Black man’s life mattered for Dixieland students
Students from Dixieland School, complete with masks and maintaining social distancing, gathered on, Nov. 2, for a special ceremony at the pioneer Akers Cemetery in Centerville. Accompanied by their teacher from last year, Angela Lindsay, and Dixieland principal Lorie King, the students met at the graveyard to pay homage to ex-slave Gabriel Moore and to […]
Madera’s Got Talent names fifth winner
With the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the nation, including Madera, one of the biggest fundraisers for the Madera Evening Lions’ Leos Club was in danger of not happening after four years. However, organizer Ruth Nishimoto got the help of fellow Evening Lions members and her son to successfully film and produce the fifth annual Madera’s Got […]
State program opposes Trump’s call for ‘patriotic education’
President Donald J. Trump’s proposal to promote “patriotic education” through the recently created “1776 Commission” has generated opposition in Sacramento that runs all the way to Madera. Last week, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced that Madera Unified was one of 10 districts that had been selected by the California Department of Education […]
Benny Muñoz: Resident since 1964
This is an excerpt from Neighbors: Oral History from Madera, California Volume 2 by Lawrence F. Lihosit, a local historian. It is available at Maildrop and G.B.S. on Howard and on Amazon.com Books. • • • Benny Muñoz was born the eldest of five on July 26, 1957 in Fresno. When he was very young, […]
Madera South’s Lal honored as student-athlete of the week
2009 For the second year in a row, a Madera South volleyball player was chosen by Fresno radio station KFIG-1430 as its Student-Athlete of the Week. KFIG, which is affiliated with ESPN radio, honored girls volleyball defensive specialist and co-captain Sharalyn Lal for her efforts on the court. Last year, football, basketball and boys volleyball […]
COVID-19 can’t stop good, holiday food
More and more, I am hearing that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, families across the nation should not plan on having large gatherings for Thanksgiving. I can understand both sides of that coin, and I am not even sure what my own family is doing for the holiday. Some in the family have managed to […]
The queen of Bethard Square
Up in Coarsegold, not far from the Chukchansi Casino, lived a grand young lady who, at the time I interviewed her in 2003, had reached the age of 96. Armed with a perky smile, a sharp wit, and tons of memories of early Madera, Emma Josephine Bethards Brooks held this writer spellbound for quite awhile. […]