Remember When | May: Coarsegold Rodeo still going strong; shopping ‘mall’ plans

Compiled from the archives of the Fresno Flats Research Library and the Sierra Star, covering news and events from the month of May.

60 Years Ago

Coarsegold Rodeo — Spills, thrills and chills will be the rule of the day at Coarsegold this coming Sunday when the mountain community will play host to some 6,000 visitors for the annual amateur rodeo. Around 5,000 pounds have been ordered for the barbecue, where it will be cooked in open pits. The event will be preceded Saturday night by the rodeo dance at the Community Hall. (This year’s rodeo was held April 30-May 1.)

Cancer fund benefit — A Hawaiian luau, fashion show and luncheon, sponsored by the Oakhurst Home Department, has been scheduled for May 17 at the Sierra Sky Ranch to benefit the cancer fund. Fashions are to be furnished by McDonald’s of Fig Garden Village, the Norman Letzters of Oakhurst and the Village Department Store of Oakhurst.

Shopping center plans — Revised plans for the Oakhurst Shopping Center where new stores are going up in the near future. Present nucleus for the center are the Post Office, Top Drugs, Lisle’s Sierra Chapel, and a bank building currently under construction. The 12-acre development area is the result of long and careful planning to take care of future growth and expansion of existing structures. The ultimate plan is to make it highly convenient, through the mall system, for shoppers to go from one store to another with as few steps as possible.

50 Years Ago

Yosemite entrance fee — An increase in entrance fees and campsite fees for Yosemite National Park was announced by the National Park Service. The daily entrance fee will be $3, which allows a vehicle and its occupants a day’s stay in the park. The campsite fees for Yosemite Valley are $4 per night and 50 cents per person in organized groups. Other campgrounds outside Yosemite Valley will maintain last year’s summer fee rates, $1-$3 per night, with 25 cents per person for group camping.

Litter fine — Gone are the days when a lenient court or magistrate could dismiss the charges against a litterbug with a stern or friendly warning. California’s new anti-litter statute provides that littering is punishable by a mandatory minimum fine of $10 for the first offense. Additionally, offender may also be required to spend four to eight hours a day picking up litter.

Movies at Bass Lake and North Fork — For Memorial Day weekend the Ponderosa Pines Theatre at Bass Lake presents a dramatic western frontier adventure, “The Wild Country,” (G) a Walt Disney production starring Steve Forrest, Vera Miles, Ronny and Clint Howard, and Jack Elam. An exciting war adventure-comedy, “Kelly’s Heroes,” (PG) starring Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles and Donald Sutherland, comes to the screen at the Ponderosa Minarets Theatre of North Fork.

40 Years Ago

Hell’s Angels in Ahwahnee — Approximately 200 members of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club were in the Ahwahnee area over the weekend. According to the Madera County Sheriff’s Department, no incidents were reported. The group camped on BLM property on Road 600 out of Ahwahnee. They held a party at the VFW Hall on Saturday night. A spokesman for the VFW stated Monday morning that the hall was cleaned up especially well. At the time the hall was rented, it was not known that it was for the use of the motorcycle club.

Kerckhoff project — The press was invited to the Kerckhoff 2 Project near Auberry to view the new Tunnel Boring Machine that will bore a 22,000 foot, 24 foot diameter tunnel through solid granite from Kerckhoff to Millerton Lake. The project is scheduled for completion in December 1983. It is planned to take water from Kerckhoff Lake through an intake structure and a four-mile tunnel to the powerhouse inside the canyon wall, and then through a 600-foot-long discharge tunnel into Millerton Lake.

911 update — Dialing 911 during emergencies moved one step closer for Madera County residents with the approval of the emergency plan by the Madera County Board of Supervisors. The system should be operational by 1985.

30 Years Ago

Forks Resort anniversary — The Forks Resort on Bass Lake celebrates it 50th anniversary this year. The land was purchased in 1941 by A. Robert Miller and the Miller family, three generations later, still owns and operates the resort. Present-day owners are Ron and Leslie Cox, Miller’s granddaughter. A celebration is scheduled for May 11. Festivities include coloring books for the kids and ’50s singers.

New Oakhurst business — Dorsey’s Hallmark celebrated its grand opening recently with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Attending the ceremony were 1990 Mini Mountain Belle Jennifer Smith, the Dorsey family — Christine, Kim, Michael and owners Linda and David, as well as Eastern Madera County Chamber of Commerce President Doug Macaulay. The store is located in the Raley’s Center.

Elks Lodge move — Planning Commissioners approved, with conditions, a request by the Elks Lodge for a rezoning and conditional use permit to allow the Elks Lodge to occupy the existing Mountain Christian Center. The property is currently in escrow and that is slated to close in February of 1992, after new facilities for Mountain Christian Center are completed.

This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Remember When | May: Coarsegold Rodeo still going strong; shopping ‘mall’ plans."