Lots of excitement in the air as Valley Home residents dive into preparations for the Annual Valley Home Harvest Festival coming up on October 15th. The Scarecrow contest already has works in progress. Pumpkins are receiving lots of TLC in preparation for entry in the pumpkin contest. We understand there will be lots of “Spooktacular” fun in store for those who are brave enough to enter the Haunted House being planned for this year’s event. There will be a cakewalk offering an opportunity to put your best foot forward and walk home with a delicious cake. One of the popular attractions is the Silent Auction, which offers a variety of treasures to bid on. Ferrarese’s Deli will be on hand to tempt your taste buds with delicious food. Classroom baskets of “goodies” to purchase and take home will also be available. Scarecrow contest winners will be announced at the festival and also winners of the Pumpkin growing contest.
Valley Home PTC is sponsoring this annual fun event however, they are in need of volunteers to help in running the booths. Members are currently busy working obtaining silent auction items and class baskets are being prepared. The October meeting of the PTC will be this Thursday, October 6 at 3 p.m. in room 3 at the Texas Ave. campus. One of the items to be discussed in addition to the Harvest Festival will be discussion of Red Ribbon Week, which occurs later this month.
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Let’s have a big round of applause for our Kindergarten students who are enjoying their success in keeping MoHawk in their class by winning the weekly School Spirit contest.
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Justin Trunnell, the group leader for the Washington D.C. trip tells us that the Café Bravo Thirsty Thursday Fundraiser for the Valley Home School Washington D.C. trip was a huge success. Justin and Tiffany Trunnell would like to send a big ‘Thank You’ to Café Bravo for hosting and donating a portion of the profits towards the students’ trip to Washington D.C. and to all those who came to support them. Justin would like to offer a heads up that there are going to be more future fundraisers this year and the beginning of next year so keep an ear out for more information.
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Clare Taro shares the news that David Mello now residing in Iowa, flew in Friday night and stayed at Tony and Clare’s home prior to attending his 50th Oakdale High School Reunion. He enjoyed his visit with classmates and the Taro’s, but had to leave early Sunday morning to get back home to harvest corn.
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Our Valley Home Park provided a wonderful site for a surprise birthday dinner for Kate Hart this week. The festive event was hosted by Winnie Mullins and attended by a host of Kate’s Valley Home friends. The honoree was gifted with a beautiful plaque created by Kathy Bryhni that was inscribed with a Cowgirl’s Prayer which reads “When they lay me down to rest, Put my spurs and rope upon my chest. Get my friends to carry me, And then go turn my horses free.” Photos of old and significant events, barbed wire, lasso facsimile displayed on a piece of rustic style redwood fence board was a special one of a kind gift.
Joining in the festivities and dinner for Kate were Winnie Mullins, Don and Clare Taro, Joe Perez, Kathy Bryhni, Berta Mullins, Tena Mullins, Vicki Dickens, Tamara McConnell, Dan Dooley, and Glenn & Laura Burghardt.
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Members of the Oakdale Garden Club sponsored Fourth Annual “Down by the River” festivities on Saturday at the home of Mayor Pat Paul and Phil Stanwood overlooking the Stanislaus River. The event was open to the public and featured art and quilt exhibits, handmade garden art, local olive oil, wine and apple tasting, guided tour of native plant landscaping, plant problem identification, solutions and advice by local experts and a display of classic cars. Valley Home residents attending were Beverley Berridge, Gloria Medeiros, Emily and Jim Bush, and Glenn and Laura Burghardt. Emily displayed some of her prize winning floral and butterfly photographs and Laura Burghardt three of her favorite oil paintings, one of which was her mother at age 16. Glenn was kept busy sharing his knowledge of local history with the guests.