The following events, organizations and people deserve either a
Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down this week:
THUMBS UP: Congratulations to all six of this year’s inductees into the ‘Baler Hall of Fame. Six people with ties to San Benito High School – former students, teachers and coaches – dating from the 1940s through the 1990s were selected this week to join the hall of fame based on their contributions to the school and the community. This year’s honorees include: Pauline Valdivia, a 1961 SBHS graduate who is now executive director of the Jovenes de Antaño senior center and serves on the Hollister City Council; James Bidegary, a 1943 grad who starred in football and basketball while at SBHS; Allen Dunn, a retired math teacher and track coach at the school; Virginia Samuelson, who coached girls’ track at SBHS for more than 20 years; Juan Robledo, a teacher who has been the school’s activities director since 1991; and Randy Logue, who previously was honored as both teacher of the year and coach of the year at SBHS. (The induction dinner is set for May 12. For information on tickets, call 637-3293.)
THUMBS DOWN: Dealing with a sore throat, itchy eyes and clogged sinuses? You’re not alone. It’s allergy season – Mother Nature’s annual prank on those of us lucky enough to live in San Benito County. Thanks to tree pollen levels that are nearly three times higher than usual, allergy season is hitting people harder than ever this spring. Some folks can get relief from over-the-counter medicines and other need help from their doctor. But at least one local allergist-immunologist offered this advice: When your allergies are really acting up, get in the car, drive to the coast and breathe in that wonderful sea air.
THUMBS UP: Hollister Mayor Brad Pike has been nominated for the America’s Most Wanted All-Stars program. The TV show “America’s Most Wanted” is honoring the country’s finest first responders and Pike, who in his professional life is a firefighter for the Saratoga Fire Department, is in the running for a cash prize of $10,000 and a trip to the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge in Charlotte, N.C. Hollister resident Bette Grace, who nominated Pike, cited his push for safety improvements to Highway 25. You can cast your vote for Pike at www.amw.com.
THUMBS DOWN: Two con artists worked a classic lottery scam on a Hollister woman this week, convincing her to hand over $15,000 in cash in return for a promised share of what they claimed was a $280,000 Super Lotto prize. The two con men approached the woman in a grocery store parking lot with their get-rich-quick story, convinced her to withdraw the cash from her bank accounts and give them the money so they could claim the prize, then disappeared. State lottery officials say that, unfortunately, this kind of thing happens surprisingly often. The lottery folks said people should remember that lottery winners are never required to pay money upfront to claim a prize and offered one more bit of advice worth remembering: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
