Home Care In Lindsay, CA

Community News

Shoppers leaving the front doors of Cambridge Mall daily come face to face with a curious-looking building on the opposite side of the street. Pale yellow in colour, with a modified jerkinhead roof, it has seemingly been here forever. While some residents might shrug their shoulders indifferently, others might fondly recall its previous incarnations as a bus terminal and a restaurant. Still others will wonder what will become of 19 Cambridge Street South, as this property is formally called.

Wesley Found, the owner, has exciting plans for the place – but is keen to preserve as much of the building’s heritage as he can.

The building dates to the late 1800s, when it served as a livery stable. Livery stables served a similar purpose to a modern car rental company; horses and horse-drawn carriages could be hired from such a business while travellers were in town. A row of narrow windows towards the back of 19 Cambridge Street betrays this former function; these openings apparently denote the old horse stalls. A generously-proportioned front entrance, meanwhile, permitted the movement of carriages and horses in and out of the building, which for several years sported a sign advertising “Lindsay & Trotter Livery & Hacks” (hacks being horses that were rented out for riding). The “Lindsay” in this sign referred not to the town, but to Bob and Charles Lindsay, whose business was one of at least five liveries operating in the community during the last quarter of the 19th century.

Sept. 29, 1887 saw Samuel Hughes – later a member of parliament and federal cabinet minister – acquire the property from Charles W. Silver for the grand sum of $700. Here, Hughes published the Victoria Warder newspaper for a loyal readership while also enraging his critics. (Canadian historian Tim Cook, in his book The Madman and the Butcher: The Sensational Wars of Sam Hughes and General Arthur Currie, reports that Hughes once faced an assassination attempt while serving as publisher and editor of the Warder; perhaps it occurred here at 19 Cambridge Street?)

Hughes was long gone by June of 1946, when 19 Cambridge Street reverted to its transportation roots in the form of the Union Bus Terminal. Opened by Ed DeNure, the bus terminal did a booming business through the 1950s and into the 1960s. Complete with baggage checking services, a lunch counter, and waiting rooms, the building saw many residents and visitors pass through its portals upon their departure or arrival in Lindsay. A generation later, the old structure was welcoming diners in a new role as Joel’s restaurant. From horse-drawn carriages to printing presses to bus passengers to lunch patrons, 19 Cambridge Street has been home to a variety of people and purposes.

That’s a tradition Found would like to continue. The second-storey apartments have been renovated for living, but of special interest is the 3,000 square-foot main floor space. Found would like to see it used for hospitality, or perhaps a venue for the arts.

Regardless of how 19 Cambridge Street is transformed, there can be no question that it will continue to contribute to downtown Lindsay for years to come.

Lindsay Recharge Basin adds hundreds of acre-feet of water to the groundwater aquifer each year with new improvements

LINDSAY – A recharge basin in Lindsay got its own recharge earlier this year thanks to a $544,000 improvement project.

Stakeholders – including the East Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), the city of Lindsay, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Lindmore Irrigation District – came together on Aug. 9 to celebrate the improvements to the Lindsay Recharge Basin that wrapped up in March. The basin, which is spread out over 8 acres off of Highway 65 and West Mariposa Street, will help take advantage of wet winters and replenish precious groundwater supply.

“It’s a really good project; this is one that I think is long overdue,” Michael Hagman, Lindmore Irrigation District general manager said.

The project received $330,000 in funding from a DWR Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) grant, and the Lindmore Irrigation District contributed an additional $214,000 to the project, Hagman said.

According to a press release from the East Kaweah GSA, the basin will add up to 49 million gallons of water to the groundwater aquifer each year and will “directly benefit Lindsay residents, rural residents with domestic wells and local growers.”

“This project is a great example of state and local governments working together to invest back into our communities to capture and store as much water as possible during extreme weather events to replenish our state’s critical network of groundwater basins,” Paul Gosselin, DWR deputy director for statewide groundwater management said in the press release.

The press release said that water storage infrastructure was unable to capture all of the unprecedented rain and snowmelt runoff the San Joaquin Valley saw this year.

“Any water not captured is a lost opportunity to restore groundwater supply that is over-pumped during drought periods,” the press release said. “The completion of the Lindsay Recharge Basin positions the community to be readily available to capture water within the East Kaweah GSA boundaries, crucial for a future with sustainable groundwater supply.”

The improvement project consisted of two parts. First, they removed the top 18 inches of soil from the basin and then ripped up the bottom of the basin to start turning up the soil, “like you see the plowing of a field, only it (went) in 5 ½ to 6 feet deep,” Hagman said.

Hagman said this was necessary because of the basin’s original purpose as a storm drain.

“It takes water off the streets in the community, and it diverts it into that space and percolates into the ground,” he said. “The problem with water coming off the streets is it’s bringing in silt and other things (and) it reduces the efficiency of the basin.”

Water can now filter into the ground of the basin much faster, and the Lindsay Recharge Basin is in “a really good spot for providing water” based on the groundwater flow rate estimate, Hagman said.

The second part of the improvements was the addition of a pipeline connecting the Lindmore Irrigation District’s Friant-Kern Canal line to the Lindsay Recharge Basin.

Hagman said the irrigation district’s First Avenue mainline has a lateral pipe running off of it that stopped about 1,000 feet away from the recharge basin, and they had been thinking about extending it to the recharge basin for many years so that they can add freshwater to the basin as well as storm runoff.

The basin is estimated to put 150 acre-feet back into the groundwater aquifer each year, but Hagman said that based on how much water has already been replenished through the basin since March, they are probably going to hit 700 acre-feet by the end of this year.

Local artists can join the resurgence of pastel art in the Valley at the 4th Tulare County Judged Pastel Exhibition at Lindsay Museum & Gallery

LINDSAY – Prepare to be tickled pink – and every other color imaginable – at the Lindsay art gallery’s next exhibition, where a kaleidoscope of vibrant, velvety shades, all crafted by local artists, awaits the region’s local art-enthusiasts.

The Lindsay Museum & Gallery will host this 2024 exhibition of soft pastels only – no oil pastels. The show opens Friday, Jan. 12 at the museum’s location at 165 North Gale Hill Ave., and runs through Friday, Feb. 9. The opening reception for the show is open to the public on Saturday, Jan. 13, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Food and refreshments will be available for visitors.

After that, visitors can see the show during regular business hours at the museum from 12 p.m. through 4:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

According to association curator Bill Tungate, the Lindsay Art Association hopes the show will bring more public awareness to work being done in the pastel medium, and to the work of artists in Tulare County in general.

“In Porterville, there’s a kind of an inordinate number of people interested in pastels. A lot of those people have come to Lindsay because of the pastel shows that we (were) putting on (pre-COVID),” Tungate said.

Tungate explained that the art association was well on its way to achieving their goal of spotlighting soft pastels. Because of the complications brought on by the pandemic, this is Lindsay’s first exhibition of pastel paintings since 2019. Once everyone had to go into quarantine, Tungate wasn’t sure if they would have to start over building a community that was interested in the medium.

“When we had to stop because of COVID, I didn’t want to lose any of the headway that we’ve made by getting people interested in pastel. We’ve been lucky to keep several people that were participants in the Porterville group,” Tungate said.

The exhibit will be presented by the Lindsay Art Association and will feature the work of Tulare County artists, 18 years of age and older. The artists will compete in five categories including Landscape and Seascape, Portrait and Figure, Still Life, Interiors, Florals, Animal and Wildlife, and Abstract and Non-Objective.

All Tulare County artists can enter their pastel pieces into the exhibit, which has awards for various categories in first, second and third place, as well as some Honorable Mentions. All of the categories will be decided at the judge’s discretion. The “Best of Show” will also be awarded to a lucky artist, and includes a cash prize of $100.

Artist statements to correspond with the submissions are appreciated but not required for the exhibition. The art association will be accepting pieces on Jan. 5, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. However, Tungate explained that artists can contact him directly if they cannot submit pieces during that time.

The judge for the show will be Brent Hudspeth, a local fine artist and graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Formerly a successful Illustrator and digital artist in Los Angeles, Brent is all set to bring his expertise to the judging table as the art association starts an artistic resurgence in Lindsay.

According to Tungate, Hudspeth held an art show at the art association this summer at the insistence of his friend and successful artist Shane Guffogg.

“He put up a show of about 25 paintings that were just absolutely brilliant paintings. They were all using the subject of the horse,” Tungate said.

He continued to explain that Hudspeth has been a lifelong horseman and ranch worker, an experience that he uses to inspire his art.

“I wanted it to be a professional artist who was going to be judging,” Tungate said. “He’s an excellent artist so we went ahead and decided to (ask him) to judge it.”

For additional information or to submit an art piece into the showing, contact Bill Tungate at 559-709-6178, or email him at [email protected].

Lindsay City Council approves to install a new chime system at the city hall clock tower to continue revitalizing city’s downtown chapter

LINSDAY – Lindsay City Hall’s clock tower is getting a high-tech makeover with a brand-new electronic bell system that promises to ring in the holidays as well as the city’s revitalization efforts with a symphony of chimes and festive tunes.

After being out of order for nearly two decades, the clock tower at city hall is being equipped with a new electronic bell system that will ring throughout town. It cost the city around $1,000 to fix the clock recently, and soon the new bell system will be installed as well.

“I think it’s a great idea. … I can only imagine how we can use it around the holidays,” Mayor Hipolito Cerros said at the Oct. 10 meeting. “I think when you look at the benefits from it, people will appreciate it.”

The new chime system going into the clock tower costs around $7,600, and will have endless chime and music options that the city staff can easily program from their computers.

“We opted for the more high-end option which has all the bells and whistles so you can program the music and the bells with all kinds of options,” Tanner said in an interview with The Sun Gazette.

It is estimated that the project will cost around $10,000 including speakers, equipment, installation and fixing up the clock tower so that it is functional.

Mayor Pro-tem Yolanda Flores said she liked the idea but raised concerns about the cost of the project even though it is a one-time expense. However, Mayor Cerros seemed excited by the project and stated he thought the chimes would help with the council’s ongoing effort to revitalize the city. The other council members agreed that the chimes would be a nice addition to the city of Lindsay.

After discussing the project Flores asked the audience members how many of them would like the new chimes. Many of the audience members raised their hands for the new chimes and so the council voted 3-0 to approve the installation of the new chimes, with Councilmembers Ramona Caudillo and Ramiro Serna absent from the meeting.

Tanner said the city hopes to have the new bell system installed and play music before the Christmas events this year. The new system is supposed to be delivered within six to eight weeks and will require an additional two weeks for installation.

“It always bugged me that it didn’t work,” Tanner said. “I’m hoping we can get it by Santa night, or even the Christmas tree lighting so we can have Christmas music playing.”

Lindsay City Council waits for Valley Pure to sell their damaged building before amending their conditional use permit to prevent future fires

LINDSAY – The city council postponed the assessment of a local dispensary’s conditional use permit until the completed sale of 108 West Honolulu. The old building is across the street from old buildings that burnt down in 2021.

The Lindsay City Council is anticipating a meeting to discuss the upcoming amendment of Valley Pure’s conditional use permit (CUP). Valley Pure agreed in their original CUP that one of the conditions of them opening up shop in Lindsay was that they must sell their building on West Honolulu to the city.

The city wants to buy the property because the existing structure at that address is across the street from older buildings on the corner of Honolulu and Elmwood that did not have internal fire suppression measures and burnt to the ground. The two story building is old and now considered a safety hazard.

“It’s right across the street from where we had a fire almost two years ago now. And we’ve purchased other properties that were affected by the fire.” Joe Tanner, City Manager, said.

According to a press release issued by the city of Lindsay in June, the fire started on June 11, 2021 after someone called in the fire at just after 2 a.m. The release stated that the fire was at Cumbias Accessories at 122, E. Honolulu. The first unit arrived minutes after the fire was called in and saw the entire building was engulfed in flames.

Almost half a city block burned to the ground in Lindsay. Several businesses went up in flames in the matter of hours. The culprit to blame was a free standing refillable swamp cooler plugged into a multiplex power strip.

Other units such as Tulare County Fire Department, Porterville Fire Department, Tulare Fire Department and the Visalia Fire Department aided in putting out the fire.

Lt. Nicholas Nave stated that the fire started with the water cooler overheating, but once the fire was ignited flames spread through crawlspaces and walls shared by the businesses on the corner of Honolulu and Elmwood Avenue. Nave added that the building lacked sprinklers intended to help quell flames.

Now, almost two years later, Lindsay is negotiating with Valley Pure to acquire one of the buildings that caught fire. The city will amend Valley Pure’s CUP after the sale of the property is finalized but until then, city council is waiting to finish negotiations with the dispensary.

The council met on May 9 but decided not to discuss the item since the purchase was still under negotiation. After the purchase of the property the council will discuss details of the purchase and how to amend the CUP moving forward.