January 17 - February 6, 2017 • Vol. 1, No. 13
www.santaynezvalleystar.com
Every Issue Complimentary Every Time
QUICK AND HEROIC REACTION
Local women help save lives of 3 Fresno men
‘Whether it’s to call 911 or get in the water, we’re called to act,’ Sydney Antles says
Valley mourns passing of two beloved figures
by Drew Esnard
drew@santaynezvalleystar.com
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early two years after surviving major injuries in a traffic accident on Highway 154, 19-year-old Sydney Antles leaned on her experience and her faith to “pay it forward” to save three Fresno men. The California Highway Patrol praised the “quick and heroic actions” of Antles and her friend Emily Elmerick — both graduates of Santa Ynez Valley Union High School and now students at SBCC and UCSB, respectively — after they helped save the three men who had become trapped in an overturned truck in a water-filled irrigation canal on Dec. 26. The women were traveling north on Highway 41 en route to Livingston when Elmerick, who was driving at the time, glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a red 2005 Dodge pickup truck drift, overcorrect itself, “get the wobbles,” and plunge into the canal, where it came to rest upside down in three to six feet of water. “We saw the splash and immediately pulled over,” Elmerick said. Elmerick called 911 as Antles sprinted about 50 yards to the submerged truck,
o RESCUE CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Photo contributed Elaine “Willi” Campbell is pictured at the city’s 25th birthday celebration in 2010 with, from left, City Manager Brad Vidro; Mayor Jim Richardson; and Solvang’s first city manager, the late Leo Mathiesen.
Willi Campell was Solvang’s first mayor; Jack Pellerin was valley’s favorite Santa Claus by SYV Star Staff
news@santaynezvalleystar.com
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ith every beginning there is also an end, and as we begin the New Year we want to take a moment to reflect on the lives of two larger-than-life Santa Ynez Valley residents who recently left this world.
Photo by Emily Elmerick Sydney Antles, pictured in purple, helped three Fresno men escape from their truck.
Willi Campbell Elaine “Willi” Campbell will be remembered as the first mayor of Solvang and as a woman whose devotion to civic life had a powerful impact in shaping her community. Mayor Jim Richardson says he will miss his friend, who always gave him her opinion whether he asked for it or not.
o NOTABLES CONTINUED ON PAGE 4