MASSETTI HONORED BY ST. JOACHIM’S SCHOOL — St. Joachim’s Catholic School honored a former graduate who has used her talents to achieve success and make Madera a better community through her involvement. Cecilia Massetti, a 1968 graduate of St. Joachim’s and new director of curriculum/pupil services for the Madera County Superintendent of Schools office, was named a recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award. “To be honored by your grammar school for achievement is very rewarding,” Massetti said. “I have a real commitment to education, and receiving this award validates what I do for the children of Madera County. My Catholic education really brought that home to me,” she added.
FIRST WOMAN ACCEPTED IN MADERA TRADE CLUB — Jeanine Meyer of Chowchilla is the first woman accepted as a member of the Madera County Trade Club. According to Robert Mitchell, head trader for 1990-1991, the Trade Club as agreed to open its membership to women in an effort to double its membership next year. The Trade Club was formed in 1957 to promote and advance the spirit of cooperation among manufacturers, agribusiness, retailers, wholesalers, and professional men, and now women, in Madera and surrounding counties. In 1990, the club established its first scholarship fund to give to each of the local high schools to award to students.
PRISON COUNSELOR DIES IN SUNDAY MORNING CRASH — A prison correctional counselor was killed early Sunday morning in a fiery wreck on Highway 99 south of Chowchilla when her southbound vehicle flew across the highway center divider, flipped and smashed upside down into the rear wheels of a northbound big rig. The car burst into flames. The driver, Peggy Jo Lamb, 42, was ejected from the vehicle as it hit the truck. According to the California Highway Patrol, the small car was completely flattened in the wreck leaving no chance for her survival. The crash occurred 35 feet in front of two CHP officers who were parked, lights flashing, as they were finishing the paperwork from another accident.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATED AT THOMAS JEFFERSON — Keynote speaker Mary Curry spoke more about the future than the past at Black History Month ceremonies Sunday at Thomas Jefferson Junior High School. Curry told the crowd of about 150 she was one of those who had been told to sit at the back of the bus many years ago when she was growing up in Louisiana. She made constant references to her faith in God’s guidance. The former member of the Fresno Unified School District Board of Trustees also spoke with great passion about the thing she seems to love most in life: children. “What children need most,” she said, “is unconditional love.” She said “adults need to tell our children that not all of our ancestors were slaves. They were kings too.” ...