The canyon RV Park is next to the Santa Ana River, or riverbed. [It may have some water in it now, for there were a bunch of mudhens (aka coots) feeding on things they found on the lawn, but I suspect it is dry most of the years.] In any case, despite the closeness to a big-time freeway, SR91, which is known as the Riverside Freeway, the noise at night was not bad unless it were the middle of summer and one had to leave everything open to cool an RV down.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Canyon RV Park
Yorba Linda Branch Library, CA
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Mission San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano Library, CA.
I almost gave up on finding the San Juan Capistrano Mission after driving by it last night and then spending over an hour trying to find it again this morning. [One of the maddening things when you take a wrong turn is that you often have to drive 3-4 miles before you can turn around; and, of course, there are the ever-present on-ramps (some of which are down-hill) onto the numerous freeways here in Southern California.]
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Don't know if the original mission merely had a painted dome as the current version appears to or a copper roof when the term "basilica" is used. Let's see what the Wikipedia article on this mission at this link tells us. (The Wikipedia article is exceedingly long; will see if I can find a shorter history.)
Su 30 Jan Route: S.J. Capistrano - Fullerton
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Ventura: City & Mission
Simi Valley, Ventura County, CA
Note that Ventura is actually a contraction of the official name of the city and mission: San Buenaventura. But that's a mouthful to put on a sign. [However, I'm getting some of my own medicine, for it took me several days to realize that Cyn on road signs meant Canyon; my siblings complain that I use too many abbreviations and acronymns in my e-mail....]
Unlike Santa Barbara, where the mission is about a mile from the the downtown area on a hill, Ventura's mission is on Main Street. While I did walk up to stairs to the right of the mission, one was required to walk through the Gift Shop to access the gardens. The walk from the main branch of the Ventura Library was longer than a librarian had estimated -- while she was thinking, I ventured "three blocks" -- so she agreed. It was actually 7 or 8 blocks. My right foot held up well and it was comfortable walking on the west, or shady, side of the main drag.
The first photo was taken over a fountain with some very attractive blue tile; in fact, you'll see more of that tile around a planter on the mission-side of the street in the 2nd photo. Note that the mission was founded in 1782; here's Wikipedia's article on the San Buenaventura Mission. The water from the fountain ran through the above-mentioned blue tile toward the ocean.
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Note that in both photos the mission has only one bell tower rather than the usual triple-node tower as at the San Juan Bautista and San Antonio Missions -- among others.
As I walked back toward the Library Parking Lot I decided to eschew the main drag and cut up Palm Street. An old brick building, being used as a playhouse or comedy venue and called "The Improv" caught my eye. After taking the photo you see to the right, I crossed the street to read the plaque on the building.
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The building has functioned as a stable, carriage house, and/or garage from c1875 until the early 1970s. And the brick facade replaced the original wooden front in the early 1900s. [Click once or twice to read the plaque.]
As I walked the street which is to the east of Main Street I happened upon City Hall. The little cherubic faces just below the window sills on the 2nd floor caught my attention. [Incidentally, there is a great deal of free parking, clearly marked, off of Main St -- something which no doubt is strongly supported by local merchants; as I walked by some people eating at tables on the sidewalk, I resisted the temptation to ask, "How does it taste?"]
Finally, here's a photo taken from in front of the statue of Father Junipero Serra looking toward Venture harbor. [Have you ever noticed that many padres used walking staffs? Is that so they can support themselves after stubbing their toes while wearing sandals. Presumably they didn't use the Anglo-Saxon terms my sergeants used to exhort the troops on to greater levels of performance. Nay, being men of the cloth, they probably vowed to watch their steps more carefully.]
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Mission Santa Barbara Mission
Ojai, Ventura County, CA.
Am beginning this while sitting in my camper at the Wheeler Gorge Campground, a US Forest Service facility on SR33 8.5 miles north of Ojai, an attractive town of slightly more than 8,000 people. There is an Ojai Mission, but since it's occupied by the Chamber of Commerce, one can assume that it's not one of the original 21 missions built in the late 1700s and early 1800s by Fray Junipero Serra and fellow padres.
Good thing I climbed into my sleeping bag an hour early. What I thought was a little-used rural road, SR33, is apparently used by many to avoid the traffic on I-5. While the traffic was virtually non-existent overnight, that changed just before dawn this morning as traffic picked up. Of course, another explanation might be that there are pockets of private property within the Los Padres Natl Forest and the traffic is commute traffic.
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I had intended to skip the Santa Barbara Mission in order to get to the Ojai Library to do some things on-line. But, as you can see from the photos to the right, the Santa Barbara Mission is one of the more beautiful missions -- in large part because of the large lawn and rose garden in front of the mission.
All of the houses on the other side of the street from which I took these three photos were what I belive is called Mission Revival Architecture -- complete with reddish-orange tile rooves. [Indeed, I thing if someone were to remodel one of those house and replace the tile roof with a tar and gravel roof, he'd be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail; of course, the equivalent of that treatment is likely provided by Santa Barbara's Planning Commission.]
I stumbled onto a "Rocks" city park on the road which runs in front of the mission-side of the large lawn; it's along a stream which was likely the source of water for the mission. (Actually, I was just looking for a place to turn around and return to the mission to take some photos.)
For more information as well as additional photos of the Santa Barbara Mission, click here.
Monday, January 24, 2011
La Purisima Mission, Solvang, Santa Inez Mission and Cachuma Lake
Cachuma Lake, Santa Barbara County, CA.
As I left Lompoc for Solvang I saw a California Historical Sign pointing to the left for La Pursimia Mission, 1 mile. Made a quick left and, as I approached another road I noticed quite a few vehicles parked on both side of the road -- though not where there were "No Parking" signs at access roads for agriculture fields.
Looked left and right but saw no sign for the Mission -- so I turned left. Then realized I should have gone straight ahead into the Mission Parking lot. Hung a U and drove up to the kiosk at the entrance to the parking lot. The cost was $6. After I told the woman I was trying to take photos of as many mission as possible, she relented -- but not much. Realizing that I was a Sprung Chicken, she said parking for seniors was $5.
Said I would pass and turned around in the parking lot before heading back toward SR46, the route to Solvang. I now understand why so many vehicles were parked along the road approaching the entrance to the La Purisima Mission. In any case, when I get to WiFi (likely in Goleta) will check out a web site I found after visiting the San Miguel Mission. Can't find the brief history I read previously; in its stead, here's a Wikipedia piece on La Purisima Mission.
Solvang was like the former Santa's Village in Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz, but on a much larger scale. Was principally interested in locating the Library to see if they left their WiFi on and then noticed the Santa Inez/Inez Mission on my right. I got there almost excactly at noon as services were ending. So I had to wait for some of the attendees to clear out so that I could get shots such as this first one of the bell tower through the pepper trees. [A woman working at sweeping up dried pepper tree leaves across Mission St at the Senior Center assured me that there were olives on the mission grounds as well; in fact, she had apparently been to Israel for she said there were some trees there which were over a 1000 years old.]
This second photo was taken from the other end of the building, which was apparently completed in the 1820s even though the mission was founded in 1802 or 1804. Since it's in an area which is fairly heavily populated, it's in the best shape of any of the mission I've visited yet. [While I think of it, I just missed the San Luis Obispo Mission while looking for a gas station last Wednesday, though I was close since a school I passed was called Old Mission School; however, the streets of SLO more like the hilly sections of San Francisco rather than the flatter portions of Santa Cruz. In any case, here's a Wikipedia piece on San Luis Obispo Mission.]
About the only building I saw in Solvang which did have either the mission-style architecture or the Danish Gingerbread House look was a State Farm Office -- and the agent was a woman with a Spanish name. This first shot was taken on the street paralleling the main drag, Mission St., looking to the SW down Copenhagen Avenue or Street.
The 2d shot was an afterthought as I walked back to my rig since I saw yet another Danish Windmill. Tom Stienstra, author of West Coast RV Camping noted that Solvang had won several awards as one of the cleaner towns in the U.S. Think of Solvang as the Danish version of Carmel -- but without as many art galleries!
Lake Cachuma is on the Santa Ynez/Inez River and is likely the water supply for Santa Barbara since it's unlawful to even think about swimming, water-skiing, or bathing in it. This first photo is the of the water immediately behind the dam.
This 2d photo is of the remainder of the lake to the right. If memory serves, the dam was built in 1953, which explains why the trees here in the Cachuma Lake Recreation Area are so large. While most are native species, they've had water during drought years or they wouldn't be as large as they are now. [This RV campground, with 592 sites may well be the biggest I have visited in my travels so far.]
Lastly, here's a sunset from the door of my camper looking NW at the ridge between Santa Ynez Peak and Bald Mtn.
M 24 Jan Route: Cachuma Lake - Goleta - Santa Barbara - Ojai - Wheeler Gorge Campground (USFS)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
San Luis Obispo Bay & Pismo Beach
Arroyo Grande, CA.
This first shot is of San Luis Obispo Bay and was taken from the northern end of the Wal-Mart parking lot on West Branch St. in Arroyo Grande. If you click once or twice on the photo, you may be able to make out some of the towns on SLO Bay; from the north, they are Avila Beach, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Oceano. (Arroyo Grande sits somewhat inland on US101 whereas SR1 run through the latter three towns.)
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The Reference Librarian at the Arroyo Grande said she thought the cemetery in the foreground of the photo of SLO Bay was a Catholic cemetery named Saint Patrick -- but she suggested I drive by to double-check. I did -- and she was indeed correct. However, it appears that have been no burials for some time; further, it appears part of the cemetery to the north was sold to a developer who built an office building which remains vacant.
The second photo was taken at the end of a street in Pismo Beach which had a circular turn-around. I parked in a "Loading Zone Only" spot and quickly took this photo looking approximately NW over SLO Bay.
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I think the houses you see on the most distant shore of SLO Bay are Avila Beach while those on the point jutting out from the right are the northern portions of Pismo Beach.
Since a pickup was headed down the street toward the beach I took a quick snapshot of the pier and headed back to my rig. Note the swings to keep the young'uns out of the surf.
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As I was driving toward US101 I passed an older house on a corner which house had a sign in the window proclaiming "Psychic"! Then I began to think just how similar Pismo Beach is to Santa Cruz -- except that the small surf only seems to attract a few surfers (most of whom were walking toward the beach with their boards).
Friday, January 21, 2011
San Miguel Mission & An Obituary for Dr. William Poytress
Arroyo Grande, CA.
This photo was taken from "the other side of the tracks" to give some idea of the large size of Mission San Miguel.
While it's not evident from this perspective, a great deal of restoration work is underway on the back of the mission, especially the roof. But a somewhat newer building to the rear of the mission had a good-sized crowd for Tuesday-night Bingo as I drove to the local branch of the San Luis Obispo Library.
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William H. POYTRESS
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Obituary
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Thursday 28 January 1987 San Jose Mercury News, p. 7B
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William Poytress, Former SJS Prof
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William H. Poytress, 95, a professor at San Jose State for 40 years who headed the social science department in the 1940s and 1950s, died Monday at a San Jose convalescent hospital after a brief illness.
An economics professor, he retired form the faculty in 1963. He came to San Jose from San Mateo, where he had taught at San Mateo Junior College.
He was born in Birmingham, England, and came to America in 1905 with his parents. They settled in the Fresno area and farmed.
Highly regarded as a political scientist, Prof. Poytress was often called upon by business people and others to speak on current events. He would, during the four decades he taught at San Jose State, speak out on controversial issues at the drop of a hat. Many of his public remarks were reported in the newspapers.
For example, on the evening of Feb. 18, 1941, Dr Poytress was called upon to address a Junior Chamber of Commerce "Americanism Banquet" in Hollister, at which he declared, "Let's be realistic. We are in a war now." He was to prove prophetic. Ten months later the United States was, indeed, in war with Japan, Italy, and Germany.
Dr. Poytress held degrees from the University of California and did his post-graduate work at Stanford University. A scholar, he had studied Latin for 13 years and Greek for five years.
He is credited with estabishing SJS's public relations curriculum in 1948.
Dr. Poytress was well-liked by SJS students, and in 1966, three years after he had retired, he was named the San Jose State College's homecoming grand marshal by the SJS student body. On homecoming day he led the parade through downtown San Jose and presided over half-time activities in the football clash between Idaho and State.
He was a memnber of scores of professional organizations during his tenure, but was also proud of being a leader of the Villages Garden Club. He became an avid gardner upon retirement, at one time expressing a fondness for the shovel, a tool he often used during the days he grew up on a ranch near Fresno.
"I never pull weeds," he reported in a 1978 interview published in the Mercury News. "I shovel them out. None of this bending."
He is survived by his wife, Maude Horn Poytress of San Jose, a son, Dr. Richard W. Poytress, a Los Gatos anesthesiologist; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were handled by the Neptune Society of San Jose.
Memorial services are pending.
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My late father's favorite story about "Wild Bill" Poytress, as he called him, came from an economics class in 1937. [Recall that the stock market topped in 1929, bottomed in 1932, and topped again in 1937.] After apparently listening to a radio broadcast as to what the stock market was doing late in 1937, Dr. Poytress entered the classroom and announced, "The Bears have the Bulls by the balls." Presumably there were few if any women in the class. I'm certain that the many talks I saw announced in the Santa Cruz Sentinel by Dr. Poytress before civic clubs, many of them women's clubs, were done in a different verbiage; for the women at some of his talks would have been aghast at such a description of the stock market struggles between the Bulls and the Bears.
Even though Dr. Poytress was still teaching while I was an undergraduate (1957-61) he still sought other venues at which to express himself. I recall hearing him talk about events of the day at a San Jose junior high school which was part of the adult evening education program.
....
While it's somewhat unclear whether Dr. Poytress was an adviser to Tau Delta Phi, he is shown in 1938 and 1939 La Torres as if he were a student member with no label other than his name next to his photo. My guess is that "Wild Bill" Poytress was indeed the TDP adviser in the late 1930s.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Morro Rock & A New "House Battery"
Morro Bay, CA.
The handout of Morro Dunes Travel Trailer and Resort Campgound, whose web site is here, describes Morro Rock in 5 or so paragraphs.
"There is a towering 576 foot guard standing watch over Morro Bay Harbor. Some have dubbed it "The Gibralter of the Pacific." Locally it is known as Morro Rock and is the last in a chain of long-extinct volcanoes know as "The Morros. [I noted another Morro somewhat inland during my drive south to/from San Luis Obispo today; for more on the Morros, click here.]
"Long before any white men set foot on this coast, the Chumash Indians hunted and fished in the shadow of Morro Rock. Archaelogical study had dated their Indian artifacts as early as 47 centuries before Christ.
"In 1542 during his voyage of discovery up the coast, Juan Cabrillo named Morro Rock for it dome-like structure. The harbor soon became a frequent stop for Spanish galleons sailing along the coast. In 1587, the captain of one of these vessels, Pedro de Unumuno, put into Morro Bay and claimed it for Spain.
"From the late 1800s, Morro Rock had been used as a source of materials for breakwaters throughout the state. The years of quarrying have forever changed the shape of the monolith, although it still covers 50 acres at it base. In 1968, after extensive citizen effort and outcry, Morro Rock was declared State Historical Landmark No. 821. It is now also a refuge for the endangered Peregrine Falcon, and climbing onh the rock itself is illegal.
"The waters around Morro Bay offer abundant fishing for both commercial and sports fishermen. The saltwater angler can haul in boccaccio, red snapper, ling cod, red rock cod, widow bass, blue bass, and cabezon. The king salmon run from February to November, the albacore from September to November, and the halibut from July to December."
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Now have a new battery for my camper (at a cost of $125). It's called the "house battery" and allows me to camp in campgrounds or campsites which don't have electrical connections. (Most US Forest Services campgrounds have tables and fire pits and usually water and some type of toilet, but few have the ubiquitous 30amp electrical connections or hookups.)
This will allow me to cut the costs of traveling in Southern California since the 2 highest cost are for fuel (gas or diesel) and RV campgrounds. Of course, one must make sure his freshwater tank is full and the holding tanks for gray water (from the sink and shower) and black water (sewage) are either empty or, at least, not very full. [Only a few USFS camp sites have dump stations where one can empty his RV or camper's holding tanks.]
Perry Ford in San Luis Obispo was booked with service appoints for today and tomorrow; hence, I'll try another Ford dealer further south.
F 21 Jan Route: Morro Bay - San Luis Obispo - Arroyo Grande - Pismo Beach
A Few Photos Taken Yesterday
Morro Dunes RV Park
Just a few comments and a few of the photos I took yesterday while driving from King City to Jolon to near Cambria on SR1 and finally to Morro Bay.
Mission San Antonia de Padua near Jolon, CA.
An arm of Lake Nacimiento.
Morro Rock from SR1 north of Cayucos, CA.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Alberto Trescony, Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties Pioneer
San Lucas, CA.
There were two choices for a photo in what's left of San Lucas, the town which Alberto Trescony built: 1)a bright yellow house which stood out amongst all the other houses of white, blue, etc. or 2)the San Lucas Catholic Mission. I chose to photograph the latter. While there's usually a cemetery on the right side of older Catholic Churches, not so in this case. And since I had to head south to San Miquel, settled for the photo to the right.
Here's a re-formatted obituary of Alberto Trescony.
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Alberto TRESCONY
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Obituary
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Thursday, 6 Oct 1892 Salinas Weekly Index
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Death of Alberto TRESCONY
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Alberto TRESCONY, an old pioneer of Monterey County, died suddenly at the Abbott House in this city, last Monday forenoon. He had been ailing for some time past, but not confined to his room. Monday morning he came down stairs from his room in the Abbott House and took a short walk on the street. A short time afterwards he started to go upstairs to his room again in company with his son Julius and sank down on the stairway, whence he immediately expired.
Mr. TRESCONY was a native of Turin, Italy, and about 77 years of age, so he told a friend a short time before his death. He came overland to Los Angeles in 1844, and arrived in Monterey shortly afterwards. He was a tinsmith at which trade he worked and also kept a store. He purchased large tracts of land in this county at cheap rates and the advance in price made him a very wealthy man, being probably worth at the time of his death in the neighborhood of a million dollars. He was the owner of the San Lucas rancho, upon which he founded the now thriving town of San Lucas 6 years ago.
He leaves a son, Julius TRESCONY of San Lucas, and a daughter, Mrs. R.F. JOHNSON of El Paso, Texas, both of whom were with him when he died. The deceased was a man of strict integrity, whose word was as good as his bond.
The remains were taken to the residence of W.S. JOHNSON and thence to the Catholic church yesterday morning, where solemn high mass was celebrated, after which a special funeral train conveyed the remains to San Lucas, where the burial took place in conformity to the wishes of the deceased. A large number of friends accompanied the old pioneer to his last earthly resting place.
[From a RootsWeb site found by at this link]
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The Monterey County Historical Society reprinted a "A Brief History of Southern Monterey County" written c1971 by Robert B. Johnston and included in a May 2002 publication. Here's a bit more excerpted from Mr. Johnston history.
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The Rancho San Lucas was purchased in 1862 for $3,000 by Alberto Trescony. Trescony, born in the Piedmont section of Itay, traveled to New York and New Orleans and came to Monterey from the west coast of Mesico in the early 1840s. He may have brought a small amount of capital with him, proceeds of a sheep drive from Texas to Central Mexico. He accumulated a sizeable amount of money from manufacturing gold pans for miners. Capitalizing on his experience in New Orleans, he built the Washington Hotel in Monterey during early 1849. In 1846, he had received his own cattle brand from California's last Mexican governor. Trescony patterned the brand after the design used by Mission San Antonio de Padua. It is the oldest brand of California in continuous use to the present day and much prized by Alberto's grandson, Julius G. Trescony.
The elder Trescony had his greatest success in agriculture. He began with cattle ranching and family records reveal the purchases of American cattle on the Salinas Plain in the 1850s. By purchase of 4,400 acres of San Bernardo and 6,70 from the San Benito, he consolidated his San Lucas holding into a ranch of about 20,000 acres. His ranch was stocked with sheep and his flocks numbered 25,000 by 1876. To care for his ship, Trescony brought in Basque sheepherders whose descendants have contributed to the mixed ethnic origins of southern Monterey County.
Two successive years of drought, in 1871-1872, killed large numbers of the livestock of Monterey County including many sheep from the flocks of Alberto Trescony. He managed to prevent the situation from becoming a complete financial disaster by slaughtering the sheep and storing the hides in the ruins of the Soledad Mission which he rented from the Soberances family. However, Trescony sold his remaining flock in 1876, moved to Santa Cruz, and turned over the management of his ranching operations to his son, Julius A. Although both cattle and sheep continued to be raised on the ranch, Alberto's son began to cultivate barley and wheat and and encouraged its production on portions of the property rented for cash or on shares" ...barley culture at San Lucas was so successful that "Trescony Barley' soon was selling at a premium on world malt markets, particularly that of Liverpool, England..." The Salinas Board of of Trade in 1889 in a publication boasting the "Resources, Advantages and Prospects of Monterey County" explained that "...here as elsewhere the railroad [arriving in 1886] has changed the conditions of things, and advanced the hand on the dial of civilization."
[Johnston's Brief History is available on-line.]
W 19 Jan Route: King City - Jolon - San Antonio Mission - Hunter Liggett - SR1
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
D-Day #2 Has Arrived
San Lorenzo County Park, King City, CA.
T 18 Jan Route: King City - Paso Robles - San Miguel - King City
While I did make a three-week swing through Northern and Central California in November and December, the real journey began yesterday after I had the RV Service Center check one major problem (a dead "house battery") and a couple of smaller ones in my camper.
Afterward I returned to my two storage lockers and loaded the things I had placed there the previous day in order to make it easier for the Service Center technicians to work on the camper's problems. My brother David stopped by and picked up the original of my Advanced Medical Directive for California; hopefully I won't reach the end of the line as my late father did: tethered to a bed in a commercial health facility. In other words, when I croak I hope it's while I'm fishing, doing genealogy, or traveling.
Who are these people? Drove from Santa Cruz to Salinas, where I gave Jane her copy of my AMDirective and borrowed the Plantronics headset one of our late mother's caregivers had provided for her. Being a skinflint, I intend to use Skype to make calls to friends and relatives who also use Skype. And if/when I buy a cell phone it will be dedicated to one specific purpose: phoning Ford's Roadside Assistance.
Those standing alongside my rig are my sister Jane Lemmon, her husband of 50 years, Phil DiGirolamo, and one of their grandsons, Tyler Voogd. Afterward I replaced the missing fill cap for my freshwater tank with a small plastic sandwich bag and rubber band. (I had left the cap on my left side-view mirror, but neglected to replace it after I put some more Santa Cruz water in my 20-gallon water tank.)
After a stop at 1 of the three truck-stop gas stations clustered at South Sandborn Road and Work Street in Salinas, I headed south on US101. At Soledad I took the business route through town and wandered about looking for the Soledad Mission. (As I learned on the previous journey in northern and central California one is well-served by checking addresses on-line the day before; but because of my wish to "get the show on the road," I didn't have time to do that.) I also spent c45 minutes walking through the Soledad District Cemetery, hoping I'd find some headstones with Binsaca on them; didn't happen.
After stopping at the King City McDonald's, where I was unable to park next to the building since those spots were taken by patrons [perhaps too many Big Macs diminishes one's ability to walk], I drove by a Starbucks and kept going since I don't drink coffee. The Safeway was smaller than most I've visited recently, which means it's an older store without WiFi; most of the new Safeway stores which have WiFi are the new large stores such as those in Placerville, Sonora, Santa Cruz, and Freedom.
A young fellow at Safeway told me the library was on Broadway, off of which the entrance to this RV park is located, but I was unable to find it in the dark. My guess is that it's very near the King City High School, home of the Mustangs.
T 18 Jan Route: King City - Paso Robles - San Miguel - King City
Obituary for Dr Richard Tansey, SJS Art Historian
Richard G. TANSEY
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Funeral Announcement
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Saturday 21 February 1998 San Jose Mercury News, p. 6B
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Tansey, Richard G. -- At rest in San Jose on February 20, 1998. Richard G. Tansey came to San Jose with his wife, Luraine, in 1947 to teach at San Jose State College.
While he had schooled at Harvard in the history of art, he early recognized the importance of interdisciplinary studies. With a group of professors in different departments, he established a faculty club with the aim of providing a collegial community. This group set up the Humanities program at San Jose Stage for talented college students, many of whom went on to earn their doctorates. Later Dr. Tansey and the group established the Tutorials program at San Jose State.
As the college grew into a university, as San Jose exploded in population, and as the sixties brought political turmoil, many problems of a large urban university began to appear. Dr. Tansey organized a chapter of the American Federation of Teachers to provide a voice for the professors to preserve the quality of education at San Jose State College. He helped many people through administrative hurdles whether returnees from Vietnam, students who were in trouble, faculty who had been treated unfairly, or friends who were financially destitute. While some of his causes were not popular, he fought for them with integrity.
In 1968 Dr. Tansey collaborated with Horst de la Croix in writing the art history book, Gardner's Art Through the Ages. This successful book lasted through five editions and at his death Dr. Tansey was writing yet another edition. By the time he retired in 1980, his perspective of art history reached twelve thousand students through his lectures at San Jose State College. Through his textbook he reached hundreds of thousands of students more. Perhaps the most privileged of those students were the ones who participated in one of the many tours to Europe which he and Marvin Jensen led.
But Dr. Tansey was perhaps best known for the informal community who gathered around him in weekly discussions of world events and ideas. He embraced a diversity of members. The hallmark of his teaching and friendship was inclusion, not exclusion, excellence, not mediocrity.
Richard Tansey was born on October 26, 1919 in Newark, New Jersey. He received all of his degrees in Art History from Harvard (B.A., 1942, M.A, and PhD). He is survived by his wife, Luraine, and his four sons, Michael, Mark, Charles, and Joel.
Friends are invited to attend Graveside Services Sunday February 22, 1998 at 12:30 p.m. at Los Gatos Memorial Park, 2255 Los Gatos/Almaden Road, San Jose.
Memorial contributions to the Hospice of the Valley, 1150 S. Bascom Ave., Suite 7A, San Jose, CA 95128 preferred.
Darling-Fischer Garden Chapel, Directors.
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Pinto Lake, Watsonville, CA.
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Dr. Tansey was the Tau Delta Phi adviser who preceded Dr. Edward Laurie. (Perhaps someone with access to the La Torre yearbooks can ascertain the dates of Dr. Tansey's service to the fraternity.)
I got to know Dr. Tansey through his office-mate, Dr. Horst de la Croix, who was one of the four professors I had during my two years in the Humanities program. We had similar backgrounds in that he worked for the U.S. Forest Services during the summers while attending UC Berkeley and I while attending San Jose State. One day at Dr. de la Croix's office I met Dr Tansey.
As is obvious from the above obituary, Dr. Tansey was interested in more than just art history. I recall talking for 15-20 minutes at the NW corner of Washington Square (4th and San Fernando) about a variety of subjects.
His favorite story was about an experience he had in a bar in New Jersey shortly after he was hired to teach at SJS. When he told the fellow next to him about his new job, another fellow piped up with "You mean that football factory on the west coast?"
Yes, sport fans, SJS had strong football teams in the late 30s, with the 1939 team going undefeated. And one of the key players on that year's team was Bob Tichenal, a Tau Delt -- and later a SJS football coach.
The last time I talked with Dr. Tansey was shortly after I discovered that Dr. de la Croix, who lived in Santa Cruz after his retirement, had passed on. And since there was a Tau Delta Phi Alumni Reunion at the BBQ pits next to the Old Women's Gym, I invited him to attend as my guest. While he was using a cane when he walked, he was still very sharp mentally. And another former Tau Delt who was also a former SJS faculty member remarked after Dr Tansey left, "I wonder where Dick has been? I haven't seen him around lately."
One answer may be that Dr. Tansey was working on the 6th edition of Gardner's Art Through the Ages.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Requesting a Lookup
Pinto Lake, Watsonville, CA.
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Short-Term Route:
T 18 Jan: Santa Cruz - Castroville Cem - Soledad Misson & Cem - San Miguel - King City;
W 19 Jan: King City - Jolon - San Antonio Mission - Lucia - Nacimiento CG;
Th 20 Jan: Nacimiento CG - San Simeon - Morro Bay - El Chorro Regional Park;
F 21 Jan: El Chorro - San Luis Obispo - Pismo Beach - Lompoc;
Sa 22 Jan: Lompoc - Solvang - Cachuma Lake Recreation Area.
As one who did lookups in Santa Cruz County for RAOGK [Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness] over 6.5 years as well as in Santa Clara and San Francisco Counties using the microfilmed newspapers in the Santa Cruz Central Library for c1-2 years each, I certainly qualify as an experienced researcher. But there are some things you should do or consider first before requesting that I do a lookup.
See if there's an active RAOGK volunteer for the county where the decedent passed away; if so, that volunteer will likely be able to do your lookup long before I get to the county involved. See my short-term route posted below; eventually there will be a separate post titled "Short-Term Route." But either will give you some idea of when I might arrive in the appropriate county; initially my Short-Term Route will be combined with my Long-Term Route. In some cases it may take several years before I even arrive in the state where a decedent died.
Some Other Caveats. With one exception (Orange County, CA) I'll almost certainly skip the large urban counties. One of the problems is the cost of staying in RV Parks in those urban areas. Another is that there is a large overhang of unfilled lookup requests waiting to swamp any volunteer who offers to do lookups in large urban counties where no lookups have been done for some time.
I've often felt that 3 or more friends with an interest in genealogy or members of a Genelogical/Historical Society might be able to absorb the initial tidal wave of requests if they divide the requests evenly. [Usually the first person listed in the RAOGK Search Engine for a given county gets most of the requests.] The second step is that one person stops doing lookups after 4-6 months, by which time the lookup requests should have diminshed to the point where fewer volunteers can handle the requests. And a second person withdraws in 8-12 months, leaving one or more persons to continue doing lookups as long as they wish.
Yes, it would be nice if there were more volunteers willing to do obit lookups, but the majority of the volunteers these days prefer to take gravestone/headstone photos of decedents. While such photos can sometimes provide some missing information, an obituary provides much more info and and often paints a much fuller picture of that person.
Another source of lookups used to be public libraries. But in many cases, especially here in California, libraries with budget problems (particularly the larger urban libraries) have had either to either stop doing lookups altogether or charge a fee to cover the time spent. (In most cases the librarian lookups are axed even if there had been charges to cover expenses.)
Occasionally you may find a county GenWeb site where there are volunteers who will do obit lookups, but there're as rare as hen's teeth.
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My Short-Term Route is posted below and will appear at the bottom of each post once I begin traveling again next week. If you wish to request a lookup, send that request to my Yahoo address (rglemmonjr@yahoo.com .) Include the following:
- decedent's name (include a middle initial if the name is a common one)
- his/her DOD (DateOfDeath)
- the POD (PlaceOfDeath)
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Short-Term Route:
T 18 Jan: Santa Cruz - Castroville Cem - Soledad Misson & Cem - San Miguel - King City;
W 19 Jan: King City - Jolon - San Antonio Mission - Lucia - Nacimiento CG;
Th 20 Jan: Nacimiento CG - San Simeon - Morro Bay - El Chorro Regional Park;
F 21 Jan: El Chorro - San Luis Obispo - Pismo Beach - Lompoc;
Sa 22 Jan: Lompoc - Solvang - Cachuma Lake Recreation Area.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Kustom by Krash -- Part II
Pinto Lake, Watsonville, CA.
When I pulled into the Rabobank parking lot at Mission and Soquel Drives on Thursday morning (13 Jan) all the parking spots on the left except for two were taken -- and those two appeared to be tight fits for my rig. So I did as I had done several times with the pickup and quickly turned into one of the parking spots under the second floor of the building. Big Mistake!, for the clearance is only about 9 feet -- not the 11' 1" minimum needed for the camper on my truck.
While the damage is less than that which occurred on Election Day when I ran into the eaves at the Hitching Post Motel on Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz, I need to do a simulated rain test to make sure the cabover, which is where I sleep, is weather-tight. For now, it appears no water entered during the drive from Santa Cruz to Watsonille during which there was a light rain to about the Seascape turnoff of SR1. And there was some moderate rain as I made my way from SR1 to Pinto Lake.
Had fetched an army poncho from one of my storage lockers as well as some of the old nylon cords from the bottom of my backpack. The rain at Pinto Lake was cooperative in that it held off until I got the poncho over the damage you can see in both photos.
It may be that I'll ask the RV Service Center of Santa Cruz (on Mission Street not too far from the old Wrigley Gum plant) to caulk the damage and then use a sprinkler to simulate a moderate to heavy rain -- while I watch for leaks from the inside. Yes, it will be embarrassing to keep answering the same question ("How'd it happen?") over and over, but that will serve as a reminder to be more careful.
Also, the sooner I begin traveling in unfamiliar territory the more likely I am to stop, get out, and check the clearance whenever possible. I suppose one moral to this episode might be to "Never Drive Your Rig Where A Semi Wouldn't Go." And if you do, get out and check the clearance.
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Late addition on F 14 Jan: Mike at the RV Services Center of Santa Cruz did a quick patch to the damage above. Will take a photo tomorrow and post it so that you can see the patch. I had told him that I didn't like duct tape since it deteriorated in the sunlight and looked "cheesy." This photo Mike's patch was taking from in front of the old Police Station on Locust St.
....
But the best part was that he didn't charge me for the labor, silver patch material, or silicon caulk.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Life in the San Jose State Tower
No, I wasn't incarcerated in the tower 50 years ago for an undergraduate prank nor did I spend the bulk of my time there during my membership in Tau Delta Phi, the Men's Scholastic Honor Society. (Thanks to Title IX the society became co-ed circa 1974.) [For a brooding view of the tower taken by Steve Sloan click here.]
As I understand it, former SJS President Thomas W. Macquarrie looked favorably upon Tau Delta Phi and allowed the organization to use the top three levels of the tower. Photos of exterior of the tower have usually appeared on virtually everything connected with SJS. (Indeed, the yearbook is titled La Torre.) Succeeding presidents allowed the fraternity to continue using the tower until it was declared sesmically unsafe in 1963. [Here's another colorful Flickr photo taken by Darshan Karia.]
I was invited to join TDP during the spring semester of '59. The requirements back then, if memory serves, were a 3.20 (B+) or better GPA for at least two semesters. (Both my father and the uncle with whom I lived had similarly been invited to join, but both had to work part-time to remain at SJS during the 30s and 40s.)
I joined the fraternity during the spring semester of '59 and was an active member until graduation in June 1961. Some of the newer members have asked what the tower was like back then. Here's my recollection of life in the tower.
Dues were collected each semester and the key to the lock on the large red door at the base of the spiral, cast-iron stairs was also changed each semester. In my case, the bookshelves just inside the door to the left were extrememely beneficial since no one thought to use backpacks to carry books around back then. And when the aunt and uncle with whom I lived moved from South 5th Street about a block and a half from the Men's Gym to the corner of 16th and San Fernando, I had to carry a passel of books slightly more than 10 blocks to the bookshelves at the base of the stairs.
The two principal features of the first-level were the ping-pong table and a couch to the right. While I became more proficient at ping-pong during my 3 years in the army (since I had more time) I don't recall playing more than once or twice on the TDP table. But those waiting to take on the winner of the game in progress could talk between the gNip-gNop sounds of the ping-pong ball.
While the appliances behind the partition which separated the kitchen itself from the benches and tables were 30s-vintage, they worked. (Don't recall seeing any beer in the fridge, but I'm certain that any cans or bottles which were smuggled in and left in the fridge did not last long; in all likelihood there was a prohibition again bringing alcholol into the tower.)
The main feature of the kitchen was a pegboard with hooks where coffee-drinkers hung their cups. Since I didn't drink coffee, I soldered a small wire handle onto a thimble and put my initials on the thimble. It was generally in the upper left of the pegboard. I assume that coffee-drinkers kept a coffee pot going most of the day.
Once when I received a warning slip at mid-term in a Projective Geometry class, a fellow Tau Delt who was also a member of a social fraternity brought in their file of past tests given by that particular professor. I don't remember my final grade in the class, but it was at least a C. (As a math major it would have been rather emnbarassing to flunk that class.)
The kitchen windows were the site of the pledge plank-walks. Of course, current members had you do a practice session inside of the kitchen, but, even though one was blindfolded, it was obvious you were inside. But once you got up on the window sill and had a harness connected around your middle, it was clear that you were headed outside. There, of course, was some trepidation since the salutes to the tower and plank prior to the initiation made it obvious that it was a long ways from the third-level windows to the lawn below.
The trickiest part of walking the plank was putting your hands, while blindfolded, on the top of the small chair, and then turning so that you could sit facing back toward the window. While the plank was only 6-10 feet above the roof of the Morris Dailey Auditorium, the rope attached to the harness and over a roller above the window came very close to one's neck. Faculty Adviser Edward J. Laurie of the Business Department felt that the risk of an accident was too great and threaten to quit unless the plank-walk was excised from the initiation. (Since I was the 7th person in the 7th pledge group that spring, I may have been the last person to walk the plank; I did keep the ivy leaf I plucked after walking back to the window for some time and only recently discarded it while whittling down my possessions.)
If you had some reading to do, the top or third floor was the place to do it. There were numerous chairs and sofas along with a desk up front near the windows. Or, if you simply wanted to look out of the windows, the "view from the top" was the best.
Weekly meetings were held each Wednesday evening, usually with an attendance of 15-25 people. There was often a larger turnout for elections than for regular meetings. I recall one candidate for Master of Admissions was a psychology major; he pointed out that his speech had been written on toilet paper. When I asked him what psychological significance he would attach to his choice of writing paper, he thought for a few seconds and replied that it showed he could do his thinking anywhere. [He got my vote!]
Many members felt membership would look good on their records or resumes and rarely attended meetings or otherwise take part in the activities of the fraternity after they pledged and perhaps attended the formal banquet. But some others often attended meetings. One notable, Stu Bartell, SJS's last NCAA Champion as a middleweight boxer, was one of those. I got to know Stu because my father had come to SJS to box on the first boxing team in 1937 under Coach DeWitt "Dee" Portal, who has previously run the Community Club in Fort Bragg, CA.
In going through my father's 1938-1940 La Torres I noted that two other well-know SJS Coaches were members of Tau Delta Phi when they were undergraduates: Walt McPherson and Bob Titchenal. Walt, who played football, basketball, and baseball, went on to become a longtime SJS basketball coach while Bob, who played both football and basketball, played center for the Washington Redskins for two years before becoming a football coach at several colleges -- including his alma mater.
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As Uncle Walter would say, "And that's the way it was in the tower during the late 50s and early 60s."
....
Finally, here's a photo of the tower taken at night by Ditus Alviar.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Reprise of Second Santa Cruz Local History Question/Article
Santa Cruz, CA.
Santa Cruz History. While this is presumably not considered ancient history, where was our June 1957 graduation party held?
But first a photo I took a few weeks ago and a question. What noted local architect was largely responsible for the design of the small town to the left of the large silos? [Click once or twice for a better view. And for whom was the town named?
The SCHS Class of '57 Graduation Party was held at the Riverside Hotel, which was also sometimes call the New Riverside Hotel.
....
The June 1957 graduation party was held at the Riverside Hotel. Here's what Margaret Koch wrote in her Santa Cruz County: Parade of the Past in a section titled "They Came and Stayed A While in Those Days...."
"Santa Cruz had hotels which became famous, like the great Sea Beach which was known nationally and was a favorite society watering place before Del Monte across the Bay gained its wide reputation.
"Others, perhaps not so well known as the Sea Beach, but known to the San Francisco society, also operated for years -- particularly the years from 1880 to the early 1900s.
"In those years it was fashionable and sensible for big city folk from Oakland and San Francisco to pack up their families and come to the seaside for the two or three summer months. Trains disgorged hundreds of such families -- even the family dog came along in many cases, according to oldtimers who witnessed the great 'invasion!' year after year.
"There were several Santa Cruz hotels which were highly popular with the family trade. The Pope House [at King & Mission Streets] -- where Mrs. Pope pounded her cane [on the floor] when she wanted the servants; the Barson family's Riverside Hotel which set a fabulous table, the St. George Hotel, lost to the 1989 quake, and for Italians, the Garibaldi Hotel [next the the Chinatown recorded on photos by George Lee] torn down years ago.
...
"Two generations of Barsons operated the Riverside Hotel which stood from 1870 in a bend of the San Lorenzo River, where the modern structure [sometimes called the New Riverside Hotel] of the same name is located, today.
"When Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Barson died, four sons and four daughters took over: Fred, William, Arthur, Robert, Sadie, Mary, Gertrude, and Lilla.
"The hotel was popular from the 1870's through the turn of the century, becoming in later years a restaurant instead of actually a hotel. In the 1880's, an octagonal 'clubhouse' was built where dances were held.
"In the late 1870's, two footbridges crossed the San Lorenzo, extending from the Pacific Avenue side and the beach side. Later, the cut-bias bridge was built on an angle and bisected the Barson pear orchard.
"The Riverside raised nearly all its own food. There were extensive vegetable gardens, orchards, an cows for milk, butter, and cream. The Basons were among the first Santa Cruzans to plant semi-tropical fruits, [for] according to Ernest Otto they had oranges, figs, and lemons.
"Jim, the Chinese cook, worked for the family for more than 30 years. He had requested that when he died, that he be given a funeral service like Mr. Barson's. His wishes were carried out -- even to the religious service.
"The Barson orchard was even more famous than the hotel and covered the entire flat back of the hotel, reaching to the hillside below Ocean View Avenue. Today this former orchard area is built up with motels and homes. A few isolated old pear and apple trees still stand in a few backyards, remnants of the once-famous orchard."
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The photo above is of Spreckels, which may no longer have the sugar beet factory started by San Francisco and Santa Cruz resident Klaus Spreckels. But it does still have a post office.
And while Pasatiempo developer Marion Hollins gets all of the press for developing a polo grounds, Klaus earlier had one across what is now SR1 from where the old Deer Park Tavern stood.
And the architect who planned both the sugar factory and the town of Spreckles was the same architect who designed both Santa Cruz High School and the former Branciforte Elementary building as well as the current Beach Boardwalk Casino.
His name: William H. Weeks. For more on his architecture see an article I did some time ago subtitled "Architect Extraordinaire."
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