Beck also happened to coach their state championship team at Visalia Community Stadium.

The five players include; Xavier Hailey (Tulare), Max Brown (Tulare), Willie James (Tulare), Luttrell Young (Hanford), and Matthew Sanchez (Tulare).

All players are 13-14 years of age and will be going on to high school next year.

Beck believes that the reason why these got this position isn’t just due to their physical abilities, but their ability to think the game.

“They all have a high football IQ, they’re all athletic in their own right. Max and Matthew play on the line, but they’re athletic, they’re great athletes, they’re great kids who have great parents. They’re all dedicated and have been captains throughout the season.”

Beck went on to talk about what these players will need to work on or change once they move on to high school football.

“They’ll just need to continue working hard. It’ll be much more competitive on the field at the next level. But I can see all five playing at the Division one or two level in college. They all have potential.”

Even though these five players have the potential to play in college, Beck still believes there are some aspects that can improved upon.

“One of the hardest things to be in football is to be a vocal leader. That’s something they’re missing right now. I’d love them to develop that part of their game. They have leadership skills on the field, but this would make them complete leaders.”

Beck was impressed with the talent of this group of players as soon as he laid eyes on them. And it started fairly young.

“Their talent was apparent when I first saw them. I coached Willie at the nine year-old level. I always admired Xavier’s game from afar. Luttrell played in the Hanford association and knocked us out of the playoffs in 2013. I’ve also know Matthew. I’ve coached his brothers in the past.”

The post Visalia Holds Youth Football Championships appeared first on Valley Voice.

For the second straight season, the Bell Game between Tulare Union and Tulare Western meant the winner would become the East Yosemite League Champion. In this, their 52^nd meeting, the Tribe of Tulare Union avenged their loss last year by beating the Mustangs 48-27.

The Tribe were able to get on the board first, after they forced a turnover on downs from the Mustangs. Union were able to methodically move the ball down the field, and capped off the 80-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run from running back Kazmeir Allen.

After a quick three-and-out from the Mustangs, the Tribe got the ball back and put up another seven points on a 30-yard-touchdown pass from quarterback Nathan Lamb to wide receiver Emoryie Edwards. Edwards had to beat double coverage to make the diving catch in the end zone.

After going scoreless in the first quarter, the Mustangs were able to put together a 10-play touchdown drive early in the second quarter on a touchdown run from running back David Alcantar.

The Tribe were able to answer right back with a score of their own. Lamb had the second of his four touchdown passes, on a 20-yard completion to Josh Guerrero.

Mustangs answered back themselves, after a controversial pass interference penalty in the end zone put them inside the Tribe 10-yard line. On the next play, quarterback Andre Aguilar kept the ball himself, and ran into the end zone for an eight-yard score. That made the score 21-14 at the half, Tulare Union with the lead.

With the Tribe receiving the ball to open the second half, they were able to move the ball down the field again, but ran into a 4^th down, and six from the Mustang 36-yardline. Union decided to go for it, and Lamb completed a 36-yard touchdown pass to star wide-receiver Edwards.

The Mustangs and Tribe traded touchdown scores for the rest of the 3^rd quarter. The scores were highlighted by a 49-yard touchdown pass from Lamb to Edwards for Union. Then on the first play of the next Mustang drive, an 80-yard touchdown pass from Aguilar to Keyshawn Butler. Heading into the 4^th quarter, the Tribe held a 35-27 lead.

For the Tribe, their running back Allen would own the scoring in the 4^th quarter, scoring the only two touchdowns for both teams. He ran one in from 35 yards out, and then closed out the scoring late in the 4^th with a six-yard scamper into the end zone for his third score.

For the Mustangs, their quarterback Aguilar, threw for two touchdowns, and ran in another one. On the Union side, Lamb threw for four scores, three to Edwards.

Lamb, who is playing in his first ever Bell game, as a sophomore, and transfer from Mt Whitney high school, was impressed with atmosphere in his first experience with the rivalry, “The crowd was great. There were so many people in the crowd. There really is an amazing sense of community here.”

Lamb went on to talk about his team’s chances once they begin the CIF playoffs, “Our ceiling is high. We have great skill players on both ends, I’m confident that we can get to Valley.

The post Bell Game Leads to League Championship for the Tulare Union Tribe appeared first on Valley Voice.

In preparing for this new season, Head Coach Chris Frankland is trying to leave the past in past and just stay focused on this season. He doesn’t want to dwell on what happened last year, and doesn’t want his team thinking about last season.

“I don’t like talking about last year. Last year was last year. Those guys are gone, and we’re trying to come together with these players.

It always sounds like a cliché, but this is a hard working group,” Frankland continued. “They’re making strides to get better every day.”

Frankland believes that in the past, his teams were way too careless with the football. That is something he is actively trying to improve this coming season.

“It’s an aspect we’ve focused on and have put high emphasis on. Another aspect to improve is our tempo on offense. We need to learn the difference between controlled and fast.”

With any team, there are leaders, whether they show it on the field or verbally. Frankland does look to some of his more experienced players to show some leadership for younger players.

“It’s been a good problem for us to have, because we have a captain’s council, and it’s a group of young men that are leaders. They’re working hard in the classroom and in the weightroom. It could start with five or ten people, and it can just keep growing. They’re still developing leadership qualities, but it can spread around the team. That’s one of our strengths is that we have a lot of good character kids.”

In these practices early on in the season, there has been one thing that Frankland has preached to his team. It’s something he’s been telling his team since the first practice.

“Execute. It’s the simplest, most complicated word in football. Our expectations for our players are clear and precise. Every game you have a gameplan, you execute your job. If you execute, you don’t turn the ball over. We should be able to execute and focus on our jobs, and execute at high level, and they’re starting to buy in to that.”

Frankland will be expecting a lot from his seniors, and considers them to be some of his leaders. One of those seniors is cornerback Bryan Pasillas, who discussed last season and the leadership qualities of this team.

“We have a whole new team this year, so I try to leave last season. We all try to be leaders on this team. It’s like a brotherhood.”

Another one of those seniors is defensive tackle and center Anthony Perez. He talked about the little mistakes that have been made in practice, and expectations for the upcoming season.

“We’ve made some mental mistakes. They’re little things though. They’re things we can get rid of. I expect playoffs. Everyone has been in the weightroom working on that goal. They’re giving everything.”

Quarterback Skylar Miller, another senior, who is coming off of an injury last year, explained how he is putting trying to put it behind him.

“I’m putting the past in the past, and now I’m just going to cherish every moment on the field. I’ll just be trying to take things slowly, taking it one play at a time.”

Coach Frankland believes that being a small school can be a disadvantage when it comes to the number of players that are available.

“With a smaller school, you don’t have a large group of Freshman and JV players to pick from. So the good players are going to play, doesn’t matter if they’re seniors or not. We’ll watch those players develop though. We know they have to take care of the classroom, and be able to assimilate with this team.”

The Exeter Monarchs will begin their season on Friday, August 26 vs. Lindsay High School. Game time at 7pm.

The post Exeter Monarchs Look to Improve in Upcoming Season appeared first on Valley Voice.

Vanni’s initial reaction to becoming an Olympian back in 1988 was a feeling of determination. That was something he said he needed to reach his ultimate goal.

“The trials process was long, then we had the pre-limb tournament, and then final trials in Pensacola, [Florida],” he said. “I was extremely determined. It was something I really wanted. I had the feeling that I had finally made it.”

In the 20-plus years since competing in the Olympics, the one thing Vanni carries with himself is a sense of family, and a sense of pride.

“I have that sense of family and history with being an Olympian. It’s a family-type feeling, and you have a sense that you belong, and you’re in a life-long fraternity with the other Olympians. The recognition that goes along with this achievement is peaceful and encouraging, and makes you continue to be at your best. It was very encouraging to leave that experience, and just contribute.”

When you become a two-time Olympian, there are some unforgettable memories of your experiences. Vanni says that the opening ceremonies and his first win, were moments that he won’t forget.

“There were numerous memories that I experienced at other events associated with the Olympics – walking into stadium in Seoul, and hearing the roar of the crowd,” he said. “The first victory over Spain is another one. At that point, I thought it was the pinnacle, but was disappointed with how I finished in ‘88. I was able to meet President Reagan, and that was one of those experiences that goes with the goals you set. I made friendships to last a lifetime though.”

Vanni talked about how getting back to the Olympics for a second time in ‘92 was no easy feat.

“Things were different getting back in ’92,” he said. “I lost my first match of qualifying, and I was so nervous for that match. I tried a different approach. I just wanted to be left alone. I won the next two matches to qualify.”

Vanni had many influences as he came up in wrestling. He looked at his peers and brothers as being the biggest influence in allowing him to get to the Olympics.

“There were numerous people. I have two brothers, Vince and Danny. Vince got us started in wrestling. Danny and I were closer in age though, so he had more of an influence on me,” Vanni said. “Also, my college coach at Cal-State Bakersfield had a big influence on me. Then there was Joe Gonzalez. I trained with him at Arizona State. We would go toe-to-toe, and we’d train to get ahead of everybody else. We still talk, and are still friends to this day. Dave Schultz also influenced me coming up. I had a style that blended with Schultz; calm and slow, and then Gonzalez, speeding things up.”

For someone to get to the point that Vanni was able to get to, they generally have to clear some kind of tough hurdle, or have to overcome some type of adversity. That was definitely something that Vanni had to deal prior to becoming an Olympian for the first time.

“It’s like coaching, there’s always something holding you back,” he said. “I hurt my knee in ’82, and doctors told me I was done, and shouldn’t try wrestling again. I was discouraged. I had my knee scoped, and had arthroscopic surgery. I came back six months later, and never looked back. There are a lot of different factors though. I remember a tournament in Russia and I didn’t win a single match in the three weeks I was there. I got pummeled, but I came back home, picked myself up and persevered.”

Being a high school wrestling coach, Vanni talked about whether or not he coaches differently, being that he was an Olympian, and if his wrestlers pay closer attention to his teachings because of his experiences.

“It’s yes and no,” he said. “A lot of teenage kids come out here for fun experiences and don’t realize the sacrifice it takes. I’ve had some good ones over the years, but I’d like to have an impact on their success. I want to be able to get you to the point where you’ll have success on and off the mat.”

Vanni is a part of an illustrious fraternity, and has had experiences that very few people can relate to. He shared some thoughts on what it takes to get to the point of being an Olympian, and some advice for people who aspire to that goal

“It really depends on where they’re at, how dedicated they are,” he said. “They will have to show sacrifice, perseverance, and they have to know there will be setbacks and adversity. People will try to block your path, but you have to try to put negative things aside and focus on the goal.”

The post The Determination of an Olympian appeared first on Valley Voice.

The head coaches named were Hanford High School’s Josh Young for the West, and Exeter High School’s Chris Frankland for the East, as a replacement for Woodlake’s Jose Del Rio, who will be unavailable for the game.

The annual game is managed by the Lemoore Kiwanis and Visalia Optimists clubs. The head coaches were chosen due to the great successes of their teams according to Tom Hayslett, a game organizer from Visalia Optimists. He explained the reasoning behind the choosing Frankland and Young.

“Hanford won the State Championship, so Young was an easy choice. Exeter had the second best record in the East, so Frankland was best candidate behind Del Rio.”

Rio and the Woodlake Tigers had the best record in the East this past season.

Young and his Hanford Bullpups took home the State Championship for Division 4AA in December. He said his team wanted to get back to State, after losing in that game the year before.

“We had a lot of returners coming back. We thought we could get back to where we were the year before. The goal was to win league. We didn’t do that, but we played some of our best football in the playoffs. We had a good team, and the players put in to what we wanted to do,” he said.

Young also spoke on his feelings about being selected as the coach of the West for the East-West All-Star game.

“I was excited. I’ve been asked before but didn’t feel right about accepting,” he said. “This time, it just felt right. It’ll be great getting to coach some of our guys, and the rest of the guys as well.”

Chris Frankland and his Exeter Monarchs finished with an 8-4 record and a loss in the second round of the playoffs. Frankland reviewed his team’s 2015 campaign.

“We had a good season. We wanted to be the last team standing. That didn’t happen, but the team came together and played well last season.”

Frankland also spoke about the emotions he felt upon finding out he was chosen to coach the east team.

“It was a surprise,” he said. “I had a visitor at lunch yesterday, and had no idea what it was about, and then I got the news. I knew Jose would be selected, so it caught me off guard when it happened. I was surprised and honored to selected, even as a replacement.”

The game will take place on Saturday, June 26 at 8pm. It will be the 49th annual All-Star game.

The post Coaches Selected for Annual East-West All-Star Football Game appeared first on Valley Voice.

Head Coach Bob Rooney, who has been with the Rangers Softball Program since 1995, says that this year’s team will be young compared to last year’s squad and is eager to get this season going to see how they perform.

“We have six players returning from last year’s team,” he said.”Three of them are now seniors and were on the ’14 team that won Valley. The other three are now sophomores. I am excited about this team though–looking forward to see how we compete against some of the better teams in our league.”

Prior to the 2013 season, the Rangers saw some down years.

“We don’t get to recruit,” Rooney said,”so it had to be the student-athletes that have come to our school, that has been the biggest difference. In our down years, we really struggled with pitching, and we were down for about five years. Since then we’ve been pitching and playing good defense.”

While the season has not yet started, Rooney still feels like he knows what this team will have to accomplish in order to have success this season.

“I do know this team will be really young,” he said.”But we’ll need our pitching to hold up, our defense to hold up, and get hits, especially timely hits. I know that sounds cliché’, but that is the recipe for success.”

Rooney does think the team’s overall lack of experience is a weakness right now.

“We have inexperience,” he said.”It usually takes a while for a team to gel. The returning players will have to share the responsibility of leading the team and sharing responsibility with the younger players.”

With every team that Rooney coaches, there are a couple of things that he stresses, and some things that are especially important when leading a young team. Rooney does like to change some of his strategies from year to year, though.

“I tell them to take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves. I try not to tell them the same thing every year, though, because the players change and every team you have has its own personality,” he said. “People always say that a team should take on the personality of its coach, but I believe it to be the other way around. The coach should take on the personality of the players. A team is like a salad. You have a mix of players, and you’re just trying to find a way to make them all fit together.”

So far as expectations are concerned for this coming season, Rooney is just trying to keep it simple.

“You go into every game trying to win; some teams you play are strong, some teams are weaker than you. We have to do well in our league to make the playoffs and we have some good teams in our league this year. Hanford West is a team that is really good. But we always expect to do well, and I just try to convey that to our players. We’re one of those teams, though, that if we play well, we can beat anybody, and if we play badly we can lose to anybody.”

After being the coach at Redwood for 20 years, Rooney doesn’t picture himself going anywhere. “I see myself being here for the foreseeable future. I have nothing else to do. As long as I’m here teaching here, I’ll be coaching here, and as long as they’ll have me here.”

The Redwood Rangers are going through conditioning, getting themselves ready for the season. They will open up their 2016 campaign with a doubleheader on Saturday, February 20 at home vs. Tulare Western High School. Game times are set for 10am and 12:30pm.

The post Preview: The 2016 Redwood Rangers Softball Team appeared first on Valley Voice.

Scarecrows will fill the neighborhoods of Exeter with the commencement of the Fourth Annual Exeter Scarecrow Contest, Thursday, October 1. The contest, running throughout the month and put on by the Exeter Chamber of Commerce, is being expanded from local chamber-member businesses and organizations, to city-residents, who will now get a chance to show off their scarecrows.

Chamber Director Sandy Blankenship says that she expects this year to more successful than the three past years that the contest has been held.

“The first we did this, we had about 25 scarecrows, then the second year we had 50, and 50 also last year,” she said. “We’re just hoping to build this up. We’re even doing a themed contest this year which is ‘Storybook Scarecrows.’”

Blankenship gave a little bit of background about how and why this Scarecrow Contest started.

“One of our citizens went to Cambria and saw their contest that they put on, and thought it would be a good idea to have a contest in Exeter,” she said. “That really helped us get started.”

It was longtime chamber supporter, Betsy Peterson, who visited Cambria and brought the idea back to Exeter. On behalf of the Garden Club of Exeter, also in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club, she will be entering into the contest for the third year in a row.

“Going to Cambria and seeing their scarecrows, I was just fascinated with what they did,” she said. “When I found out Exeter also wanted to do this, I told them about my time in Cambria.”

“We are getting more and more people every year that want to do it, and more people are starting to see what’s happening here,” she added.

At press time, there are 27 businesses with entries into the contest. There are three citizens also with entries so far.

For chamber members, Blankenship said the first-, second- and third-place finishers will be rewarded, but the top finisher will have the most prized possession at the end. Winners in this category will be announced on November 12, after displaying their scarecrows the entire month of October.

The new resident category will allow entrants to bring their scarecrows to Exeter’s Fall Festival on Saturday, October 10, where the public is invited to visit the Scarecrow Station and vote for their favorite. The winner in this category will be announced toward the end of that day. Entrants must preregister for the event.

For the chamber member’s category, “there will be custom ribbons for the second and third place, and the judges’ favorite gets a trophy they can keep, plus an ad in the chamber magazine.”

Guidelines for entering into the Exeter Scarecrow Contest include:

• Display scarecrows from October 1-31
• Only Exeter Chamber members are eligible for prizes
• For those who do not have a storefront, they can partner with a member who does
• May not be a factory made scarecrow
• No entry will be accepted that reflects controversial, social or political situations

The chamber wants people to get creative by personalizing their scarecrow to express the originator or business/organization. They also want it to show off a product the business carries or specializes in.

For the resident category, creativity and personalizing remain important. The entry rules are similar in that entries may not be store-bought or factory-made scarecrows; and no entry that reflects controversial, social or political situations will be allowed.

Exeter’s Fall Festival starts at 7am on Saturday, October 10 with a 10K run or 2-mile walk; and the annual Exeter Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast in Exeter City Park. The annual parade starts at 10 along Pine Street. The day-long festivities include live music, arts and crafts booths, contests and food.

The post Scarecrows Take Over Exeter appeared first on Valley Voice.

Rocha, who is in his third season at the helm for the Mustangs, believes that in past years, the team has put too much emphasis on winning the Bell Game against Tulare Union, and forget that there is another game after; in the playoffs.

“We have to learn to finish the job,” he said. “The last two years we’ve come within a game of winning the EYL (East Yosemite League). We just have to finish a little more strong. It also comes to winning in playoffs, because especially in Tulare, winning the Bell game is everything. After that game we have to remember that there’s another game to play and that the season doesn’t end with the Bell game.”

Some of Rocha’s standouts this season, including senior wide receiver Jesse Macias, and senior linebacker/fullback Elijah Alonzo, are looking to improve from their previous two seasons and to get a little further into the playoffs.

“We’re a work in progress as a team right now, we’re a young team, but we’re getting better. We want to get that first playoff win,” said Alonzo.

Macias talked about some of the mistakes the team made in its Week One loss to Mt. Whitney, and that the team needs to tighten some things up on the field.

“We need to fix mistakes, and cut down on giving up the big plays,” he said. “We need more leaders on this too. We have a lot of people that want to be leaders, but they’re not vocal.”

There is one big aspect of the game that Rocha would love to carry over from last year’s team and is something he hasn’t seen yet with this year’s team, and that is being ready to have your number called.

“If someone goes down, we need to have the next man up,” he said. “They need to be ready to play with enthusiasm, and just continue to play. We lost a lot of athletes off of last year’s team, and these guys have the ability, they just haven’t proved it. They’ll eventually catch on.”

In order for his team to get the place he wants them to go, Rocha tries to impress on his team important and some of them simple tasks to becoming successful. “I want to see toughness; mental toughness and physical toughness,” Rocha said. “They need to be able to fix boo-boos on the field. Make the right decisions and be smart about injuries, but also be able to fight through injuries.”

“They need to stop being so wide eyed,” he continued. “They’re gaining experiences through all of this. They need to take advantage. ”

Rocha said he would really like to see his team get more excited during games, and enjoy the good plays they make during games.

“They need to take away the individual aspect and celebrate fourth-down stops,” he said. “All 50 players need to be involved.”

Through their first two games the Mustangs stand at 1-1 after defeating Golden West High School on Friday, September 11. Their next game will take place on Thursday, September 17 at the Hanford Bowl against Hanford West High School. Game time is at 7:30pm.

The post Tulare Western Mustangs Looking For a Strong Season appeared first on Valley Voice.

If the Rawhide clinch the series, it will be on to the California League Finals for the second year in a row, starting Thursday, September 17.

There have been many contributions to the Rawhide’s success this year, and two of their biggest standouts have been starting pitcher Anthony Banda, and outfielder Daniel Palka. Banda and Palka have been with the Rawhide for the entire season and have served as consistent performers all season long, while hoping to do the same in the postseason.

Banda, who came to the Rawhide from the Milwaukee Brewers organization in July, 2014, is very grateful for the way that the Diamondbacks handle their minor league players, and the way they are prepared for success going forward.

“They put you in the best position to win,” he said. “They teach players to be respectful and it shows on the field with the success we had.”

Being that this was Banda’s first full season in the Diamondbacks’ organization, he was looking to make a good impression with his team. That he did, and he believes his success has just come from knowing the hitters he is facing.

“I learned to understand hitters; finding their holes and weaknesses; knowing the pitches to throw that they can’t hit,” he said. “I also started to learn how to get deep as possible into games and put the team in a position to win by pitching to contact.”

Banda also credits the work being done when not on the mound, saying that the discussions he has with coaches about hitters has paid dividends.

“We would have meetings to talk about hitters and go over each hitter’s tendencies,” he said. “And it was there that I learned I need to be consistent staying down in the strike zone.”

On the other side, Palka talked a little bit about what has worked so well for him and what he has done this season to help himself lead the Rawhide with 29 home runs.

“Just having a daily routine and doing early hitting, early fielding,” he said, “I would just stay on that same routine all season.”

With the California League being known as hitting friendly, Palka talked a little about whether or not that may have had an effect on his team this year.

“I think it had an effect on home runs,” he said. “But the base hits would’ve been hits anywhere. But, I mean, every league is different. I hit in the Midwest League last year and it’s friendly to hitters. In the end baseball is baseball.”

The Rawhide have had the best record in the California League for just about every day of the season, and Banda discussed when he saw the team click as a whole.

“Early on in spring when we didn’t know what level we were going, I just had a lot of fun with the guys,” he said. “Meeting new guys was great, and the chemistry was great during spring. We started clicking as team at the beginning. Everyone had each other backs. This team picks each other up. We lose as a team and we win as a team.

“Everybody is pulling for everybody on this team,” he said. “We all support each other. But we also get on each other too. People will talk to you if you do something wrong. We usually keep it as a team thing though and let the players handle it amongst ourselves.”

After winning the first half of the season in the CAL league, the Rawhide did not take their feet off the gas pedal, according to Banda.

Manager J.R. House would not let the team become complacent after achieving a goal in the first half, Banda said.

“In the second half we needed to continue to have each other’s backs, our manager wouldn’t let us be satisfied and we continued to find something to get better at,” he said. “That pushed us to winning the second half as well.”

Palka also talked about the team’s “state of mind” after winning the second half.

“We started off the second half bunched up with some other teams, but we just had to keep on playing,” he said. “You have goals you need to meet in a season.

“We always expected to be where we are right now. Maybe some scouts were surprised that we all put it together as a team. These guys have been together in previous seasons and we’ve really relied on each other, and it’s just all come together.”

The post Rawhide Players Take Chemistry into Postseason appeared first on Valley Voice.

The 2015 Tulare County Fair is right around the corner. Opening day is Wednesday, September 16 and the fair will run through Sunday, September 20. This year’s fair has some new features while keeping some of the old favorites.

Tulare County Fair Director Pamela Fyock shared some of the new items planned for the fair this year, as well as some returning favorites.

“We will be having monster trucks for the first time in a while on Friday the 18th. There will also be a new watering hole,” she said. “Some of the favorites returning include Buttercup the cow, and the tractor pulls will be back on the Thursday night. For the first time, we’ll be having the destruction derby on the Saturday. They’re both free with fair admission.”

This year’s headline performers include comedian Paul Rodriguez on Wednesday, Kellie Pickler on Thursday, Foghat on Friday, Rose Royce on Saturday and Marty Stuart on Sunday. All performances are at 8pm and are included with fair admission.

Other entertainment includes the Great American Duck Races; A Walk on the Wild Side, an exotic non-kill animal refuge; Puppets and Players Little Theatre; Jest in Time Circus Family Fun Time; Something Ridiculous; the Great American Petting Zoo; Wild Science; and the Chinese Acrobats of Hebei. There will also be tribute performances by Fortunate Son to Creedance Clearwater Revival and by Fandango to ZZ top.

“Our theme this year is to have something for everyone at the fair,” Fyock said.

Fair hours are Wednesday from 11am-11pm, Thursday and Sunday from 11am-12am, and Friday and Saturday from 11am-1am.

Ticket prices to the fair remain unchanged from last year’s prices and are: $8 for general admission; $5 for ages 6-12. On Friday, September 18 ticket prices will be $4 before 4 pm. There will be a Senior Day on Thursday, Sept. 17. Tickets for seniors will be $2 from 11am-2pm. Also Military appreciation will be on the Thursday. Tickets for members of the military will be $6 from 11am-2pm.

A new addition to the fair will also be making its way back on Saturday, September 12 at 8 pm. It is the second annual California Cowboys Pro Rodeo Association fair kickoff rodeo. The professional rodeo tour tickets are $10 and $13 at the gate. It serves as a fundraiser for the Tulare County Fair Foundation.

Fyock has high expectations for this fair, and the projected weather forecast is one of the reasons why.

“The fair this year will be fantastic,” she said. “We expect the weather to be in the 80s, and the grounds are looking better than they have in 20 years.”

For more information, visit www.tcfair.org or call (559) 686-4707.

The post Tulare County Fair Offering Up Favorites appeared first on Valley Voice.