Special Friends Day at the fair
It’s been more than two and a half years or more, and young and old alike in the developmentally disabled community were excited to spend a morning having fun with their teachers, aides, and parents at the 2022 Porterville Fair.
Porterville Breakfast Rotary members and volunteers from various high schools and other organizations set up sensory related activities like “milking” a wooden cow into a bucket where they had to pull on the teats and learning to plant flowers in a cup with dirt, and other activities like the petting zoo and more. Many of the special friends and students enjoyed singing karaoke at Greg Childress Porterville Breakfast Rotary Stage on Thursday, May 12.
Jahaida Raya and Bethany Magallon were having a wonderful time singing on stage, followed by Luis, and then Jackie Arredondo singing a song by Taylor Swift. Both Raya and Magallon are students of CBI, with their teacher Andy Montgomery.
Jennifer Giannetto with the Porterville ACCEL Program and TCOE watched the young people sing and she danced with one of the students to the loud music, and said, “Today fills my bucket to overflowing.” Everyone was having a marvelous time, singing along, dancing, having snacks, or going on rides with their aides or parents.
Heidi Beal was meeting people and talking with the teachers involved in Special
Friends Day as well as enjoying the enthusiasm and joyous atmosphere.
Beal and her partner, Kenny are developing Constellation Farms, which is a new non-profit organization in Springville, to empower and sustain high school graduates and older special needs individuals in a social, creative, and educational space.
Volunteers from Porterville Military Academy and Happy Trails were also helping with the sensory activities.
Leslie Gardner of Happy Trails said they have been helping on Special Friends Day for years, and it has always been a privilege to be there.
Davian Torres from Granite Hills tried milking the cow, and said it was a pretty cool experience, “I didn’t think it was like that.”
Diana Costello from Olive Street School said it was such a nice day for the students to enjoy the fair rides and other activities, “It’s a pleasure to be a part of Special Friends Day.”
Raquel Galino and Tommy Cano watched their young daughter Violet Cano ride the Merry-goround, which she clearly enjoyed, while being helped by a teacher or aide. “I would encourage many people of Porterville to come out and appreciate the fun the Special Friends community has at the fair, and participate. Maybe next year it will be even bigger.”
Salvador Martinez, from Monache FFA spoke about the Porterville Fair and said it was a great experience. “You have lots of opportunities to meet people when you raise animals. I had a lot of fun raising my chickens, and will continue to do so.”
Jennifer Avila, her teenage son Brayden, granddaughter Sawyer Ensley Hobson, 3, and Amber Rafferty were walking towards the fair rides. Rafferty said this is such a great event, “To see the smiles on all the kids faces - it is pure joy. I’ve been coming here for 10 years, since Brayden was in first grade.”
Jennifer said, “It’s always been a lot of fun when I’ve been able to bring my grandkids. It’s been quite an experience getting the kids back into society, and their yearly outings, which they are so accustomed to.”
Isaac Ramirez, a PMA cadet, said, “We’ve enjoyed coming out to the fair and supporting the community.”
Jennifer Ramirez, who’s a fair staff member, has been working there for quite a while, and she said all the visitors are so respectful. “It’s a wonderful place to come with the family and friends, and we are so glad everyone can come out again, especially the kids.”
Porterville College Ag Teacher and Fair volunteer, Cindy Brown, said everyone she’d talked to was just so excited to be back at the fair, “Especially the FFA students and all the 4-H Club community, since it’s the first time in two-and-half years, almost three that they’ve been able to show.
“People lost a lot of traction over time. And now we’re back.”