STORIES OF THE PAST
50 years ago
The 1967 California Midwinter Fair shattered its attendance record. A throng of 110,885 persons passed through the gates during its 10-day run.
The fair’s 100,000th visitor entered at 4:32 p.m. Sunday and was beseiged by fair board directors, the fair’s international festival hostesses, music and camera flashbulbs.
The unsuspecting guest was J. Jesus Cabrera Fuentes, presiding judge of the Superior Court of Baja California. The judge was accompanied by his wife, four daughters and a son.
The celebrated visitors toured the fairgrounds and were honored at the “Pageantry of Mexico” the Sunday evening program presented to a capacity crowd in the grandstand. Fair director Al Mix of Brawley introduced Cabrera Fuentes to the audience. The judge received a thunderous ovation from the crowd after a brief speech on cementing U.S.-Mexico relations.
40 years ago
Edson Fielder, Tony Macias and Jim Lilly would have smiled Friday afternoon if they had watched Dave Craig at work on the pitching mound at Stark Field.
No white horse or suit of shining armor was available as Craig rode to the rescue of the Central Spartans in an exhibition clash with the Yuma Criminals.
Filder, Lilly and Macias worked from the Stark Field pitching rubber for Central in the last. Each was a hard throwing right-handed ace for the Spartans.
Craig seems to belong in select company. He picked up a pitching save Friday with fiveplus innings of strong nurling as Central topped Yuma, 8-7.
Coach Dave Middleton used timely hitting and Craig’s pitching for Central’s first win of 1977. The Spartans dropped a 3-3 decision to Kofa earlier in the week.
30 years ago
NILAND — Two Navy pilots ejected safely from a T-34 Mentor training turbo prop aircraft that took off from El Centro’s Naval Air Facility before it crashed into a melon field about 10 a.m. today near Simpson Road four miles southeast of Niland.
The pilots, an instructor and a student, were from training squadron VT-27 out of Corpus Christi, Texas. Each received minor injuries after ejecting from the aircraft. They were taken to El Centro Naval Air Facility’s medical branch by Navy ambulance for treatment.
20 years ago
IMPERIAL — Mathew Buckner’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in the game-winning run as Imperial Valley College edged Palomar 11-10 at the Arabs’ baseball field Tuesday.
With two outs and runners on first and second bases, Buckner entered the game in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter and blooper a single to center field off Palomar relief pitcher Darrel Bereck, which scored Jamie Wicks from second base and gave the Arabs the win.
IVC improved to 2-1 in the Pacific Coast Conference with the victory and Palomar fell to 1-2 PCC action.
The Arabs (4-12 overall) scored eight runs in the bottom of the third to take a 9-3 lead over the Comets (4-11 overall). Wicks, Carlos De La Trinidad, Carlos Duran, Gerardo Niebla and Ricardo Nieblas each drove in a run in the third inning and Victor Otero’s bases-loaded triple down the left-field line plated three Arabs to put IVC up 9-3.