A California Online Magazine with Local Focus and Global Appeal
When was the last time you were at Radio Shack, Best Buy or the electronics department at Wal-Mart? We take computers, laptops and cell phones for granted and something new and revolutionary is introduced almost weekly. Items a year old can be obsolete and grammar school children are more savvy and computer literate than I could ever hope to be.
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Let’s step back into fantasy land, to the hypothetical Farm Show of 1910, when farmers traveled from Bakersfield, Fresno, Coaling Station A, Stone Corral, and Reedley. Back then, just as it is today, there is the threat of rain in the air. That is not going to stop the contingent from Reedley though; they have some of the newest farm and commercial equipment, plus skills, to exhibit.
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The history of the Hotel Burgess lies not only in her turn of the century architecture or in the locally made bricks of her walls, but in the people whose lives touched hers. It all starts in 1889 when one of Reedley’s earliest residents came to town.
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It’s a drippy winter night—Christmas time in Reedley. The storefronts are decorated with lights and the traditional Christmas tree sits in the middle of 11th and G streets. Christmas carols play through the PA system, as Santa greets shoppers along the street.
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Born in San Jose, California and growing up on his parents’ farm near Reedley, Paul Buxman is considered to be a hometown product. He has spent over 40 years painting the San Joaquin Valley in his unique, impressionistic style.
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In case you didn’t know, the definition of Trans-Jammers is (1) 1950s car club in Parlier, California that set a drag racing record and was featured in Hot Rod magazine, and (2) a dilemma between a school superintendent and some eighth grade boys. The story goes something like this…
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One of the most successful events held by the Reedley Downtown Association, the Electric Farm Equipment Parade, was the brain child of local auctioneer Ed Croissant. Sometime in the fall of 2000, Ed was talking with daughter Daniele, owner of the former Coffee and Candy Shop, about ways to promote Reedley’s downtown for the upcoming holidays.
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There was a cold northern wind blowing across the Texas panhandle trying to get into the hospital and chill your bones, the night I was born. Mom had toxemia and I was arriving prematurely. At birth, I weighed a little over two pounds and there wasn’t an incubator in the hospital.
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The third church to be organized in Reedley in the 1800s was the First Methodist Episcopal in 1890. The congregation first met in the home of Charles Gummow, but was able to open the doors of a new church building on the corner of 13th & F streets in 1892.
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The first half of the 20th century was filled with difficult times—from World War I and the Great Depression, to World War II. Reedley did its part for the war effort by providing produce and sending its young men off to serve. In 1946, when it was time for the servicemen to return home to resume civilian life, the Santa Fe depot supervisor, Art Tabler, suggested it was time to bring the community together to celebrate its diverse ethnicity.
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The second church to be organized in Reedley was the First Baptist. The congregation was organized at Wahtoke School in 1888. They met at the school and then in the vacant United Brethren Church until they opened their doors on the corner of Eleventh and E streets in 1891.
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In the year 1888, with a hiss of steam and a blast of a locomotive whistle, the Southern Pacific Railroad crossed the Kings River on to the vast wheat lands of the T.L. Reed ranch.
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It’s Friday circa 1947 — the weekend is almost here — but first I have to get through the day in Mrs. Shellenberg’s kindergarten class at Lincoln School. Friday was spaghetti day and I could hardly wait for lunchtime. When the clock finally rolled around to noon, I sat beside Kenny Parker in the cafeteria while waiting to be served.
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When I was a little boy, Mr. Walt Grawan owned the Sun Kings Café on Eleventh Street. All the local businessmen had hand-painted, personalized coffee cups hanging from a shelf behind the counter. Everybody went to Sun King.
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