Kings County Homecoming Week was in full swing last week, with activities culminating in Saturday’s parade in downtown Hanford. Representing Corcoran in the event was Carol and Richard Garcia, recently named Corcoran’s Homecoming queen and king.
he Garcias were honored at Tuesday night’s Western Family Night, hosted by the Corcoran Chamber of Commerce. They will also be participating in Homecoming Week activities throughout the remainder of the week.
Richard, a native of Kingsburg, grew up on his grandfather’s ranch in Hanford. He graduated from Hanford High in 1965 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1966 to 1970. After his tour in the Navy, he attended College of the Sequoias, while working at Armstrong Rubber Company.
Carol Ralston moved to NAS Lemoore with her family. She attended school on the air station and graduated from Lemoore High School. She met Richard and the couple married and made their home in Hanford.
They relocated to Corcoran when Richard purchased Richard’s Chevrolet-Buick in 1987. Richard had experience: he was already selling cars for Bob Hill at Robert’s Chevrolet in Hanford and later moved across the street to Kingston Oldsmobile-Buick-GMC.
The Garcias raised their two sons in Corcoran. Scott and Todd both attended Corcoran High School and worked part time at the dealership, while being active in local sports.
And as the boys competed, Carol and Richard also stayed busy. Richard sponsored multiple soccer, basketball and baseball teams and Carol served as treasurer for the local Little League program for several years. The couple helped with Blue Dolphin Swim Team and Richard coached several sports teams in which his boys were involved. His longest coaching stint was at Corcoran High School, where he served as assistant varsity basketball coach with head coach Mark Hatton.
Both Scott and Todd returned to Corcoran following college, taking up posts at the dealership. They also helped coach at the high school, with Todd helping the varsity football team and Scott the JV basketball squad. Now both have families of their own and are coaching their four-year-olds in t-ball at the RAC.
Richard’s community service also included nine years on the local planning commission. He was also a longtime member of the Corcoran Family YMCA board. He and Carol were members of the Corcoran Guild, which supported Children’s Hospital. Carol was a lomgtime member of the Corcoran 50-50 Club. For many years, Richard has served as the auctioneer at the annual Calcutta golf auction.
Prior to the actual purchase of Richard’s Chevrolet, Carol had been searching for a place to serve in the community. She read an article about Corcoran Community Christians for Emergency Aid and all the people it served. She knew instantly that she wanted to get involved with the organization. At a Soroptimist meeting, Marilyn Nolan came to speak and Carol volunteered that day. She has been on the board of directors, serving as secretary, since then. She recently turned over secretarial duties to another board member and took on the task of treasurer for the local organization.
Richard and Carol enjoy spending time with their five grandchildren: Ava, eight; Luke and Kale, four-year-old twins; Tate, who is also four; and Tinsley, almost two. Carol is a member and tries to participate in most of the activities of the South Valley community Church in Lemoore. They attend most weekends when not at the coast enjoying the cooler weather. Richard also likes to golf two to three days a week.
Richard’s Chevrolet-Buick supports most of the Corcoran Chamber of Commerce activities, but can be counted on to sponsor the Christmas and Cotton Festival parades and to provide vehicles for those events.
“We have truly enjoyed our time in Corcoran,” said Richard. “The people in this community are the greatest and it is a gret place to raise a family.”
Carol added that the family has made many wonderful friends in Corcoran and are thankful for them.
