2001: Dog's best friend: 6-year-old saves bulldog

25 years ago May 17, 2001 Heroes come in all ages and sizes. That was true for 6-year-old Mason Byers. When his bulldog named Benny decided to swim across a pond, Mason knew his best friend could drown very easily. Mason laid on his stomach, stretched out his arms as far they could reach and screamed to Benny. His dog barely managed to turn around and while not able to see where he was going, followed his master's voice. Mason held Benny's head above water and a neighbor scaled a six-foot fence and pulled the dog to safety. Evin Newton was the Del Oro High School delegate to the 2001 Girls State Conference. The delegates to Boys State were Yoel Stuart and Garrett Ballard-Rosa. Selection was based on academics, leadership, community service, patriotism, athletics and character. Del Oro students showed up for school dressed their best with resumes or letters of recommendation in hand. They were ready to be interviewed for summer internships. Among the students hoping for a summer job were Chris Thrall, David Boswell, Joe Kelada, Turhan Sonmez, Fernando Banuelos, Ashley Robison, Eric Loer and B.J. Mitchell. Helping to coordinate the Internship Fair were Kathy Myers and Marlene Cady. The LA Lakers went 4-0 in a best-of-7 NBA playoff against our Sacramento Kings. Kobe Bryant scored 48 points in the final game. A pilot program targeting disease prevention took place at Del Oro. The goal was to reduce risks of being exposed to bacteria that could cause illness or even death. The program was dedicated in the memory of John Garcia, a member of the 2000 Del Oro graduating class. He died from a bacterium known as meningococcal bacteria. Mrs. Sainsbury's third-grade class at Loomis Grammar School started a recycling program. "We are going to use the money we earn to buy a tree because trees give us oxygen." Among the third-graders were Ashley Palmquist, Cameron Ramel Nicole Hayashida, Caitlin Carson, Chris Barker, Brianna Beronson, Kesley Simonsen, Josh Dawson, Davis Spaid-Banks, Kayleigh Osburn, Cory Willingham, Doug Kleinsmith and Reata Suggs. 50 years ago May 13, 1976 A boating accident on the Sacramento River resulted in the hospitalization of 12-year-old Jan Nelm of Loomis. Others with minor injuries were 15-year-old Joyce Barton and Kristine Kaveny. A crowd of Basin residents were on hand for the dedication of the Griffith Quarry building and surrounding property as a State Historical Landmark. It was sad that Enid Griffith, who donated the quarry, passed away only days after reaching the agreement to deed her property to the county. Yesteryear by Vivian Rasmussen: In the early days, the citrus fruit grown locally were navel and valencia oranges. The tangerine, a variety of orange known more accurately as the mandarin, began to be popular. There were several kinds, such as mikado, cleopatra, beauty and Owari Satsuma. The satsuma seemed to be the choice of the area growers. Frank Poirier came here in 1949 and cleared the land on his acreage on the Willo-Glen orchard east of Loomis. In 1955, he planted six acres of owari satsuma mandarins, sorted into seven sizes. The oranges were picked four times, from late October to mid December. Poirier had a beautiful grove of mandarins plus young navel oranges until a killer frost in December 1972. Most of his trees were so badly frozen, he took out the orchard and sold the property, which was subdivided for homes. The second annual Arts and Crafts Festival will take place on Taylor Road in downtown Loomis. The event, sponsored by the Loomis Friends of the Library, will include a drawing with prizes donated by Audrey Dominguez (stained glass), Delores Thompson (canvas sculpture), Ellis Thompson (wood carving) and Carolyn Morgan (bicentennial doll). Al Gomez of Loomis, a 76-year-old author, wrote about his wandering around the country during the Depression. His life then involved boxing, including being the national AAU champion in 1931, and then fought anybody for a guaranteed $25 plus expenses. Before he left the ring, Al grabbed 48 knockouts, 12 in the first round with his left hook. He also trained with Jack Dempsey and three other world champs. Boxing led to bronc busting, rodeo riding and finally racing and training championship horses. (continued) 75 years ago November 1949 Residents should be aware of facts about rabies. It is transmitted by direct contact, nearly always through the bite of an infected animal. Severe outbreaks occur when stray dogs roam in search of food during early spring. More cases were seen in dogs than in cats, but when a cat gets it, it is apt to be more vicious than a rabid dog. Some 20 members of the Congregational Church on Oak and Magnolia Streets in Loomis visited every home in the town with a survey. Questions included, "Do you belong to a church and how often do you attend?" The goal was to strengthen the whole structure of the religious life in our community. The Loomis Methodist Sunday School class renovated toys to be given to small children for gifts at Christmas. Many 4-year-old children can dress themselves, almost that is. The frustrating problems of shoe buckling and bow tying should get help from Mother. Macario Motors on Riverside Ave. in Roseville offered Oldsmobile cars and GMC trucks for sale. Small nuts and bolts have a way of dropping into some inaccessible spots around the car. If no magnet is available, try putting a ball of grease on the end of a wire to fish out the missing piece. In Placer County, the Soil Conservation Service assisted farmers to re-establish dry land pastures into perennial grasses. The goal was to raise more cattle on your available acreage by reseeding. The cattle of early settlers removed the native grasses and the perennial grasses were nearly exterminated. Standing uard - oral histories: When James Makimoto's family came back home after being interned during the war, their farm and equipment was in good shape, though some of their property stored at the Methodist Church had been taken. Before the family was forced to leave in 1942, Jim and his brother George went to see Jim's Agricultural teachers, Mr. Bonito and Mr. Richardson, to ask if they could help take care of their farm. (continued)