Newsletter

KINKADE PRINT SIGNING IS HIGHLIGHT OF MUSEUM YEAR— Internationally acclaimed artist Thomas Kinkade honored the museum by offering to spend a couple of hours with us on November 25, the day after Thanksgiving, signing copies of his print, “Florida Avenue at Dusk—Hemet 1915.” Tom was in the valley with his family, visiting his in-laws, Al and Nancy Willey. Al, the museum's first vice president, has been our contact with his famous son-in-law, an arrangement that has benefited the museum to an extraordinary extent. Tom brought most of his family along with him to the museum signing: wife Nanette, along with daughters Merritt, Chandler , Winsor and Everett all of whom pitched in and helped with the mechanics of the signing party and posed for pictures with Tom. Besides signing his Hemet 1915 print (both newly purchased and previously purchased) Tom signed any Kinkade items that people put in front of him.

November 25 was truly a great day for the museum. Not only did we net $17,000 for our share of the print sales during the two hours that Tom was signing, but our guests were thrilled to be meeting the famous artist and his family. Everyone, museum folks and visitors alike, commented on how graciously Tom greeted the public. And our cus tom ers were gracious, too. They appreciated our smooth logistics, which made long waits in line unnecessary, and they appreciated the good nature of their co-enthusiasts. No shoving or cutting in line. No spats. Just good fellowship and a memorable day for all. With our guest book for a guide, we estimate that about 450 people came to the museum that day.

Other members of Tom's family who helped out were father-in-law Al; sister-in-law Suzanne Moore; Suzanne's two daughters, Hannah and Frances, and son Joe. Museum volunteers were Heloise Marsh, Beryl Andrews, Bob Frazier, Bill and Anne Jennings, Rosemary Sears, Russ Jacobs, Bettie Bothner, Tom Garnella and Barbara Adams. Joan Covi was on the job for the Hemet Woman's Club, selling the club's historical calendar; and Hemet City Councilwoman, Lori Van Arsdale, pitched in, too. Several members of the public (no names available: sorry!) also helped out as needed. It was a blast! Everyone who was on the job for the signing remembers it as the happiest day ever at the Hemet Museum .

WELCOME TO OUR NEW LEADER —More great news for the museum! Jim Venable—a two-term member of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, a life-long resident of the Hemet area and the long-time president of Hemet Valley Flying Service—accepted the challenge of leading Hemet Museum into the future. We came to Jim looking for a dynamic personality to take the museum onto the next level of its organizational life. We need more room, we need more professionalism, and we need new ideas. We couldn't find anyone within the museum membership to accept the Presidential challenge, so we looked outside our group and found Jim who, immediately and enthusiastically, started to address our challenges.

Jim was installed with other members of our Board of Directors at the December general meeting by outgoing board member Sarah Welsh. Serving for the coming year will be: Al Willey, First Vice President; Virginia Sisk , Second Vice President; Bonnie Figgins, Secretary; Beryl Andrews, Treasurer; Barbara Adams, Assistant Treasurer; and Directors, Heloise Marsh, immediate past president, along with returning members Bettie Smith, Rosemary Sears, Marian Shellaberger, Tom Garnella , and Russ Jacobs plus newly-elected members George Ott and Lance Johannsen. Co-curators Bill and Anne Jennings serve ex-officio members of the Board.

KUDOS FOR OUR RETIRING LEADER —Heloise Marsh, who has served with distinction as our President for the last five years, was honored for her accomplishments with a big bouquet of red roses. Under her leadership, we dramatically enlarged our program for third graders, expanded membership, annually honored our docents and other volunteers, set annual and long-range goals and recruited many new volunteers. Perhaps most important of all, we revised our Articles of Incorporation changing our mission from that of assisting the City of Hemet to start a museum, to opening and maintaining a museum. Heloise will stay on the Board, assisting in many projects, but particularly our program for third graders.

HOW ABOUT THOSE THIRD GRADERS —Classes from the Whittier , Hemet and Harmony Elementary schools swarmed all over the museum during the months of March, May and June. The exemplary hands-on program, which was originated by Marian Shellaberger when she was still teaching at Whittier , has grown into a huge event that has been coordinated with classroom curriculum and overseen by a large staff of volunteers. Rosemary Sears leads the effort, assisted by Heloise Marsh, Bettie Smith and Marian. Helping out were: Lorraine Culton, Margaret Bagby, Jim and Jackie Moyer, Sam Norton, Paul Marsh , Cindy Agnes, Connie Eacret, Mary Peek, Al Willey, Dick Jeffrey, Bill and Anne Jennings, Corinne Winkleman, Joan Walters, Bob Frazier, Ann Bollow, Marvin Gudmundson, Beryl Andrews, Bonnie Figgins, Bob Fonville, Kitty and Jim McCullough, Shirley Davis , Bettie Bothner, Marjorie Gottula and Jeri Hamilton. Responses from teachers and students alike indicate they really dig their time at the museum. And they learn a lot, too!

WHO CAME TO THE MUSEUM —Most visitors, of course, came from the San Jacinto Valley . But they also came from 36 other states, 5 Canadian provinces, 4 Mexican states and from West Africa , Russia , Mongolia , England , Australia , Germany , Scotland , and Japan . Our total 2005 visitation was approximately 4,500, a little down from 2004. We'll try to get back to the 5,000 mark next year.

SPECIAL VISITORS —We had two classes from the HELP program visit the museum, as well as a crowd of Japanese students and their chaperones from Kushimoto, members of the Big Bear Historical Society and ladies of the Red Hat Society. Most appreciative of all were members of an Oakland Museum tour who loved our museum (and left a lot of money).We loved them, for all the wonderful questions they asked.

NEW THINGS TO LOOK FOR —We now have exterior lighting for the Pleistocene era fossil case, courtesy of Ron Cumstay of Diamond Valley Electric. Thanks to Ron for his generous contribution of time, for which he was named a Friend of the Hemet Museum . We are also exhibiting art photographs by local photographers in a display rack constructed by Lee Christie. Leona Bogart donated a mantel clock which had belonged in the old-timer family of her late husband Kenny. George Ott, Russ Jacobs, and Louise Israel installed new shelving for our sales display of local history books in the boutique area.

SPEAKING OF THE BOUTIQUE — Virginia Sisk worked mightily to keep our sales counter stocked with inexpensive items that appeal to third graders who come to the museum with money to spend and aren't happy until they've spent it. Virginia assembled a colorful and intriguing collection of items that not only brought in big bucks during the 3 rd grade visits, but have kept on selling all year long.

THIS YEAR'S BIG SELLER —The winner is the Hemet Woman's Club 2006 historic calendar. The museum contributed to the project by purchasing a page in the calendar and acting as a sales outlet. We performed this as a service to the Woman's Club, which was instrumental in organizing HAMA . We plan to have a special exhibit this year honoring the club on its 100 th anniversary.

SPECIAL EXHIBITS DRAW VISITORS TO THE MUSEUM —Currently, an exhibit highlights the Clarence and Laura Swift Collection of photographs. The collection is jointly owned by the museum and the Hemet Public Library and is cus tom arily housed at the library. Mary Whitney, foremost authority on early Hemet history and former volunteer at the Heritage Room of the library, compiled a catalog of the collection. Gordon Sisk , HAMA 's ace techno-volunteer, digitized the collection, which is now on disk and available to the public for easy access and copying. In addition, on display are photos taken in 1927 of repairs to the spillway at Lake Hemet . These photos were recently donated to the museum by Laura Swift and were identified and captioned by Mary. Several other new Swift donations are exhibited, including a pair of Avery Fields photographs of the local cannery. As long as we're talking about Mary, let's mention that she was named an honorary life member at our January meeting. Mary has been a docent at the museum, authored three books published by the museum, started our archiving efforts and cataloging of photographs. She has lent her expertise to museum projects whenever we asked for help. If ever anyone deserved an honorary membership, it's Mary.

We also honored veterans of the Vietnam War with a special exhibit. The heart of the display was a collection of obituaries for local servicemen killed in the conflict: Thomas Lee Troelstrup, John Henry Gilliland III, David Wayne McConnell, Kenneth Raymond Leach and Guss Blakeley Robinson, all of Hemet , and Joseph Patrick Pink of San Jacinto . Our Board member Tom Garnella , a decorated veteran of Vietnam , donated his collection of personal memorabilia and artifacts for not only the exhibit, but to the museum for use in future years.

A third special exhibit paralleled the Ramona Pageant season when we annually break out special banners and unearth all our Ramona Pageant memorabilia, all of which are in addition to the items on permanent display. The co-curator promises to get into costume for Pageant Season 2006 and encourages everyone in town to get back to this time-honored tradition, which has been neglected in recent years.

PRESS RELATIONS —Keeping the public notified of our events are the Riverside Press-Enterprise's (P-E) and the Valley Chronicle's (VC) exemplary hands-on reporters: Bob Pratte, Adam Hartmann, Diane A. Rhodes and DeeAnn Bradley from the P-E and Monica Reichl, Charles Hand and Bob Otto of the VC are familiar by-lines. Thanks for your attention.

SPECIAL MEETING OF REMEMBRANCE —The late Hollis C. Hollis was honored on April l6, 2005 at the museum one year-plus following his death. Hollis's friends and colleagues and daughter Rosalie Ely gathered to exchange recollections about a man who did everything there was to do at the museum.

BARRY'S LEGACY LIVES ON —The late artist, Barry Hanson, named the museum among the heirs to his estate. We inherited the right to reproduce his depot artwork plus a fine collection of railroad books. We have recently reprinted Barry's colorful Hemet depot T-shirts, which are available in sizes up to 2XX for $13.

GOODBYE TO OLD FRIENDS —Jackie Dunn, who served as a Saturday docent at the museum, was among the HAMA members who died last year. Jackie had been around for so long that there was never a day she worked at the museum when she didn't meet up with some long-lost friend or relative. Other long-time museum members in the obituary column were Hueston Harper, a one-time athletic director of Hemet High; and Sandra Scott, a member of an early Sage-area family.

MONTHLY SPEAKERS ENTERTAIN AND ENLIGHTEN —Guest speakers at our monthly general meetings were: Al Cordova, history of local Boy Scouting; Marian Carter, recollections of her years as the Senora in the Ramona Pageant; Mimi Milholland, assisted by Gordon Sisk on the computer, on the Alamos School; Joyce Record Smith, Jan Record Hale and Bob Record on the Record family au tom otive business; Don Wickham on the history of the Farmers Fair; Charlene Ryan on the Soboba Reservation Cultural program; Bob Vieten on his book Historic Homes of Hemet ; Bill Marshall on the Western Center for Archeology and Paleontology; Larry Griffith and crew performing historic skits; Jim Venable and Kenny Graff on the history of Hemet Valley Flying Service; and Shirley Davis on growing up in Hemet. For several months this past year, while the Community Room of Provident Bank was undergoing repairs, we served up our monthly meetings at the Ramona Room , at the Miller Jones Mortuary. Many thanks to Nick Jones for providing us with emergency quarters gratis.

PIONEER PICNIC A BIG SUCCESS —The museum-sponsored event, held annually on Memorial Day at Valley Wide Recreation and Park District headquarters in San Jacinto, attracted well over 300 people and a record number of historical exhibitors. Don ations in memory of Hollis C. Hollis easily covered picnic costs. Chairman Rob Lindquist presided and made the annual presentations. Honorary Co-Chairpersons were Merlyn McIntyre, whose family's agricultural interests in the valley date back to the 1880's and Elsa Domenigoni Barton of the pioneering Italian-Swiss family. Ribbon winners were: Loren Smith and Edith Egger, both 92, oldest native-born man and woman attending and Doug Williams, 95, and Evelyn Hanson, 93, oldest non-native man and woman. The youngest attendee was Will Ollerton, age l. The special Heritage Award went to Gregg Cowdery of the Winchester Historical Society of Pleasant Valley, curator of the Patterson House, for his tireless efforts on behalf of local history.

GOLDEN YEARS —The museum-sponsored organization for graduates of Hemet High and San Jacinto High of 50 years ago and more, will limit its membership to those graduating in 1955 or earlier. Current editor is Clarena Dennis, assisted by Shirley Kline and Beryl Andrews. The Golden Years newsletter is issued twice a year and is self-supporting.

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND THAT —Russ Jacobs represented us at the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce while Tom Garnella was our rep for the Downtown Business Association. We participated in the group's nighttime FACET event on September 21, designed to stimulate interest in the downtown. Tom also works with Connie Hall at Temperwolf to keep our website updated. Tom monitors the website and also our E-mail. Beryl Andrews completed a monograph on the local post office and donated a copy to the museum. Jim Venable and Kenny Graff donated the Power Point Program about Hemet Valley Flying service to the museum. HAMA donated $100 to the City of Hemet towards expenses of Hemet Beautiful Day. We are expanding our membership categories to include: Contributing Sponsor at $500, Heritage Don or at $1,000 and Honorary Docent at $5,000. Don ors will receive individually calligraphed and framed certificates. We plan an expanded distribution of the newsletter this year. And, finally, we amended the By-laws to expand the size of the Board and give ex-officio Director status to the curators.

LET'S HEAR A BIG HURRAH FOR OUR DOCENTS AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS--- Regular docents assisting co-curators Bill and Anne Jennings are: Jim Moyer, Louise Israel, Bob Frazier, DeWitt McCloy and Rosemary Sears. Lee Christie fills in as needed. Betty Jo Dunham helped out in a pinch, but is back on the job at the newly-reopened San Jacinto Museum (which is terrific; if you haven't seen it yet, GO!!!) Bud Schroeder resigned from the docent roster for health reasons. Manning the phones to keep our members notified of meetings were: Marian Shellaberger, Corinne Winkleman, Warren Clemens, Gwen Schlange, Frances Proze, Tom Garnella , Leroy Glass, Barbara Ott and Dora Cordery. Russ Jacobs picks up the key for our meetings at Provident. Bettie Smith arranged the volunteer recognition party on June 29 at Scrumptious European, the late-lamented downtown gourmet bakery and restaurant where tea, coffee and French pastry were served. Everything was indeed scrumptious!

GORDON SISK GETS A PARAGRAPH ALL TO HIMSELF —Besides committing the Swift Collection to disk, Gordon is working on a project to put all of the photos we have catalogued on disk. Every project Gordon has undertaken for the museum has displayed the highest degree of professionalism. We are lucky indeed to have the services of this dedicated perfectionist.

SAVE OUR STATION (SOS) --- SOS is closer to being able to rent out its upstairs Board room to other groups. Officers for our sister organization are: Linda Krupa, President; Larry Miller, Vice President; Margaret Bagby, Secretary; Dorothy Walck, Treasurer; and Directors Don Austin, Jack Stuckeman, Herman Walck, Jim Venable, Bettie Bothner, Connie Hall and Susan Weeks. With Jim on the HAMA Board as President, we expect to work even more closely with SOS in future.

MONEY MATTERS —Another great financial year for the museum, thanks to Kinkade print sales, substantial donations, memberships and regular sales. A preliminary report from Treasurer Beryl Andrews shows income of $91,756, expenses of $56,923 and an overall net worth of $134,641, an increase of $37,740. A complete financial statement will be soon be available. Again our great Treasurer has given us terrific service, duly commended by an equally terrific volunteer auditor Jim Pomeroy.

PLEASE STAY WITH US —Membership envelopes are available at the museum. In addition, donations are welcomed and appreciated from everyone, including those who are Life members. See you at the museum in 2006.

Anne B. Jennings, Co-Curator January 2006

E-Mail address: info@hemet museum.org Website: www.hemetmuseum.org.