Fall 2013 ARC Update

by Julie Lugo Cerra, Vice President, Museum/ARC and City Historian

SOCIETY’S GIFT SHOP HAS NEW LOOK

When you next visit the ARC you will see some changes in our display space. This is to accommodate the savvy new look accomplished by the Development Committee for our “Gift Shop.”

In the process of re-arranging, we have a “wall of theatres” in our “screening” area. We have learned more about our early theatres, thanks to member/researcher Alex King and from a 1945 re-opening program from the Meralta Theatre, donated by Museum Committee member William Barnett.

MERALTA THEATRE HISTORY DOCUMENTS

A fire closed the Meralta in 1943, and due to a wartime moratorium on building, for the next two years, the second floor auditorium of the 1928 City Hall was equipped as a theatre for the community. The Meralta re-opening program even shows sketches of the owners, Pearl Merrill and Laura Peralta, and the new theatre.

This is especially timely as our October program will showcase the Kirk Douglas (originally Culver) Theatre. Our oversize photo of the Culver Theatre shows its opening day marquee in 1947!

SOCIETY WELCOMES CC GRADS

We have enjoyed some nostalgic moments with our returning Culver High grads – and the Class of ’63’s 50-year reunion was the last of the season on September 28. Those dropping by will see a beautiful rendering of the Helms Bakery Building, along with a replica of the cardboard Helms Coach that many young students enjoyed receiving on school tours of the Bakery. We also have a great vintage Helms postcard.

“A CELEBRATION OF THE MOVIES” TO BE SCREENED

We continue to assist many students and others who are researching Culver City. Special thanks to Costume chair Sharon Shore and her crew (esp. Denice Renteria), who screened the movie Jumbo, to go with the costume exhibit. We will be showing A Celebration of the Movies video in September/October. (It features fun times, like “munchkin” Jerry Maren singing “The Lollipop Song” from The Wizard of Oz.)

During the Fiesta – which sent us record crowds – we met Tom Sparks, Class of ’64, who put together a book of photos on the building of the High School’s Robert Frost Auditorium (see the Summer 2013 newsletter). Sparks had not seen his “student project” that documented the building of the auditorium since 1964, and it was wonderful to see his expression as he went through the book he compiled with the school’s yearbook staff. We also have an architectural rendering of the structure as proposed. And thanks for our volunteers who give their time!

Special thanks to Laura Frakes, Library Manager of our Culver City Julian Dixon Library. As the library prepares to close for renovation and items are re-shuffled, we are becoming the beneficiary of many items to further preserve our local history. Thanks also to Lou Block who handed off some CC Rose Parade buttons from the 1980s – rarely seen!!!

PREPARING FOR CC CENTENNIAL

In the works, look for upcoming displays that will bring various subjects into focus, such as Hispanic Heritage Month and the city’s anniversary of incorporation (September 20, 1917) – and don’t forget the Centennial coming up!

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