Imagine lacing up your sneakers for a cause that hits close to home. That's exactly what Stacy and Steven Brazil did when they transformed their passion for their son, Luke, into the now-annual Autism Awareness 5K Run and Walk. On this episode of Hanford Insider, join us as the Brazils share the heartwarming story behind an event that started as a small gathering in their garage and has since exploded into a community celebration. We'll explore the significance of Quail Run Park, the upcoming festivities, and how every step taken in this race echoes through the families it supports.
Meanwhile, as Hanford continues to blossom, we get an insider view on the latest city developments, including the new Downtown Improvement Project and a warm welcome to our new fire chief, Mr. Daniel Perkins. Plus, Rob will guide us through a plethora of local events that showcase the vibrant spirit of our community—from cultural exhibitions to monster truck excitement. Gear up for an episode packed with stories of unity, progress, and a peek into the heart of Hanford's burgeoning civic landscape.
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider Thank you for supporting the show!
Imagine lacing up your sneakers for a cause that hits close to home. That's exactly what Stacy and Steven Brazil did when they transformed their passion for their son, Luke, into the now-annual Autism Awareness 5K Run and Walk. On this episode of Hanford Insider, join us as the Brazils share the heartwarming story behind an event that started as a small gathering in their garage and has since exploded into a community celebration. We'll explore the significance of Quail Run Park, the upcoming festivities, and how every step taken in this race echoes through the families it supports.
Meanwhile, as Hanford continues to blossom, we get an insider view on the latest city developments, including the new Downtown Improvement Project and a warm welcome to our new fire chief, Mr. Daniel Perkins. Plus, Rob will guide us through a plethora of local events that showcase the vibrant spirit of our community—from cultural exhibitions to monster truck excitement. Gear up for an episode packed with stories of unity, progress, and a peek into the heart of Hanford's burgeoning civic landscape.
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'll hear from Stacey and Steven Brazil about the Autism Awareness 5K run or walk that's happening on April 6th. Rob will give us a City Council update as well as a Community Calendar update, and I'll be back later with a baseball and softball update for our local teams. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, march 25th.
Speaker 2:
Hey everybody, welcome to this episode of the Hanford Insider. I'm your host, rob Bentley. Thanks for listening. In community news this week the Hanford City Council had a very long meeting to discuss the final elements of the Downtown Improvement Project. The proposed roundabout at the corner of Seventh and Doughty was approved by a vote of 3-2. The project now moves to the final design phase. Contracts should be awarded by the end of 2024 and construction will start shortly after. At the meeting it was also announced by the Hanford City Manager, mariuso Fuentes, that Hanford has found a new fire chief. Congratulations to Mr Daniel Perkins. We'll be leading the department and will be formally introduced to the community soon. Here are some things coming up on our Community Calendar.
Speaker 2:
The Carnegie Museum of Kings County presents Kings County's Asian Experiences. The museum is located at 109 East 8th Street and is open each Friday, saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm. Everything is $5 per person, with a family maximum of $10. For more information you can visit the Carnegie Museum website at wwwkarnagamuseumofkingscountyorg. The Hanford Parks and Community Services. Egg Hunt will be held in the Civic Center Park on March 29th at 10 am. On Saturday April 6th and Sunday April 7th there will be a monster truck show at the King's Fairgrounds. The gates open at 12 noon. For more information, visit wwwthekingsfaircom.
Speaker 2:
The Kings players in Children's Storybook Garden and Museum are presenting their fourth annual murder mystery dinner on April 20th. For further information and tickets, visit childrenstorybookgardenorg. The Hanford Chamber of Commerce Taste of the Valley is in the Civic Center Park on April 26th. Visit hanfordchambercom for more information. On Sunday, april 28th, there will be a Mother's Day Vineyard Fair in Hat Bar in the Carnegie Museum Garden from 11 to 4. 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 hanfordinsidercom. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a complete calendar of events. The fourth annual Autism Awareness 5K Run and Walk is coming up on Saturday, april 6th at Quail Run Park on Glacier Way and I've invited Stacy and Steven Brazillon to tell us about this awesome event. Welcome to the show, guys.
Speaker 3:
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 4:
Hey, thank you. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2:
So, stacy, let's start with you. This Autism Awareness Run is in its fourth year and certainly is building us a strong backing and support. Can you tell us a little bit about how you started the run and what gave you the inspiration to start this event for the community?
Speaker 3:
Well, actually, me and Bree decided we were going to do a 5K back in 2020 for our son Luke. He's nonverbal, autistic and COVID hit, so all the 5Ks and runs went virtual. So we decided we weren't going to let that stop us and we started in our garage from my house and we had about 15 runners, we made shirts and it was awesome, and then every year since then, it's doubled and tripled in size.
Speaker 2:
That's wonderful. Just seeing the growth of the event is amazing. So tell us a little bit about the event. I noticed it's scheduled for April 6th. Can you tell us a little bit about the location and maybe about some of the activities that will be going on that day?
Speaker 4:
Yeah, so we're going to have it at the Quill Rock Park, right just down the street from our house, because, again, this started from the garage garage built and so it's just the local park. Right here in the neighborhood. We mapped out a little 5K course and it's a nice, nice park that we can have the bounce house, the face painters, the vendors and everyone out there, and there's a playground for the kids, though it's the good little environment for everybody and unfortunately, probably after this year, we're going to have to find a new location that's bigger. So it's a bad thing, but a good thing at the same time, because we've outgrown the neighborhood so we're going to have to find a bigger venue.
Speaker 4:
So as far as the run goes then and the walk, it's going to be primarily around the park boundaries then the run walk is going to start obviously at the park and then it's going to go on to Glacier, up to the stop sign and you're going to go east on Flint stop sign at 11th, hang a right southbound on 11th to Fargo, back to Glacier, up all the way back to Flint, back to the park. For the full 5K Majority of the people or the walkers will just stop back at the park, but for the people completing the whole 5K it will need to go back up to the stop sign and back to the park because we will be giving prizes for a first, second, third place.
Speaker 2:
I noticed that neighborhood does have a lot of sidewalks, so it's not just in the road, it's actually on the sidewalks and people can push strollers and stuff like that. So that should be a pretty good event. You mentioned some of the activities in the park face painting, bounce houses for the people that may be participating they can do afterwards, or maybe the people that are not participating in the walk can do during the program. What kind of vendors do you plan on having out there?
Speaker 4:
So we're welcoming anyone and everyone. But so far what we have committed so far is we have the Kings County Sheriff's floors. They come out and they have an autism patch for the Kings County Sheriff that they sell to raise money for their program. We have the ECP. We have the sensory rockers that are going to come out and set up a booth. They're a huge program here in the city that provides a lot of help for not only autism but a playground and a comfortable area for the kids and what would you call it counseling or help for children with needs autism. And we have snow cone vendors, ice cream vendors, obviously the face painter and the balance house and the playground that's provided for the park. And we also have Walmart coming out and they're going to raffle off the bike. We'll have other prizes up for raffle and then we will also have prizes based off of the place they have the race.
Speaker 2:
So, if you don't mind sharing, I know that this is a very personal cause for your family and I know that there are other families out there that need to hear that resources are available to them. Can you maybe share a little bit about your story and how you've connected with other parents of special needs?
Speaker 4:
Yeah, so, being in Hanford, we've done several clinicians and help in town. Fortunately, some of them have went out of business that are no longer with us. The sensory rock is still standing and the ADA therapy. Sensory rock is literally right downtown and it's a nice, beautiful facility that is comfortable for all kids, no matter what their disability may be. And, believe it or not, like I mentioned earlier, it seems like years ago, in the beginning of my stages of my sun, being diagnosed with autism, that I was the only one. But as soon as I started making this run, I had more and more and more people just reaching out to me and say, hey, what's it like? Does your child do this? Do they do that? And let me know that this is affecting a lot more people than we realize. It's a huge impact on everyone. I believe there's a lot more kids with autism and kids on the spectrum than we realize, but, being in Hamford, kings County, it's a tight-knit community so it's not hard to find someone that relates to autism.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's great that you've been able to develop connections with families that are experiencing the same challenges, and this is such an awesome event. Can you tell us a little bit about the event, how people can maybe get signed up and maybe if, even if, they want to help at the event maybe they don't aren't interested in running necessarily, but they'd like to help out. How can they reach you?
Speaker 3:
Well, they can reach me via phone 559-967-9445, or BRIK at 559-9975442. We're available anytime. We can always answer any kind of questions that anyone has, and you don't necessarily need to sign up the day of come on down and just hang out. There's going to be a lot of resources there if you have questions and are afraid to ask. So I mean, there's a lot of resources there. Ucp will be there, like we said, sensory Rock and they're amazing to help out, and there's a lot of first-time people that don't know what to do, and it's like a community. We're all going to be there and we can all answer each other's questions and kind of we know each other for support.
Speaker 2:
Very cool. Well, I will put your phone numbers for you and Bree in the show notes and people can get ahold of you and, like you said, even if they don't make a call, they can come up that morning and reach you. And I'll put the flyer also in the show notes so people can see more about that. And it was great having you on the show and I want to wish you the best of luck at your event on April 6th.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4:
Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3:
And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.
Speaker 1:
We'll start with baseball, as all three teams have started league play.
Speaker 1:
Hanford High was able to split a pair of lopsided games this week, picking up a 7-1 victory over Tulare Union before falling to Tulare Western 13-1.
Speaker 1:
The bullpups are 2-1 in WYL action and 7-4 overall. Sierra Pacific also split their two matchups this week, besting Washington Union 6-2 and faltering to Exeter 8-7 in a very close game. The Golden Bears find themselves at 6-5 overall, 1-2 in league play and Hanford West was unable to pick up a victory, dropping their two games 4-2 to Emanuel and 9-5 to Reidli. The Huskies are 1-2 in league and 5-7 overall In softball action.
Speaker 1:
League play has not started yet, but there was plenty of offense to be found from all of the teams last week. We'll start with Hanford High, as they scored 15 runs in route to a 15-11 victory over Golden West, with an incredible 8-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the win, the bullpups improved to 5-6 overall. Sierra Pacific also scored quite a few runs. Unfortunately, their late game rally wasn't quite enough as they fell to Emanuel 10-9. The Golden Bears will look to pick things up in league action as they sit 1-8 overall on the year and Hanford West was able to pick up a win in their only action last week, taking down LeMor in dominant fashion by a final score of 11-3. The Huskies find themselves with a very solid record, heading into league play at 8-4-1 overall. As always, we'd love to hear any scores, stories or stats that you'd like us to cover, so please reach out to Hanford Insider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Pently and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.
Speaker 2:
Well, that's all the time we have for today's show. If you enjoyed the podcast, leave a review on my website. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by the website at hanfordinsidercom to sign up for updates. You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter and your inbox each week. You can also send me feedback by voicemail through my website by clicking on the microphone icon. I'd love to hear from you. Your comments may even be shared on the show. I also need 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, spreads X and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at hanfordinsider at gmailcom and I'll get going on it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.