FILLMORE : Basketball Team to Travel to Hawaii

The Fillmore Unified School District Board of Education voted to allow the high school’s varsity basketball team to go to Hawaii the last week of December.

Arranged at no cost to the school district, the trip was the inspiration of Fillmore High School alumnus Dan Mackey and former basketball coach Jim Fauver, who retired last year.

“Mackey has been taking an interest in the team, and donated $2,000 for new uniforms a year and a half ago,” said John Wilber, the current coach.

Mackey, a 1967 Fillmore graduate who owns a car dealership on the island of Kauai, made arrangements for the Fillmore team to play against two local schools Dec. 26 and 27, and found housing with area families.

“They’re always looking for people to come in and play,” Wilber said.

Donations will cover the cost of the six-day trip.

The team outdid itself in fund raising last year, Wilber said, saying the team gathered most of the fare for three coaches and 13 team members at a pit-barbecue held during Fillmore’s 1990 May Festival.

Adults who go, including eight parents and Principal Jaime Castellanos, will pay their own way.