Museum Tidings

Autumn Issue
November, 1997

The official quarterly newsletter of the Tehama County Museum
(WebPage edition)

 

JUBILEE REPORT

Well, "we done it again!" This year's Jubilee was another success, and we, have useful monies in our treasury ... which is the largest part of what this event is all about. Already, ideas are being aired for improvements to next year's affair ... and some of them are truly exciting. You won't want to miss the next one, so go right now and mark your calendar for Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13, 1998!

 

NEW ANNEX PROJECT

Dean Gorby has dreamed up this project and is heading up the arrangements for bringing it to fruition. When completed, the second building will house rest rooms, a meeting/research facility, a work room for the curator, storage space and an impressive new exhibit room. The style of the building will correspond to the brick exterior of the historic building we now occupy. (No, it doesn't mean the new annex will be brick ... just that the appearance will complement our old building in STYLE.) A project of this scope takes a great deal of planning, discussion, consideration of alternatives and careful attention, so you can imagine that your governing board will be busy for the foreseeable future! Since Chinatown once occupied at least part of the ground where the original Masonic Temple and school was erected, there is the possibility that excavation for the foundation footings MIGHT produce some new Oriental artifacts for our Chinese exhibit upstairs! You will be hearing more about this activity in the succeeding months. Donations have already begun to come in to help fund this addition and we certainly wouldn't want to turn any down. So if you feel this would be a good investment for you to make, you can send it to the TEHAMA COUNTY MUSEUM ANNEX PROJECT, c/o Dean Gorby, P.O. Box 8684, Red Bluff, 96080.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

We are pleased to welcome new faces to the governing board. We have had several of our trusted members leave the board for various reasons, and with increasing activities we cannot afford to operate with a reduced board. The By-laws state that there shall be at least 15 members and that more can be participating if desired. After we lost Helen Baird and some others felt they needed to resign, we found ourselves with 13 members and that was not adequate. Now we are at full strength again with the addition of Frank and Betty Wilson of Tehama, Bill and Jeannie Crook also of Tehama, and we welcome back (after an extended absence) Darrell Mullins who served as president when he was on the board previously. He will augment our Archeological staff. Jeannie is a 3rd generation native of Tehama and has been a part of the local history scene all her life. The Wilsons are already Docents and have been a great help on other events. They are now extending their involvement to the board.
A BIG WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU!

COMING ATTRACTION

We are introducing a new activity for November, one that complements our 3rd of July affair in the summer. This will be an all-day celebration of Armistice Day on November 11th. And, yes, we do mean Armistice Day in spite of the government calling it Veterans' Day since 1954.

When the idea for this occasion was suggested, the thought was expressed that younger people might not know why we even HAD a holiday in November or why it was necessary to have another one to honor our veterans when we already had Memorial Day in May.

Those of us who are "Chronologically Gifted" know that the holiday was established to celebrate the secession of warfare at the end of World War I in 1918, the war that was touted as "the War to end all wars." Well, obviously it didn't do that, but in the succeeding years the holiday rather lost the meaning of why it had been established in the first place. (I can remember the uproar that exploded in town late in the evening when the word of the armistice was finally relayed to the west coast ... no instant replays in those days!) In an effort to bring our history up-to-date, we hope to show what the difference between the endings of the two World Wars really was.

We are fortunate to have uniforms from most of our country's conflicts and other memorabilia of the earlier World War, so special displays will be on hand to show how uniforms have changed over the years. We also have for our enjoyment four movies depicting that conflict, beginning with "Wings" from 1927, the first film to win a Best Picture Award at the Oscars. This is a silent film but has had organ music composed and recorded to go along with the pictures. It starred Clara Bow, Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen, and is reputed to have some of the best aerial dog-fight scenes ever recorded. We will fly our 48 star flag from the flagpole ... appropriate since there were 48 states at that period. We will have refreshments available throughout the day although we do not plan to serve luncheon. To add to your pleasure, we will have many of the songs popular during the period on a compact disc player so you can really HEAR how some of those songs sounded when they were new. This should be a wonderful occasion for the enrichment of the children of our communities who might not otherwise have this clear look into the past.

So come hear "K-K-K-Katie" and the rest and see the incipient Air Force in action!

IN MEMORIAM

LESTER BODINE
July 4, 1907 - July 22, 1997

Born in Petaluma, he was raised in Sierra Madre. He graduated from Pasadena High School And cleared an approach road to Lassen Park on a WPA project.
He, was associated for years at the park before he was drafted into the Army Air Corps in 1941. He moved up from Lieutenant to Major and was awarded the Bronze Star and two Pacific stars. -He Tetired as a Lt. Colonel. He was associated for most of his life with the Lassen Park area, finally serving as Chief Park Ranger until he retired in 1969. He was the unofficial Mayor of Mineral and a founding member of Mineral Hose Co. #1. He served on the National Ski Patrol as both first aid and avalanche instructor, and was on the Olympic Ski Patrol during the winter Olympics in Squaw Valley in 1960. (He skied until he was 85.) He is survived by his wife Muriel whom he married in 1946.

 

CATHERINE ISABEL BUNTING
1912 - 1997

Born in Muskogee, Okla., Catherine and her husband, Walter, moved to Red Bluff in 1945. She was soon active in community affairs with the Blood Bank, Soroptomist International, and Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. She organized the Triton Swim Team and served as coach until a trained coach could be hired. In 1954 she was the only woman appointed to the city's first planning commission. In 1965 she became the city clerk and served in that capacity for 18 years. She said that the position of city clerk was to help the public reach the right people to deal with. She is survived by her husband, three sons, a daughter, a sister and two brothers, ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Both of these people were members of the Museum.

CHRISTMAS IDEAS

Word from the Tehama County Genealogical & Historical Society is that the way is being paved to reissue the 1986 edition of their yearbook, MEMORIES. This means that those desiring to purchase the first 12 issues as a set will be able to take advantage of the Museum's offer of a 16% discount, bringing the price to $80 for the set.

There are other publications in the Museum Store that would make excellent gifts. THE HISTORY OF THE LOS MOLINOS LAND COMPANY, THE TEHAMA COUNTY WAGON ROAD, VIGNETTES OF EARLY DAY CORNING, THE FIRST AMERICANS IN SOUTHWEST TEHAMA COUNTY, DIARY OF AN OHIO SOLDIER IN THE CIVIL WAR, THE MAGRUDER MASSACRES, a variety of coloring books for youngsters including Colonial people, farmers, Civil War figures, and others. We also have copies of the famous film on ISHI. Remember that membership carries with it a 10% discount on items purchased in the Store.

 

OH JOY! IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!

Guess what, mon Amies. It is dues time again. I know, I know, we had an item in the last Tidings about dues, and a lot of you either paid up for the 1997 year or mistook the message and paid ahead for next year (when this comes to you in the mail you will have a notice on the renewal form below if you have paid in advance). If you would just sort of ooze over to your check book and take care of this little matter now, it would all be done and you could enjoy Christmas!

My own "Christmas Message" came in the form of a lightning bolt from heaven to the top of my tallest most luxuriant redwood tree during the thunder storm of a few weeks ago. It blew the top 20 feet into the orchard, exploded the trunk and blew pieces nearly to the driveway 200 feet away, sent one piece of trunk through the bottom window in the living room and scared me half to death! That was LOUD!!! NOW is the time to be REAL GOOD!

SPECIAL P.S.: Marty reports that the new natural gas line has been attached to the Museum and the new furnace has been hooked up and tested by Gallaghers and it WORKS! So we will be comfortable now! OH FABJOUS DAY!