By John Rieping
MaderaTribuneRedLine.com

Below is an 11-minute home video of a Christmas celebrated in Madera, California, in 1966. How times have changed and yet the scene is not completely unrecognizeable.

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

Well, here it is Christmas Eve again, and as grateful as I am for this time of comfort and joy, I am also having great trepidation. I will be going to church tonight, and I imagine they will sing Christmas songs to which I won’t quite know the words. I will have to follow them carefully in the book while others in the congregation will be singing joyously from memory.

For example, if they sing “Up on the House Top,” and I sing it from memory, the words I sing will be something like this:

“Up on the housetop, reindeers’ paws …”

As it turns out, reindeer don’t have paws. They have hooves. For most of my life, I have figured that Santa has been using special reindeer which have paws to give them traction on all those roofs. But apparently that is not the case. That is why the rest of the congregation will be singing “Up on the house top, reindeer pause …”

If they choose “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” if I sing from memory, I will be singing, “Hark, old Harold Angel sings …” It has always seemed logical that at least one of those angels was named Harold.

If they sing, “I Saw Three Ships come sailing in,” I probably will belt out, “I saw tree ships come sailing in …” because it very well could be that the Christmas trees had come by boat.

If they sing, “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” when the congregation gets to the part about “O tidings of comfort and joy,” I am wont to sing, “O tithings of comfort and joy,” figuring that this is as good a time as any for a stewardship message.

I hope your Christmas is good, and you find comfort and joy in what old Harold Angel has to sing to you.

All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content or space limitations some comments may not be published Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Repeat messages on the same subject adding to the length will not be published.

A lady going through some “hard times” said she hadn’t got “any help from her family.” She wanted “to thank the young man who helped her out by loaning her $10 when I was broke. God bless him.” As for her family, she hoped “they will never be down on their luck. But, if you are, I hope you find a person that will trust you like the young man who trusted me.”

A woman wanted “to make a comment about the paper of Dec. 16 about the number 28 (Madera Area) Transit bus.” Like an earlier caller, she also “experienced the same thing twice going down Sunset. I was right behind this bus and they didn’t stop at the railroad tracks and, later on, then made a rolling stop at Granada. Again, a week later, they made a rolling stop over on Howard (Road). I think someone should have a talk with this driver.”

A man was looking at his “special 2009 meatloaf recipe. It’s one-third pork and two-thirds prayer and it’s called a bailout. That’s 500-million that’s got so much pork in it I don’t know how anyone that reads it (it is public record) could even think of passing this bailout bill.”

A “longtime Madera (High) football” fan read that the Clovis High coach “was out and the expectation at Clovis was high. What about the expectations at Madera High?” He followed by saying, “Two seasons back to back, and didn’t win a game. Maybe one, and we’re keeping this guy around? Why don’t we have some expectations around here starting with a new football coach?”

A man responded to last week’s caller who asked why a Madera softball team donated Toys for Tots to Fresno kids. This week’s caller said, “It doesn’t matter where we give the toys. They are needed. It’s all about the kids, not what town they’re in.”

A man said, “I took my child to the youth basketball clinic at Madera South Saturday. What a nice gym, and the Parks staff and coaches did a wonderful job. If you haven’t signed your kid up to play basketball you better do it.” He said his other children “have played in the leagues over the years and always had fun. They not only learned basketball, but made new friends too.”

The regular caller said, “Some time after the income tax collections in March, the (Dow Jones) stock market will be approaching 5,000, oil will continue to sink, new problems with commercial real estate will compound the debt already incurred and money owed, plastic debt. We have a pretty bleak future come spring. Ladies and gentleman start growing your own vegetables.”

The calls continued about the lack of law enforcement when it comes to graffiti. “It is obvious the gangs are being run out of Fresno,” said a man. “So why don’t we crack down on them here as they are doing in Fresno? It is time, before it is too late, to put a stop to this. It will not be long before drive-by shooting are killing innocent victims.”

A man called and left his “message for Madera Unified School District and (the) principal athletic director. Just wanted to know what you were going to do with your football program next year? You cannot have that head coach come back to the (Madera High) varsity football team. It’s an embarrassment. If you don’t do anything about it, it is telling these kids you don’t care.”

A woman called “about the (Madera County) Food Bank.” She “was concerned why it is closed in this time of need during the Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays. I took a family out there and apparently they are not able to be served due to the fact they are closed for vacation time. Seems like the manager of the Food Bank would have someone there to hand out food to the needy at this time of the year … Why is it being run this way?”

An online reader, self-identified as “Bartsch,” writes, “Does anyone know what the title ‘head football coach’ means? It means you are the head football coach of the entire football program at a school. Coach Blankenship has every right to stick his nose into the frosh team as it is his team and the coach is serving at coach’s pleasure. You people had better realize that you have one of the best coaches in the country working to make your kids the best they can be. I suspect that only the parents are holding them back.”

A visitor to the Red Line site, self-identified as “Per,” took umbrage at an opinion essay by publisher Chuck Doud (published Dec. 15) on the Norwegian dish known as lutefisk. Per writes, “What a load of poppycock. Lutefisk is a great Christmastime hit in restaurants in Norway. Together with dried and salted sheeps ribs and pork ribs.”

A Web guest replied to a column by Doud on education (published Dec. 11). She writes, “Why not bail out unemployed MUSD and California teachers with student loans? I’m sure I’m not the only one.”

“JD” responded to Doud’s column on the Madera County auditor’s retirement (published Dec. 10). JD writes, “Doesn’t surprise me. I reported his office last year to the Board of Supervisors and got brushed off. Wait ’til you get an earful of what the Madera County Information Technology department has been doing.”

Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24 hours a day by calling 674-4478, or by logging on to maderatribuneredline.com.

By Sam Armentrout
Mayor of Madera, California

As we approach the New Year, the City of Madera is faced with many challenges. As I think of all the issues that affect our community and its identity, these are the ones that come to mind.

+ Crime in general, which by itself will always be a priority.

+ The proliferation of graffiti in our neighborhoods. Graffiti alone makes my blood boil as I drive around Madera.

+ Abandoned shopping carts all over town is another issue that seems to bring a harsh reaction from myself and my fellow City Council members.

Those two things alone set the tone of how our landscape looks in Madera. After a while, you may be so used to seeing those things that you start to not notice it anymore. I do not want to NOT notice the filth and obscenity that those two things alone bring to Madera.

As we look for ways to reduce those two obscenities, they continue to grow. I for one will not waver to that pressure. We will continue to fight and look to new, innovative ways to reduce that kind of blight in our City.

The City at this time has a healthy reserve that should carry us through this fiscal year, barring the State of California’s return to our coffers to help with its own fiscal crisis. While the war in Sacramento continues, we hold our breath. We already know that some of our public projects will be lost, or at the very least put on hold due to the state’s inability to solve its fiscal emergency.

I wish I had more good news for you, especially at this time of year. Perhaps in the very near future I can bring better news on the issues described in this letter and more news on how we intend to focus greening in our city.

Merry Christmas and happy new year and may God bless you all with his grace.

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

Are you able to understand what your dog or cat is saying to you when it “woofs” or “meows?” More important still, is your dog or cat able to understand what you say? A survey by Associated Press and Petside has learned that two-thirds of those interviewed believe they can understand their pets and/or their pets can understand them.

I’m not one of the understanders. When it comes to our cat, there isn’t much to understand. She has a very limited vocabulary — one word — “meow.” In the morning when I let her into the house from the garage, she says, “meow.”

I say, “Good morning, little cat, how are you this fine day?”

She replies, “Meow,” if she replies at all.

I think I could say, “Good morning, little cat. Today, we are going to make you into toilet-seat cover,” and she would reply, “meow.”

Of course, I don’t think she would believe me, even if she could understand. I have threatened to turn her into a rug, a mop, and a set of golf-club covers, but she has successfully ignored me. If she says anything at all, it is “meow.”

I also am inclined to say to her, “Get off my chair,” “don’t rub on my pant leg,” “stop scratching on that door,” “leave that tablecloth alone,” and “come over here and see me.” Always her answer, if she chooses to give one, is the same: “Meow.”

Sometimes, she says it more loudly than at others. A loud one means, “Hurry up and fill the food bowl.” A softer “meow” means “get out of my way and/or leave me alone.” And there is kind of a screechy “meow” that means “get out of my way, leave me alone and fill up the food bowl if you know what’s good for you.”

Maybe the cat and I understand each other after all.

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

I’m not much of a Christmas shopper, as Mrs. Doud will tell you. I come up with some of the darndest things to give her, and she is horrified when she unwraps them, but she is a stalwart gift receiver and doesn’t let her horror become too evident.

Last year the horror was a purple candy dish that looks like a rooster. At the time, I thought it was a terrific buy, and an art “find,” but on reflection, it is one of the least artistic things I’ve ever seen. She keeps it prominently displayed, though, on the coffee table in front of the television, I think to teach me a lesson.

The rooster does have one thing going for it, which is that I bought it locally. I buy almost all of my Christmas gifts from Madera merchants — except for subscriptions to Sunset Magazine and National Geographic. You have to send away for those.

Everything else, though, I buy from local stores — first, because if the recipient doesn’t like the gift, he or she can always take it back. If it doesn’t work, or if the recipient needs to be shown how it works, the local merchant takes care of that. Second, when I give my money to a local merchant, he or she uses it to pay local workers, to pay local taxes, to pay local rents, and all that money goes through the community and multiplies. It turns into such things as schools and new houses, and it creates new jobs and even more money to benefit the community.

Money spent online or outside Madera or Madera County, on the other hand, benefits the communities where those stores are located.

This year, I’m going to continue to shop locally, even though I’m sure Mrs. Doud would just as soon I give her the money and let her spend it locally.

On Sunday, Dec. 7, it was a year since a good friend of mine passed away, Jose “Joe” Jaurique, and I have good memories of him.

I met him in April 1948, when we both joined to play baseball for the semi-pro baseball team that was sponsored by the Redwood Hut Restauraunt, that was on the corner of Yosemite Avenue and Gateway Drive, where the Arco AM-PM gas station is now.

Noble Tiller was the owner of the restaurant and he also was the manager of the ball team. In that first game, April 6, 1948, we were going to play in Firebaugh, and I rode with Joe Jaurique, in this green Ford that he had, and we got lost.

We went to Shein Dairy. We were supposed to turn there by Bonita Gin, coming from Madera. We had to make a left turn and go 18 miles to get to the big city of Firebaugh.

Joe and I played for Redwood Hut for two years, 1948 and 1949. In 1952, I joined the California National Guard, and once again I met Joe, who was our 1st sergeant. I was in the National Guard with Joe from 1952-1955.

When we use to go to camp at Hunter-Ligget training center, and when we had K.P., he used to take us out of K.P. to go play softball against National Guard teams from Modesto, Turlock, Merced and Livingston. We would play them there in camp. Joe was a pretty good softball pitcher, my brother Oscar was the catcher and I played third base.

On a Tuesday night meeting at the Armory there on Vineyard and Yosemite avenues, Joe didn’t make it to the meeting because he was sick in bed. So, after the meeting three of us went to see him. It was Alex Serrano, Herkie Palacio and me, and boy he sure was sick. He was under the blankets and he was shaking and shaking. It was malaria that he had brought from overseas, After he got well, Joe, was a hard-working man.

I remember when he was a mailman, 1st sergeant in the National Guard, used to clean three or four offices a night. And at one time he was a baseball coach for the J.V. team at Madera High School. And and he was also in charge of the chain gang crew for the football team for 35 years; and he would keep the yellow vests for the following year. Joe was also the coach of
Madera Merchants Babe Ruth team for a few years.

His wife, Mary, retired from Washington School last year. Joe & Mary had two boys, Mark and
David, who I saw playing football for Madera Coyotes.

These are my good memories of a good friend, Jose “Joe” Jaurique.

Eddie Chapa,
Madera

Dec. 1, 2005, Madera and Madera Wrestling lost a great citizen. Roy Spomer, a baseball person in his youth and a Babe Ruth baseball coach in Madera for over 20 years turned his passion to wrestling in his later years. Roy and wife, Maria, with Doug Machado, Wanda Earls and others, formed our first wrestling club.

Their primary duties were to promote wrestling in our elementary schools and find qualified people to help coach these teams. We had our first M.U.L.E.S. wrestling tournament in 1975. I still remember my coach, Al Kiddy, on a knee between the mats enjoying a dream come true. Roy served as president of our club for a number of years. When it came to helping fund our numerous obligations Roy would be giving his coffee house friends an opportunity to donate to this most worthy cause (kids and wrestling).

If this was not enough work, Roy took on the job of preparing valley wrestling rankings for more than15 years. Through his many hours and contracts with wrestling coaches throughout the valley his rankings were not only very accurate, but fair to all competitors. For his work in Madera valley wrestling, Roy was awarded by the state wrestling directors a plaque for his contributions to our sport in 2001 and in 2005. Roy was inducted into California Wrestling Hall of Fame, and his name will be found in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Through all his work Roy remained a humble citizen for our great town, but believe me if all these young coaches out there have a Roy Spomer mentoring them they will be as blessed as I have been. Roy Spomer, a member of our Greatest Generation, was buried with full military honors Dec. 7, 2005, gone but never to be forgotten by us.

Thanks, Roy.

Corky Napier,
head wrestling coach, Madera High School
1972-2004, retired

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

I am glad I’m not a big shot, because the big shots are having a tough time right now. Bernard Madoff, Stein Bagger, the geniuses who run Calpers — things do not look good for them.

Madoff is the Wall Street financier who led people for many years to believe that he was making them rich, when in fact, according to his own admission he was running a giant Ponzi scheme.

The Ponzi scheme is named after the foremost swindler of the early 20th Century, Charles Ponzi. It refers to a swindle that he learned from a bank which employed him, which attracted deposits by offering interest that was twice the rate of other banks. As new deposits flowed in, the bank would use them to pay the interest on the old deposits. The scheme worked as long as new deposits rolled in and as long as normal banking lending generated profits. But the bank that made some bad loans failed.

That, apparently, is how Madoff’s business worked. People would give him money to invest on Wall Street, and he would attract more investors by paying out regular profits to old investors, regardless of how successful the investments were. When the market crashed, he crashed with it, and so did his clients.

Sein Bagger in November was celebrated as Denmark’s Entrepreneur of the Year, but it turned out his business was pretty much all a fraud. He fled Denmark and recently turned himself into Los Angeles police after a wild trip across the U.S.

The Calpers (California Public Employee Retirement System) money barons appear to have taken a flyer in Arizona land deals, which have fallen flat. That and the decline of other investments means local taxpayers will have to pony up more money to pay retirement premiums for public employees.

As you can see, it’s hard to be a big shot these days.

Did I miss all the news stories of overwhelming scientific evidence that homosexuals are “born that way?” Or could it be the onslaught of Hollywood propaganda through film that has convinced so many people that being gay is “in their blood?” The concentration of gays in the film industry may be largely responsible for turning the tide toward acceptance for what was once considered aberrant behavior.

Now it seems gays are being regarded as modern heroes for facing such terrible adversity in their daily struggle to gain acceptance by society. Their new-found popularity is evidenced by the frequency of gay characters in TV programing. Hollywood has succeeded primarily by convincing many people that if gays had a choice they would never choose a lifestyle that would expose them to such turmoil, hatred and even danger. Yet clearly people with disorders and addictions submit themselves to detrimental behavior everyday, that being the nature of psychological dysfunction.

To provide equal time to the Hollywood machine, those 48 percent of Californians who voted against Proposition 8 should be able to read articles and news stories reporting on gay suicide rates, HIV contractions, frequency of infidelity (especially after marriage or civil union), and most importantly the number of people who are able to change and become heterosexual, which would go a long way toward disproving the innate theory.

I’ve read some literature that declares these numbers can be remarkably high, which means Christians should continue to vigorously oppose same-sex marriage and homosexual behavior. You actually show people more love by helping them turn from self-destructive behavior rather than accept it and try to convince others they are hateful, intolerant bigots for not doing so.

Brett Le Tourneau,
Madera