It was great to see so many Valley Home residents attending the O.I.D. “A Century of Service Celebration” held at the Gene Bianchi Community Center on Saturday. A large crowd turned out to attend the event and luncheon, which was followed by an introduction of speakers who congratulated O.I.D. on its many years of service to the community and the important role that O.I.D. has played in our community. Formed in 1909 by a group of visionaries and pioneers who had the foresight to see what water could do for our community. With their neighboring South San Joaquin Irrigation District, O.I.D. built the Melones and Tri-Dam Projects providing energy resources and recreation enjoyed by Valley residents.
Members of the O.I.D. Board were introduced following the luncheon. It will be the last term for Tony Taro who has announced his retirement. We will all miss Tony, who has done a great job! Among Valley Home residents in addition to Tony attending the event were Don Taro, Joe & Linda Perez, Roger Beymer, Patricia Foard, Loretta & Bill Rae, Glenn & Laura Burghardt and others whose names we did not get.
Oakdale Councilman Michael Brennan, who spoke in place of Mayor Jackson, who did not attend, offered a wonderful tribute to the work that O.I.D. has done over the years and presented the group with a framed City of Oakdale Resolution commending them on their outstanding accomplishment.
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Last Monday, September 21st, Valley Home residents and Oakdale historians Glenn & Laura Burghardt led the members of Girl Scout Troop 3424, with leader Julia Lokker, on a walking tour of historic downtown Oakdale, taking them as far back as the pre to early 1900 era. It was a very warm afternoon but the group covered the main business section of early Oakdale walking East and West Railroad avenues from G to F streets, and west on F Street as far as First Avenue. The hosts gave a brief and interesting bit of information on many now long-gone buildings and businesses and showed photographs of how it looked then compared with looks today.
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Halley Smith rode her horse Big Guy at the Well Springs Ministry fundraiser Saturday to demonstrate western riding and barrel racing. The fundraiser was held to raise funds for individuals in need of equine counseling. There were hunters, jumpers, dressage, equitation and western riders as well as a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, music and BBQ.
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Valley Home 4-H officers met on September 30th to plan the upcoming 4-H year events and to get ready for the 4-H community meeting the first Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Valley Home Baptist Church.
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Also on Monday, September 21st, there was an interesting report going around the Valley Home area. While walking on Henry Road between Lone Tree and Highway 120, a resident noticed tracks of an animal that appeared different, looking a lot like those of a large cat. Photographs were taken of the tracks and e-mailed to the California Department of Fish and Game in Rancho Cordova. A response was received from Wildlife Biologist Joshua Bush who reported the tracks sent were cat tracks. Due to the size he would say it was a juvenile mountain lion. He came to this conclusion based on the fact that the tracks were large for a bobcat but smaller than the average size for a mountain lion. He further stated it was very hard to tell. He then suggested seeing the website for information on living with mountain lions – http://www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/lion.html.
