Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 9-5-19 E-edition

Miss Dinuba contestants seek to win the 2019 crown
Times staff
Seven young women plan to compete in this year’s Miss Dinuba Pageant on Sept. 14. Contestants include Sally Bledsoe, Susie Medina, Briana Ruiz, Vanessa Hernandez, Haley Kennedy, Kaitlyn Oyervidez and Kyra Cortez.
This year’s pageant theme is Run for the Roses.
A series of Miss Dinuba Pageant contestant profiles will run in the Mid Valley Times leading up to the event. Look for continuing coverage.
The pageant will be held at 6 p.m. in Dinuba High School’s Hellbaum Auditorium, 340 East Kern St. in Dinuba.
For ticket information,
Sally Bledsoe
contact the Dinuba Chamber of Commerce at (559) 591-2707 or visit www.dinubachamber. com.
Sally Bledsoe
Sally Bledsoe, I7, is the daughter of Samuel and Suzanne Bledsoe and a senior at Dinuba High
Susie Medina
School.
Bledsoe’s honors
include an academic letter and three white chevrons for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average throughout her high school career.
She has been a member or both the
Bianca Ruiz
Dinuba High School Marching Band and the Medical Academy for four years. She has also been involved in student council for three years and has attended leadership camps such as HOBY and CASL. She was also part of the #LEAD program.
Vanessa Hernandez
Her future plans are to attend the University of Washington in Seattle and major in biochemistry. She would also like to minor in music.
Bledsoe’s platform is Autism. She chose autism awareness as her platform because
she always felt the bad stigma around the disorder should be eliminated. She said more people should accept that autism is a real thing and should not discriminate against someone for having the disorder.
Bledsoe said she would like to be Miss Dinuba because it would help her give back to the community that gave her life and to be a role model for kids who need someone to look up to.
Susie Medina
Susie Medina, I7, is the daughter of Jose and Maria Medina and a senior at Dinuba High.
Her honors include an academic letter and four white chevrons.
See Miss on page A8
Raising the best cows in the country
By Mike Nemeth
Mid Valley Times
Mason Tarr introduced Lula who had been hanging out in the shade just below the barn on his family’s spread in the rolling hills off Watts Valley Road.
“She’s a battle ax,” Mason said. “Very ...” He paused. “She’s a bull.”
Imposing, especially at 1,700 pounds. Lula is all Angus, with a shiny deep black coat. She’s the matriarch of the Tarr family’s nationally recognized cattle.
On this particular Friday afternoon, Lula was the first to greet Tarr, 19, and this visitor in her field. Her dominant role in the herd appeared obvious. She allowed a face scratch but was probably more interested in a snack. Still, she was perfectly comfortable with company of the two- legged variety.
With her was Coco, who Mason took to Reno in April for a competition in which she blew away the rest. A post from the American
Mike Nemeth / Mid Valley Times
Mason Tarr has established a national reputation as a guy who can raise prize-winning Angus cattle. Here he is on his family farm off Watts Valley Road. Below right is Lula, the matriarch of the Angus clan on the Tarr farm.
will keep gaining as her gestating calf develops. Angie Tarr, Mason’s mom, explained Coco’s win. “Means she looks good AND has good genetics,” Angie said via text. “All Angus cattle have EPD scores (expected progeny differences) on their registrations. It is a tool to hopefully be able to predict how babies will
turn out.”
Mason Tarr also
represented California at the 2019 National Junior Angus Showmanship Contest, held in conjunction with the National Junior Angus Show from July 18 to 20 in Louisville, Ky. He was among 49 young people from across the country who competed for top honors in the 53rd annual event.
Coco and Mason didn’t repeat the win on the national scale in Louisville. Perhaps because the cattle in that competition are judged solely on phenotype, or how they looked, rather than also factoring in their genetics like the Reno competition, Angie said.
Angus Association read: “Congratulations to Mason Tarr, exhibiting Grand Champion Phenotype and Genotype Female at the 2019 Western Regional Junior Angus Show in
Reno in April with LVS Eldorene 1807.”
That’s Coco’s official name. Mason described her as “very princess, pampered. Knows her worth.” She weighs about 1,300 pounds and
SeeMasononpage A9 New water bottle refilling stations put in schools by Kaiser grant
Kaiser Permanente Fresno photo
Kaiser Permanente Fresno has worked with Sanger Uni- fied School District to get water filling stations for kids.
Submitted
Sanger students will have a healthy start to the school year with access to new refillable water bottle stations thanks to a Kaiser Permanente Fresno grant.
Sanger and Madera unified school districts each received a $75,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente Fresno to purchase and install new refillable water bottle stations.
Installation took place over the summer and now most of the schools in both districts have water stations available to students and staff.
“Most of them are up and running and the kids absolutely love them,” said Brian Chiarito, director of child nutrition services for Madera Unified. “They’re being used all of the time.”
Madera Unified installed 34 new water bottle stations at schools
throughout the district. Sanger Unified has17 new stations — enough for two at almost every school in the district and plans to install several more, said Jimmy Robles, director of support services for
Sanger Unified. “We’ve pretty much
got them in locations thatareheavilytraveled and accessible, like in our cafeterias,” he said. “Kids are lining up to use them.”
Kaiser Permanente
Fresno has given grants to install refillable water stations at schools throughout the central San Joaquin Valley, including Fresno Unified and Central Unified. The refillable stations are a good way to ensure students are drinking water throughout the school day.
“Drinking water keeps students healthy, so they can focus in
See Kaiser on page A9