Congratulations to our undefeated Oakdale High School freshman football team. Go Mustangs!

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It was an amazing night in Valley Home! Last Saturday evening, our community and many folks from all around our area came together to celebrate our Harvest Season. It was a beautiful fall evening. Setting the mood for the Harvest Celebration was a much treasured Valley Home rice harvester ... it actually still had freshly harvested rice nestled in its nooks and crannies! It was a wonderful tribute to the fields of rice that once covered most of Valley Home. The rice harvester is owned by Valley Home resident Mike Hoffman. Mike had just finished harvesting one of the last remaining rice fields in Valley Home. Oh the stories that amazing piece of Valley Home history could tell! Many of the folks gathered on Saturday evening remembered well those shimmering crystal clear ponds of rice throughout Valley Home. Precious memories of days that are mostly gone by. Don Taro brought his 1955 John Deer “Popper Johnny” ... what a treasure it is! Donnie still shares his Popper Johnny with folks as he rolls through town in parades and events. Once a hardworking part of his Valley Home Ranch, Donnie and his dad Tony always knew their treasured tractor would be an important part of their ranching history on the Taro Ranch. A very special part of our evening and a moment that made our hearts stand still was when the beautiful fully chromed out 2020 Peterbilt pulled into our Valley Home Fall Festival. This huge yellow beauty is so shiny you can see your own reflection in its magnificent paint! During the evening there was much discussion over dinner in the gym about who owned this “one of a kind“ Peterbilt truck. The proud owner is Valley Home resident Chris Rocha.

Our Fall Harvest Festival was filled with the sounds of happy laughter and children’s joyful merriment! We are so grateful to our Oakdale High students who came to Valley Home to help us. What an awesome group of young people! They brought so much enthusiasm and excitement to our evening. They ran many of the games, helped with face painting and so much more; they were a huge part of our evening. We are very grateful!

We send a very special ‘Thank You’ to Ed Brennan; thank you Ed for always being so generous allowing us to use your BBQ at community events. We appreciate you very much.

At dark folks hopped on the Haunted Hayride and traveled through the depths of Creepville; the sights, the sounds of the night will forever be etched into their memories. Never to be forgotten, the haunted hayride will forever haunt those who dared take this journey into this part of Valley Home; a haunted place so creepy that it is rarely seen...

We were excited as our own Synthia Jones Lilly led the Costume Parade throughout the Fall Festival. Folks clapped and cheered as the parade participants showed off their delightful and fun costumes.

Nearby the Heaton family poured tasty ice cold slushees, handed out bags of hot buttery popcorn and started a new Harvest Festival tradition with an amazing “haunted scavenger hunt”.

We are very thankful to the Xavier/Vierra families for the delicious ranch BBQ chicken sandwiches. They were amazing. Next week we will share more details of our very special evening in Valley Home and our Valley Home Halloween Parade.

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As always you may reach me at winniemullins51@gmail or by telephone at 209-985-5233. Until next time, “Happy Trails to All!”