Recorder seeking content from community for special retrospective section

The Recorder will be publishing a very special section in January the likes of which its readers have never read before, and we need your help to make it as memorable as possible.

‘A Place Called Home’ will chronicle the history of Porterville and surrounding communities by compiling photographs and stories over the decades. From the most significant cultural and historical events to lesser known bits of our town’s history, we want to hear your stories and share your pictures with the community.

Recorder publisher Bill Parsons, who has produced this very special section in many towns during his long newspaper career, says that ‘A Placed Called Home’ is like “a trip down memory lane” for readers and has consistently been one of his most popular and successful special sections.

“Porterville and south Tulare county have a long and rich history. From the first settlers to those that live, work and play here today, they have all had one thing in common — they have called Porterville home,” said Parsons. ‘A Place Called Home’ will be a history of Porterville and the surrounding area from its roots to where we are today.

“Our hopes and expectations are that this section will make you smile and renew the pride you have when telling others of the place that you call home. The section is about you, your family, friends and neighbors. It is about the very fabric that makes a community more than just where you live — it is what makes this community ‘A Place Called Home.’”

He and the rest of the Recorder staff are excited to see what the community has tucked away in scrapbooks and attics, and we look forward to putting it all together in a section that will be both a keepsake and a museum in print of the people, places and events that have made Porterville what it is today.

Do you have a firsthand account of when the Hell’s Angels descended upon Porterville in 1963? How about a photograph of Success Valley before the dam was completed in 1961? Old photos of sports teams, family portraits, letters home from combat, or simply snapshots from a bygone era — anything

you think tells some of Porterville’s story over the years — we hope you share your memories with us and our readers.

Photos and documents

can be sent by email to home@portervillerecorder.com or dropped off at the Recorder office at 115 E. Oak St.

We thank you in advance for making a contribution to a section that we hope readers will enjoy for years to come.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO A photo of the old Skateway on the corner of W. Putnam Ave. and Kessing St. The Recorder is asking the community to share their photos and stories of Porterville over the years to be included in an upcoming special section entitled ‘A Place Called Home.’