Get ready to immerse yourself in everything that's happening in our charming Hanford, California. From the city council's unusual solution to the downtown crow problem, to the extensive renovations in the offing for the Hanford Civic Auditorium, we've got all the insider info. You'll also be privy to an array of lively community events from our jam-packed calendar to keep your holiday season buzzing with excitement!
On the show, we welcome Laura Lutz who spills the beans on the fascinating world of Burris Park Outdoor School. Laura may be reached at laura.lutz@kingscoe.org
As the holiday season lights up Hanford, we'll take you on a merry tour of festive events around town including the annual Ugly Sweater pub crawl, a charity fundraiser by King's United Way, and the Hanford Winterland Holiday Boutique among others. Also on the agenda is a chat about the Hanford Christmas Decorating Contest and a captivating exhibition of Portuguese history at the Carnegie Museum. And finally, lace up for a thrilling run through downtown Hanford and let the Hanford Rock and Rudolph run add a dash of fitness to your festivities. It's all happening right here, so tune in and get your weekly fix of Hanford!
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider Thank you for supporting the show!
Get ready to immerse yourself in everything that's happening in our charming Hanford, California. From the city council's unusual solution to the downtown crow problem, to the extensive renovations in the offing for the Hanford Civic Auditorium, we've got all the insider info. You'll also be privy to an array of lively community events from our jam-packed calendar to keep your holiday season buzzing with excitement!
On the show, we welcome Laura Lutz who spills the beans on the fascinating world of Burris Park Outdoor School. Laura may be reached at laura.lutz@kingscoe.org
As the holiday season lights up Hanford, we'll take you on a merry tour of festive events around town including the annual Ugly Sweater pub crawl, a charity fundraiser by King's United Way, and the Hanford Winterland Holiday Boutique among others. Also on the agenda is a chat about the Hanford Christmas Decorating Contest and a captivating exhibition of Portuguese history at the Carnegie Museum. And finally, lace up for a thrilling run through downtown Hanford and let the Hanford Rock and Rudolph run add a dash of fitness to your festivities. It's all happening right here, so tune in and get your weekly fix of Hanford!
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider Thank you for supporting the show!
Speaker 1:
On this week's episode of the Hanford Insider, we get a chance to learn more about the Burris Park Outdoor School with Laura Lutz. Rob will give us a rundown of all of the holiday events coming up and I'll be back with your high school sports report. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, December 4th.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to this episode of the Hanford Insider. I'm your host, rob Bentley. I'd like to thank you for listening. Be sure to stop by my website at HanfordInsidercom and leave a review of the show. It really helps grow the podcast.
Speaker 2:
The weather this week will be warming into the 70s by Wednesday, before getting back into normal temperatures in the low 60s by the weekend. The Hanford City Council will be holding a meeting this Tuesday, december 5th, at 7pm. Items on the agenda include approving a contract to hire a falconer to drive the massive amount of crows out of the downtown area. They'll also be approving a major flooring and ceiling project for the Hanford Civic Auditorium, along with the new interior paint job. The building will be closed for much of the first half of 2024 for this work to take place Next week. I'll be reporting out on other items being discussed at the meeting. Let's check our community calendar.
Speaker 2:
The Hanford branch of the King's County Library is having a winter open house on Wednesday, december 6th, from 4 to 6 pm. There will be raffles, refreshments, face painting, a model train display and, of course, a visit from Santa Claus. The King's United Way charity fundraiser is this Thursday, december 7th, in the Hanford Civic Auditorium. Tickets are $50 and available at wwwkingjunitedwayorg. The annual Ugly Sweater pub crawl is this Saturday, december 9th, from 5 to 11 pm at the Hopford Brewing Company and other local pubs. The Hanford Winterland Holiday Boutique will be held on Saturday December 9th and Sunday December 10th inside the Hanford Civic Auditorium from 9 am to 4 pm. The Storybook Garden and Museum is holding a very merry Princess Christmas party on Saturday December 9th and a pajama party with Santa Claus on Friday December 15th. You can register for both events at childrenstorybookgardenorg. On Tuesday December 12th, adventist Health Center will be holding a special tree lighting ceremony at 6 pm in the Courtyard patio in support of hospice services. The public is invited.
Speaker 2:
Hanford Winter Winterland is open in the Civic Auditorium Park through January 7th. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to stop by. It's amazing this year. Visit hanfordwinterwinterlandcom for information about all of these fun activities. It was great seeing so many of you at the Main Street Hanford Wine and Chocolate event on Friday night. I was playing with my Christmas caroling group entertaining the people that were there, and I especially want to thank those of you who took the time to mention that you enjoy listening to the show. That's the kind of stuff that fuels me.
Speaker 2:
Each week. The Hanford Christmas Decorating Contest has begun. Hanford Holiday on Facebook and Instagram is hosting the annual home decorating contest. Stop by their pages for more information. There are just two weeks left to see the Hattala's exhibition of Portuguese history at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County. The museum will be open this Friday and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm. They will be closed on Saturday due to preparing for their fundraiser event at the Verternal Hall. Speaking of the fundraiser, they're also currently selling tickets to the December 9th fundraiser to restore the original 1905 wood flooring in the old Carnegie Library building. For more information, visit Carnegie Museum of Kings County dot org.
Speaker 2:
The annual Hanford Rock and Rudolph run will be held Sunday, december 17th. It's a two-mile run or walk through the streets of downtown Hanford, starting and ending at Hanford Winter Wonderland. It begins at 7.30 am. The event supports the Hanford Police Activities League program. Register at RunSignUpcom. You can visit the Hanford Rock and Rudolph Facebook page for more information. The Hanford Department of Parks and Community Services will be holding a kids' winter camp during Christmas vacation on weekdays from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm. You can get more information and register your child on the city website at Hanfordcity.
Speaker 2:
I want to let you know that I'm planning a special Christmas episode on Christmas Day for my YouTube channel. I'm looking for local musicians willing to submit videos of their performances so that I can put together a Christmas special for my listeners to enjoy. If you're interested, contact me and I'll give you more information. I'll be grabbing events as I see them on the Hanford Sentinel calendar and social media pages. If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to HanfordInsider at gmailcom. One of the hidden gems in our community is Burris Park, which is located between Hanford and Kingsburg. The county-operated park has been the site of many events over the years, but did you know that the park has a museum and an outdoor school? I've invited Laura Lutz, the outdoor education site leader, to come on the show to tell us about the Burris Park Outdoor Education Program. Welcome to the show, laura.
Speaker 3:
Hi, thank you, it's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2:
Laura, can you tell us a little bit about the history of Burris Park and how the outdoor education school idea came about?
Speaker 3:
Yes, in 2005, the park was slated for closure due to county budget constraints, but a local group of citizens came together to create the Burst Park Foundation, which was established to save the park and develop an outdoor education program. Curriculum was created and excursions were offered to schools. In 2015, however, the foundation received an endowment from Donald Souza, which provided the funding to further expand the outdoor education program to include free admission and bus mileage reimbursement for King's County Schools.
Speaker 2:
That's great. I've heard so many great things about the outdoor education school that you have there. My group of third graders from my school recently attended and just rave about all the wonderful things that they got to see. So when a student, when a class, comes out to Burst Park, what can they expect to see and learn?
Speaker 3:
Well, we focus on science and history of King's County and each grade level experience builds up off of each other. So when students come in kindergarten they're talking about things animals need to survive. But when they return in first grade they talk about things plants need to survive. And as students continue to return through each grade level, we take what we learned last year and build up on it. So in second grade we're talking about how those plants and animals live in habitats and what makes the habitat. Then we talk about in the next grade how animals have adapted over time to best survive those habitats.
Speaker 3:
Plants and animals have a variety of structures that help them live, grow and reproduce. Those organisms are all part of ecosystems. Energy travels through ecosystems. Those ecosystems are part of biomes. So we build up each experience to meet grade level standards and then continue the outdoor education each year to delve a little deeper into a topic and the outdoor space that we live in. Something that's cool about our site is it's all local. Everything that we're talking about can be found in our county, things that are in their communities, near their schools or their homes. So we're not an outdoor education site talking about polar bears. We're talking about things that can be found here.
Speaker 2:
That's cool. Yeah, polar bears, that's hilarious, I know just driving through and seeing all the wildlife. Especially with the rains that we had last year, I'm sure that that expanded some more opportunities, didn't it?
Speaker 3:
It absolutely did. With the rain we were able to have the part of the King's River that flows around Burris Park. It was backfilled with all of that floodwater and because the water was there, we had this boom of wildlife. Summer camp students came and they could not step without like seven toads jumping out from underfoot. We had wood ducks, we had great blue herons. The wildlife that we have out here is beautiful and diverse, but we were able to see so much more with that water flowing through the park.
Speaker 2:
So we hear about the school kids having a lot of fun out there. Can other people, adults and adult groups make reservations to come out and visit the outdoor school?
Speaker 3:
Yes, we provide lots of different custom experiences and opportunities for the public. We work with all ages, from infant to adult, so we've seen infants and adults and families. Through our family resource centers we will visit after school programs. We have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who do overnight programs here. We've developed unique excursions for special education students, alternative education students, home school families and adult education programs.
Speaker 2:
So, laura, this is all great stuff, and the Outdoor Education, the Burris Park Foundation, does such a great job in supporting the schools and I know there's probably a lot of my listeners out here that would like to maybe volunteer or they would like to consider a donation. How can they get ahold of you?
Speaker 3:
The best way to get ahold of me is through email, and we'd love all the help that people are willing to give, especially if anybody has careers that they would like to share with outdoor education. We just recently had a career day where we had the public come in and showcase some of the cool things that people can do outside for careers such as the fire department, water rescue. We had the Department of Energy come by and also the county showed off a lot of their cool equipment that is used to maintain.
Speaker 2:
Well, in the show notes I will definitely put down your email and website to be able to learn more about the Burris Park Outdoor School, and it's been great having you on the show. I do have one other question for you and that is about the museum. I know that the Burris Park Museum definitely had to close during COVID and not as many people were able to visit, but what can you tell us about the museum out there?
Speaker 3:
The museum is a beautiful piece of popes tree for not just King's County but also the Central Valley region. I highly recommend people come out to it, and they can do that by booking an appointment through the outdoor education program. If it's just for the public, they can contact the county to make an appointment with them to visit the museum. This year we're developing a new program that utilizes the exhibits and artifacts within the museum, so students are getting a different sort of hands-on experience. They are learning how laundry was done a long time ago, before we had washers and dryers. They're learning about how settlers moved great distances utilizing our wagon barn and the different types of wagons that we have in there.
Speaker 2:
It was great to have a chance to learn more about Burris Park. I've attended so many events that are over the years and I'm really glad the park and museum are still open. The Burris Park Outdoor School kind of reminds me of Fort Roosevelt, which was on the campus of Roosevelt Elementary School. Principal Jim Parks, along with us, helped many volunteers build a very special place for students to experience the outdoors for themselves. If you're interested in learning more about Fort Roosevelt, contact me and I can share a ton of information with you. I was fortunate enough to receive an album of photos and articles about the Fort from Jim Parks' family after his passing. The albums can also be found on my you Might Be from Hanford if you remember this Facebook page. Let's check in with Eric for the latest on high school soccer and basketball.
Speaker 3:
And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.
Speaker 1:
It was a busy week for high school sports, as both basketball and soccer were in action. We'll start with soccer, as we had a pair of crosstown showdowns between Hanford High and Hanford West. On the girls side, it was the bullpups that came away victorious over the Huskies by a final score of 4-1. Hanford High would go on to split their next two games, as they lost to Highland, but came away with a victory against Selma. For the Hanford West girls, after the defeat to the bullpups, they were able to get a pair of draws before finding the win column, as they picked up a victory against Mendota by a final score of 5-2. It wasn't only the girls that faced off, as the Huskies and the bullpups faced off on the boys side as well, and there was no victor in that one, as that contest ended in a 1-1 draw. Neither team was done yet, though, as both moved on to tournament play later in the week. We'll start with the Huskies, as they dropped three of their four tournament games, but were able to pick up a win against Summit Charter, while Hanford High School was able to go 2-2 in their tournament games, picking up wins over Sanger West and Fowler Sierra.
Speaker 1:
Pacific Soccer was also in action this week, where the boys dropped their two matches, but the girls team continues to succeed, as they were able to extend their winning streak to 6 games, with victories over Menachi, riverdale, mount Whitney and Kalinga, before playing Dinuba to a nil-nil draw. And on to basketball, where unfortunately, on the girls side, no one was able to pick up victories Hanford High dropped their game to Bakersfield Christian, hanford West dropped a pair of games to Dinuba and Mission Oak, and Sierra Pacific got a really fun experience as they got to travel to Hawaii for a tournament. Unfortunately, they dropped all four games on the islands. On the boys side, sierra Pacific did have some success, as they were able to pick up a pair of victories against Orange Cove and Chavez. Hanford High dropped their only game of the week to Kingsburg, and Hanford West dropped their loan two games to Dinuba and Mission Oak. As always, if you're a fan or a coach that wants your team featured, send us an email HanfordInsider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.
Speaker 2:
Well, that's it for today's show. If you enjoyed the show, I'd like to ask you to leave a review on your podcast player or on our website. It helps me with the growth of the show. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by our website at wwwhanfordinsidercom to sign up for updates. I also need your help getting the word out about the show by liking and sharing on social media or telling a friend For more information about the show. You can find this podcast on Facebook, instagram, threads X and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at HanfordInsider at gmailcom and we'll get going on it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.