Music in the Park
The Kiwanis Club of Old Town Clovis is fundraising for “Musical Instruments in the Park,” a project centered around permanent, freestanding instruments that allow people of all ages to express themselves through the use of music.
The instruments – designed and manufactured by Freenotes Harmony Park in Colorado – will be installed at Dry Creek Park near Clovis Botanical Garden. There will be a total of six specially designed instruments that will include chimes and drums. In addition, the concrete foundation will make the area handicap accessible.
On Wednesday, April 11, club president Brian Heryford presented fellow Kiwanians Lori Reed and Debbie Young with a check for $24,000 to make the purchase of the instrument package for the project. The donation will cover a majority of the cost for the instruments and two benches. A covered structure to provide shade over the instruments will be funded later down the line.
Studies have found music to be beneficial to both children and adults by enhancing mental well-being and allowing expressions of emotions. Reed envisions the project serving as a venue to “feed their imagination.”
“By the time it’s finished, it should be beautiful,” she said. “The instruments themselves are good for community, they’re actually located at parks around the world. They were developed by a musician and they’ve been known to help with autism, depression and anxiety so they’re just an all-around good thing to have in the community.”
The project will break ground the first weekend in June.
To donate to the project, contact Lori Reed at (559) 307-1829 or Debbie Young at (559) 281-6662
W Furniture adds patio section
Mike Flanagan saw a void in the local furniture business and filled it by opening W-Patio Furniture on the northeast corner of Shaw and Sunnyside avenues last month.
As the only store of its kind in the area, W-Patio Furniture provides quality outdoor furniture for every budget.
“If you have a large backyard or a very small patio space, we have different sets to accommodate not just the sizes but the price range that you’re looking for,” said Katrina Schuber, the store’s general manager.
W-Patio started as the brainchild of Flanagan after he opened his first store, W Furniture, last year just a few doors down in the same building right next to Toys “R” Us. The original store is still around but it now focuses on household furniture.
“It started with W Furniture, which has been there for about a year-and-a-half,” said Schuber. “People would come in and ask, ‘do you have any patio stuff? [Mike] was selling umbrellas, gravity chairs, table sets and decided ‘I have an idea, I have a plan.’ So, he thought this particular store has been empty since they built this complex. It is only used once a year for two months when the Halloween store comes in here. The rest of the time – it’s been here like 20 years – it’s been empty. So, he decided to take over the space and do patio furniture.”
For Flanagan, the idea was alway to open “going into spring so that people see that they have an option” heading into summer.
The new store’s 8,000 square-foot showroom is filled with a vast range of dining sets, sofa sets, bars, chaise lounges, benches, pergolas, umbrellas, fire pits, all weather game tables, and above-ground Kona Pools. All sets come built whether you pick up in store or have it delivered to your home.
“We’re trying to be your one-stop shop for your outdoor experience to make your backyard your paradise,” added Schuber.
W-Patio Furniture, located at 1445 Shaw Ave. Suite #110 in Clovis, is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
Clovis Hall of Fame ceremony moved to September
(Photo by Ron Sundquist)
The annual Clovis Hall of Fame ceremony, which honors members of the community who have enriched Clovis in their special way, is being pushed from June to September.
“Evey June, we’ve run into the same problem between graduations, vacations, and weddings,” said Scott Dority, a member of the Clovis Hall of Fame Council. “We’ve always shot for about 300 people and we tend to run right around 220-240. We think by pushing it into September, we’re not competing with anything else. It’s the fall, everybody’s kind of relaxed after their summer, there’s fewer weddings and there’s no graduations at that time. We really think we can get the numbers up to somewhere around 300-400, and then it becomes a bigger deal for the people we’re honoring.”
Dority and the council have selected 10 honorees to be recognized this year, which will be unveiled later this summer.
First hosted by the Clovis Independent in 1975, the Hall of Fame started as a way to honor the history and spirit of Clovis. From the early 90s to 2009, the Clovis Chamber of Commerce acted as host and in 2010, the Clovis Exchange Club became the sponsoring organization.
“The sole purpose of the Hall of Fame is just to honor the people that have made and continue to make Clovis the community that it is,” Dority added.
This year’s ceremony is set for Sept. 15 at Clovis Veterans Memorial District. Tickets will be available online starting in early June.
Clovis Hall of Fame accepting entries for art contest
Students of Clovis Unified from grades 7-12 are invited to submit art entries to the 2018 Clovis Hall of Fame Annual Art Contest with the theme “Clovis-Our Home Town.”
“There is no doubt we live in a great community, but what is it that makes Clovis so special?,” the announcement reads. “Is it our geography, our history, our local events, or something else? We want to see what that might look like in art.”
Entries must be 2 dimensional, in a vertical format, and no larger than 16 by 20 inches, and in mediums of watercolor, acrylic, gouache, ink, or mixed media (no copies or projections).
All entries are due May 1, and should be turned in to Betsy Pavich at the CUSD Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) office at 1680 David E. Cook Way.
The winning art piece will become the 2018 Hall of Fame program cover and from it a Giclee print will be made and raffled off at the event. The winning artist will retain possession of the original, and receive three complementary event tickets where he or she will be honored and presented a check for $200.
For additional details and/or any questions, email Betsy Pavich at betsypavich@cusd.com
Farmer Boys raises funds for local food bank
With the help of its Central Valley customers, Farmer Boys restaurant raised $4,300 for Community Food Bank during its annual Hunger Month Fundraiser.
The funds, which were collected in-store during the fall, will help fund new projects and allow the Fresno-based food bank to continue making a positive impact on the community. Currently, Community Food Bank provides food to more than 220 agencies in Fresno, Madera, Kings, Kern and Tulare Counties and serves over 280,000 people each month.
In total, the Hunger Month Fundraiser raised nearly $20,000 for various food banks across California and Nevada.