Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, welcomed Gene Caselli of Winters into the 8th Assembly District’s Century Circle on Sept. 18. Caselli, who turned 100 years old this year, is a longtime Winters resident and farmer.

Born in 1912, Caselli met his wife Marion in San Jose in 1937. The Casellis moved to Winters in 1955, where Caselli and his brother began growing apricots, peaches, oranges and walnuts on 80 acres. The couple has been married for 75 years, and they have three children: David Caselli, Margene VanWagtendonk and Stephen Caselli.

Yamada also recognized Keiro No Hi, or Respect for the Aged Day, at the induction ceremony. Keiro No Hi, a national holiday in Japan, is a day to honor centenarians and all older adults.

Yamada established her Century Circle in 2010 to honor centenarians in Yolo and Solano counties. Caselli is the 57th person to be so honored.

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Laura Jordan, a third-year medical student at UC Davis, received a Health Professions scholarship from the Indian Health Service last month. The IHS is a federal health program for American Indians and Alaska natives, last month.

Jordan, a native of Hoopa in Humboldt County, is a member of the Yurok Tribe of Northern California and grew up on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. Since she was 14, she worked and volunteered her time at K’imaw Medical Center in Hoopa as the assistant to Medical Director Eva Smith. She graduated from Humboldt State University, majoring in cellular and molecular biology and minoring in chemistry. She is a first-generation college graduate and would like to be a physician, providing health care for the underserved.

The scholarship covers the cost of tuition, required fees and additional education and living expenses for the next two academic years. Health Professions Scholarship Program recipients incur a service obligation of one year for each year of scholarship support, whereby she may elect to work serving the health-care needs of the American Indian population. The mission of the Indian Health Service, which is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, is to raise the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level.

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