Readers, This is my last Looking Back column, but Looking Back will continue thanks to Donna Galletti, who will be putting together the column for your and her enjoyment. I know that I am looking forward to reading her discoveries. Thank you for all of the positive comments that I have heard about the column over the years.
Fresno State’s football program gained its freedom Tuesday night in Anaheim in more ways than one. Not only did the Bulldogs humble favored Southern California 24-7 in the Freedom Bowl but Fresno also gained its freedom from all those critics who said the Bulldogs couldn’t play Division 1 football. For Lemoore High School’s Lorenzo Neal, Tuesday’s win was the culmination of a brilliant football career that saw him win a pair of Big West championships, one Western Athletic Conference championship, a California Bowl, and finally a Freedom Bowl. Neal capped his Fresno State career by earning the game’s Most Valuable Player award.
A motorist (photo shown above caption) attempted to skirt instant lakes that formed earlier this week at the intersection of Hanford-Armona Road and Hwy. 41. This was a common sight all around the San Joaquin Valley with measurable rainfall throughout the area and snow in the mountains. The rainfall at Lemoore Naval Air Station over the last 28 hours, as of noon Wednesday, was .31 inches. For the month (Dec. 1992) the rainfall total is 1.83, while the figure since the first of July is 3.05. Although there has been a great deal of flooding in low areas. In recent days, the Central Valley is still a long way from the end of a drought that has lingered for six years.
Recycling of Christmas trees got under way this week in Lemoore according to Dave Wlaschin, public works director. Wlaschin said recycling began on Wednesday and will continue as long as necessary. The recycling will be handled in two ways, Wlaschin said. On some days the shredder will be used as trees are picked up. If the number of trees become excessive, trees will be picked up on trucks and hauled to a central location to be shredded. Residents should remove all decorations, ornaments, stands, and nails from the trees and place them by the side of the street. For residents of apartment complexes, trees should be piled next to the dumpster.
For the next month Lemoore watercolorist Sallie Marcellus will be trying to paint the winter splendor of Yosemite National Park. But Sallie isn’t a tourist making day trips. She’s living within the park as part of Yosemite’s second annual Artist in Residence program. In exchange for being provided with a cabin to live in during the winter, Sallie and the other Artist in Residence each will give one of their paintings to the park.
Upper grade classroom Students of the Month at Meadow Lane School for December are Vicki Finn, Aaron Duty, Ramona Ide, Ron Mitchell, Melissa Jasmanka, Chris Kelly, and Felicia Lizardo.
Lemoore High football standout Lorenzo Neal received yet another honor this week for his prowess on the gridiron: selection to the 80-man all-Northern California football team.
And didn’t it rain! Kings County residents greeted the holiday storm with glee, thankfulness, and a glimmering of hope as rain fell settling whatever dust was left from the “fallout” of the Bakersfield area dust storm last week. That storm had deposited between 200 and 250 pounds of silt per acre in Kings County according to the U.S. Conservation estimate and the following rainstorms brought welcome water in the third year of drought.
The new year will bring many changes to the Lemoore area, one of the more important, the opening of the Save Mart store in the Pioneer Square at 18th and Hanford-Armona Road, shortly after the first of 1978.
Business education students of Lemoore High School under the direction of Francis Albrecht, instructor, were busy at work on their speed tests in shorthand recently. The first to obtain pins this year were Leona Buyense, Reba Fletcher, Doris Avila, and Delores Silva.
Lemoore and Stratford residents in responding with 176 pints of blood to the visit of the Red Cross Mobile Blood Bank in this city last week set a new record for Kings County, previously held by Hanford, with 138 pints donated.
