Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 8-6-20 E-edition

Thursday, August 6, 2020
Sanger welcomes Grocery Outlet to town
The View From Here
I don’t like fussing with equipment while out on a story. Some- times howev- er, cameras are stubborn.
I once
fussed with a
camera dur-
ing an entire
press conference. It was like a parent going back and forth with a toddler during Sunday morning church service. Well, this particular piece of equipment wasn’t a camera rather a stabilizer.
In the last five to seven years, stabilizers have be- come common with news outlets. It’s a small device that cell phones are mount- ed on. Once calibrated, the device is suppose to hold your phone steady no mat- ter which way your turn or how much you move. When it works it does an amazing job.
My experience with the stubborn stabilizer happened about a year ago. There had been a huge drug and gun bust in Reedley. The police chief announced they’d have a press conference the fol- lowing day. I was excited for it, because, well I’m a crime news junkie. I wanted to be there and get every last de- tail on what happened dur- ing the operation.
It was a big deal in Reed- ley, so I decided the best way to tell this story was to live stream the press confer- ence. Our audience wouldn’t just capture the details but the follow up questions from reportersafterward. Ihada mic plugged into my phone and with the stabilizer in ef- fect, my plan was set.
My stabilizer however had other plans. It decided half way through it wasn’t going to work.
I would restart it - and it would stop. I kept a smile the entire time so the police chief wouldn’t notice I was boiling over with rage and wanted to throw my stabi- lizer against the wall.
I knew the moment we added a new video camera to our inventory, I’d proba- bly have another experience like the one that day at the press conference.
This time however, I made sure to give every- thing a test run first. I checked the mic, tested the audio, the video settings to make sure the picture would be clear. I looked for the white balance option to make sure the colors would be even before taking it out on a story.
Even with all the prep work, cameras can still be stubborn. I was pleasantly surprised however when I
SEE COLUMN on page A8
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
It was just before 8 a.m. on the morning of July 30 and already a large group of people were waiting outside the Grocery Outlet store in Sanger to celebrate its grand opening.
“We feel very excited, we’ve been looking forward to this day for the longest time,” said Jose Alfaro.
“I knew that we wanted to own our business a few years back and Grocery Outlet came out and gave us that opportunity.”
Store owners Jose Alfaro and Janice Sabile are origi- nally from Northern Cali- fornia but are happy to call Sanger their new home.
“It just feels like we’ve been here for a long time because everyone has em-
SEE OUTLET on page A8
Juanita Adame
Orange Cove teacher and coach honored by community
Photo of the week
Photo Contributed
Grocery Outlet cashier, Corina Barron helped out one of the first customers inside the store. The Sanger location opened on July 30 to positive reviews from the community.
Eagle Scout builds gardening boxes for Reedley locals Mid Valley Times
Photo Contributed
Members of the Community Garden located between Orange Cove and Reedley posed for a photo with Nick Lopez, an Eagle Scout who worked on building garden boxes for the seniors who help take care of the center.
It began with a small col- lection of tools gifted to Nick Lopez by his grandfather.
The set included a DeWalt drill, a box of screws, a tor- pedo level and a circular saw.
Along with the toolset, Lo- pez’s grandfather, Mike Mar- tinez- who works in construc- tion- also decided to give his grandson some beginning tips on carpentry.
Lopez took the tools as well as the new found knowl- edge and made it a point to do some good in his com- munity. He built a a series of easily accessible garden boxes and donated them to the Community Garden out- side of Reedley.
The boxes are made for easy access to seniors, even for those in wheelchairs. The donation was part of his Ea- gle Scout Project.
Mid Valley Times
White balloons filled the skies of Orange Cove and Reedley on the evening of July 26 as locals gathered to pay tribute to longtime teacher and coach, Larry Nakamura.
Nakamura died on July 10 at the age of 70.
He was well known in both communities by stu- dents and faculty and was described by many as a tough but understanding teacher, coach, and leader.
A space at Eaton Park is reserved for mourners who would like to honor his mem- ory.
Nakamura taught at Cit- rus Middle School for many years and was also one of the
Larry Nakamura, 70, died on July 10.
founding teachers of the Or- ange Cove High School.
The space at Eaton Park includes flowers, candles, and a photo of Nakamura and is open to the public.
More photos on page A8
Contributed
After initial plans for a drive thru party fell through, community members including several officers from the Reedley Police De- partment stepped up to celebrate Emma's 5th bday party. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@midvalleypublishing. com.