Central Valley Football Follies--Or “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Original cartoon published Aug. 24, 2003 in The Fresno Bee. Republished courtesy of SW Parra © 2003

By Frank Pecarich
Retired Soil Scientist

I was born in Bakersfield and lived there until I graduated from college. In the Fall of the year, the leaves dried and fell to the ground and the smell of autumn was in the air. Football in Bakersfield in the 1960’s was an iconic ritual and virtually everybody in town was caught up in it.

Well, I don’t live in Bakersfield anymore but in addition to football in the Central Valley it appears that there is a continuing iconic rivalry which is getting to be of huge proportions. It too can be compared to a rival football ritual. A couple of years ago a Fresno Bee article and political cartoonist Steve W. Parra, captured our imaginations by having beleaguered Dean Florez fill in for Charlie Brown and the annual ritual of Lucy Van Pelt, aka Nicole Parra, pulling the football away from Charlie just as he was about to kick it.

That time it was because our Charlie had the audacity to propose clean air legislation rules in the Legislature for the betterment of us all. As Fresno and Bakersfield residents know all too well, their area has some of the worst air quality in the United States.

In so many ways Nicole Parra resembles Lucy. Most people idolize Charlie who behaves in a humane and understanding manner, and shows a great deal of honesty. We can relate to that.

Lucy, on the other hand is smarmy, operates a stand where someone feeling particularly weak and vulnerable can get their ego further trampled by Lucy for only 5 cents. She seems always around to rain on the Peanuts’ parade and generally is someone who people try to avoid.

E. Coli Antics

We can get our better judgment trampled free by Nicole Parra almost anytime we pick up the paper and read of her latest episodes as a Legislator. This last Fall had Lucy attempting to pull the football again away from Charlie (aka Dean Florez). The situation then involved Florez’ efforts to try and resolve why the California State Department of Health and the United States FDA seemed so inept at solving another near annual ritual… a Monterey County E.coli 0157H:7 outbreak on leafy greens complete with illness and death across the USA.