Alfredo Farnesi made his mark

For The Madera Tribune

“Skeeko” Alfredo Farnesi.

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Once upon a time, the Fresno Bee published a column by Woody Laughnan, which carried his name with the subtitle, “Around Here.” More than 30 years ago, Laughnan drove up to Madera to visit one of the town’s enduring enterprises — Skeeko’s — and to write a story about one of our town’s landmarks.

Now this writer is aware that many of our readers remember Skeeko’s from first hand knowledge. He is also aware that many others never darkened the doors of that noteworthy establishment.

I fall into the second category, but it doesn’t mean that the history of the place is not interesting to me. “Skeeko” was an Italian immigrant, who was given that nickname by a “Madera cattleman named Gibbs.