Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 3-17-22 E-Edition

Thursday, March 17, 2022
The View From Here
I ar- rived on the Reedley High School campus a little before
10 a.m.
I was
there to
take the
media tour
for their newly renovated athletic facilities. I real- ized not long after that I’d parked on the wrong side of the school so I walked for what seemed like miles to cross the RHS campus and then gave up. “I will meet you guys at the soft- ball field,” I said to Renee Delport.
After a few minutes of waiting, the golf cart cara- van of administrators and other media partners ar- rived on to the newly reno- vated softball field.
This was my first time seeing the field that was al- most finished. It looks re- ally good. I had the chance to talk to John Anlin, the Reedley High principal and he told me they have taken a lot of pride in how well the facilities have turned out.
The newly renovated facilities include the var- sity baseball stadium, the soccer complex, the weight and wrestling room, the aquatics complex, the field house, and the softball complex.
While on the softball complex I had the oppro- tunity to speak to two soft- ball players, Sadie Decker and Maryjane Lucero.
The girls were saying how exciting the new field is, not just for their team but for future teams as well.
Speaking of softball, this past week I also had the opportunity to visit an- other softball field. This visit however wasn’t as joyous.
On Wednesday, March 9, I was assigned to cover a candlelight vigil for Ma- rissa Cardona. She was tragically killed in a car accident on March. 5. Her team mates decided to have a vigil for her prior to their first game of the season.
I had the chance to speak to Marissa's coach. His name is Frank Hernan- dez. He told me that Ma- rissa was small in stature, but had a huge heart for the game of softball. He also said she was a born leader. Shewasalwaysthe first one at practice and the last one to leave. When- ever they needed help, she was there.
In all more than 100 people showed up to the candlelight vigil to honor the young player.
a great opportunity to do this and we’ve built some great fa- cilities and we continue to add on and it’s just a proud time to be a Pirate,” Ahlin said.
“And as the principal, and everyone who works at this school, it’s just such a great feeling, today is such a beau- tiful sunny day so it’s a good feeling.”
Ahlin said the construction projects began shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It kind of all worked out in a weird sense when COVID hit in 2020,” he said.
“In 2019, most of those projects were under construc- tion and it all kind of went in phases, the baseball field was done first and then the field house, the entire sports facil- ity and grass area.”
Some of the added features to included elevated bleacher seatings, ticket booth, entry gates, as well as modernized practice fields with safety fencing.
Juanita Adame
RHS athletes show off renovated facilities
Mary Jane Lucero and Sadie Decker
of March. 11 from sports reporter Jason Olivera from ABC 30.
Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
Local television news sta- tions, Reedley High adminis- trators, and other staff toured the new athletic facilities at Reedley High on the morning of March 11.
“Today we’re just doing a tour really to showcase all of our brand new facilities and really highlight our students,” said John Ahlin, the Reedley High principal.
“School is about our stu- dents, our kids are dedicated, they work hard in the class- room and so we want them to
have the very best out on the playing field.”
The tour included stops at the newly renovated varsity baseball stadium, the field house, weight and wrestling room, the soccer complex and the softball complex.
“There is no reason why our students shouldn’t, what
Cat House on the Kings 'open house' event set for April 30
Orange Cove hosted volleyball fundraiser on March 10
Contributed
From left, Jodee Smith, OCHS Learning Director and Alana Wootin
Contributed
The Cat House on the Kings will be hosting their annual open house on Satur- day, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"This will be our first year with only one open house so you will not want to miss this fabulous event," said Lynea Lattanzio, found- er of the cat rescue.
"We have a number of open slots for vendors to participate in the Open
House. The vendor fee is ei- ther $50 or a Silent Auction donation valued at least $50," she said. For those interest- ed in participating, email amandab@cathouseonthek- ings.com.
"We still have room for more cat-themed items or other goodies for our Silent Auction and we could still use more volunteers to help set up and clean up," she said. For more information contact tammy@cathouseon- thekings.com.
Photo of the Week
This photo of 'Ace of Fades' barbershop employees donating their time to give free haircuts in London, Ca, was sent in by Joanna Lemus-Funesin. The hair cut event is hosted by the London com- munity, Save the Children and helps to raises awareness in literacy summeractivities,and specialeducation.Haveaphotoyou'dlike featured? Email juanita@midvalleypublishing.com
answer questions about the new softball complex on the morning
Contributed
An orange cat overlooks a previous year's open house event.
Contributed
The staff at Orange Cove High School and Citrus Mid- dle School participated in the “Anchor Smackdown” on March 10.
The fundraiser was held to help fund the OCHS se- nior class and their end of the
year activities.
“The OCHS gym was
filled with cheering fans as staff members from each school played an exciting game of volleyball,” officials said.
The OCHS staff won the volleyball match against Cit- rus Middle School staff.
Reedley's 'Health & Fitness Expo' coming to town April 1
Contributed
The Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce is excited to present the Reed- ley Health and Fitness Expo, a free event with a variety of athletic competitions, free exercise classes as well as workshops, food and more.
“The goal of this event is to engage and encourage the
families in our region to live healthy active lives by in- troducing them to programs and activities that they may not have known about,” said Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce President & CEO, Erik Valencia.
For more information on this year's expo visit reed- leychamber.com, or contact (559) 638-3548.
Contributed