Page 8 - Reedley Exponent 9-20-18 E-edition

Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Employee Debbie Tingley held “Socks,” the 14-year-old black cat that has become a tradition at David’s and Party Plus, on Sept. 17. Socks will continue to reside at the iconic downtown Reedley bou- tique store that has changed its name to The Nest. Shelli Darrah has purchased the business, opened in 1980 by the late Pam Melville.
RIBBERTO Continued from page A1
Reedley and the Reedley City Council, hereby proclaim Ribberto as the official mas- cot representing the Reedley Fiesta.
Ribberto was designed for the Reedley Fiesta logo by Abrianna Lopez, a 2017 Reed- ley High School graduate and Reedley College art student who is aspiring to become a cartoon animator. Lopez has her artwork featured on two murals on the Rails to Trails Parkway.
Ribberto was the choice for name out of three final- ists — the other two names were “Buddy” and “Reed.” The Reedley Fiesta commit- tee narrowed the field to the three names from an initial pool of public submissions.
Ribberto’s big day began when he posed for photos with landmark animals. He then went to E & D Barber Shop in downtown Reedley to get a “shave and trim” from barber Eddie Vazquez — one of the original organizers of the first Frog Jump contest in 1968. Vazquez still works the event, displaying his unique ability to spur the frogs to jump.
Finally, Ribberto was hon- ored with his proclamation from the city. Among those present in support were a
group of mascots — the Reed- ley High School Pirate and Parrot, the Immanuel High School Eagle, Clyde the Reed- ley College Tiger, the Adven- tist Health Penguin, Smokey Bear, United Health Centers Bear, Fiesta Insurance Crow, Sparky the Fire Department Dalmation and McGruff the Crime Dog.
Erik Valencia, executive director for the chamber, re- minds the public that Fiesta organizers still are looking for food and craft vendors to participate in the 2018 event on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 12-13. Deadline for food ven- dor applications is Friday, Sept. 21, while craft appli- cations are being accepted through Thursday, Sept. 27.
Valencia said the quote for corn dogs, Frito boats, fun- nel cakes, kennel corn, snow cones and tacos has been met so applications no longer are being accepted for those items.
For more information, send an email to info@reed- leychamberofcommerce.com.
THE NEST Continued from page A1
had hers,” she said. “I’m sure that will show in time. But this [theme] is going to stay the same.”
Darrah said her new ven- ture contrasts sharply to her past experience running a business. She owned a Chris- tian book and gift store, Vic- tory Christian books, years ago in Vancouver, Wash., just across the river from Port- land, Ore.
“Yes, it’s very different. Plus, it was many years ago,” she said. “Technology wasn’t anything that we really wor- ried about, and there was no such thing as Facebook or In- stagram. It’s a different ball- game these days, much more competitive. learning the sys- tem.”
Another constant that will remain is the store’s employ-
ees.“We’ll have the same won- derful staff,” Darrah said.
Dale Melville said the store employees kept the store efficiently running during dif- ficult times in his wife’s can- cer fight.
“Pam used to take care of a lot of things,” he said. “The staff the last couple of years, with Pam’s illness, the staff has really been key in taking care of things. Some days she just couldn’t come to work and some days she could. So that staff has done a tremendous job of keeping the store go- ing.”
One of those invaluable employees is Debbie Tingley, who has worked four years with Pam Melville at the store and also worked with her for the Reedley Downtown Asso- ciation. And, of course, there’s “Socks,” the 14-year-old black cat who has been a store who has been a fixture at the store.
“People have been more worried about Socks then anything,” Darrah said with a laugh. “But people have been very concerned that this staff remained in place.”
For now, Darrah is work- ing on learning everybody’s names around town as she builds relationships with cus- tomers and fellow business
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The store has been here for so long. All the wonder- ful things that David’s has done for the community, I want to try to continue that the best way that I can
— Shelli Darrah, new owner of The Nest (formerly David’s)
owners. She said Reedley Downtown Association repre- sentatives Shelly Henderson and Denny Mason recently stopped by the store.
“I asked ‘How do I get in- volved with the Downtown As- sociation?’ and they said ‘Oh, you are!’ There’s no option there,” she said with a laugh.
Darrah called Dale Mel- ville “incredibly helpful and generous, and easy to work with.” Melville said that Dar- rah stepped up at a period when uncertainty surrounded the store.
“We were looking at a lot of options for a while; whether to just close the store or find someone that would be inter- ested in keeping it going,” he said. “She’s been a big help and it’s a good relationship with her. We’ll try to make it successful in every way we can.”
Melville plans to remain busy in his involvement with the Reedley Rails to Trails Parkway. While his sched- ule and responsibilities have eased, he remains busy with consulting and civil engineer- ing for Provost and Pritchard Consulting of Fresno.
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Barber Eddie Vazquez — one of the original organizers of the Reedley Frog Jump marking its 50th anniversary this year — held a Fiesta poster with Ribberto, the event’s new mascot.
Gar Tootelian raises $380K in 5th Feeding Families event Contributed
Reedley-based Gar Tootelian, Inc. challenged the Central Valley to give hope to families and chil- dren dealing with hunger and the response was an overwhelming amount of support. The fifth Feeding Families Fund Drive raised $380,000 on Sept. 14, ex- ceeding 2017’s fundraiser by almost $100,000.
The daylong event or- ganized by GAR included last year’s partners Cen- tral California Food Bank, Farm Credit, KMJ Radio and The Market.
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The Reedley Exponent A8 Thursday, September 20, 2018
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Mascots and officials representing Reedley educational institutions, city departments and businesses posed with “Ribberto,” the Reedley Fiesta’s new mascot, on Sept. 13. That day, the mascot received a formal proclamation from the city.
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