Hanford Insider
Welcome the Hanford Insider, I’m your host Rob Bentley. I’m a lifelong resident of Hanford and I’m very involved in the local history scene and podcasting so I decided to start this show as a resource to Hanford area residents for covering issues, promoting events, sports, and reflecting on some local history.
Tune in each Monday for a new episode.
Please help me get the word out about the show by sharing on social media, or telling a friend. For more information about the show, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, or Threads at @Hanford Insider.
If you have a show idea, be sure to email me hanfordinsider@gmail.com If you are part of an organization that needs help getting the word out to the community, let’s work together.
Hanford Insider
Hanford Insider: Echoes of Courage Parade, Community Challenges, and Celebrating Local Arts!
Send me a text and give me feedback on this episode!
Unlock the heartbeat of Hanford's community as we bring you the latest updates from our vibrant town. We'll explore the solemn yet celebratory Echoes of Courage parade, marking half a century since the Vietnam War's conclusion. From the pivotal decisions at the Hanford City Council meetings to the festive plans for the Civic Auditorium's Century of Memories, there's much to catch up on. Don't miss the community calendar highlights, including the much-anticipated History of Kings County Agriculture display at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County and the delectable Hanford Portuguese Celebration Fundraiser Dinner.
Joining us for an engaging conversation, Debra Garske and Kim Spicer from the Temple Theater share the inspiring journey of the Kings Players and their commitment to nurturing local arts. Our focus then shifts to a pressing social issue: period product poverty. Kristi DeLude from King's Pantry Outreach sheds light on how this initiative at Koinonia Church is making a tangible difference by providing essential menstrual products to those in need. This episode connects you with Hanford's stories, struggles, and triumphs, offering insights and inspiration from those who lead and support our community.
Blog Post
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
Thank you for supporting the show!
On this episode of the Hanford Insider, christy DeLude stops by to give us some insight on important, often overlooked women's issues. You'll get an update of Hanford news and the community calendar Then. Later I'll be back with your sports report. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, february 24th.
Speaker 2:This is the Hanford Insider, the podcast where we dive into what makes our community tick, from local stories and hidden gems to conversations with people shaping our neighborhood. We're here to celebrate, explore and connect. I'm your host, rob Bentley. Whether you're new to Hanford or a longtime local, this is your source for everything happening in our town, from events and news to unique conversations with people who make Hanford such a unique community. I hope you enjoy the format. Let's take a look at this week's community news. It was announced this week that the Echoes of Courage parade and ceremony will take place on Saturday, april 26th in downtown Hanford. It marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Check the City of Hanford social media accounts for more information and, of course, I'll have plenty to say about it.
Speaker 2:The Hanford City Council met Tuesday, february 18th. The first item on the agenda was to select the members of the Revenue H Revenue Measure Oversight Committee. An additional 1% sales tax will be added to all sales beginning on April 1st, with the first receipts arriving in July. 32 community members applied for the Oversight Committee and the top 11 were elected to serve. Larry Faria, Victor Chavrine Jr, andrea Barone, nate Ferrier, valerie Castles and Jack Amoroso will begin a three-year term and Sue Sorensen, kimberly Harmon, christine Leach, gary Rocha and Jack Schwartz will begin a two-year term. The overlapping terms are necessary to maintain consistency. The Council then heard the initial report from the committee planning the Century of Memories event planned for the 100th anniversary of the Hanford Civic Auditorium. Events are scheduled on Thursday through Sunday, june 5th through the 8th, with the big ceremony taking place on Saturday, june 7th at 3 pm inside the Civic Auditorium. There'll be a party later that evening. Stay tuned to the City's social media accounts about how you can join in the fun.
Speaker 2:Also, during the afternoon study session, the Hanford Police Department released its annual report. It's clear that the department is strapped and short on resources. The support coming in from the tax revenue measure will make an impact, but it'll take some time. During the evening session, the council heard from several residents who have concerns about safety on busy streets such as Glacier, centennial and a few others. Another traffic study has been completed recently and the city will be looking at additional traffic control measures where they're warranted. Finally, the draft active transportation plan was presented to the council with many exciting possibilities to improve pedestrian and cyclist paths throughout town. There's no current funding to initiate these improvements, but having a plan will allow the city to apply for grants that could potentially fund the projects. One of the more interesting proposals was for a public trail along the People's Ditch all the way from Flint Avenue to Hume Avenue. As you can imagine, there were many concerns brought up about safety along the route, but, as it was outlined, many of these concerns can be addressed if and when the funding becomes available.
Speaker 2:Here are some things coming up on our community calendar. The History of Kings County Agriculture display at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County opens this Friday, february 28th. The museum is located at 109 East 8th Street and is open Fridays, saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm. Visit carnegiemuseumofkingscountyorg for more information. For more information, the Hanford Portuguese Celebration Fundraiser Dinner will be held at the Hanford Fraternal Hall on Tuesday, march 4th from 4 30 to 6 pm. On Saturday, march 8th, the California Health Collaborative will be holding the Kings County Youth Summit at the COS campus in Hanford. Finally, the Main Street Hanford beer tasting event Everybody's Irish in Downtown Hanford will be held on Friday March 14th at 6 pm. Tickets are on sale now at mainstreethanfordcom. Well, we have an exciting show coming up at the Temple Theater in Hanford, put on by the Kings players, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get together with two of my favorite people at the Temple Theater, and that is Deborah Garsky and Kim Spicer. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Hi, rob, thanks for having us. Thanks for coming by.
Speaker 2:So, deborah, can you tell us a little bit about this program that you have with the Kings Players? It's been using the Temple Theater for years now and there's been a lot of activity over the last years and I know you have a lot of volunteers that help you out with these shows.
Speaker 3:Yes, rob, the Temple Theater actually has been in existence since about 1963. We're housed in the Temple Theater, which used to be a Chinese school, and this building just had its 100th year anniversary a couple of years ago. So we're very proud of that, and Kim can tell you a little bit about how we got started.
Speaker 4:Yes, our founder, the heart and soul of the Temple Theater, was Audrey Leibold, and she was a director, a founder, an actor, a volunteer, and she did so much for the theater and we are very pleased we actually have a scholarship in her name, in her honor, that we offered to local high school students. So that's actually been advertised already. It's coming up in April the due date for that to a graduating senior that's going to be planning to spend time in performing arts. So she's a big part of our past and we're very grateful to her. The Chinese school just real quick. Some of our Chinese residents had talked about coming here after regular school. They'd go to their regular public school and come here after and study Chinese culture and language, and I think that's really cool. And the late Ernie Wing told me that he spent a little time here after school learning Chinese culture and language. So that's nice.
Speaker 4:But anyway, we very much honor Audrey and thank her for her contributions.
Speaker 2:The Temple Theater is tucked behind China Alley on Visalia Street and you may drive by it sometimes and wonder what goes on here. I know the theater is used not only for your productions but you have a lot of other activities. Sometimes you have acting classes and everything. What kind of things happen here with the Kings players?
Speaker 4:We do have outreach. Though I was going to talk about that, I hope it's not premature. We have two big outreach projects each year. The one nearest and dearest to my heart is the Murder Mystery and it's a cooperative between Children's Storybook Garden and the Kings players and we put on a murder mystery and proceeds are shared between both organizations. And every September there is the Lemoore Cemetery Walk, which is a partnership between the Kings Players and the Sarah Mooney Museum, and that's also a really fun and interesting outreach project. So we would encourage anyone to come see those things.
Speaker 2:So, deborah, I understand you have an exciting show opening up soon, March 1st, I believe, right.
Speaker 3:Yes, we do. It's going to be opening this Saturday and Sunday, march 1st and 2nd, and it will go for the next three consecutive weekends after that. We have a great cast. Most of them are seasoned actors. They're all working very hard to do a great job on the production.
Speaker 3:A lot of folks don't realize that they have a live theater here in Hanford. We've been here for 60 years and since we're kind of off the beaten path, we're not as well known as we'd like to be, so we're happy to get the word out there. We work in conjunction with other theater groups in a way that there's a theater group in town that we share actors with. Sometimes they come from there to here and they join our cast. We're kind of interconnected that way. So that's nice. And, as Kim mentioned, we do side door productions. We had a group recently that wanted to do a little concert here. Unfortunately their schedule and ours didn't quite jive for this year, but we're definitely planning on next year. And we also have an improv group that came last year and did a little improv before a couple of our shows and that was a nice way to join with the community.
Speaker 2:So tell us about this production that you have coming up in March.
Speaker 3:Okay, this show is called Ghost of a Chance and it's about a young lady who is coming to the hunting cabin of her deceased husband. Her husband passed away three years ago in a hunting accident. She's coming now with her fiancé and his mother so her future mother-in-law to come clean out the cabin and sell it and move on with her life. Unfortunately, the ghost of her dead husband is not in agreement with her moving on with her life or selling his cabin for a number of reasons which will be a little surprise to the audience. So it's got intrigue, it has comedy, it's got some pathos. We'd say it's probably a PG-13. There's a few words but nothing really serious. But it's a wonderful show and we hope folks can come down and see us.
Speaker 2:Well, it sounds like a wonderful show. How can we get tickets?
Speaker 3:You can get tickets a couple of different ways. You can go onto our website, which is kingsplayersorg, and you can also call the numbers, area code 559-584-7241. That's 584-7241 or kingsplayersorg.
Speaker 4:I would like to add that a season ticket for four shows is only $50. That is a $10 savings. Our prices have not gone up. They are typically $15 per show unless you have a season ticket. So if you're interested, come get a season ticket. You can get them online.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks for joining us and we hope you have a wonderful show.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much, rob. It's been a pleasure to be here. Thank you, rob, nice to see you again.
Speaker 2: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. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a complete calendar of events. Well, it's great to have with us Christy DeLute from the Quintinia King's Pantry Outreach. How are you?
Speaker 5:doing, Christy Doing great.
Speaker 2:Thank you, christy. Can you tell us a little bit about what period product poverty is?
Speaker 5:Period. Product poverty has become an epidemic, both economically, medically and it's. They've now done some clinical studies and found that those women are more at high risk for toxic shock syndrome than women that used to leave tampons in. There is a huge risk to the community because if someone doesn't have the correct product, they can have an accident. We sit in it, we go home and now there can be communicable diseases that we don't know about. And it's a wide range of people. It's the homeless. It's the homeless women. It's the women that are working low income, it's the women that are middle income and they're having to decide whether to go to work, whether to provide food for their children, diapers for their kids, things like that. It's also for the postpartum mamas. Those pads are larger and they're very expensive, and so a lot of the OBGYNs don't ask do you have these products? The other population that I work with is the elderly and disabled population, because they have urine incontinence and those products are about $1.50 each pad, and so they found the clinical studies also that these people are at risk for substance because of bladder and kidney infections. So it's a it's and then the economic part is okay.
Speaker 5:If you can't go to work, then you're not getting the income and you're at risk for being laid off. And then there's staffing issues with the employer and she goes. I have to dig in my drawer every week, every month, to provide money to pay for these. She goes. I work full time, I take care of my dad and I don't have the money to do that. And so she was in her 20s. And you look around the restaurant and they're mostly all the same age women, probably having the same issues. I work with the street women. They call me and I take products because most of them aren't providing products.
Speaker 2:So that leads into our next question. Obviously there's this new ministry that's been started at the Koinonia Church that you have been spearheading. How can people stop period poverty?
Speaker 5:We've started the program at Koinonia King's Pantry. I learned about the program from San Diego Pantry. Two men run the program. They last year got $1.5 million in money just for a product, and what we've done, started doing, is anyone that comes through the pantry they can have. We ask is there any female in the house that needs these products? If they do, then we just put them in their food box so that they have that option. I drive around in my car all the time. I have everything in the car. I go to physical therapy at Planet Fitness in the afternoon and they wait for me outside. They know that I'll be there from 1 to 3. They wait along the wall the women that are homeless. So that's how the ministry started and how we're growing it is. We want all the pantries to be able to offer them so that more can be distributed.
Speaker 2:So they know you. They obviously know how to get in contact with you. What are some of the other programs in Kings County that are receiving these products?
Speaker 5:Some of the other products I supply Hannah House. It's an inpatient rehab facility. Through Champions, I supply Champions their walk-in program. We supply Refuge House, which is a program for teens, and we provide them for the goal is to start. Champions is going to start a shower program and so we'll be providing for them, for the women that take showers. We also provide a lot of education to get people through.
Speaker 5:Soroptimus, king's, partnership are some of the programs that are working with us. Adventist is they have a mobile clinic. We go out to the encampments and provide them. In King County the schools provide them to the girls at the school and at the colleges, but it's only during school hours and not holidays. So I'm like, well, that doesn't really solve the problem. So there's that missing part. We also want to start supplying. It's called the Epic Kitchen and they have soup kitchen and so that they can have when they come to have meals, they have that opportunity to have them. The goal is, like I said, is they now know who I am and they call me the pad woman and they text me and you know, they know that this is a thing People always ask me.
Speaker 5:Well, isn't it kind of embarrassing and it's like to ask, you know, I'll see someone on the street and they're a bad age and I'll say, do you need product? And they're like yeah, and I said what's more embarrassing having an accident and or getting product? And so they don't. They're not embarrassed, nor am I.
Speaker 2:Well, that's great that you've built that rapport with them and the trust for sure. So if people want to contact you, they'd like to get involved in the ministry, either as a volunteer or maybe contribute financially. How can they do that?
Speaker 5:How can they do that. Well, my number is 564-237-1051. The email address is stop S-T-O-P period P-E-R-I-O-D poverty the number one at gmailcom or contact King's Pantry. They're open Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 to 12.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you very much, Christy. This has been very enlightening and I'm sure it's going to be great information for the community. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:All right, thank you. Thank you for your time, and now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.
Speaker 1:We start with high school basketball playoffs, where the Sierra Pacific girls punched their ticket to Ceylon Arena for the D2 championship as they worked through their half of the playoff bracket with relative ease. After the round one win over Redwood, it was Cabrillo who came to town on Tuesday and Sierra Pacific took care of business, beating the 10-seed Conquistadors 67-33 in round two. It was a quick turnaround for the Golden Bears for their round three matchup on Thursday against three-seed Orcutt Academy. But that didn't seem to bother them, as Sierra Pacific held a nine-point lead after the first quarter and would go on to defeat the Spartans by nine 68-59. And would go on to defeat the Spartans by 9, 68-59. This sets up a championship matchup between second seed Sierra Pacific and number one seed Menache. These two teams did meet earlier in the regular season, with the Marauders coming away victorious 48-39 back in November. In what will presumably be another low-scoring game between the two on Friday, senior point guard Asia Jackson, who averages 14 points a game, and the rest of the Golden Bears offense will need to find a way to break through, as Menache is only allowing 29 points a game to their opponents over their last 10 games. The championship game tips off at 6 pm on Friday at Ceylon Arena in Fresno.
Speaker 1:And in boys basketball, hanford High hoped to continue their Cinderella run as a 15 seed in the Division II bracket taking on the 7 seed Porterville. And things got started off well for the Bullpups in that round two game, jumping out to a 17-13 lead in the first quarter, thanks in large part to JC Turner scoring 10 of his team-high 17 points in the quarter. However, a 28-point outburst by the Panthers in the second quarter gave them the lead that the Bullpups couldn't overcome, as Porterville took the victory 67-61. Hanford High finishes their season 18-11 overall and the Sierra Pacific boys also advanced to the second round of the playoffs in the Division IV bracket. But despite a 20-point effort from senior guard Nevin Pitkin, it was 12-seed Ridgeview getting the better of the Golden Bears 78-56. Sierra Pacific ends their year at 15-15 overall and a second-place league finish.
Speaker 1:And in soccer, after surviving a round one scare, the second seed Hanford High boys faced off with Torres in round two of the D3 playoffs, coming away victorious with a 4-0 shutout win to advance to round three. But it was in that round that the Bullpups' playoff run came to an end as the six-seed Fresno High came away with a 1-0 victory. Hanford High's season comes to a close with a 14-7-3 overall record and a second-place WIL finish. Another big congratulations to all of our winter sport athletes who have finished up their 2025 season. And now that winter sports are almost complete, that means it's time for baseball and softball. Action gets started this week and I'll have our first week of results on next week's show. As always, we'd like to cover as many local sports as possible, so if you have a score report or a story idea, make sure to email hanfordinsider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.
Speaker 2:That's all the time we have for this week's show. If you enjoyed this podcast and you'd like to show your support, you can go to buymeacoffeecom slash Hanford Insider to make a donation. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by my website at hanfordinsidercom to sign up for updates. You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter in your inbox each week. 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 this 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 I'll look into it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
