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

In a 2016 issue of Forbes magazine, Helen H. Wang wrote, “The new Silk Roads already have momentum.Earlier last year, Beijing announced...

The Silk Road. It was the trade route that ran from China to the West during the days of the Roman Empire. In 2013, President Xi Jinping...

Several years ago, I wrote about the Four Tigers of Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. They were the countries that...

For The Madera Tribune Dr. Mary Butin (far left) ordered a halt to work on a foundation for a Chinese restaurant on Yosemite Avenue due...

For The Madera Tribune The Barsotti bakery in Madera. The 32 year-old Italian packed his bags and prepared to leave his native village of...

For The Madera Tribune Bill Tighe built this department store into the most prosperous business in downtown Madera. W.C. Tighe, Madera’s...

For The Madera Tribune C.M. Petty is seen here in the grocery store he opened after his match factory burned to the ground. The month of...