Serving the communities of Valley Springs, Burson and Wallace

Sept. 30

The Valley Springs Dollar Store staff waiting to greet the public are, from left, Samantha Tracey, Charlene Moulton, Toni Rambo, Deede Dugan and owner Liz Qualkenbush.

Dollar Store opens in Valley Springs

By Nick Baptista

   Valley Springs has a new dollar store after a hiatus of several years.

   Liz Qualkenbush opened the Valley Springs Dollar Store on Thursday in the Valley Oaks Center near the post office.

   The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the three-day grand opening celebration. Normal store hours will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, she said. The store will be closed on Sundays.

   Qualkenbush said she has access to greater inventory and is eager to hear what Valley Springs area residents want in the store so she can adjust her inventory accordingly. She will have a clipboard at the front counter where customers can list their requests and desires.

   She has a new make-up rack on order and has heard that many residents want to see a fishing section. Inventory in her start-up package included everyday household items, barbecue and kitchen utensils, cleaning supplies, hardware, pet supplies, reading and sunglasses, toys, infant items, party supplies, school supplies, picture frames, and much more.

   The aisles also are filled with greeting cards at two for $2, some food stock, bathroom necessities, storage containers, purses, arts and crafts, silk flowers and Halloween items.

   If customer demand meets her expectations, Qualkenbush has plans to expand the store. She has an option to rent either or both spaces next to her store.

   “We’re going to reinvest our profits back into the store,” she said. “Within three years, I’m shooting to have all 4,800 square feet (all three spaces) for the store.”

   Qualkenbush has a background in office management and bookkeeping in several industries. She spent several months asking residents what they’d like to see in Valley Springs and nine out of 10 wanted a dollar store.

   She then went to the internet and did her research into the industry and finding her suppliers.

   “This is not a franchise,” she said. “It’s an owner-operated store, not corporate, so I have all the flexibility to cater our store inventory to what Valley Springs wants.”

   She has a wide range of catalogues to select from.

   “The variety we can have is unbelievable. I’m really looking forward to this.”

   The store will accept payments in credit or debit through Visa, Master Card and Discover Card. Checks and cash are also accepted.

   “This is going to be a fun place,” she said. “It should be the lowest stress job in the world and we want to know what can we do to help you get what you want.”  

Sept. 25

Burson Postmaster Wendi Sherman begins preparing her display to promote breast cancer awareness during October.

Burson postmaster renews breast cancer awareness crusade

By Nick Baptista

   October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Burson Postmaster Wendi Sherman, a cancer survivor, is continuing her tradition of drawing attention to the disease.

   Sherman again has set aside bulletin board space titled “Breast Cancer Has Touched My Life” where postal customers can display pictures of themselves, family members or friends who have had or are fighting the disease.

   For those who are camera shy, slips of paper will be available for posting at the display.

   Sherman also is promoting sales of the Postal Service’s Breast Cancer Awareness stamp by holding a drawing at the end of October. Customers who purchase a sheet of 20 Breast Cancer Awareness stamps can enter the drawing. The sheets sell for $11, or 55 cents per stamp, and the 11 cents above regular first-class postage from each stamp is donated to breast cancer research. The additional expense of $2.20 for a sheet of the stamps is tax-deductible and customers will receive a receipt to save for tax purposes.

   As of last month, the stamp has raised $67.6 million for research since it was introduced in 1998.

   Sherman will have a grand prize basket containing items associated with breast cancer awareness.

   Designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, the Breast Cancer Awareness stamp features the phrases, "Fund the Fight" and "Find a Cure" and an illustration of a mythical "goddess of the hunt" by Whitney Sherman of Baltimore.

   Informational literature – such as “The ABCs of Breast Health,” “Three Steps to Finding Breast Cancer Early” and “Five Things to Tell Your Friends About Breast Cancer” – all from the American Cancer Society - are available at the Burson Post Office upon request.

   Sherman has found her informational crusade to be helpful to several customers who have told her they were prompted by her efforts to get examinations and cancer was discovered in treatable stages.  

Sept. 23

Angled parking has been introduced in front of the U.S. Post Office in the Valley Oaks Center for safety reasons.

Facelift at Valley Oaks Center has safety element

By Nick Baptista

   The Valley Oaks Center parking lot is being redone, but motorists will notice some new wrinkles.

   The most noticeable change is the addition of 13 speed bumps throughout the center, said property manager Stacey Gordon of BRAD Management.

   The center received plenty of calls and emails from locals saying too many motorists were cutting through the center as a detour from the busy Highway 12/26 intersection during the rush hour and traffic was going too fast and endangering those on foot.

   “We needed to have vehicles go slower, especially in front of Mar-Val,” Gordon said.

   In another high traffic area, angled parking has been introduced in front of the U.S. Post Office.

   The move was made to force one-way traffic through the busy area, Gordon said. The area previously was marked for one-way traffic, but the introduction of the angled spaces makes it more difficult for some motorists to drive against the designated flow of traffic. The post office area also saw the addition of a new curve ramp for better accessibility for disabled persons and a more logical layout of handicapped parking spaces for individuals with disabilities.

   RV pull-through parking has been designated and marked on both the Highway 26 side and the eastern portion of the Highway 12 side of the parking lot at the request of tenants, she added, and the mailbox near Taco Bell has been flipped so traffic will flow in the right direction.

   “For sale” vehicles no longer will be allowed in the center and will be subject to towing, she said. Tow away zone signs are in the works for posting especially on the Highway 26 side of the center where the unauthorized used car lot has emerged.

   Work is anticipated to be completed by Thursday and any additional minor work will be done the following week.  

Sept. 18

Singer-songwriter and The New Christy Minstrels founder Randy Sparks, center, along with Becky Jo Benson and Robert Wise entertain Valley Springs Elementary School students during an assembly last week.

"Painless History" lesson provided by legendary singer

By Nick Baptista

   Valley Springs Elementary School students received a “painless history” lesson Sept. 14 when singer-songwriter Randy Sparks and friends entertained them in an assembly heavy with folk music, but laced with an educational theme.

   Sparks, who formed The New Christy Minstrels in 1961, provided the subliminal history lesson while going through centuries of folk songs, giving the students anecdotes on each one.

   “I hope you take away today that music is more than something that vibrates your car,” Sparks told the students.

   Monday’s performance was not Sparks’ first at the school. Sparks, a Calaveras County resident, told the students that he had two children attend the school 35 years ago and they got into trouble with their teacher one day when they told the teacher that one of their father’s poems was in the textbook the students were reading.

   The teacher did not believe Sparks’ children and for “arguing” with her they were sent to the principal’s office. The principal quickly cleared things up, but an outcome of the incident was Sparks’ initial performance at a school assembly.

   In Sparks’ latest homecoming to his children’s old school, New Christy Minstrel Becky Jo Benson, Eddie Boggs and band teacher Robert Wise accompanied him.

   Sparks’ trip through the centuries of folk music ended on a timely and poignant note with his song “Just Americans” – which centers on how the diverse people in the nation came together after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.  

Sept. 16

Similar to an old-fashioned barnraising, students and staff at Toyon Middle School – along with a crew from Lowe’s in Jackson – got together Friday afternoon for a potluck and a little hard work to raise a greenhouse on the campus. The greenhouse, made possible by a $4,200 grant from Lowe’s, will be used to furnish the plantings for a new school wide beautification project.

Toyon marks 9/11 with new beautification project

By Nick Baptista

   Toyon Middle School students and staff marked 9-11 by laying the cornerstone of a school wide beautification and garden project.

   With a huge poster of an American flag containing the words “In Loving Memory of the 2,752 Lives Lost in 9/11,” work began Friday afternoon on a greenhouse at the campus.

   The school received a $4,200 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant to build the greenhouse and a crew from Lowe’s in Jackson was on hand to assist in its construction.

   The school’s Earth Club, outdoors projects and garden class, with help from the student council and Parent-Teacher Organization are pursuing the school wide beautification class, said art teacher Kevin Hesser.

    The greenhouse portion of the project is the cornerstone of the effort, he said, as it will be used to germinate the plants and vegetables that eventually will surround the campus.

   “We have a bunch of motivated kids and this is a wonderful thing,” he added.

   Raised beds are being constructed around the school for the plants, some of which, such as winter vegetables, will be used by food services, with the idea of eventually having a salad bar filled with food grown on campus.

   Word of the project has begun spreading in the community and local businesses such as Simmons Landscaping, Calaveras Nursery and Rising Sun Nursery have come forward with assistance, materials and plants.

   Simmons Landscaping provided a crew to install a new irrigation system, along with bark at the school entrance, while Calaveras Nursery donated trees and Rising Sun provided some plants.

   “The businesses have been so supportive,” Hesser said.  

Sept. 4

“Grandpa Bud” DeMasters reading to Joanne Randall’s fourth grade class.

"Grandpa Bud" begins 10th year as voluntary reader at VSE

By Nick Baptista

   Affectionately known as “Grandpa Bud” – longtime Valley Springs resident Buddy DeMasters has embarked on his tenth year of voluntarily reading to the children at Valley Springs Elementary School.

   DeMasters, who is retired after a 32-year career with the California Department of Forestry, spends Fridays at the school reading to 10 classes ranging from kindergarten to the sixth grade.

   DeMasters also reached another milestone last week as he celebrated his 70^th birthday. Family, friends and teachers from VSE surprised DeMasters last Saturday with a party.

   “It’s been as rewarding to me as much as it has been to the kids,” DeMasters said about his voluntary service to the school. “It feels good to be doing something like this.”

   The nickname “Grandpa Bud” goes back to DeMasters’ days of reading in his grandson Christian’s pre-school class at My Own School. When Christian began attending Valley Springs Elementary, DeMasters continued reading to classes. The tradition continued when DeMasters’ two other grandchildren, Michael and Holly, began attending VSE.

   It’s not unusual for DeMasters, a 52-year resident of Valley Springs, to be in a store and hear someone say “Hello Grandpa Bud” and it’s one of the students he read to years ago.

   DeMasters’ roots to Valley Springs Elementary go back to his wife Judy White DeMasters, who was a former student at the school. They were married in December of 1965 and their two sons, Ryan, 42, and John, 37, both living in Valley Springs with their wives and children, were VSE students.

   When he’s not reading to the children, DeMasters finds time to work part time at the CDF warehouse in San Andreas and volunteers some hours helping out at Community United Methodist Church in Valley Springs.

   A 15-minute picture slideshow entitled “All the stages of Buddy DeMasters” from childhood, through marriage and kids, hunting, fishing, gardening, vacations and grandchildren was part of Saturday’s celebration, which attracted 54 guests.

   “He is the nicest man I know and I am not being biased,” said his son John. “It’s true. He does anything for anybody just about any time. It is an honor to be his son. My goal is to uphold the family name because he has made it a good name.  I owe it to him to keep it that way.”

   “With a quick-to-smile personality and generous character, he is loved by many and respected by all who know him,” said his daughter-in-law Jill DeMasters.  “I can’t think of a better reason to celebrate his 70 years on this earth. He is loved and cherished and we wanted him to know it.”  

Sept. 2

Local woman begins drive to make sure students have supplies

   One Rancho Calaveras woman is spearheading a campaign to make sure local schoolchildren have necessary school supplies.

   Donna Farrell has spoken with Calaveras Unified School District Superintendent Mark Campbell and Valley Springs Elementary School Principal Tim Garrison and has received the green light to accept school supplies and gently used backpacks for the students at VSE, Jenny Lind Elementary and Toyon Middle schools.

   Beginning today, The Valley Springs News office at 10-G Nove Way will serve as a collection point for the supplies. The office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays.

   Farrell, who along with her husband Fred have lived in Rancho for the past seven years, said she came across some go prices for back-to-school items and was interested in spending $20 to help the schools and schoolchildren in these budget-tight times, but did not find an organized process in place to make such a donation.

   That prompted her visit with school officials.

   “There must be others like me who want to make a donation, but don’t know how to go about it,” she added.

   She is calling the effort “Supplies For S’Kool Kids.” The program will run through the month of September and letters of thanks from the students will be posted in The Valley Springs News office.

   Farrell is also soliciting the help from major chains to help fill the school supply void.

   Four bins have been set up at The Valley Springs News office for supplies. Those supplies can be designated specifically for one of the three schools or placed in the “Where Most Needed” bin for distribution by school officials.