
The joint event was put on by Community Volunteers Central Valley, UCCE Master Gardeners and Reedley First United Methodist Church.