Photos from the Blythes

Miss Blythe 2017 community

Palo Verde Valley Times
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Valley Times
50 CENTS serving blythe,california & Quartzsite, ArizonA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016

Diabetes, Blythe and a mourning family

Loved ones organize fundraisers in memory of local
By Uriel Avendano
Times Editor
According to the American Diabetes
Associations (ADA) 2015 diabetes data
and statistics fact sheet, almost 30 mil-
lion children and adults in the U.S. have
diabetes; 8.1 million of which are living
with the metabolic disease undiagnosed.
Additionally, according to the ADA,
86 million Americans are at the predia-
betes stage of the condition.
For the Robinson family of Blythe, the
struggle with diabetes came to a sadden-
ing end for one of their own beloved this
past Sept. when Jeremy Robinson lost
his life to the effects of the disease.
He liked basketball, he liked fishing;
we used to go out to different streets and
wed play baseball with the neighbor-
hood kids, said Jereece Parks, Robin-
sons sister. They used to love it; wed
Photo by Uriel Avendano/Palo Verde Valley Times go right across the street over to the
Late Jeremy Robinsons family and friends gather together in their Blythe apartment in park and play baseball with the kids. Ev-
remembrance of his passing. The family will be holding fundraisers this weekend in an effort to erywhere you take him, hed stand out.
help through the tough times. For Jeremy, the hardships of diabetes
started early when he developed a bacte-
rial fungi behind his left eye at the age
of 11.
I thought when he lost his eye that it
would mess him up, but it just boosted
his personality more. I thought it was
going to change him but it didnt, said
Charlie Robinson, Jeremys brother.
He thought he was looking fine; like
he was untouchable and oh, all the
girls. He lost his eye and then all of a
sudden he had a lot of girlfriends, said
Jereece. Wed pull up to Jack in the Box
and hed joke with everybody, thats just
who he was [] hed come in a room and
just light it up with his personality.
Through kidney failures, the trials of
dialysis, and stomach ulcers, Jeremy
masked his pain through laughs, smiles
and his personality.
At 11-years old, he went into a dia-
betic coma; my father found him in a
bathtub, back in Indio [] They counted
him out at 15, recalled Jereece, who
See DIABETES/A2

Crowned: Miss Blythe 2017 named

By Cathyleen Rice
Times Reporter
The night was young,
the air was cool and a
show was about to begin.
Set high up on a hill top,
was the Palo Verde Col-
lege Theater, shining its
light and welcoming hun-
dreds of Blytheonians
through its door, to see
the new 2017 Miss Blythe
get crowned on last Sat-
urday.
After a few shorts hours
of oohing and awing from
the unique talent, elegant
evening gowns, striking
swimwear and onstage
questions, 22 year-old
Palo Verde College nurs-
ing student, Jasmine
Gima was crowned as the
2017 Miss Blythe.
With the program be-
ginning at 5:30, mothers
ushered their little prin-
cesses in fluffy dresses
inside, while fathers of
the contestants took their
seats with colorful bou-
quets of flowers,hoping
their daughters would
walk away as the lucky
misses.
Having the high-strung
job of making the final
and hard decision, five
judges sat glued to their
seats, as the eight contes-
For a complete list of
every Miss Blythe winner
going back all the way to 1947
see the full article at http://
www.pvvt.com.
tants vied for the oppor-
tunity.
Swinging and clapping,
prancing and dancing,
the contestants opened
up with a warm and
welcoming number cho-
reographed by Sara Wil-
liams, which made the
audience fell in love with
them even more.
Nonetheless, contes-
tants took to the mic, in-
troducing themselves by
their assigned numbers
before the show went any
further. Contestant num-
ber one was Zaynah Bur-
ton, then Lauren Rizzot-
to, followed by Jasmine
Gima, Anna Phipps,
Savanna Selph, Victoria
Mallett, Corrine Aberna-
thy and Lana Guthrie.
Following the brief
introduction, the show
went on to crowning 16
princesses and sharing
laughs with host Jeffrey
Johns and the 2016 Miss
California, Jessa Car-
mack while the contes-
shiny with long trains
and ruffles and confident
women strutting around
the stage in one and two-
piece swimsuits.
Although the ultimate
decision came from the
five judges who had to
enumerate the highly
competitive and enter-
taining event, during the
15 minute intermission,
members of the audience
were able to donate and
choose their choice for
the nights winner, take
pictures with Miss Cali-
fornia and have their pro-
grams autographed.
Before the big an-
nouncement, Mickey
Copple director of Miss
Blythe programs and
Miss California passed
out awards to 13 people
who helped put the pro-
gram together.
In her final remarks on
loaned photo Oct. 1, Copple said, Ill
Jasmine gima was crowned Miss Blythe 2017 like to thank all individu-
als who generously help
tants got ready for their stage question competi- us support this program.
chance to gain the high- tion for 20 percent. Handling the tallies of
est percentage. The audience saw tal- the judges, auditors Rus-
Competition categories ent acts from crescendo si Egan and Martha Vega
and tallying included piano playing, vivacious came back with the final
lifestyle and fitness to- dancing, pulsating sing- results.
taling 10 percent, talent ing and a mind boggling The results of the show
30 percent, evening wear monologue; sleeveless are as followed:
20 percent and a final on- dresses studded and Miss Blythe 2017
Jasmine Gima
2nd R/U Lauren
Rizzotto
3rd R/U Lana Guth-
rie
Lisa Marie Fitness
Award Lauren Riz-
zotto
Overall Talent Award
Corinne Abernathy
Miss Photogenic
Jasmine Gima
Miss Congeniality
Corinne Abernathy
Most Ticket Sales
Lauren Rizzotto
Most Ad Sales
Anna Phipps
Cristina Bequer Ser-
vice Award Lauren
Rizzotto
Some of the monetary
prizes attached to the
awards were a $250 schol-
arship for 3rd runner up,
$500 scholarship for 2nd,
$1,000 for 1st and $2,500
for the ultimate Miss
Blythe title.
Receiving Miss Pho-
togenic just moments
before hearing her name
called for the second time
on the big night, Gima
was in complete shock
as the shiny, rhinestone
tiara was placed on her
head and a sash that
reads 2017 Miss Blythe
See PAGEANT/A2

Business in Blythe: Q&A

with local Zamora family
By Uriel Avendano
Times Editor
With over 30 years of
experience, the Zamora
family of Blythes Glass,
Doors and More com-
pany have a wealth of
know-how and an entre-
preneurial spirit that
the citys industry hopes
to channel in its effort
to grow and sustain its
economic viability. Cur-
rently operating out of
their 1461 E Hobsonway
locale, the family owned
and operated business
just opened a new Pet Particularly as a small business
Store in their shop. owner, I imagine locale is a big
The Times sat down with David
Zamora to discuss his overall experi-
ence in business, how it relates to
his adopted city of Blythe, some
of the issues todays smaller busi-
nesses face in the area, and what
the economic outlook may be for
tomorrows next local industry.
Name: David Zamora
Business/Organization name:
Glass, Doors and More
In Blythe for how long: Going
on three years.
Hometown: Hawthorne, Calif.
Q: So how did you find
yourself in the city of Blythe?
thing that plays into you and
your familys life So what was
it about Blythe that made you set
your livelihood here?
David Zamora: Weve been
vacationing here for years. We had
a trailer on the river and have been
coming out here every second that
we had available [] When we
found out that there was actual work
out here, me and my wife looked at
each other and wondered why we
kept wasting our time driving out and
just not move out here So we did. Photo by Uriel Avendano/Palo Verde Valley Times
We love Blythe, we think its great. David Zamora (left), daughter Ashleah (center) and wife Christy (right), of Blythes local
Q: What are some of the par- Glass, Doors and More, open up about their first-hand experience in opening up a new family run
See zamora/A2 business in a city thats currently looking to grow its future industrial and economic foothold.