Mountaineer Progress

By Vicky Rinek

On Friday, September 27, at 9 a.m., a group of volunteers, including 30 troopers from Fort Irwin, headed by Robert Deaver, Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hesperia, and residents met at the Wrightwood Metalworks shop on Cedar to start the cleanup around three properties. They would sort through ash, try to recover any personal items for the property owners, and help them with the first steps to rebuilding.
1LT Deaver gathered volunteers for the event, including 32 Troopers from 1/11 joined together with 12 Missionaries, 10 locals, and 2 Soldiers from 2916th AVN BN
The first property was a rental cottage on the Kupkas’ property. The tenant, Sherry Elliott, had made this her home for over five years and stored all her personal belongings. The Fire made its way around the Kupkas’ home, striking Sherry’s home and burning everything.
“It was an honor to meet Sherry Elliott and help her out,” said Sarah. “We have more work to do that we will continue tomorrow as well.” Sherry did not have renters insurance and could not recover what she lost. Sarah Jessica Bailey, the owner of Wrightwood Metalworks, raised funds to help Sherry by selling her artwork “Wrightwood Strong” and donating a portion. That afternoon, Sarah presented a check to Sherry for $1000. Sherry was overwhelmed with gratitude and shared how this support has given her hope in such a difficult time.”
Sarah wants to give the biggest shout-out to Grizzly Café for providing a delicious dinner to the 40 volunteers who have been helping with the burn cleanups this weekend. The Volunteers of Fort Irwin for their continued help around the community
Over the next three days, they cleared fire material. The military volunteers and friends spend the day clearing rubble and debris.
Big thank you to the following so far:
-Cherol Christman Derrick for donating $50 to the GoFundMe. The funds were used to help provide food for the volunteers.
-Julie Garrett For offering to donate masks to use in our efforts
-John Kearns For offering to bring equipment to help clean up the debris
-Leslie Gordon Kaye Wolgamuth for offering to donate the use of his trailer to help remove debris where needed.
-The Volunteers of Fort Irwin for their continued help around the community.
-Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hesperia for volunteering to help clean up efforts.
-PK Deaver Enterprises LLC for donating water, food, and lodging
-Natasha Cortines with Sourdough Buddha for donating food and lodging
-Sarah Jessica Bailey with Wrightwood Metalworks for donating food, drinks, and lodging
-Carol Pettegrew-Standel & Dale Standel for donating lodging and safety equipment as well as opening their home for volunteers Friday night
-Mile High Pizza for making lunch for Saturday
-Dani McGinty with Moonlight Getaway for donating lodging
-Chip & Erlinda Laolagi-Hatch for donating drinks
-Mountain Hardware for donating personal protective equipment
-Mills Hardware for donating personal protective equipment
-Dru Cooper Gaines for offering a donation of masks
-Tera Morris for donating snacks and drinks
-Wrightwood Place for providing an area for Saturday night dinner
-Sue Parody for donating drinks
-The Grizzly Café for providing dinner on Saturday Night
It also recognizes local individuals and organizations that have supported their volunteers over the last year and a half by donating food and drinks, providing safety gear, and helping create opportunities for the Soldiers of Fort Irwin to enjoy recreational activities during their time in the area.
Troopers across Fort Irwin have volunteered for over 20 events in Wrightwood, CA, and Fort Irwin, CA. Over the last year and a half, they have made a difference in our community. Volunteer events have included cleanups of the roads and playgrounds on Fort Irwin and cleanups around Wrightwood and the surrounding San Gabriel Mountains while helping with community events in Wrightwood. These events have lent the communities a much-needed helping hand while also opening up morale and recreation opportunities for our Troops.
Their work, which can be an essential step in the recovery process for victims, has significantly improved the living conditions and morale of the affected community members.
Fort Irwin has been coming to Wrightwood for a year and a half, coordinating cleanup events in the Village on Highway 2, Jackson Lake, Big Rock Creek, Inspiration Point, and Table Mountain. They also help with local events such as Mountaineer Days, Chili Cook-off, Car Show, various markets, and the holiday parade. The troopers helped dig out snow-trapped residents at last year’s Snowmageddon.
We are deeply grateful to our Troopers for their unwavering commitment and dedication to making a difference in our local communities. Their selfless service has not gone unnoticed and the community thanks you from the bottom of our hearts.
For more information on future opportunities, please contact 1LT Robert Deaver at (308)760-0376 or robert.j.deaver3.mil@army.mil

Held at Serrano High School, the PAC was a gathering place for community members to hear the latest information on the Bridge Fire, work, and what is being done to allow the residents to return to their homes.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department, The Los Angeles County Fire Department, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, and the Fire San Bernardino Unit Unified Command were in attendance.
The Incident Commander makes the final decision and unified command, a group in which they are in lockstep. They meet every day throughout the day and come together to make decisions based on good rationale with priorities for everybody’s interests.
The speaker gave a detail: “It’s not based on any one thing. We make good group decisions, and they will form decisions, so it’s been going very well up to this point, and that’s good for the management of this incident and the affected communities that were trying to protect. As far as the suppression today, you did hear where we’re at, but I can go back a little bit at the beginning of this incident when it started; you heard about the line fire when the line fire started that sucked up a tremendous amount of resources in Southern California from down south up to the north to the west of us to understand about southern California is that when there’s a lot of fire activity. This fire took off from the Line Fire, Bridge Fire, and, shortly after that, the Airport Fire in Orange County. Three major fires are burning, and our resources must come from somewhere. First, getting personal here in a timely fashion is often problematic when you have large multiple fires burning down here.
We are now the number one fire in the nation. It is the number one fire in California, so we’ve received tremendous resources. Currently, we have over 2400 personnel on the fire, and that’s helped us with the completion of our lines around the fire and being able to protect these communities. We continue every day with the emphasis of protecting lives and communities and doing the best we can to put this fire out .
In regards to the evacuations, every day we have an evacuation repopulation group. It consists of liaison officers operation section chief law enforcement from both LA and San Bernardino Counties. We have public works, Caltrans, Southern California Edison, and an Office of Emergency management personnel from San Bernardino and Los Angeles County. These meetings are incredibly well run, and priorities are set. We work around the entire fire and discuss these evacuation polygons, the pros and cons of maintaining warning orders, and so forth, and so these are meetings every day.
We’re getting good containment up here in the Wrightwood area. We have some strong winds predicted for tomorrow, which could be problematic, but we’re continuing to build.
Investigators are out there. They need some time to look at this area and see if they can find a cause. Once we find anything and know anything, we will let everyone know.
What can the community do to help out? We need your patience right now. We want to get back in there as soon as possible, so again, thank you for your patience.
A question from the audience. “What is the plan for the northwest, specifically Jackson Lake, which has almost been overcome as of now with no obvious assets deployed?” We have the Valyermo hotshots. They showed up yesterday, so that’s a Hometown team. They fought the fire today, along with multiple LA County and San Bernardino County Fire assets on that north-northwest corner. Jackson Lake has yet to be overcome and will not reach the LLano, Little Rock Phelan, or Pinion Hills. So I can’t say it won’t get to those places, but we don’t expect it to reach them. So, I’m unfortunately not in charge of the weather, and the weather is a wet goddess to this place right now, the weather can still do bad things to this fire that we don’t have a whole lot of control but as of right now, I don’t expect it to come there. Next question: What about Wild Horse Canyon? So, Wild Horse Canyon is similar to those areas I mentioned a bit ago, and we don’t expect it to be like Wild Horse Canyon.
The fire was contained for two days. What caused it to wrap up the expansion? We covered the Fire behavior analyst portion. It was the weather, and it was one percent of a one percent type day where we didn’t have the weather. And where this fire was moving out to the north and the east, we had no containment.
We could look at the satellite data and all the supercomputer stuff and see where the firewood’s edge was on Tuesday morning. So, that’s our starting point. That’s where we’re gonna start our measurement, and then we measured out once it started. Then you gotta stop where you’re gonna measure it at some point and continue to measure on. I can’t tell you, though, that from the edge of the fire to approximately where it would impact the community of right with the line right, where we saw the houses, and where we knew the impact would be. We measured ten air miles, and what I mean by that is, if you were an airplane, it’s ten straight miles to the air out to qualify. That’s a lot of hygiene. If you had to go up and down, that’s a very aggressive fire spread. This was a once-in-a-career type of day you’re going to see. Hopefully, that answers your question.
Question on air quality and outdoor work on the valley floor. Some of the unseen work we do is with the air resource advisor and the EPA. They offer a product suite of smoke products and smoke management and sensors, and then we also work with our partners at AMD regarding specific guidance or recommendations. I would have to defer to them. That’s their expertise, so it’s the Mojave Valley AQMD out here, separate from LA AQMD, and they live up here. That’s a good thing, so hopefully, those answers are questions.
We appreciate that there have been many questions about the Wrightwood area. We want to bring water from the Golden State Water District, Lewis. Will the water be safe to drink? At 5:00 today, we got the order from the State. The water is safe to drink.
Another exception may be any intermittent outages. There may be related to power transfers that Edison is working on.
Southern California Gas is out here helping, Regarding all of the utility companies, I can tell you firsthand from the days that I’ve been out here and seen the tremendous work that all the utility companies are doing.  
As far as returning home, as you can see over the last couple of days and today as well, there are a lot of adjustments in terms of the evacuation areas in terms of evacuation orders and evacuation warnings, so we are just asking that you be patient and as soon as we can lift orders to let people go back into areas where you’re not able to that it is all of our intention to accomplish that, specifically for the Wrightwood community.
Our objective is to help everyone in that way while still maintaining the ability to have firefighters’ access to do what they need to do and accomplish things.
Information is gonna be released on social media. If you’re not already, please follow the Sheriff’s Department, County Office of Emergency Services OES, and San Bernardino County Fire.
Another question: On evacuation warnings in Wrightwood and not receiving the evacuation warning or not until 5 PM? So, the first evacuation warning went out for Wrightwood at about 4:30 PM on Tuesday, and many things can contribute to you not receiving that warning.
We encourage you to keep checking those social media posts to stay abreast of what’s happening now. But we want all those alerts going to your phone. You can go to County OES’s website, which is the Office of Emergency Services, and the specific link to the site webpage is prepared with the word prepare.sbcounty.gov so you can register your phone. Type in your information on where you’re at, where you live, and your phone number; it’ll give you that guidance to ensure you receive those notifications.
The fire jumped and spread so rapidly that it was known that an evacuation order needed to be put out for Wrightwood. That is exactly what happened, and if we could somehow have a faster method of knowing, we just wouldn’t have that ability in every scenario.
If you still need to be picked up, what can you do if you have people or animals? We received these calls from lots of residents. Please call sheriff’s dispatch, the nonemergency number at 760-956-5001, and provide that information to us. We will go to that residence, and our deputies will check. If it’s animal-related, we will have this done with the assistance of our volunteers, or San Bernardino County Animal Control will assist us. If we can get your animal, we will bring them out and do what we can to get them out.
Another question related to medication: Unfortunately, we cannot go back into the area into people’s homes to get medication, and there’s just a whole slew of reasons as to why because of the complexities with medication. Please call the number and explain that information to our dispatch, and if there’s anything that our deputy sheriffs can do to assist you with that regard, we will.
How can law enforcement prevent houses from being robbed and the sheriff being understaffed?
 We created new beat patterns for our deputies that are out in the field. Those patterns are much smaller, with deputy sheriffs assigned explicitly to those areas.
We feel it’s best to prevent people from coming in. Some of these traffic stops occur. They’ve made two arrests so far, unrelated to any robbery. They were irrelevant, but they were people driving around in the evacuation area that weren’t supposed to be.
Inspections are ongoing and subject to change as information gathering is verified. They will put information out. Please be advised that most of the residential inspections in Mount Baldy Village and Wrightwood have been completed. The significant remainder of the inspections are outside of those areas, and they give you a website where you can look up what areas were damaged and be able to do inspections on one of those. Recovery information is prepare.sbcounty.gov/bridge-fire/. The other is Los Angeles County recovery information: recovery.lacounty.gov/bridge fire for information.

By Vicky Rinek

 On Sunday, Sept. 8, at 2:40 p.m., Angeles National Forest firefighters responded to a reported wildfire in the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (southwest of Wrightwood) in the East Fork area by Cattle Canyon named Bridge Fire.
The fire, fueled by high solid winds, scorching temperatures over 106º, and low humidity, is spreading rapidly in the extremely steep terrain. The easterly direction of the fire and the wind’s direction are carrying ash into Wrightwood, posing a potential threat to the area.
As of Tuesday, the fire is estimated at 3100 acres. Aircraft and firefighters are on the scene, with a total of 250 resources. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has issued an evacuation order for the East Fork and the adjacent river community.
Additional firefighting crews from Delta Hotshots and Texas Canyon Hotshots as flames moved into Cattle Canyon, prompting a two-alarm response, ordering the closure of East Fork Road at Highway  39 and the entirety of Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road.  
Multiple agencies, including the Los Angeles County Fire Department, California  Highway Patrol, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, are working in unison alongside forest resources. Their coordinated efforts, as shared in a post on X, formerly Twitter, by officials with the Angeles National Forest, are launching aggressive attacks from the air and with ground resources, providing a comprehensive response to the wildfire.  
As of now, no structures are threatened, the fire is at zero containment, and it is under investigation. “We are committed to keeping you informed and will continue to update you on any developments, ensuring you stay connected and aware of the situation.” said officials.

Fire Personnel From All Over The State Blocks Bridge Fire from Enterting the Village
According to InciWeb, on Tuesday, 9/10, the fire began to show “extreme fire behavior” and grew by over 13,000 acres, spreading north and northeast toward Wrightwood and Pinon Hills. Overnight, the fire erupted to 35,000 acres, speeding toward Wrightwood. The Angeles National Forest, on social media, reported that the fire expanded amid an excessive heat warning with unstable conditions and gusty onshore winds.
At 9:30, Evacuation orders were sent out utilizing the TENS system (known as the Telephone Emergency Notification System or TENS, which sends high-speed mass notifications by telephone and text messages). Sheriff and Highway patrol vehicles drove around the Village with their emergency alarms sounding off.
“Make sure to gather your pets, important documents, medications, and any essential belongings before you leave,” the sheriff’s department posted on X. “Your safety is the priority! Don’t delay in evacuating.”
Wednesday 9/11: Crews will continue to work and construct dozer lines in the Table Mountain area while strengthening containment lines and putting out hotspots within the fire’s perimeter around the Wrightwood community. Mountain High Ski Resort (@mthigh) has all snow guns on full blast.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in several areas due to the bridge, line, and airport fires. “We’re deploying all available resources,” Newsom said on Wednesday. “Grateful for our heroic firefighters and first responders working around the clock.”
Thursday, September 12: Sheep Mountain Wilderness in the Angeles National Forest saw “minimal” growth on Thursday as winds died down and humidity increased, officials said in their most recent update, posted at about 4 p.m. Further evacuation orders for the area of Lone Pine Canyon, from Wrightwood to Highway 138/ Lone Pine Canyon Road south to the forest boundary, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Also, orders to evacuate were for Pinion Hills, from Wrightwood north to Highway 18 and Beekley Road west to the LA County line. Officials said Thursday that the Bridge Fire has set over 54,000 acres ablaze and is 0% contained. Its rapid growth made it the largest active fire in the state. Fire officials said the fire’s containment was still at zero percent as of that update. The blaze, by then, had spread to about 51,580 acres that straddled Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
Cynthia Fleury, a longtime Wrightwood resident, initially evacuated to Phelan with her husband, Jeff, and a small dog, Daisy. Unfortunately, they had to leave behind their pony, Annabell. Interviewed by TV news media, Fleury said, “The red embers were falling in our yard, and my husband said we have to go,” she said. “All I could say was, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s on our street. “
As she, her husband, and her dog drove away Tuesday night, the field adjacent to their house was ablaze as fire crews worked to control the fire. When they returned to check on their home and Annabell, Fleury said she was relieved that both were still standing. The pony was even receiving some pets from firefighters, she said.
Friday, September 13: Heavy smoke continued to fill the Valley. Above Wrightwood, from east to west, small flames along the mountain ridge and watched closely. The fire is not spreading with no wind, but the smoke is settling in the Valley, making breathing smokey air very dangerous for your health. Mojave Air Quality Report: The air quality from the high desert to the mountains was extremely poor. People with respiratory or heart disease, older adults, and children should consider remaining indoors. Avoid using a swamp cooler or whole-house fan to prevent bringing outdoor pollutants inside. Keep windows and vents closed.
San Bernardino Co. Captain Ken Lutz spoke to the newspaper and explained that they had been collecting animals. “We have rescued horses, sheep, lambs, pigs, cats and dogs. People in the desert volunteered their property to house these animals.” Tyrone Merriner, a local musician, stayed behind and helped get water to the animals. The grocery store, Wrightwood Fine Foods owners, could open the store for a couple of hours so anyone could come in and get supplies.
Throughout the week, social media was swamped with false information about the condition of the Valley. Reports of the Village with the Elementry School on fire were wildly exaggerated. The Community had a few unfortunate incidents that fueled the rumors. Three homes on the Los Angeles side of Wrightwood were burned to the ground. Another homeowner’s house was saved as the flames surrounded his home, but his rental unit was lost. The 36 structures reported were in the Los Angeles camp areas.
One resident said, “I don’t care how much the FP-5 fee cost me; they saved our Village.”
Fire crews from multiple agencies continued working around town, scouting hotspots and performing maintenance. According to the news release, hand crews, dozers, and engines “aggressively attacked” the fire’s north flank.
Fire crews from San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Diego, to name a few, were assisting in protecting the Village surrounding the business area and the elementary school. Hotshots from Texas worked the line alongside CalFire, San Bernardino Fire, Los Angeles Fire, and U.S. Forest Fire.
Officials said that as of Friday, the evacuation orders remained in place for Wrightwood, Pinon Hills, and the West Cajon communities. At the same time, local agencies assessed the damages and worked to restore utilities. Residents on social media said they wanted to come home.
Saturday, 9/14: All the agencies gathered at the Serrano PAC for a community meeting.
Nearly 200 attended, and another 100 were online to hear what they had to say. Few in attendance submitted questions that various agencies addressed. The top question was, “When will we be allowed to return to our homes?”
As of Tuesday, the Bridge Fire had charred nearly 54,790 acres and was 25% contained. according to officials. More favorable weather conditions aided firefighters in defending structures and protecting the Wrightwood and Piñon Hills communities.
Source of information provided by the U.S. Forest, San Bernardino Fire, Los Angeles Fire, and CalFire and LA County Sheriff’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The cause of the fire had not yet been determined.

Mountain High Resort Survived
WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. – The Caanf Bridge Fire moved through parts of Mountain High Resort overnight, briefly engaging with a few lifts. However, as of 11 a.m. this morning, initial reports indicate that base facilities remain intact. Los Angeles County Fire Station 130, stationed at the West Resort, has been credited with the incredible work of defending the property. The captain of Engine 130 also confirmed that the building and restaurant at the top of East Resort survived the fire.
“We are grateful beyond words for the swift and courageous actions of Los Angeles County Fire Department Division 5 and all the first responders working tirelessly to protect our resort and community,” said John McColly, vice president of marketing for Mountain High and CaliPass Resorts. “We stand in solidarity with everyone affected by the Caanf Bridge Fire and are committed to supporting our community as we come out of this tragedy stronger than ever.”
The resort is still assessing the situation but anticipates opening on time for the upcoming season. While the fire briefly impacted some of the resort’s infrastructure, there have been no confirmed reports of structural damage, and teams will conduct thorough inspections as soon as it is safe to access the area.
Mountain High Resort continues to work closely with the Unified Command, which includes CAL FIRE, Los Angeles County Fire, and the San Bernardino County Fire, among others. The safety of staff, guests, and the surrounding community remains the top priority.
The situation remains fluid, and Mountain High Resort will update as credible information becomes available. The resort is hopeful for the continued safety of the firefighters and law enforcement teams on the front lines.

Snowline JUSD Policy for Cell Phones, and Search and Seizure for illegal drugs or weapons.

By Vicky Rinek

At the August 27 Board meeting, the Board of Trustees discussed item 5 of the agenda: the Policy on banning mobile communication devices on campus and the search and seizure procedures.
The two adoptions were presented to the Board for their consideration and approval.
Relating to communication devices, the Board was asked to approve CSBA policy.
Second item: To adopt the CSBA policy and administrative regulation for search and seizure.

Complete arrticle  CLICK HERE

A Vegetation fire was reported at 6:35 pm on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, near Johnson and Snowline Road, Phelan.
CAL FIRE and San Bernardino County Fire swiftly responded to reports of a vegetation fire near the intersection of Johnson Road and Snow Line Drive. Units arrived to find 5 acres of light fuel running off the foothills south of Mesquite Street onto the desert floor under typical afternoon wind.
Large columns of smoke were visible. An aircraft water tanker was called out within an hour. The first arriving firefighters immediately engaged the blaze while setting up ahead of it to provide structure defense to homes along Snow Line Drive and Johnson Road. Thanks to a concerted effort by ground crews supported by aircraft, the forward rate of spread was successfully stopped at 7:30 pm.
Crews remained on the scene overnight to extend and improve containment lines and continue mop-up objectives.
Sheep Creek at 138 remained closed. At 8:44, the fire was 67.3 acres and 10% contained.
Authorities reported that within 90 minutes of the initial report, the fire had expanded to 72 acres, highlighting the rapid spread rate and the challenges the firefighters faced in containing the blaze.
 San Bernardino County Fire Protection District officials said flames were burning through “medium” fuels at a moderate to rapid rate of spread. About 90 minutes later, firefighters halted the fire.
No evacuations were ordered as a result of the fire. No structure damage or injuries were reported, ensuring the community’s safety.
“Due to a concerted effort by ground crews supported by aircraft, the forward rate of spread was stopped at 7:30 pm,” San Bernardino County Fire Protection District officials said in a written statement.
Firefighters were expected to remain on-site throughout the night, ensuring the flames were snuffed out.

By Tim Graydon

In a show of appreciation for our military at Snowline Stadium, the Diamondbacks had a grid-iron battle with the Patriot High Warriors, securing a 35-14 victory for the home team Thursday night, 8/29/2024.
   With the field in pristine condition and the temperature a comfortable 75 degrees, the Serrano High Diamondbacks would choose to receive the first kick-off. After a Diamondback fumble, the Patriot High Warriors were set up in a good field position to post the first score. Unable to convert, the Warriors were forced to punt to Serrano. The first period would end scoreless on this beautiful summer evening in Phelan, CA.
   The second quarter started with a 57-yard Diamondback touchdown run by Issiah Romo, making up for his earlier fumble in the first quarter. Eduardo Cendejas kicked in the extra point, giving Serrano a 7-0 lead. Issiah Romo took the pigskin down to Patriot’s eleven-yard line with another strong carry, allowing running back Trevor McSween to slip into the end zone from ten yards out. A point after by Cendejas gave the Diamondbacks a 14-0 lead to end the first half.
The Patriots received the ball and were forced to punt after three possessions. This left the Diamondbacks with great field position, setting up a series of successful passes to Jamal Larry and Cade LaFever. Trevor McSween carried the ball in for the third Serrano touchdown of the night, bringing the score to Serrano-21, Patriot-0.
The Warriors answered back with a drive deep into Serrano territory and a 9-yard rush into the end zone by the Patriot’s Josiah Felix. A successful conversion put the scoreboard at 21-7 entering the fourth quarter. Issiah Romo, with two touchdowns already, fired a third touchdown pass to Jamal Larry who carried it into the end zone to bring the score to 28-7, Serrano.
After an interception by the Warriors, Josiah Felix scored again for the Warriors. Issiah Romo chalked up another TD after a Diamondback interception with 5:05 remaining on the clock to bring the final score of Serrano Diamondbacks 35, Patriot Warriors 14.
After the game, the Head Coach of the Serrano Diamondbacks said this about his opponents: “The Warriors are a tough team. We knew they could make a comeback. We held them to fourteen points. They are a tough team!”  The Diamondbacks will proceed undefeated (2-0) to Yucca Valley High next Friday, 9/6/2024, at 7p.m.
Patriot Warriors Head Coach Chris Fowler had a similar opinion of the Diamondbacks. He said, “This is a good experience for us. Serrano is always a tough team. Last time we played them, they came from behind to win by eight points.”
Military Appreciation Night was well received, with the colossal talent and showmanship of the Serrano marching band, Serrano Cheer, and the Cadet Corps color guard performing before, during halftime, and after the game. From the homemade kettle corn and Serrano Merchandise trailer to the foot-stomping fan appreciation, the Serrano Booster Club and fans made for an exciting night of high school football.
Thanks to those fans and the Pizza Factory for supporting our military and fighting for these freedoms.

By Vicky Rinek

Dave Cimino’s MAD MUSIC did it again. The Red Barn Opry was an incredible experience for everyone attending the 16th concert. The flawless professional production by Hall of Fame drummer Dave Cimino, hosted by property owner John Wilkens “Wilkins Village,” took months to prepare.
The music of four feature bands created an evening of Bluegrass, Country, and soft rock in this small corner, Wilkins Village.
Music started the concert with Bonnie belting out country tunes and warming up the evening with her beautiful instrument, her voice.
Returning was the Blue Eyed Coyote Band, featuring Loyal White on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Jamie Loveless on Fender Strat lead guitar, and Dave Cimino on tab cage box and a 1970s suitcase! for percussion.
The High D Boys are a Victorville-based outfit comprising Dan Reyes on guitar and vocals, Phil Clevenger on washtub bass, trombone, sousaphone, and vocals, and Mike Kelly on guitar, banjo, and vocals.
The Winslow band kicked it with “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash and “Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “I Feel Lucky,” followed by numerous country favorites.
The army of volunteers works behind the scenes to make this all possible. Thanks to the hard-working RBO ladies, Ashley Cron, Stephanie Ludlow, and Tina King, with free popcorn, drinks, and barbeque hotdogs.
People enjoyed the music; there was the barbecue, cooking up 300 hotdogs, plenty of soda and water, and cornbread muffins. The popcorn machine kept running all night. This evening’s entertainment was all brought to you by contributions from the community.
Tina King and Allison Cooper gathered up their volunteers to prepare the food. Hours before the show, Tina, with Ashley Cron and a crew including Iene Hershkowitz, Jill Carterpayne, James Ogborn, Daunte Cron, Ben Hamelton, and Ben Guichard, set up their easy-up, BBQ, and buckets of ice, all in preparation for free hot dogs, baked beans, an assortment of cool beverages, and cornbread baked by Vicky Rinek made for a perfect picnic.
The Red Barn was packed, the outside area was overflowing with beach chairs, and the street was closed in both directions. Outside Radio broadcasters DJ Becca Edge and Allen Anthony set up a booth to broadcast online radio stations. KJAY Epic Radio interviewed guests and played Red Barn Opry on their radio station.
The Blue-Eyed Coyotes and the Honey Buckets continued the concert with great music.
The Mattson band came on stage to close the evening, performing various country music, bringing out the crowd to the dance floor, and hopping to the beats of the live music.  
As the evening concert ended, the last hotdogs were handed out, the popcorn machine turned off, and  Dave thanked everyone for their outstanding performances and for all the support from the numerous contributions from local businesses and individuals that brought this all together.
David thanked everyone for coming out, all the performers for an outstanding event, and the Wilkins for allowing RBO to utilize their property.
Dave said he was done. After much soul-searching, Dave decided this was his last production. But with enough people, we could convince him to do it again. Even with the 40-plus volunteers, the exhausted Dave wonders if he can do it again.

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