For The Madera Tribune Frank Bigelow, great Grandson of Harmon Bigelow, founder of the Ponderosa Telephone Company. I first met the Bigelows while working at Spring Valley School a long time ago. Jess Bigelow was a major patron of the school’s 4-H club and spent a lot of money buying their animals at the Madera and Chowchilla fairs. Of course it wasn’t long before I found out about the connection between the Bigelow family and the Ponderosa Telephone Company, and that is a hi

Nancy Simpson/The Madera Tribune Rick Drayer, honored as Cattleman of the Year. He was given an award and a new cowboy hat. The Madera County Cattlemen’s Association held its annual dinner at Buchenau Ranch on Friday. The evening was one of friendship and comradery as cattlemen of Madera County enjoyed visiting with each over and honoring special people of the cattle industry. The event has become a tradition in Madera County, and has been held annually since 1963. Rick Draye

The American Heart Association is set to hold its annual Central Valley Heart and Stroke Walk event to raise awareness of heart and brain health, as well as raise funds to support scientific research, community impact projects, CPR education and more. The Saturday event will be held at 4150 Town Center Blvd. in Tesoro Viejo, beginning at 8 a.m., with opening ceremonies at 8:45 a.m., and the walk at 9 a.m. The event will include a 5K walk, with a shorter survivor route.

Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune With Liberty’s Sebastian Graham making the tackle, Brody Rollins (3) takes the ball away from the Parlier ball carrier. He returned the fumble 10 yards for a touchdown Friday night. PARLIER — The Liberty Hawks football team continued its dominating trend with a 48-6 victory Friday over the Parlier Panthers.  The Hawks allowed a first quarter touchdown and held Parlier to just 41 yards the rest of the way. Liberty scored on all seven of their po

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera South’s Maria Hernandez sends a kill past the Roosevelt block during Thursday’s match at Madera South.  The Madera South Stallions lost for the first time in a week early last week and fell back into their old ways in a three-set sweep to the Roosevelt Rough Riders at Madera South.  The Stallions won four straight matches and set themselves for an end-of-the season run. However, an ankle injury to middle blocker Ariel Aguirre benched

Brad Meltzer is an interesting author who really knows his stuff. In September, 2006, he participated in a brainstorming session with the CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and several psychologists to try to figure out new methods that might be used by terrorists to attack the United States. That was quite an honor for a guy who was once a writer of comic books.  But comic books, like Justice League of America and Superman/Batman, were part of a much larger body of w

Wildfeuer, Wikimedia Commons Fresh chestnuts are now available in many stores. You can also find processed ones that are precooked and peeled. I always look forward to Fall, partly for the holidays, the weather, the colors of nature and of course, the meals. Chestnuts are a must at my house, and I am very happy that chestnuts are now available already cooked and peeled, ready to eat or use in recipes. I can eat a whole bag of them. I wish I knew how the processors can get the

For The Madera Tribune Barnstormer leaves Madera. On March 29, 1912, hundreds of Maderans gathered at the city’s baseball park, where the National Guard Armory now stands, but they weren’t there to watch the Coyotes play ball. In the first place it was too early. No baseball team got up at 6:30 in the morning to play a game. What piqued the interest of this crowd was Madera’s first ever airplane landing and takeoff. D.E. Francis was coming to town. Francis, a professional bar