No Festival of Carols this year; holiday lights event in the works
Today I will highlight just a few of the items provided to me by Steve Kinsey with the rest in future columns.
He says there will be no Festival of Carols this year due to unavailability of school choirs. Kiwanis Club has coordinated the festival in the past.
Holiday Lights at the Museum is in the works with the Delano Historical Society seeking sponsors and volunteers for this year’s Christmas lighting and decorating event.
Businesses, organizations, families and individuals are being asked to help by sponsoring and decorating a building or area at Heritage Park.
Christmas lights and some decorations will be provided. Lighting and decorating will be Saturday, Nov. 27, starting at 9 a.m. Volunteers are advised to wear appropriate clothing and shoes for outdoor work.
A choice of a building or area is available, first come, first serve, by contacting Alma at 725-6730.
The regular Delano City Council meeting Nov. 1 listed a resolution adopting “local goals and policies for community facilities districts and declaring intention to establish a Community Facilities District and to authorize the levy of special taxes.”
That small notice on the agenda drew my attention. I was curious how much that tax would be and if it only affected property owners.
I believe that McFarland has a recreation district and a special tax, so I wonder if Delano has communicated with McFarland on how much the tax is and how the money is spent in the community.
I am unaware after checking the agenda if there was any community input into considering a special tax.
A resolution on the agenda called for the City Council to accept the Gann appropriations limit report for the fiscal year 2021-2022.
The council was also to ratify the “2021 Fremont-Glenwood alley from 6th to 8th avenue emergency sewer line replacement.” Performing the work is JM Pipeline Construction of Bakersfield, not to exceed the budget of $700,000.
The council was also expected to appoint Joey Velasquez to the Citizens Review Committee and to discuss the addition of three new positions for the Code Enforcement Division.
I arrived late at the Delano Elks Club to assist in the process of bagging lunches for a takeout luncheon sponsored by the Greater Delano Area Youth Foundation, with the featured tri-tip sandwich prepared by an Elks cooking crew.
Everyone was working so fast in the preparation to raise money for the Delano Youth Foundation, which has continued “on the move” during the pandemic. At its next meeting, the volunteer directors will consider which areas of the budget to increase.
Very few people know about the foundation, but it raises and awards about $9,000 each year to help with six local scholarships and financial assistance to youth football and baseball programs and summer high school passing league football and boys and girls basketball, programs which cannot legally be funded in any way by the school districts. There are cheerleader groups and some individuals who present requests for funds who also gain funds from the Youth Foundation.
In the early 1960s, then Delano coach/athletic director/community leader Ray Frederick was the main force behind raising $30,000 to light the Delano High School baseball field. He also proposed a Youth Foundation, which has been active ever since and over the years probably has contributed near a million dollars to local youth and youth programs. Ray would have been beaming if he could have seen the directors and families hustling to prepare a takeout sack meal that is an “extra” fundraiser for the Youth Foundation.
I had a list of those helping but LOST the list and will TRY to be on target regarding those helping. Treasurer Brenda Perry-Reed was organizing the distribution of “orders” of the luncheons and also gathered her husband, daughter and son to help out.
Director Richard Torrez and daughter-director Gina Lopez were also busy, and Richard brought along his right hand — wife Susie.
Also there were Gilbert Martinez, Roy Bonita, Ginda Adkins, Jerva Winn and others.
After I email this to The Californian, I will probably remember missing names. I don’t think that Eddie Espitia, Louis Pandol or Albino Duran could be present to assist with meals, but all sold tickets.
Ernesto Marciel, ag teacher and FFA advisor at Delano High, is not a director, BUT he sold 27 tickets for the event so deserves some special applause.
Applause is also due to the many in the community who bought tickets from directors or who heard of the event and frequented the booth at the Elks in support of the Youth Foundation and the youth of this community.
Tonight it would be wise for the public to go through all their clocks and have them “fall back” an hour, which will mean an extra hour of sleep as Daylight Saving Time ends. Students of the three Delano public high schools and, I believe, the elementary school district, will honor Veterans Day next Thursday and add on Friday, Nov. 12, as a holiday.
Then it’s back to the classroom for a week before Thanksgiving week “vacation.”
The third annual Delano Community Thanksgiving luncheon planning appears ready to go from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 25 at Tony’s Firehouse Grill.
Those who plan to pick up a free lunch need to be aware that it is drive-thru or pick-up only, with a limit of four meals per vehicle. The vehicles must enter on
Glenwood Street and will not be allowed to drive up and be served from County Line Road.
The November meeting of Delano Harvest Holidays should allow directors to gain a complete financial report for the fall festival.
An October report indicated that the activities of the festival ended in “the black,” but all details had not been concluded in “the books.”
A new system of placing high school athletic teams into the playoffs apparently is using computerized information to determine which school is rated in what division.
When I first heard of the plan, I thought it was better than placing schools in the playoffs according to their performance over the last few years.
However, Cesar Chavez High’s varsity girls volleyball team had maybe the best showing in school history, 24 wins, 2 losses, and one tie. That boosted CCHS from their usual Division III up to Division II, where they were seeded No. 16 and thus had to oppose No. 1 seed Stockdale Mustangs. CCHS put up a good fight but could not contend with a team that had many more tall girls and also many more with club volleyball experience for numerous years. IF CCHS had not done so well during the season, they could have been moved down to Division II and been assigned to one of the top positions and thus been favored in all or most of their matches and also the home team for all or most matches.