The Madera Tribune Red Line

As a parent I have to comment on the article (sports editor) Paul Stanford wrote about our son, Alec, in The Madera Tribune. Wow! Our family is humbled, excited, touched beyond belief. Wow, is the superlative that seems to fit.

In reading this article, you expressed things that reflected a desire on your part to understand our son — you captured his experience going through this process, to a tee. I would say his best friends didn’t display this depth of understanding.

That’s why I’m compelled to write this to you. You repeatedly demonstrate your caring about our kids in this community to accurately represent them at these critical moments in their lives. If something is happening in a young person’s life that is newsworthy, then it must truly be a watershed moment in time for them. Think about it — an intimate and accurate portrayal in a newspaper is a way of forever stamping this event in the individual’s memory, and their family’s.

Your insight into Alec’s comments, and the time you took to get Coach Hirshcorn’s thoughts, and Coach Mac’s, were above and beyond the call, and will enable us to read this 20 years from now and immediately remember the entire experience as if it were yesterday. You’ve given our family a treasure for life.

My wife and I moved here 18 years ago to rear our kids in a great family environment. We were looking for some place that reminded us of where we grew up, without having to move back to where we grew up, if that makes sense. Reading the Tribune back then reinforced our move as a sound one. While the sports articles had their share of misspellings and questionable phraseology, there was never a doubt as to whether the kids of this community were loved. This told us we were in the right place.

Then this “new guy,” Paul Stanford, came on board, and I was a little nervous. I didn’t want to see our hometown paper lose its sense of intimacy. Needless to say, that hasn’t happened, and in fact the qualities that drew us here are abundantly evident every time I read something he has written. And where I used to amuse myself by circling outlandish errors in red (I am an educator after all), I don’t get to do that any more with your pieces. You’re just a d-mn good writer!

Thank you again Paul. Any paper in America would be blessed to have you as part of their team. I’m just so thankful that you’re on ours!

Randy Mehrten,
and echoed decisively by Tiffany, Alec, and Seth,
Madera