Upper Mojave Desert 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556 760-375-8456 To see our schedule of events, visit us at hsumd.org or on Facebook at hsumd Holiday Dinner & Gathering Please come enjoy a yummy dinner (only $10), plus singing carols and potluck desserts! Date: Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014 Doors open: 6 p.m. Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Dessert provided by attendees Caroling to follow Last day for reservations: Dec. 11 We are having tri tip, mashed potatoes, green salad, rolls and pot-luck desserts provided by the guests. We will also have a vegetarian lasagna dish for those who don t eat meat.the price is $10 per person, and the party is open to the community not just members. Bring a friend and enjoy sing-along Christmas songs led by our own musicians.chuck Cordell promises to have a extra tri tip or two. Don t forget to bring a dessert to share. Carol Porter Getting dessert at a previous holiday party are some of our favorite members, Dee Di Pol, Barbara Hall,and John Ward. We ll have more about Barbara, who recently passed away, in our January issue.
President s Message Thoughts for the Season We ve just enjoyed our Thanksgiving season this year. I hope you all remembered the many things that you have to be thankful for, starting with life itself and family and friends. And I hope you didn t forget to be thankful for the wonderfully generous and thoughtful citizens who volunteer for our Historical Society and our community. And I, too, am thankful for all of you our members and supporters. Now, as we head toward this year s Christmas celebration, there are all the elements of faith and family and fun surrounding us. Our Society will have events and activities throughout the season, so watch for signs and messages telling you what we re doing. Tex Hoppus Our Gift Shop, under Michelle Andreoli s superb leadership, will have special See s Candy options for you, along with lots of new and seasonal gifts to consider. And don t forget to join us for our annual holiday dinner and program! It s open to all members and supporters of HSUMD, and is always a wonderful way to join others in the talking, tattling, and laughing that is the background to a scrumptious meal. Come to the Historic USO Building to get or reserve your $10 tickets soon, while there s still room. I hope to see you there we may have some surprises for you. From all of us at the Historical Society, we wish you a peaceful and memorable Christmas and Hanukkah season! Tex Hoppus Genealogical Committee As we have done in the past, we will not hold the December meeting of our Genealogical Committee in deference to the HSUMD Christmas dinner and meeting. Please join the rest of our Society s members and friends for an evening of fun and food. Set aside your research for that evening, come on down to join others at the Historic USO Building, and be reminded of how much better your family tree is than the ones that you see on display that night. (Or, perhaps, it will be the other way around!) Tex Hoppus To order large quantities of our regularly stocked or seasonal See s Candy for your Christmas giving, call the Gift Shop or stop by. Place orders by Dec. 15 to guarantee Christmas delivery. Michelle Andreoli HSUMD field trip coordinator Jim Kenney (right) and others on the Nov. 22 field trip to Cantil stand on a historic site to enjoy the remarks of guide Trisan Deu Pree (second from left). Photo by Andrew Sound 2
New in the Gift Shop New Books: Route 66: The Mother Road Ghost Towns of Route 66 Searles Valley Story Hiking Western Death Valley National Park 2014 China Lake Retirees Directory...and more! Also New: 250-piece jigsaw puzzles generated from photographs in our own collections Lots of See s specialty items for the holidays Many unique locally themed stocking stuffers! I m still looking for someone to work in the gift shop on Saturdays from 11-3 and a sub or two. Happy Holidays, Michelle Gift Shop Hours: Mon-Sat, 11 a.m. 3 p.m. Icancan t decide what seems to move faster the next month for newsletter articles or the entire year of 2014. What a busy year this has been! The Wilderness Photo Contest was a great success. More than 100 entries from 20-some photographers. A few of these photos did not meet the Wilderness criteria and were not eligible for judging, although we did display the great petroglyph photos in honor of the Petroglyph Festival. We had many visitors stopping in just to see these outstanding photos. During the busy days of the festival, we provided one more venue for visitors. The entrants as well as visitors especially appreciated the slide show created by Tex Hoppus from the photos Liz provided. All photos entered were displayed in the slide show. Thank you too, Nick Rogers, for sending out info about the exhibit. I need to thank my archive and library volunteers for putting up with the clutter and my complete focus on the photo contest the last couple of weeks. They diligently worked around the mess upstairs and put up with my lack of attention to the great job they continue to do. I realized how bad it was on day when I had three of them lined up with papers in their hands, each waiting just ask me a question. Thank you Doug, Don, Kay, Patty and Tom. I have saved the biggest thank you for last. This photo contest would never have happened without my dear friend Liz. She of course works two jobs, volunteers for several organizations, creates newsletters for two organizations, visits with family, keeps in touch with long-distant friends and gives me untold hours of assistance. Liz coordinated the judging and did the amazing publicity for the exhibit, among other tasks. She is always available for questions and advice, but the Wilderness contest was a huge task to add to her already busy schedule. Thank goodness we have a long-standing friendship this might have been over the top. Thank you, Liz. [And thank you, Carol, for all the hard work you put in mounting the exhibit, coordinating with BLM, hosting the visitors, and a lot more. I think we made a good team! ed.] Another work using our archives was the video on the history of the Isabella Schoolhouse I mentioned in last month s message. Rick Corlett s class did a remarkable job of putting all the articles and messages Doug Whitnell put together for me. I hope you have all had a chance to see it. Here is a YouTube link you can use to view the clip: http://youtu.be/cjrxkpn137a. You can also see the clip on our webpage: hsumd.org. I asked for the video to resemble the news clips that proceeded the movie back in the 40s era. Of course any of us living on the Base saw those clips right after the National Anthem well into the 70s at the Station Theater. Report on Collections What a Busy Year This Has Been! During this last month we have received several more items from local families. Several, new to us, are books of interest as they include our area of interest, activities, maps jobs and industries. Our library index is available on our website, as is our map index. Carol Porter 3
Be an HSUMD Santa! What can you get someone who already has everything? Know someone out of town who d like a monthly reminder of life in the Indian Wells Valley? Got a friend or family member who s nuts about history? Consider giving a gift of the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert. A gift membership costs a mere $25. Or you could order a commemorative brick in your recipient s name, giving him or her a permanent presence in Ridgecrest and helping HSUMD at the same time. Please contact Andrew Sound (information given on the last page) to learn more about how to get a brick giving your favorite recipient a presence forever on the walkway in the front of the Historic USO Building. Our sidewalk already has a gratifying number of bricks, but there s still plenty of room for more. Whichever HSUMD gift you choose, order by Dec. 10 and we will send your recipient a card announcing the gift. Don t forget to renew your own membership! Please enter a gift membership for: Name Address City, State Zip Sign gift card as follows: I enclose $25 for each membership and $35 for each commercial membership. (Send to address as given on back page.) 4 HSUMD President Tex Hoppus speaks at Peggy Breeden s annual Swap Sheet thank-you lunch for veterans, Nov. 8 at the Historic USO. In the background is projected a photo of volunteers working on painting our new Veterans Memorial Building. The paper Tex holds in his hand is one he wrote, detailing the history of and progress on the VMB and asking local veterans to share their stories and pictures. That is an invaluable contribution to our community that any of you veterans can make. Money is also extremely welcome, of course. Photo by Andrew Sound
Ruth Hansen (at left), her sister Marion, and her mother Jennie tend goats on the Hansen family s ranch north of Inyokern, sometime around 1921. The desert had water just below the surface back then, and the family grew a wide variety of vegetables, as well. Vivian Van Devender collection The Hansen girls and their family dog enjoy a dip in the family s reservoir, circa 1925. You can glimpse the mountains to the northwest in this picture, a family favorite. Ruth is facing the camera, while Marion is sitting in the water, and Esther prepares to dive in. The girls are easily identifiable because their mother has sewn their initials on their swimsuits. Vivian Van Devender collection 5 Ruth (Hansen) Metzka Member of a Pioneering Family Historical Society member Vivian Van Devender has notified us that her sister, Ruth Evelyn (Hansen) Metzka, died on Nov. 12, 2014, at age 104 in Kankakee, Illinois. The significance for our Society is that Ruth was a lively, charming part of our valley s history and that Vivian, her youngest sister, continues to contribute to our community today. Ruth was the eldest daughter of Leslie and Jennie Hansen, who lived and raised their family of three girls on a farm north of Inyokern between 1918 and approximately 1927. Ruth and her sisters, Marion and Esther went to elementary school in Inyokern, riding there on our valley s first schoolbus, driven by Clarence Ives. Ruth and Marion both graduated from Inyokern School. Vivian, the fourth daughter, came along after the move back to Pasadena. The first time she visited our valley for any length of time was in the early 1930s when the doctor prescribed a hot, dry climate for her asthma. Vivian and her mother stayed with the Coppucks, and the desert must have agreed with Vivian, since she later moved here with her husband, Russell. Vivian says the desert must also have been good to Ruth. It was her favorite place. She still subscribed to the Historical Society newsletter and the News Review, and she kept them stored under her bed. The other two of the trio Hank Schuette often referred to as the beautiful Hansen girls shared the family longevity. Both are now deceased, but Marion lived for a full century, while Esther died at age 94. We enjoyed seeing Vivian representing the Hansen family as she rode in the Inyokern Centennial Parade in September 2009.
Welcome Home to the Movies... for the Holidays! Our latest Classic Movie Night series Welcome Home! is winding down to one last lovely film that I am sure everyone will enjoy. From MGM in 1940, James Stewart, Margaret Sullivan, and Frank Morgan (Professor Oz to you!) will enchant you in Ernst Lubitsch s romantic comedy set in a tiny department store in Budapest, Hungary. On Wednesday evening, Dec.17, at 7 p.m. at the Historic USO Building, you are invited to witness the lives of nine memorable characters deliciously intertwined in this holiday treat about secret pen pals and mistaken identities. The Lubitsch Touch was the master director s thumbprint of subtle charm and elegance on all of his films. And in this one, his touch is no less evident! Yule leave with a smile in your heart! For the film s title and more information, visit the Historic USO Building lobby or call 760-375-8456. Come back to us in the New Year as we take One Last Look at some motion picture icons who left us in 2014. Lauren Bacall, James Garner, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple, and Robin Williams are among the legends that we just can t get enough of. And that series will be followed in the spring by some beloved Cruise Classics. So, get your passports in order, folks, and get ready to board the S.S. Classic Movie Liner! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays..from the dedicated movie lovers that bring you HSUMD s Classic Movie Night every flex-wednesday at the Historic USO Building! Nick Rogers Visit Our Famous Snack Bar Have you tasted a Jumbo Crumville Hot Dog, yet? Well, join our many hungry guests who just can t wait to order this delicious gourmet creation on Classic Movie Nights and Open Mic Nights. These giant 100-percent beef dogs come to us from our friends at Tender Cuts and are grilled to perfection by Chefs Ted Lemon and Steve Dobbs and served on goldenbrown toasted deli buns, with tasty cookies or a big juicy dill pickle slice and your choice of chips for a ridiculously low $4.00. Accompany this hearty treat with a refreshing hand-crafted soft drink from the Indian Wells Brewery, a tasty candy bar, a bag of fresh hot popcorn, a cup of freshly brewed coffee with bottomless refills, or a bowl of scrumptious Thrifty ice cream all at miserly prices. (Ice cream is not served at Open Mic, but alcoholic libations are with proper I.D.) Classic Movie Night and Open Mic Night are hands-down Ridgecrest s best entertainment... and tasty snack values. Stop by, bring your appetite, and see why! Nick Rogers 6
WHAT? SHE DOESN T LOOK IT! Our Oct. 21 meeting (held at the Maturango Museum because of the CLOTA Spookhouse at the Historic USO) featured a milestone for youthful-looking Life Member Dee Di Pol her 89th birthday! President Tex Hoppus presents Dee with a bouquet in honor of the event. The specialness of the occasion didn t keep Dee one of our most devoted members from passing the hat to encourage contributions to HSUMD. Photo by Liz Our Member Categories HSUMD has three membership categories all very important to us. Our regular memberships are $25 per individual or family. Our business memberships are $35 each. We also have a special category: life member, which is something the board bestows only on members who have supported HSUMD in sustained and special ways. Business Members please patronize them! Allen County Public Library, Genealogy Department Anna Marie Bergens, Realtor Best Western China Lake Inn Cal-Sun Pools Clarion Inn Comfort Inn Cordell Construction Dave Pearson Enterprises DeathValley.com Desert Empire Fair Earth Landscaping Econo-Lodge Kathy Armstrong Elizabeth Babcock Delores Di Pol Cliff and Susanne Fountain E. Norman George Lyle Gregory Ron Hise Kim Salisbury Edward Jones Investments Brook H. Andreoli Explore Historic California The Flower Shoppe Heritage Inn Phyllis M. Hix, Attorney JRP Historical Consulting, LLC Jack & Dana Lyons, Realtors Maturango Museum Motion Tire & Wheel Netzer-Russell Consulting, LLC Nevins Tech. Consultants Life Members New Members 7 Douglas A. Johnson Roger McEntee Bill Nevins Gerry Pracchia James E. Simmons Fred Weals The News Review (Farris) Peoples Images Pleistocene Foundation Red Rock Books Ridgecrest Automotive Ridgecrest Moving & Storage S&M Coins & Collectibles Sam s Paint & Glass Gary P. Staab & Assoc., Inc. The Swap Sheet Tint This Warren s Automotive Western Homes Realty
Tex Hoppus, President & Genealogical Committee 760-446-3370, tex.hoppus@verizon.net Doug Lueck, Vice President 760-375-8202, racvb@filmdeserts.com Melody Hollinger, Recording Secretary mhollinger@epsilonsystems.com Andrew Sound, Secretary/Treasurer & Programs 760-608-7296, afsound@verizon.net John Abbott, Building Mgr., Bldg. Rental 760-375-5709, jga2nja@yahoo.com Chuck Cordell, Building cordell.construction@yahoo.com Scott McEntee, Audiovisuals, Stage Mgr. 760-677-1026, smcentee28@gmail.com Carol Porter, Accessions & Exhibits 760-446-3400, carporter@gmail.com DIRECTORS Nick Rogers, Movie Nite, Publicity Wnr428@hotmail.com or call 760-375-8456 for info Matthew Zubia, Fundraising 760-793-2107, zubia5@verizon.net COMMITTEE LEADERS Michelle Andreoli, Gift Shop Manager michelle0817andreoli@yahoo.com Liz Babcock, Newsletter Editor 760-375-7900, lizbab2@gmail.com Jim Kenney, Field Trips Coordinator 760-371-2458, j.kenney@verizon.net Craig Porter, SEEP Coordinator 760-446-3400, cporter148@mchsi.com Donna McCrohan Rosenthal, PR Coordinator 760-375-4308, mccrohan@iwvisp.com Important Reminders Annual dues are $25 (family) and $35 (business). Please remember the Historical Society in your wills, trusts and other gift giving. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Here s an easy way to see this newsletter in color! Just send an e-mail to our newsletter editor, Liz Babcock, lizbab2@gmail. com, and ask her to put you on the list to get a PDF copy e-mailed to you each month. We don t plan to stop sending paper copies, since we know most of you prefer that, but we thought you might also like to see the color version online. Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert P. O. Box 2001 Ridgecrest, CA 93556 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 9 RIDGECREST, CA HOLIDAY PARTY, DECEMBER 2014 Tuesday, Dec. 16, 6:30 p.m., Historic USO Building