Hanford Insider: BIG Weekend Spotlight!

Welcome And Top Local Updates

SPEAKER_03 0:00

On this week's Hanford Insider, we've got a triple feature with previews of the Renaissance Fair, the Moon Festival, and the Fire Department open house all happening this weekend. Rob will have your community news, and I'll be back with your sports report. This is the Hanford Insider for September 28th.

SPEAKER_04 0:41

Welcome to this edition of the Hanford Insider Podcast. I'm Rob Bentley, bringing you the people, places, stories, and events that make Hanford and Kings County such a great place to call home. So sit back and let's get to know what's happening right here in our community. In community news this week, the Hanford Police Canine Foundation let us know that canine Officer Jet is ill and receiving care from specialists down in Irvine. They're asking the community for support for the care of Jet. To make a donation, you can contact the Hanford Police Department. After seven decades of serving the Central Valley, Craig Johnson's announcing his retirement and farewell sale at Salmon's Furniture Galleries in downtown Hanford. We wish him the best in his retirement, and we thank him for being such a great advocate for downtown businesses. The large 35,000 square foot building was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 2001. I don't see it being vacant for long, though. What do you think should go in that spot?

Community Calendar Highlights

SPEAKER_04 1:46

Now let's take a look at this week's community calendar. On Monday, September 28th, the 1776 Sons of Liberty will be holding their next Hanford City Council Candidate Forum at the Hanford Oaks Lodge beginning at 7 p.m. The candidates for District A will be there, incumbent Travis Payton and challenger Sheldon Blackwell. On Tuesday, September 29th, Councilman Payton and City Manager Chris Tavares will be holding the next Council Connect at Me and Ed's Pizza at 10th and Fargo from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Ticket sales for the annual Witches Night Out that is being held on October 16th will go on sale at Main Street Hanford's website on Thursday, October 1st. The website is Main StreetHanford.com. The Young Family Farms Pumpkin Patch, just west of 14th in Grangewell, will be opening Thursday, October 1st. At the Thursday Night Marketplace this week, it's Paint Downtown Paint, raising awareness for breast cancer. The band Wilthouse will be performing. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Carnegie Museum will be opening its doors for the Building Kings County display from noon until 4 p.m. each day. Visit Carnegie Museum of Kingscounty.org for more information. The First Baptist Church of Hanford will be holding a good news market on Friday night from 5 to 8.30 p.m. with lots of crafts, food, activities, and worship. Visit fbhanford.org for more details. If you have an event coming up, large or small, and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to Hanford Insider at gmail.com. The Hanford Insider has the most comprehensive community calendar available at HanfordInsider.com.

Renaissance Of Kings Fair Preview

SPEAKER_04 3:50

It is the fall season in Hanford, and we are jam-packed with lots of activities. And we're here with Brad Albert from the city of Hanford. And today we're going to be talking about the Renaissance of Kings Fair coming up this Saturday. And if we have a few minutes left over, we might hit on some of the other things that are going on. How are you doing, Brad? I'm doing great, Rod. How are you? I'm doing great. Brad, this Renaissance of Kings, this is the 47th annual Renaissance of Kings. It's one of the only remaining Renaissance fairs in the area. So give us a little preview of what people can look forward to this year.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Yeah, absolutely. So as you mentioned, I've heard in from the Renaissance crowd, it is the longest running Renaissance fair in the state of California. So that's pretty neat. Always happens on the first weekend in October. So this year it will be October 3rd, Saturday, and Sunday, October 4th. And we're very, very excited. We're going to have all the regular guilds and the king and the queen. We've got some new entertainment that I think people are really going to enjoy.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

What is it about Hanford Civic Auditorium Park that uh attracts this event every year from people from all over the state drive?

SPEAKER_02 5:05

I think it's the venue. You know, we've got these classical historic buildings that surround in the park. And it just, I think, you know, with the courthouse and the civic and the veterans and the Bastille, it lends itself, I think, to days of old.

SPEAKER_04 5:23

Yeah, we've talked about the importance of having the downtown square and how it attracts things like Winter Wonderland and all these awesome activities. You've got a great lineup of entertainment and vendors available. Let's jump into that a little bit. What are some of the activities that are going to be taking place on Saturday and Sunday?

SPEAKER_02 5:42

So during the Renaissance Fair at the courthouse stage is an ongoing variety of entertainment. It could be a juggler, a magician, it could be different types of dancers that are uh that represent the medieval times. And of course, in addition, you've got the king, the queen, the guilds, um uh roaming the park, um, doing different activities, so a lot of opportunity to interact. In addition, one of my favorites is the combat area. And they literally put a small wood barrier, and you have knights in armor with various different weapons battling it out as if they might have done in the olden days.

SPEAKER_04 6:37

And of course, those turkey legs. What kind of uh food do we have this year?

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Oh boy, we have deep wood fired pizza, the turkey legs, as you mentioned, they they didn't come last year, but they're back this year, and just a variety of different foods. The craft vendors are really something, so you'll have folks out there peddling wooden bowls, goblets, swords, and anything you can imagine from medieval times.

SPEAKER_04 7:06

I know that there's a fee to get in, but what are the hours of the actual event too? And where should people park? I know there's a lot of participants that have trailers and such, but uh, what does the parking situation look like?

SPEAKER_02 7:16

So for the downtown parking situation, you know, we have several city lots throughout the downtown. Sometimes they're a little hidden, so folks need to take a look at that. But the hours of the Renaissance fair on Saturday the 3rd, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. And on Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And the fen the park will be fenced. We'll be charging a five dollar admission fee. We've held the prices steady for 13 and over, and um young ones, three and under are free, and they can either go onto the city website to buy their tickets online, and I think the majority are are walk-up customers.

SPEAKER_04 8:02

That's the 47th annual Renaissance of King's Fair in downtown Hanford this coming Saturday, October 3rd, and Sunday, October

Catfish Crawl And Halloween Bash

SPEAKER_04 8:10

4th. Brad, let's, you know, we've got a few moments here. Let's jump into maybe some of the other activities that have taken place. I know we've got Winter Wonderland and the Christmas parade, and we'll we'll talk about that in a few weeks. But I know one event that you recently had at Hidden Valley Park was this catfish crawl, and this activity is just exploding, isn't it? I mean, I've all kinds of people go to that one.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Yeah, that that was our second annual. We call it the catfish crawl 2.0. Um, we actually put 50 more pounds of catfish in the pond. And this year, one of our winners of the eight the youngest age group caught an eight-pound, nine-ounce catfish that was almost as big as she was. Oh my god. Um, and that event ended up being sold out. So we served over 350 youth and of course their parents with that. But it was a wonderful morning and just a good outdoor activity to really celebrate Hidden Valley Park and and being outside in the fall.

SPEAKER_04 9:15

Yeah, awesome event. I heard so many great things about that. Okay, so let's jump ahead a few weeks. We have our fall celebration or fall carnival, as it were.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

What's in the works for that? So we do our Halloween bash. We'll be on October 30th, and this year we'll have food booths, vendor booths, craft booths. We're going to be doing a little miniature maze in the Bastille patio that will be put on by our staff. And then that evening, we're gonna reshow the Bastille Ghost Hunters episode, of which we did, of course, when it was live back a few years ago. And I don't know if I've ever seen that many people in Civic Park as the folks that came to see that. So we're gonna reshow that. We'll light up the Bastille because it really is the start of the show. And you know, maybe, maybe a few of these folks will show themselves um on that night.

SPEAKER_04 10:11

Well, Brad, it's always great to catch up with you. And I just want to thank you for all the uh activities that are happening in town. Uh lots of great activities for the whole family to enjoy. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

You're welcome, Rob.

Moon Festival And China Alley Progress

SPEAKER_04 10:23

Also, coming up this weekend on Saturday, we have the third annual tribute to the China Alley Moon Festival at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County. And we have Ariane Wing here from the China Alley Preservation Society. How are you doing, Ariane? I'm doing great, Rob. Thank you. And thank you for having me. Ariane, this moon festival has become quite an event. Uh, you know, for years it was held in China Alley, but uh we've been able to keep it alive here at the Carnegie Museum. Uh, tell us a little bit about this year's event and what visitors can expect.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Well, this year um we have, of course, the Cal Poly lion dance team and the Fresno Gumio Taiko. That those are our main performers, and they are always providing us with an exhilarating performance. If you've never seen either the lion dances or the gomeo taiko, this is a great opportunity to get some something to invigorate you. We also have the King's Hand Laundry gift shop that's sort of dedicated to the Tigawa family's King's hand laundry. And we also have the China Alley Preservation Society's gift shop. We have an origami demonstration that will also teach visitors how to fold their own cranes and get kangaroo and a Joey. Um, we have Arts and Crafts booth, and we can't forget that we have the Hanford High School Salubal Multicultural Club. And of course, we have the traditional moon cakes and tea served in the gazebo at the museum's garden.

SPEAKER_04 11:52

I think it's so wonderful that you have Morrison Silkscreen, a longtime supporter of the Moon Festival, is going to be there selling commemorative t-shirts. I have quite a few of them in my collection. Uh, also in the parking lot there next to the museum, uh, we're going to have uh food trucks, uh, lots of different uh vendors, uh, rolling cones, superior dairy ice cream. So it's going to be a great afternoon. And this is all happening on Saturday from 12 to 5. And I understand admission is free.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Admission is free. And I understand that, Dave. Admission to the Carnegie exhibit, which is really a fantastic exhibit. This they're they're always fantastic, but I'm drawn to this one. It's it's got something for everyone. It's movies, gas, freeways, old restaurants. This is really a fun exhibit. And I like I said, I understand this one's free too, Rob. And so it's a fun family day event. And we've always thought the moon festival was a way to introduce our community to a little bit of Chinese culture, but it's also a way of us thanking the community for their continued support. I mean, we've been doing the moon festival for over 45 years, and I was a very small child when it began. But anyway, the fact that it's a free event for both whether you're in going just to visit the museum or the moon festival, it's a great Saturday afternoon.

SPEAKER_04 13:13

Yeah, it's certainly a great partnership. And we think of the Moon Festival, and we definitely think of China Alley. So let's get a little update from China Alley. We understand that there's some good news.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Yes, we were one of 14 recipients from the Asian and Pacific Islander America, Americans in historic preservation. We were one of the recipients of their grant, this that funded by the Mellon Foundation. And with this grant, it it was such a big uplift for us because we have been rather we've been doing a lot of things behind the scenes as far as uh restoring our artifacts. But the building, it w this grant kind of helped us, the fog lifted, and we could start working on the building. And so the first thing we're going to do is start with the rear staircase because we can't do anything or go anywhere without the stairs. And of course, the front stairway was destroyed in the arson fire. But we're going to start rebuilding the rear staircase that was located in the Temple Museum's garden. And once that is finished, we'll start with the soot remediation. So we're we're moving places now.

SPEAKER_04 14:23

That's fantastic news. How can people learn more about China Alley and especially how they can support the efforts of the restoration?

SPEAKER_00 14:31

You can go to our website, China Alley.com, and there's lots of pictures and media resources to you catch you up on news on China Alley, and there is a big donate button, and we appreciate the support.

SPEAKER_04 14:45

Well, thank you for joining us, Ariane. This Moon Festival is a special event to so many people, and we're excited for Saturday, October 3rd from noon to 5 at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County, located at 109 East 8th Street.

Fire Open House Safety Focus

SPEAKER_04 14:59

And coming up on Sunday, October 4th, we have the Hanford Fire Department Annual Open House. And today we have with us Chief Daniel Perkins. How are you doing, Daniel? I'm doing well, Rob. How are you? Fantastic. Uh, Daniel, this annual fire department open house has become quite an event, and I know you're excited about this year's event. Tell us a little bit about it.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Absolutely. Each year we have about uh between 400 and 600 people visit our open house, which is kind of phenomenal. It's a great community event. There's a lot of hands-on interactive items that we encourage the community to come to, specifically for children. Uh, there's a lot of learn how to stop, drop, and roll from the normal stop, drop and roll, you know, feel the door with the back of your hand, climb through a window, how do you get out of your room at night? Those are the hands-on activities that the children do, as well as squirt water from a fire hose. The other additional things, we also have them build little items that remind them about how to be safe with tools. The other things we also do is we have hands-only CPR with our partners at American Ambulance of Kings County. So they teach all of the people there that are willing to come and learn hands-only CPR. Because one of the things we want to get out to the public is we can stop the bleed, put hands on the chest. Those are the huge things that the public can do to make sure that people are safe and survive a traumatic incident. So I understand Hanford Cert is going to be there as well. Absolutely. Uh, our community emergency response team, or Hanford Fire Cert, it's been around quite a bit. Um, they've been doing some fantastic things in the community. They're going to be offering a firefighter or fireground rehab so that people can see what the CERT team actually does other than respond to emergencies for large-scale disasters. This is something we work with our team to make sure they're a fine oiled piece of equipment and a group that comes in is able to really assist the firefighters in getting back up and running, hydrating, getting refueled, getting the new air tanks on their backs, but also cooling them down so we don't have a firefighter emergency on one of our large-scale incidents.

SPEAKER_04 17:06

Yeah, and you have a lot of community groups and associated groups with the fire department participating, yeah? Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

So we have a lot of businesses. Uh, huge shout out to our partners at Lowe's Home Improvement as well as Home Depot Home Improvement. Uh, we have some larger donating groups. I know that the Hanford uh Breakfast Lions Club always donates monies and is always there to help pass out smoke detectors to those who need them. So if you're in need of a smoke detector, we can arrange you to get a smoke detector and the Hanford Fire Department will actually come out and install it for you. Not that day on Sunday, but we'll arrange a time when we can come out there and do that. That's part of our ongoing sound the alarm campaign.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Yeah, that's great that you're able to offer those services. So parking, I know, can uh be kind of tricky on Grangeville Boulevard. So what kind of things are you doing to offer people rides to the event?

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Uh interesting thing that you'd ask. So Freddie the Fire Engine, uh one of the city um things that we have available to us, he's going to be out shuttling people from area parking um locations immediately around the fire station. So that way you get to ride on Freddy the Fire Engine. It's one of the things that we do. We also have specific lots that people are able to go to. So if you visit the city's website, I know that we do have a specific piece about where to park for the open house.

SPEAKER_04 18:26

Daniel, in the past, you've had different focuses each year. And I know um you've talked about the the smoke detectors, you talked about clothes before you doze. And this year, uh you're trying to raise awareness over charging units with all of these electric scooters and electric bicycles. Uh, you're finding some things come up, yeah?

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Absolutely. Uh about 10 days ago, as luck would have it, for the homeowner as well as the residents of an apartment complex, they had a uh fire that could have been very tragic. We had a battery-operated um skateboard that was plugged into the wall. Uh, it was apparently plugged into the wall with a non-rated charger for that type of device. In other words, the device came with a charger. They're using a different charger now. So when we use incompatible charging devices with lithium-ion batteries, it doesn't like to communicate that it's not working well, so it takes a long time for it to charge. Or you may have a charger that's charging too quickly for the device and the device overheats. That's very problematic and can cause fires in those lithium-ion batteries. So, what we're seeing as we have all these new lithium-ion battery devices, everything runs on a battery now, are a huge increase in these lithium-ion battery fires. As a matter of fact, we're seeing now that about 80% of lithium-ion battery fires are caused by electrical abuse, which heavily involves the overcharging and using of incombatible replacement chargers. So it's really important that we take charge of our battery safety. And that's the irony in all of this, is that's our big push for this year, is marrying up those two elements, is taking charge of battery safety, but also realizing that smoke detectors save lives. The fire that I'm referring to initially for this scooter or the the skateboard, electric skateboard that was plugged in. The residents had put the skateboard on a charger, left for the day, come back at about three o'clock when the owner, the the owner of the apartment got there, or the resident of the apartment got there, opened up the apartment door. It was floor-to-ceiling smoke. If you find that in any sense of the of any way, please stop. Do not enter the building, call 911, don't go into the building yourself. That smoke is absolutely toxic. It can p it contains a tremendous number of things that once you've inhaled them, stay adhered to the molecules inside your blood and prevent you from breathing. Literally, a chemical asphyxiant. So start with that. Let's not do those really bad things. But in addition to that, what ended up happening was the fire went through all of the stages of fire. It went from incipient stage to free burning and then back from free burning to flash, and from flash then to decay and never broke out any of the windows or never had anything else happen because of our new construction types and all of our energy efficient homes with the windows. So when the homeowner got there or the resident got there, opened up the door, the fire wasn't present, just all of the nasty components of the fire, the smoke, some of the heat. She went in, searched for her roommate that she thought was still there, hadn't called 911. The smoke detectors was were still going off and blaring, and had been going off for several hours all throughout that day. So if you hear a smoke detector alarming, it doesn't alarm because there's nothing there. It's alarming because there's something there. Call the fire department. If the alarm doesn't go away within a a couple of minutes, call the fire department. If you don't see smoke or flames, call the fire department and let us know there's a smoke detector alarming. I don't know if there's a fire. That's essential. Luckily for the resident and for them, there was no one injured. But when she opened up all the doors and windows, came back outside, she did call the fire department. We arrived. We found that the couch 100% completely burned through the carpet onto the ground underneath it for the apartment. All of the paint in two or three rooms down through the hallway and into the kitchen was completely peeled down and the fire actually burnt itself out because it didn't have enough oxygen to keep burning. So that's one of the things we really want to emphasize. If you hear an alarm, act on the alarm. Don't ignore alarms. When we're charging devices, make sure you're taking charge of battery safety. Charge is an acram. C is for choose certified products. H is handle with care. The A is always stay alert. Don't leave them on there and not know what's happening with them. Recycle properly for the R. The G is get out quickly if it starts to overheat or smoke. Because those lithium-ion batteries, once they go to thermal runaway, are like mini bombs. They literally will shoot the batteries out the side of it, shoot out, and then we can't control where those go. So they're kind of like a firework. And on top of that, we want to make sure that we're educating other people about this particular incidence with wrong chargers or not non-appropriate charging devices or overcharging. If you're going to charge it, make sure you're putting it onto a hard surface, something you know where it's at. Don't sit it behind a couch and ignore it. If it's overheating or getting warm, don't keep charging it. Find out why it's doing that and find the original charger. If the battery is swelling or smoking, get away from the battery, take it outside to a different location. Don't keep it in any location that is around there because the battery can literally explode. So we want to make sure that people are aware of how dangerous these lithium-ion batteries are.

SPEAKER_04 24:28

Yeah, that's a great educational piece. And I would imagine if people had questions about their devices and uh cable charging cables and how things are doing, they can bring them to the open house maybe and talk to our firefighter about it.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Absolutely. So we want to make sure that you're taking charge of your battery safety and making sure that we are listening to those alarms that are sounding. Hence, sound the alarm and take charge of battery safety.

SPEAKER_04 24:51

Well, that's great information to know, Daniel. So uh tell us again the details for this open house coming up.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

So, yeah, the open house is gonna be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on a Sunday, October 4th. It's gonna be at 350 West Grangeville or the main fire station that's on Grangeville if you're a Hanford resident. If you're not a Hanford resident, please come and enjoy this as well. I think all of these things are relevant to what we're talking about. There'll be a lot of other vendors. We'll also have um free food, so free hot dogs, free chips, free drinks. We want to make sure that people come enjoy. You're also able to look at what the fire equipment looks like. You can handle the fire equipment. We want to make sure that people are having that hands-on experience with our open house. Come see how the firefighters live on a daily basis while they're here at work because their fire stations are their residence for the entire 48 hours that they're there or two solid days. So it's a it's a unique experience to be able to partake in that.

SPEAKER_04 25:52

Uh, thank you for joining us, Chief.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Absolutely. Thank you, Rob.

Hanford Area Sports Report

SPEAKER_04 25:59

And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.

SPEAKER_03 26:07

Exciting action on the gridiron last week as Hanford High and Hanford West both picked up convincing wins on Friday. For the Bullpups, CW 59's Friday Night Lights TV game of the week wasn't really a game for long, as Hanford High led 29-0 after the first quarter and 50 to nothing at the half. It was complete domination from the Bullpups in all three phases who took their foot off the gas in the second half en route to the 64-7 win, their first victory in the UIL. Running back Sebastian Cardiel found the end zone four times from inside the 10-yard line to pace the Hanford High scoring. Quarterback Jaron Mao finished with three passing touchdowns to three different receivers, a 50-yarder to Karsten Gravens, a 12-yard connection to Josh Eaton, and a 74-yard strike to Braylon Thomas. Karsten Gravens also had an interception defensively in addition to his receiving touchdown. Calen Burrell had a rushing touchdown and an interception of his own, and Zion Harris also found the end zone from four yards out to complete the Hanford High scoring. The undefeated Bullpups will now play four of their final five games on the road, starting with a potential trap game on deck this Friday at CVC, who comes into the game 0-5, but with all of their losses coming against quality competition. The Hanford West football team has found a recipe for success. Keep the other team off the scoreboard. The Huskies recorded their second shutout of the year for their second win of the year to improve to 2-3 overall after beating Orange Cove 41-0. No individual stats available from the game, but definitely some positive signs coming from this Hanford West football team as they'll start league play at home on Friday versus Selma. And Sierra Pacific football comes off thereby with a 2-3 overall record, getting league play started on Friday at Carruthers. While football league play starts this week, Girls Volleyball League action started last week, and a pair of teams got off to a 2-0 start. The Sierra Pacific volleyball team improved to 13-7 overall after starting league play with a four-set victory at Caruthers before taking down Selma at home in straight sets. And the Hanford West volleyball team battled to a pair of five-set wins versus Kerman and at Reedley last week to get back up to 500 overall on the season. The Golden Bears will hit the road at Washington Union and Exeter this week, while the Huskies play host to Kingsburg, then travel to Emmanuel. And not many noteworthy water polo scores from last week. The Sierra Pacific Boys went two and one on the week, beating Menachee and Sierra, but falling to Bakersfield. The Hanford West Boys beat Sierra in overtime, but fell to Golden West, Bakersfield and Lamore. And the Hanford High Boys beat Strathmore in tournament play, but fell to Selma and Exeter to round out their week of action. As always, if you have a score report or a team update for any team in any sport at any level, you can let us know by emailing HanfordInsider at gmail.com. I'm Eric Bentley, and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.

Support The Show And Stay Connected

SPEAKER_04 29:20

Well, that wraps things up for this week's show. If you're enjoying this podcast and you want to support it, you can head over to buymeacoffee.com slash Hanford Insider to make a donation, or you can Venmo me directly. To stay connected, join the Hanford Insider email list at HanfordInsider.com. You'll get weekly updates plus an exclusive newsletter delivered right to your inbox each Wednesday. I'd also really appreciate your help getting the word out about the show by liking or sharing posts on social media, or like most people, just telling a friend. Don't forget, if you have a story idea, community event, or someone you think deserves to be featured, I'd love to hear from you. Email me anytime at HanfordInsider at gmail.com. You can follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and YouTube at Hanford Insider for more content and updates. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.