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.
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Hanford Insider
Hanford Insider: 25 Years of Thursday Nights in Hanford
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A quarter-century of community building takes center stage as Thursday Night Marketplace prepares to launch its milestone 25th season in downtown Hanford. Join host Rob Bentley as he sits down with Jim Castleman of Main Street Hanford for an inside look at how this beloved weekly tradition has evolved from a small street market to the largest recurring event in the community.
"What would we be doing in Hanford if we didn't have the marketplace on Thursday night?" This question, overheard at Castleman's morning coffee gathering, captures the essential role this event plays in the fabric of Hanford life. From its humble beginnings on 7th Street to its current home in the Civic Auditorium Park, the marketplace has become a gathering place where three distinct crowds converge - produce shoppers, dinner seekers, and those drawn by live music and the beer garden.
The 2025 season promises 27 nights of entertainment featuring 13 new bands, 25 food vendors including several new additions, and themed celebrations ranging from Navy Appreciation Night to Dairy Appreciation. Behind it all stands an army of 35-40 dedicated volunteers who make each Thursday possible from May through October.
Beyond the marketplace itself, downtown Hanford is experiencing a remarkable renaissance that Castleman describes as "vindication of everything we've done for 25 years." The interview highlights exciting developments including the Superior Dairy sale, Barrell House's courthouse purchase, and multiple new restaurants opening soon.
Stay connected with community happenings through the comprehensive community calendar featuring upcoming events like the National Day of Prayer, Cinco de Mayo Festival, and the Civic Auditorium's Centennial Celebration. Plus, catch all the local sports action with high school baseball and softball coverage from across Hanford.
Want to support your favorite teachers during Teacher Appreciation Month? Visit hanfordinsider.com to record your shoutout for next week's special episode. Subscribe to the podcast and newsletter to ensure you never miss what makes our community tick!
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
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On this episode of the Hanford Insider. We'll get a sneak peek of the 25th season of Thursday Night Marketplace with Jim Castleman. 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, april 28th.
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 long-time local, this is your source for everything happening in our town, from events and news to conversations with people who make Hanford such a unique community. I hope you enjoy the format. Conversations with people who make Hanford such a unique community. I hope you enjoy the format.
Speaker 2:Let's take a look at this week's community news. It was so great to see so many of you at the Echoes of Courage parade and ceremony honoring our Vietnam veterans. If you didn't make it, you can watch the video of the short parade that I streamed live on my YouTube channel at Hanford Insider. Even though it was raining, the short parade and ceremony meant so much to our Vietnam War heroes. It was truly a special event. Let's give a big congratulations to Hanford Police Department's own Nick Escalara for being named the Hanford Safety Employee of the Year. His efforts at officer safety training ensures that our officers are prepared for the challenges that they face, and his dedication to mentoring youth strengthens the connection with the community. His dedication makes the department stronger, our officers better prepared and our community safer. Congratulations to Officer Escalara on the well-deserved recognition.
Speaker 2:May is Teacher Appreciation Month and I'll be having a special show next week featuring shout-outs to our favorite educators, past and present. Here's how to record yours Go to hanfordinsidercom and click on the microphone icon at the bottom of the page and record your message. Be sure to say your name, the teacher's name in school. This is for everybody. So if you want to give a shout-out to a former teacher, even if it was years ago, this is your opportunity. That's all you have to do. If you want to just call me or leave a voicemail, that works too. You can call me at 559-424-3345 and leave a message. The shout outs will be aired on next week's episode. Thanks for participating in this recognition to our outstanding educators. Let's take a look at this week's community calendar.
Speaker 2:The National Day of Prayer event will take place at noon on May 1st in the Civic Auditorium Park. This week is the first week of the Thursday night marketplace in the Civic Auditorium Park. Entertainment will be provided by the band August. I'll have my interview with Jim Castleman in just a minute, previewing the 25th year of the marketplace. The Carnegie Museum of Kings County presents a history of Kings County agriculture. The museum is located at 109 East 8th Street and is open Fridays, saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm. They'll be having a special open house with free admission on Thursday May 1st from 5 to 7.30 pm. Visit carnegiemuseumofkingscountyorg for more information.
Speaker 2:On Saturday May 3rd, the 5th Annual Downtown Hanford Cinco de Mayo Festival will be held on 7th Street from 5 pm to 9 pm. There'll be a Mexican Folklorical Dancers, a Kids Zone, craft Vendors Dancing, a Beer Garden and Food Trucks. The event is sponsored by the Patty Dance Studio, hop Forge Brewing and UCPF Hanford. May 3rd is also the night of the prom for high school students at the Civic Auditorium, so downtown will be very busy. Be careful. The King's Arts Center is holding their Taco Fiesta for adults on Sunday May 4th from 4 to 7. Visit kingsartcenterorg for details and tickets.
Speaker 2:The downtown Hanford Car Show hosted by the Carnegie Museum of Kings County will be held on Saturday June 7th. Over 200 cars are expected. Registration is now open at carnegiecarshowcom. Saturday June 7th is also the date of the Century of Memories celebration, marking the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Hanford Civic Auditorium. Join us for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the 100th anniversary and dedication of this iconic venue. It's been the heart of our community, hosting countless events and creating unforgettable memories. This special centennial event will bring together residents, families and visitors to honor the rich legacy of the Civic Auditorium and reflect on the history, culture and spirit that has shaped Hanford over the past 100 years. At 6.30 pm there will be a gala dinner. Tickets are on sale for the evening event now at hanfordcagov slash civic 100.
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. It's the most comprehensive community calendar available. May 1st is finally here. It is time for the Thursday night marketplace cooking off in downtown Hanford on Thursday May 1st, and it's an awesome day to be here with Jim Castleman of Main Street Hanford. How are you doing, jim? Good Rob.
Speaker 3:Good to see you Always. I think I saw you last year about this same time, did I not?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've got some great events going on throughout the year and it's always a great chance to catch up with you, especially when Thursday Night Marketplace comes around, because it is, without a doubt, the largest event in Hanford. Ongoing event for a long time. You go May through October so let's go ahead and get it started. This year's a special year, so tell us about it. Well, this is the 25th year.
Speaker 3:Main Street Hanford came into existence in 2000. And the first market, if people remember, was down on Main Street, on 7th Street. And then it morphed itself, went around the corner down Irwin Street and then about seven years, eight years ago, seven years ago it morphed itself and went into the park. So we're excited. It's hard to believe that it's 25 years have just flown by. But you know, I was having coffee this morning with a bunch of people and they were going.
Speaker 3:You know what would we be doing in Hanford if we didn't have the marketplace on Thursday night? And I run into seniors all over the place saying thank you so much for what you're doing. We're looking so much forward to your market. You know, buying fruits and vegetables, listening to the music, a free night out. You know it's just a good thing for our community. So I'm excited. 25 years, you know we've got— Hard to believe 25. Yeah, We've got great sponsors, you know. So we always get really good backing from the local sponsors in the community. So you know Amtrak, san Joaquin Barrel House, who has now bought the courthouse from the city they're one of our sponsors Michelob, family Healthcare Network, adventist Health Hanford, hyundai, just to mention a few of the big ones, but we've got numerous other ones as well Advanced Pools, mechanics, Bank Calviva COS, carl Nelson Insurance, urban Joy, hop Forge and the Tachi Palace. So it's a bunch of folks that believe in what we're doing or what we're trying to do, so it's exciting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's nice to have that community backing. You definitely have solicited a lot of corporations and companies that believe in the mission of Main Street Hanford to not only provide this event on Thursday evenings during the summer and fall, but also outreach to different businesses in town. We'll get to that in just a minute. Let's go ahead and take a look at some of the things that you have on tap for this year's market. You've got some outstanding food vendors this year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we've got 25 food choices. So if you come down to the market for 25 nights you could eat somewhere different for almost the entire market. We're only missing it by two nights, so that's pretty exciting. I think there's five to six new food vendors this year. I don't remember the names of them, but there's going to be lots of food choices. There's always some favorites, but if you've come down to the market to eat, you know that you need to come down a lot of times early to eat because the lines will get really long for some of our food vendors and so all the way across the park sometimes. So that's exciting.
Speaker 3:You know we've got 27 nights of music this year. You know 13 new bands will be at the market this year. So we're doing it, mix it up a little bit and make it make some interest, and so you might not recognize when you go to the entertainment schedule. You might not recognize some of the names, but they're all high quality bands and they'll all be a lot of fun. So I'm excited for that as well and give it a different flavor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, each week on the community calendar when I preview what's coming up at Thursday Night Marketplace, I mentioned what the band is and who's providing, and I've had people they go on YouTube and say, oh okay, what are they all about? Because most of the bands have YouTube channels or they've played somewhere and they're tagged in a video somewhere. So that's a great way to kind of preview some of the acts that are going to be performing. I know that you have some theme nights every year. What are some of the theme nights that stick out to you?
Speaker 3:Oh well, I just go through a few here. There's Navy Appreciation Night, there's Local History Night, firefighters Appreciation, ag Appreciation, first Day of Summer, dairy Appreciation Night. The auditorium's having a celebration, the Civic Auditorium's having a centennial celebration, so we're having a special night for that. That's on June 5th, the Saturday before that happens or the Thursday before that all happens. So there's kids activities, throwback Thursday, paint Downtown Pink. There's just all kinds of nights. If you go to the schedule, each night has a different theme this year, so that makes it kind of fun too. And if you're a sponsor, we always offer the sponsors to come down and bring their employees down and pour beer in the beer and wine garden. It's a lot of fun. They'll come down with five or six people and they really have a ball. They get to see a lot of people and talk to a lot of people and it's a fun, fun evening.
Speaker 2:What about your farmers that are selling their fruits and vegetables? I know there's seasons, you know at the beginning of the year it's not quite as full, just because of the nature of agriculture. But what does the farmer's line of political line?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's. We've got a good, good, traditional group of farmers that we support and they'll all be there. You know, and you're right, it is seasonal, somewhat Like when the cherries are here, they're here. When the blueberries are here, they're here. When the raspberries or the boysenberries are here, they're here. And those are all quick shots. But then there's others that just have just a huge spread from tomatoes to squash to onions, you name it, you know. So it's always good and the market. It's really interesting to me after 25 years. There's three different crowds, you know. There's people that come down to get their fruits and vegetables. Sometimes they come down and wander around a little bit, get the fruits and vegetables and go home. And there's people that come down to eat. And there's the people that come down for the beer garden and the music, and sometimes those overlap, but it's really distinct. You can almost see it happen. The farmers are really busy for quite a while and then I'll get us the food and then it morphs into the beer and wine garden. So it's interesting to watch.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to ask you an obvious question here, you know, people on social media love it so much they want it 52 weeks a year, and I know a lot of it has to do with the agriculture, you know. Obviously farmers are not providing the same fruits and vegetables throughout the year. But I spin this more of a way as to give a shout out to all of your volunteers and all of your staff who put in countless hours of work to pull this off just for the time from May 1st to October 30th. So this is your chance to kind of acknowledge your volunteers and hard workers.
Speaker 3:We have the greatest group of volunteers that anybody could ever find. I mean, there are. When we have our annual volunteer dinner, we'll always have 35 to 40 people and those people are out there who are All summer long. Now maybe not every night, but they're always ready and if we need them, if somebody's sick or whatever we need, they're there for us. We don't even have to ask. I mean, they're knocking at our door and so it's really a testament to how much they care about their city. You know, it's like to have that many volunteers, to have the sponsors that we have. It all plays back into how much they care about Hanford, you know, and how much they care about their city.
Speaker 3:And I remember just before I got involved, which was in 2000, and Craig Sharton was the original director, just before I got involved, you know, I was kind of done. I was going oh man, hanford, I don't like to have to go out of town always to do something. Craig convinced me to get involved and that's what's happened. You don't have to go out of town. In fact, other folks are coming to our community all the time. I mean I meet people at the market from you name it Fowler, reedley, sanger, selma Fresno, visalia, porterville all the time people come up and introduce themselves. Oh, we drove up from Porterville tonight and so our volunteers just allow us to do all of that. And we've got, you know, really hardworking staff here in the office with Michelle and Ashley. You know and they're a lot behind the scenes that people don't even get how much time and energy it takes to organize it and put it together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so not only Marketplace, but we're talking about over 30 events in County Marketplace. But in addition to the Marketplace you have other events that you can offer out there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we've got 27 markets and we do Witch's Night Out and the Blues Festival and everybody's Irish and we do a walk around night out and the blues festival and everybody's Irish and we do a walker, a Christmas walk around downtown. Plus, we've taken on, you know, taken up doing a ribbon cuttings for new businesses within the business improvement district and and the mixers. So once a quarter we do a mixer somewhere. We just had our last one at plan B Tap House and had about 40 people attend. It was really good. It's good for our small businesses downtown to interact with each other and to meet each other and to greet each other and, you know, put some heads together and see what happens. It's a good thing. It's a lot of work that comes out of this office.
Speaker 2:So there's a lot happening. Work to come down to this office, though, so there's a lot happening in downtown Hanford, some of it very obvious. You know. We look at the Superior Dairy sale, and now people are talking about some of the other businesses that are going in and potentially going in. What makes you the most proud of what's happening in downtown Hanford? Because we know that you stand up on that stage on Thursday nights with the microphone. This is your first opportunity of 2025 to brag on the town that you love.
Speaker 3:Well, I am super excited. It feels like a vindication of everything that we've done for 25 years. I mean, when you just look around downtown and I challenge anybody that's listening to come downtown and look around the Hanford High School district offices are moving into the old Sentinel building. The Barrel House has bought the courthouse and they're rumored to kind of bring Harris Ranch with them. The Superior Dairy is sold and is going to be open soon.
Speaker 3:The cart facility is a huge facility in the middle of downtown that's going to enliven the whole east side of downtown and if you remember the artworks, it's going to be turned into a tap room and restaurant as well, called Downtown Tap. Wimpy's. Hamburger Stand is coming across from the police department and this guy owns like six Wimpy's and he's going across from the police department and he this guy owns like six wimpies and he's going to redo that parking lot and make a liquid. So it's just exciting to see all that happening all at the same time in in downtown town that we all love, you know. I mean the park that we have and the park that the market is located in is special and it should be special to everybody that's in this community. You do not find a park with those kind of antique building structures around it 1900s, 1800 buildings in a park like that park setting right in the middle of your town. Very few towns in California have that in California have that laugh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's important because last year when I had a booth at the Marketplace, I was asking people you know, great to have you here. Where are you from? You know because I was pitching the podcast for people from Hanford. But it was interesting because the majority of people that I talked to were from Visalia, kingsburg, fresno, kalinga. It was amazing the number of people who come from out of town to the marketplace. I was shocked.
Speaker 3:It's really amazing. I meet them all the time. This morning, for example, I was having coffee at Starbucks. At 6.30 this morning, An older guy come through the door and get his coffee, walk by, turned right around and said hey, you're the Thursday night marketplace guy, aren't you? I never seen him before. He says we come from Visalia. I'm over here because my wife had a procedure at the hospital, but I saw you sitting here so I wanted to come and say hi, we come every Thursday night from Visalia, you know what 20 minutes drive right.
Speaker 3:Anyway, it's really exciting. It's exciting to be the 25th year of the market and I think we're all excited.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we're definitely excited and I'd like to thank you for coming on and previewing the show. And, yes, we'll have you back before the Blues Festival and some of the other events that we have coming up in the fall.
Speaker 3:Thanks again. Great, I'm happy to be here. Happy to be here.
Speaker 1:And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley. We'll start with baseball, where Sierra Pacific was able to pick up a pair of league wins over Emanuel last week and now sit at 16-6 overall. In Wednesday's home game, a six-run bottom of the fifth allowed the Golden Bears to cruise to an 11-3 victory. Caleb Kuhlein highlighted the day, picking up the win, tossing five and two-thirds, allowing only three hits and striking out nine to raise his season total to 56 strikeouts through nine appearances. The junior was also productive at the plate, scoring a run and knocking one in On the road. Thursday, sierra Pacific picked up where they left off, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first and going on to win 7-2. Edgar Espinosa had a nice afternoon, going 2-2 with a pair of RBI, and Ethan Barcelos was excellent out of the pen, hurling three innings of shutout ball. A big two-game league series awaits this week as the first-place Golden Bears will take on second-place Kingsburg.
Speaker 1:Hanford High Baseball split their two-game series with Lemoore last week. Wednesday's home game was a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat that saw the Bullpups take a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning before Lemoore was able to tie things up in the sixth and score the eventual winning run in the seventh. In Friday's road matchup the Hanford High offense was quiet early, trailing 5-0 after five innings. But much like Wednesday's game, the away team got the bats going late as the Bullpups plated three in the sixth with a full run outburst in the seventh, giving them the 7-5 win over the Tigers, snapping their eight-game skid. Hayden Keeney picked up the win on the mound, pitching all seven, striking out nine, and though the Tigers scored five runs, none were earned by Keeney. The junior also went one for three at the plate, knocking in a pair of runs in the win. Hanford High sits at 6-4 in WYL action and, and after a rough month of April, we'll look forward to turning the calendar to May, taking on Dinuba and Tulare Union at home this week, and Hanford West Baseball also split their league series with Reedley last week. In Wednesday's home game, most of the offense came early, as it was a 3-2 ball game. After two innings of play, the Huskies would tack on an insurance run in the sixth in route to the 4-2 win. Alex Orozco picked up the win for the Huskies, striking out seven in his seven innings of work, while Ben Ritchie picked up a pair of RBI in the win. Friday's road game saw the Huskies jump out to a 1-0 lead before Reedley tied it in the second and took a lead they would never relinquish in the third, going on to take down Hanford West 3-1. At 3-3 in league action, a big series awaits the Huskies this week as they'll take on second place Selma Sticking with Hanford West.
Speaker 1:But now over to softball, where the Huskies bounced back from a tough week at the Easter Classic in a big way, going 2-0 last week. Tuesday's crosstown tilt with Sierra Pacific saw the Golden Bears jump out to an early 4-0 lead before the Huskies erupted for nine runs over the final three innings to take the 9-4 non-league victory. Kennedy Perryman hit her fourth home run of the season in the win, while Kaylin Boring was phenomenal out of the pen, delivering four innings of shutout work, only allowing one hit. In Friday's league game the Huskies had a 6-0 lead heading into the final inning before having to stave off a furious Reedley rally to secure the 6-4 victory. Four different Huskies had a two-hit day at the plate.
Speaker 1:As Hanford West improves to 5-0 in league action and will put that undefeated record to the test this week as they'll take on Selma at home and Kerman on the road, sierra Pacific Softball split their two games last week, the loss being the game with Hanford West, the win an 8-5 victory over Exeter at home on Friday. It was a steady dose of Golden Bears offense early, scoring all eight of their runs in the first four innings, with junior Kelsey Hanson knocking in three runs in the win. Sierra Pacific will have a prime opportunity to pick up some league wins this week, taking on the two teams at the bottom of the league standings in CVC and Washington Union. As for Hanford High softball, we weren't able to find a score for last week's matchup with L'Amour, but we do know that the Bullpups fell to Mission Oak 8-3. They'll take on Dinuba and Tulare Union in league action this week.
Speaker 1:As always, we like to cover as many local sports as we can, so if you have a score report, a story idea or a team update, please let us know. At hanfordinsider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports.
Speaker 2:Report. Well, 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 hanfordinsider 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 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 I'll look into it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
