It has been a while since KRL interviewed any local teachers, so we thought it was about time. This week we are chatting with the new choir director for KCUSD, Calista Domingcil. She began this August. Calista says that her job as Choir Director is to teach students how to sing, read music, and work well with others.
Earlier this summer KRL made several trips to the Reedley Farmers Market taking place at Reedley College and made several delicious discoveries—from food trucks covered in our Great Food Search column, to great local coffee and bakeries! My personal favorite finds were Graceful Bakes, Zolú Café, and Butter Me Up Bakery! This week we are interviewing the owner of Butter Me Up, Leslie Valadez from Dinuba, California.
KRL has always enjoyed shining the spotlight on local creators—whether they are singers, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, artists, writers, or actors. This week we are chatting with local actor Chris Giese who has been seen on the stage with Reedley’s River City Theatre Co. many times, as well as at Hobb’s Grove every Halloween, and in several indie movies. Born in Dinuba, Chris now lives in Fresno.
Near the end of last year, Anthony and Evelyn Reyna opened a new coffee shop in downtown Dinuba, CA called Brick & Stone. While coffee is great all year long, as the weather begins to cool off nothing sounds better than a great cup of coffee, so it seemed like the perfect time to learn more about the new kid in town. Recently we chatted with their manager, Mikayla Protzman.
KRL interviews a lot of artists and writers, and during Pride Month, we especially like to highlight those in the LGBTQ+ community. This week we are interviewing local poet Aidan Castro. Aiden grew up in Dinuba and recently graduated from Fresno State.
Here in southeastern Fresno County and a sliver of Tulare County, there exists a school with a geographic reach larger than most. This school has no mascot, no marching band, and no football team. It doesn’t have its own cafeteria or bus fleet. Its student body has never elected homecoming royalty. What it does have is over 7,000 students, enrolled in over 340 high school classes, taught by almost 100 teachers whose primary credentialing criteria is years of experience in their respective industries. For fifty years, the Valley Regional Occupational Program (ROP) has provided career technical education opportunities for tens of thousands of high school students in our area.
During this time of year we like to feature groups who are making a difference in their community. While looking for such a group this year I found The Community Life Garden, just outside of Reedley. Interested in what exactly they do, I chatted with the Executive Director of Community Life Garden, David Gonzalez.
Jon Koobatian is best known as the owner and head chef of Jon's Bear Club in Reedley, California. His history with the Bear Club (he added Jon's to the name when he became the owner) started many years before that. Jon was born in Dinuba, California and has had a love for food for most of his life.
Even as a life long resident of Reedley, CA and a member of the media, there are things in Reedley that I am not aware of. Earlier this year I was approached by someone about doing an article about Kings Canyon High School (KCHS) and set out to find out exactly what KCHS was because I honestly had no idea. This led me to my interview with Randy Bessey, Ed.D., Program Administrator at KCHS which I am sharing with you today! I am glad I went on this journey to learn more and hope you will go on it with me now--you won't regret it!
This Valley is filled with a multitude of talent and we here at KRL enjoy featuring that talent. This week we are chatting with local band The Media whose members are: Pedro Montes (guitar/back-up vocals); Jared Cato (congas/percussion); Miguel Padilla (drums); Steven Balladarez (horns/vocals); Octavio Moreno (bass). They come from several different local towns, including Reedley and Dinuba.
