By Pamela Bills

Changes at train depot are noted, More Space Given For Baggage

110 Years Ago

MUCH NEWS WAS made of the Selma station, the depot for trains, with "The appearance and convenience of the Selma depot is much improved by the changes made there under the management of Agent Hellig. There is much more space in the baggage room as well as in the office."

Another note of editorial pleasure with "Agent Hellig is now supplied with a full set of tickets to all stations in the United States and Canada. He also received a case of simplex (sic) tickets."

90 Years Ago

The Selma Women's Improvement Club was intent on earning that name by sponsoring a community-wide picnic in the park as celebration of St. Patrick's Day. The funds would be used for the city's development.

Stated the sub-headlines, "Novel Plan to Build Fountain In The Park -- Will Have Big Basket Dinner."

Not to be outdone, as reported in a brief item on the front page, "Several ladies from the Women's Improvement Club of Kingsburg journeyed to Fresno to buy trees and plants for the new Kingsburg park. The merchants have all been busy helping the ladies get the ground ready for planting."

An ominous warning was issued by the reporter in the story headlined, "Loss Growers may Sustain," and the sub-headlines, "Data on Fruit Acreage of which Selma Is the Center," and "Real Danger Lies in the Proposed Extension of the Eight Hour Law."

70 Years Ago

"Production of farm products must be reduced before prosperity can be restored to agriculture," read the reporter's lead in his coverage of the address given by Dr. B. H. Cocheron, director of the agriculture extension of the University of California to the Fresno County Farm Bureau at the organization's annual banquet.

The food for the banquet was prepared for the event by the home department of the farm bureau with a menu appropriate for St. Patrick's Day.

Lowell C. Pratt, then editor of The Selma Irrigator, acted as the toastmaster, introducing the Girl's Sextet of Selma Union High School to sing the first number.

In his address, Cocheron asserted that farmers had never given organization a thorough trial since the farm bureau had never represented more than 20 per cent (sic) of the farmers. "The purpose of the Farm Bureau, he said, is to teach people the facts so that they may be better able to act," quoted the writer.

50 Years Ago

Alongside a picture of the Selma Unified High School, students all decked in the appropriate costumes at the Sadie Hawkins Dance held Saturday were Hillbilly Roger Erickson, who had fainted from too much dancing, surrounded by a slew of Daisy Maes, Jeannie Culbertson, Bonita Smith, and Charlotte Cobb, with Ronnie Winters offering his suggestions to Erickson.

Big front page news was the announcement that Selma Mayor S.E. Haseltine had been ordered by the Selma City Council to write a letter to "Ike," (Dwight D. Eisenhower) then-president of the United States, inquiring how to stimulate interest among Selma citizens to take part in Operation Skywatch. The action came upon the heels of the resignation of W.W. Edson, Selma's ground operation corps supervisor, who stated that Selma residents were not taking part in the volunteer management of the observation post.

Also front page news was the story reporting that Verne Unger, then 23, would be spending a half- year in France where he would be assigned to work on French farms. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Unger of Selma, the young man's tour was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of the federal government's exchange program.

30 Years Ago

Headlines, "Sun-Maid raisin girl still spreading sunshine," the story by staff writer Kathy Moulthrop profiled Lorraine Collett Petersen, who had posed for the well-known picture that graces the front of each of the Sun-Maid boxes.

A grandmother of five, in the 1973 story, Petersen's locks were no longer brunette, and she was no longer a resident of Selma. She was living in Fresno and employed as the private nurse of a widow of a Fresno County judge.

A front page story started off with the lead, "Water is a precious commodity in the rich but parched farmlands of south central Fresno County, and Consolidated Irrigation District wants to make sure that residents get all the water they pay for."

The story outlined the $3.35 million project that would eventually need congressional approval to mend the leaky eight-mile stretch of the Centerville and Kingsburg canal from south of Sanger to north of Centerville, and to repair the existing lining of the Fowler Switch Canal from above Kings Canyon Road.

The Scene page was devoted to coverage of the upcoming clothing giveaway to be held by Selma's Good Samaritan Mission, an annual event coinciding with Easter.

10 Years Ago

There was breaking news that "Fowler card room loses license." The story explained that the Fowler City Council had reneged on the agreement to allow the cardroom because the developer had failed to complete key steps in the planning process. Seven items were cited by the Fowler city administrator:

"Failure to complete the application process; failure to provide a complete list of point holders and investors; failure to identify where funding is to be obtained; failure to complete a conditional use permit application; failure to submit the department of justice applications for the city of Fowler and the state of California; failure to address the reorganization of current major corporation officers and replacement of the same; and failure to be forthcoming in all matters pertaining to the license."

The Scene page was a tribute to a one-time Selma resident who struck it rich in the Canadian Yukon gold mines and the "black gold" mines, Clarence J. Berry. Though dead more than 60 years at the time of the article, a Selma park is named in Berry's honor, and his legend and legacy continued to grow.

(March 19, 2003 Newspaper Publication)