After a long day of stressful classes, being a bear kittens teacher, and going to stunt practice daily, senior Bianca Rangel looks for a way to wind down. She goes to get her embroidery kit and continues to work on her current project, decorating a visor. Embroidering is the art process of making designs on fabric, while it is typically done on a machine. Rangel prefers the handheld method with tools such as needles and thread. Rangel’s passion for embroidering started when her grandmother introduced her to the craft.
“We’d go to Mexico often growing up, and she’d always buy pre-designed cloth pieces, bring them back home, we’d sit down
together in the living room, and she’d teach me different stitches and techniques,” Rangel said.
Rangel has made multiple designs on sheets of cloth, her favorite being a hummingbird she designed with her grandmother.
Ever since her grandmother exposed Rangel to the art of embroidery, she has been trying to practice her skills as often
as possible. Oftentimes, Rangel struggles to find time for embroidery in between being on the cheer and stunt team, working, and balancing workloads of school. “I actually recently sat down with one of the kids I babysit and taught her how to do a simple chain stitch.” Rangel said, “ It really took me back to when my grandma used to sit down with me.”
Senior Gavin Blythe loads up the trap with the bright orange clay pigeons. He loads up his shotgun and aims into the sky. Suddenly, the trap shoots the saucers in the air- BAM! The pigeon is shot midair and shatters to pieces. Trapshooting is the sport where participants use shotguns to shoot at clay shaped saucers (pigeons) that are shot out of a machine known as a trap. Additionally, trapshooting is the passion and talented sport that senior Gavin Blythe competes in and regularly practices one to three times
a week. “I was going to a Junior pheasant hunt when my dad realized I’ve never shot a shotgun before. We went out to the SLO range and shot some trap for practice and that’s when I realized I
gained a passion for it.”
Blythe loves the competitive nature of the sport and enjoys the memories made from playing the sport with family and friends. However, he continues to practice more than just casually as he has earned respectable 11 notable awards for his trapshooting such as CA State: Singles Championship Sub Junior Runner Up and Western Zone: Singles Championship Site Junior Champion. When asked what awards he had won, Blythe has this to say, “Too many to say, I’m afraid. I am a national champion and have also won many state awards and just awards in general.”
Although he enjoys shooting clay pigeons with his family, Blythe has made a new one through
friends he has met at various tournaments in different states. Blythe has “ I really enjoy the family that trapshooting has created for me. I look forward to meeting all of my friends from many different states.” Blythe said, “But also because the sport is very fun and enjoyable to do, it has many different disciples in it with each of them being a joy to participate in.”
Freshman Aiden Ponti is on a mission to grow his dredge mix seasoning company to spread one message- It’s not just for chicken!
“We’ve done it on pork, zucchini, pickles, chicken fried steak, and one of our customers used our product to make gravy,” Ponti said. Dredge mix seasoning is used to bread and season chicken and other various
foods.
Ponti started his business, Breadin’ Bros last year, but he has been perfecting the recipe \for far longer. “I started working with the recipe when I was 11 years old,” Ponti recalled, “We laun
“We launched the business last year and we’ve had some local success.” Breadin’ Bros can be found at The Creston House and General Store as well as Irish Oaks
Mercantile. On top of being in local stores, Breadin’ Bros has made appearances at the Mid State Fair and ___ on top of smaller promotions at Tractor Supply Co. Additionally, Breadin’ Bros has a website with more information about the product: breadinbros.com.
Ponti has had the determination to perfect the recipe because he has a deep passion for chicken and dredge seasoning. “Growing up, we always made chicken breading and we were always eating chicken in the house.” Ponti said when asked about how he got interested in the dredge mix business. “We were doing it homemade and then I was like, I could do better. So one night Iannounced I was making this seasoning, and it was the best thing ever!”
