No Ordinary Joe
Vidrio set to receive another honor at SHS Spartan Stadium press box slated to be named in his honor
He may have not been Spartan born and Spartan bred, but he was definitely a Spartan until the day he was dead.
The man who arguably deserves as much credit as anyone for the Strathmore High football program’s current success is set to receive another honor in the community. At its board meeting on Thursday, the Porterville Unified School District Board will consider honoring Joe Vidrio by naming the Spartan Stadium press box in his honor.
The board will meet at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and will take up the matter of naming the press box the Joe Vidrio Press Box.
PUSD superintendent Nate Nelson said none of the details or timetable has been worked out before the board takes action but there would be some kind of ceremony to commemorate the renaming of the press box.
The renaming of the press box would be another honor of several given to Vidrio, who died in 2021 at the age of 87. The annual Joe Vidrio Memorial Golf Tournament which raises funds for the Strathmore High football program is named in his honor.
In 2012, Vidrio was honored by Strathmore Youth Football for his contribution to that program. Along with Jerry Crawford, an SHS graduate and another longtime SHS supporter and coach, Vidrio established the youth football program in 1989.
When he was honored by Strathmore Youth Football in 2012 he put it bluntly when talking about why he and Crawford started the youth football program. “We were getting our a-- kicked,” said Vidrio about the high school football team.
But the youth football program played a major role in changing that and one of Vidrio’s biggest thrills came when the SHS football team became the first athletic program ever in Tulare County to win a state title in 2017.
The Joe Vidrio Community Service Award which is presented by the Strathmore High Football Boosters during the Strathmore High Football Hall of Fame Dinner is also named in Vidrio’s honor. Vidrio received the first award named in his honor in 2015.
Vidrio’s contributions went beyond the SHS football program as he was also named as a Friend of Education at the annual Masonic Lodge Friends of Education banquet in 1995. He was also involved in the Lindsay Orange Blossom Festival and the Lindsay Lions Club.
Ironically, Vidrio is a graduate of Strathmore’s rival, Lindsay High. But he and his family eventually moved to Strathmore.
The youth football program isn’t the only program Vidrio helped start in Strathmore. Vidrio, an avid golfer, also helped begin the SHS golf program in 1993 and served as the program’s first coach through 2005. He had the privilege of coaching two of his grandsons, Richie and Kuyler, on the SHS golf team.
Rudy Ruiz, another supporter of the Spartan football program, submitted a letter to the PUSD board in support of naming the press box after Vidrio. He noted in his letter Vidrio raised funds for the renovation of the Spartan Stadium press box.
In addition Ruiz noted Vidrio raised funds for an improved varsity locker room and to expand the concession stand. Vidrio also began the golf tournament to raise funds for the football program now named in his honor, Ruiz noted.
The golf tournament has raised funds for equipment and uniforms for the football program over the years. Ruiz noted in his letter Vidrio would take time to fix equipment used in the program.
Another SHS graduate, former player, coach and another longtime supporter of youth and high school football, Robert Garza, and Ruiz helped reestablish the youth football program and Ruiz stated in his letter Vidrio did whatever needed to get the program going again. For decades Vidrio volunteered in the youth football program serving in numerous capacities, including as treasurer.
“He was a good friend and I miss him, but he left is legacy in our community of caring, of hard work, of community involvement, of giving our kids a chance at a better outlook in life,” Ruiz wrote in his letter.
“For these reasons, I am respectfully requesting that the Strathmore High athletic field press box be dedicated to Mr. Joe Vidro and renamed the Joe Vidrio Press Box.”