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The queen of Bethard Square

  • Bill Coate
  • Oct 7
  • 1 min read
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For The Madera Tribune

From left are Emma Josephine Bethards, her grandmother Josephine Eugenia Lentz Bethards, and sister Millie Ellen Bethards. The photo was taken about 1914, in the old Bethards home, where Bethard Square is now.

Up in Coarsegold, not far from the Chukchansi casino, lived a grand young lady who, at the time I interviewed her in 2003, had reached the age of 96. Armed with a perky smile, a sharp wit, and tons of memories of early Madera, she held this writer spellbound for quite awhile.


At the invitation of her daughter, Janet Brooks Walters, with whom she then resided, I made a Sunday afternoon appointment, grabbed a video camera, and headed for the hills.


Two things about my 96-year-old host piqued my interest.

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