by Stu Freeman
Happy summer!
On Friday, May 2nd, the Society had a party at the Culver Hotel to kick off “Historic Preservation Month”. Many old friends attended and we made many new ones as well. Among the new friends who joined in the celebration was a bright, inquisitive 3rd grader from Linwood Howe Elementary School named Logan Castleman who came with his father, Mike.
Logan was full of enthusiasm for our displays and he asked a lot of questions. One question turned out to be very significant: Could his teacher, Coco Kipa, come to the ARC museum to see what he had seen. I gave him my phone number to give to his teacher and the following week she called and we scheduled tours of the Archives for four 3rd grade classes. Two on May 27th and two on May 30th.
The format was simple but great fun for all. Julie Lugo Cerra, our City Historialn, put on a “history” program inside the ARC with one class, while Carole Gustin, Cathy Zermeno and I took the other class outside the Vets for a different program. These children did rubbings on some of the exterior plaques and drew pictures of the fountain, etc. Then the classes were rotated.
It was a wonderful experience that was the result of a simple question by 3rd grader, Logan Castleman. Thank you Logan!
I invite everyone to come share the City’s history in our beautiful new Archives at the rear of the Vets Auditorium Complex, (formerly, the Teen Center). Visiting is open on the first and third Saturday of the month, from 1-3pm, and by appointment. And we hope you’ll join us at our July 16th “Picnic in the Park” for lots of community fun – and the opportunity to see the ARC.