Community Kudos: The post-draft edition
We understand with all the buzz surrounding his selection by the Denver Broncos in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft if it seems like we had already given Royce Freeman a nod in our weekly Community Kudos.
Not so.
Though we’ve given the story plenty of coverage, we were holding back the official kudos until the appointed time — which is now.
Well done, Royce.
As long as we’re on subject of sports, we also want to tip our cap to Imperial High School senior Ryan Dale, who recently became the first golfer from that school ever to win the Imperial Valley League’s individual championship honors. For more on Ryan, see today’s sports page.
Moving on to the world of art, Imperial Valley native Simon Silva was back home last week to accept his place on the Distinguished Artist Wall at the Carmen Durazo Cultural Arts Center in Calexico. The renowned artist, author and speaker also made an appearance at Imperial Valley College to present a lecture based on his book “Cultivate a Creative Mind: A Guide to Regain Confidence.”
We appreciate whenever a successful person from the Valley in any field comes back to touch base with his or her roots.
Aside from the obvious sense of pride we feel in these individuals and their accomplishments, their visits help impart a sense to our young people how high a bar they can set for themselves.
Roman Sanchez is another product of the Valley’s rich arts tradition. The Brawley native recently represented Region VII at the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, as part of the League of Regional Theatres ASPIRE Leadership Fellows Program. There he claimed the National Arts Impact Award and a full scholarship to attend the Artist as Citizen Conference at Juilliard. He will be flown back to Washington, D.C., to speak before Congress about arts advocacy and the importance of arts in education.
Finally, congratulations to the Imperial Valley College women’s softball team on a fine regular season and on landing five players on the All-Pacific Coast Athletic Conference first and second teams, and getting two others named as honorable mentions. Melannie Ibarra, Sinclaire Mays and Giselle Padilla earned firstteam honors, while Priscilla Silva and Skyler Tyson made the second team. Gabby Ramirez and Andrea Quiroz received honorable mention recognition.
It stands to reason that behind all that success is one heck of a coach. And reason proves correct. Congratulations to IVC head coach Jill Lerno, who earned PCAC Coach of the Year honors.