230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. ● P.O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556 ● 760-375-8456 Vol. 35, No. 1 January 2020 To see our schedule of events, visit us at hsumd.org or on Facebook at HSUMD

When “Doc,” the well-remembered B-29 from China Lake’s boneyard, made a return visit to Inyokern last October, it seemed like a good opportunity to revisit some of Doc’s history in the local area and bring out some of the stories involved in moving and saving Doc. So, for our January meeting, we’ll have Mark Pahuta present two short videos and Doug Lueck relate his part in moving Doc from China Lake’s Baker Range to Inyokern. We invite anyone else with a tale to tell about Doc to come to the meeting and share. The meeting will start at 7:00 PM, Tuesday, January 21, at the Historic USO Building, 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd.

Mark Pahuta will present two videos that he co-photographed and edited documenting two B-29 aircraft that were saved from destruction at China Lake. The first video (actually a ten-minute 16mm film) 299 Foxtrot (1976) tells the story of a B-29 sitting for years in the China Lake boneyard waiting to be dragged out on the ranges to serve as a target for an air-to-ground weapon test. Instead, a group of aviation historians managed to intercede and refurbish the plane for eventual museum display. The aircraft flew out of China Lake’s Armitage Field on June 15, 1976. The second video, made in 1998, documents the B-29 “Doc” and its 4-day journey from Baker Range to Inyokern. Although the video ends with Doc arriving at Inyokern, the rest of the story is even more amazing. After the move, Doc was trucked in pieces back to its original plant in Wichita, Kansas—where it was originally built during World War II—and then restored to flying status. It is now one of only two flyable B-29s, in the world. Perhaps not so coincidentally, both came from China Lake’s boneyard.

Pahuta was fresh out of USC film school when he started work in TID’s Film Projects Branch in late November, 1976. 299 Foxtrot was one of the first films he worked on as a government employee. Mark will recount the making of the two shows. He will talk about how 299 Foxtrot was completely fabricated after the fact, how segments from William Wyler’s famous WWII documentary Memphis Belle were used in the film, how the film won many national and international awards, and what General Curtis LeMay thought of the film after he saw a rough cut at China Lake in 1977. Some twenty years later Mark co-photographed and edited the Doc video strictly on a volunteer basis. (Continued on page 3)

Vol. 35, No. 1 January 2020

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE-

As we start the new year of 2020, we all make one or more resolutions for this year’s goals. Regarding the HSUMD, the resolution we all make is to renew our membership in the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert. The Society exists only through membership fees and other donations (and Gift Shop purchases), so we know it’s important to renew in January. Your prompt renewal will be much appreciated. Another resolution we make is to accomplish the repair and restoration of our historic engine houses. We made this resolution last year (2019), but unfortunately, we did not have the resources to make much headway. The engine houses were built in the early 1950s as part of our community’s first fire-protection structures and served to house fire engines for about a quarter of a century. Their restoration will complete our restoration of Ridgecrest’s civic origins, following our Historic USO Building, our Veterans Memorial Building, our Original Kern County Jail, and our Original Kern County Firehouse. This year let’s finish our journey! Let’s all have a happy, productive, educational and enjoyable year! The Historical Society will do its best to help you in this endeavor - Tex Hoppus

Superb New Book in our Gift Shop!

Scenes From Lives of Service, a book created by the Ridge Writers (East Sierra Branch of the California Writers Guild) is in our Gift Shop now. It holds the stories of service and sacrifice of 120 of our own high-desert veterans from World War I to Desert Storm. And our own HSUMD leader, John Abbott (Senior Chief, ret.), and his lovely wife Norma, are featured on its cover. This book is a must-have! Of course, there are delicious See’s candies available and we have other new books and items just arrived. Stop by and see what’s new in the HSUMD Gift Shop, 11AM- 3PM Tuesday-Saturday!

Membership in the HSUMD runs from January to December each year, so it’s time to renew, if you haven’t already. Your dues go to support our activities, including maintaining the Historic USO Building, the Veterans Memorial Building, and our other buildings; collecting and preserving our archives; and bringing in speakers every month for our general meetings. Your address label tells you when your membership expires, and there is a form elsewhere in this issue that you can fill out and mail in or bring in to the gift shop if you need to renew. – Andrew Sound

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Now that we are headed into the New Year, I have taken a look back on the progress the collection and archiving volunteers made this past year and it is impressive. After 10 years of sorting filing scanning printing and tearing out of hair, we are finally in a place with our organizing to start on our photo collections and culling of duplicate paperwork. We will start with subject identification with the photos and then move on to who is in the photo. We have thousands of photos and it would amaze you how many have no identification for the event, the date, the place or who the folks are in the photo. We will be working on that task in the next few months. There are plenty to go around if anyone is interested in helping with this part of our organizing. We have complete digital inventories for our maps, books, papers, collected, displayed and archived items thanks to Kitty Ferguson and Don Snyder as well as some of photos and negative listings by Kay Farrell and Doug Whitnell. The date I have set for our surplus book sale is January 24th and 25th. It will be held in the VMB from 11 am to 3 pm, the same hours that our gift shop is open. Please stop by and see if our extras could be your treasures. - Carol Porter

Big Band Xpress (BBX) will be back to play at the Historic USO Building on Saturday, January 4th. The doors open at 6 p.m. with a free dance lesson starting at 6:30 p.m until the show starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10.00; tickets available at the door. The proceeds fund music scholarships for local students as well as the HSUMD. The music is wonderful and there will be beverages, including beer and wine, for sale. Come have a great time dancing or just listening to the big band sound!

“Doc”, Mark, and Doug (Continued from page 1) Many folks in the community also volunteered their efforts in moving Doc from Baker Range to Inyokern and never got recognition for their efforts. We feel this would be a great opportunity for those people to come forward and tell their stories about what they did to get Doc flying again.

The Society meets on the third Tuesday of most months. Meetings are free and all are welcome to attend. For more information on this or future meetings, call the HSUMD at 760-375-8456. – Andrew Sound

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Happy New Year, good neighbors! It’s hard to believe that the HSUMD Classic Movie Night is entering its 11th year of the presentation of feature films in our beautiful Historic USO Building. Watching these classic films in a communal setting, on a large screen with great sound, enhances the viewing enjoyment not equaled on home television sets. The shared vibes of the members of the audience makes film viewing so special. And, speaking of special, we are very proud to be presenting our first Black History Month film series, “Black Film,” beginning on Wednesday, January 8th and running through February 19. Four outstanding films celebrating the Black experience on the big screen are not to be missed. Our premiere film in the series is director Douglas Sirk’s final masterpiece, a 1959 remake of a 1934 production that was based on a popular novel by Fannie Hurst and starred Claudette Colbert. The wildly popular 1959 version has Lana Turner as an aspiring actress who befriends a homeless black woman at Coney Island. They eventually share a tiny apartment and the common bond of raising daughters, both of which are intolerable. Sarah Jane, the black child who is very light-skinned, matures into a teenager who passes for white in public and suffers much heartache and shame. The drama of Annie (Juanita Moore), the black woman who is rejected by her daughter in a time when the color of people was a divisive issue, is utterly heartbreaking and profound. It presented clearly, to audiences, the division in the American society between black and white people. Poignant and often disturbing, this was a truly riveting film for its time…and it still is. You definitely will not want to miss our January 22 presentation of one of the most beloved films in recent history. Gregory Peck won a much-deserved Best Actor Academy Award® for his portrayal of lawyer Atticus Finch sworn to defend a young black man falsely accused of the rape of a white girl in a small southern town. Harper Lee’s famous novel was brilliantly brought to the screen in 1962 by writer Horton Foote and director Robert Mulligan, and features a stirring film score by Elmer Bernstein. It definitely struck a nerve with film audiences and went on to become a huge box office hit. It remains a much-revered classic to this day. The films screen on flex Wednesdays at 7 p.m., with our thrifty Snack Bar opening at 6:30. As always, admission is a much- appreciated donation, only. For film titles, please call 760-375-8456 Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., or…stop by for a current film schedule. “See YOU at the Movies”…every flex Wednesday…in 2020! - Nick Rogers

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Concerts on Film returns in January, now on Thursdays on the off-Friday week (opposite week of Classic Movie Night). Doors open at 6:30 pm and the show starts at 7:00 pm. Thursday 1/9- Angus and the band from down-under thunders out favorites like “Back in Black”, “Dirty Deeds”, “High Voltage”, “T.N.T”, “For Those about to Rock”, and more in this high energy concert! Thursday 1/23- This film covers Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant playing a 1973 US tour (where they were robbed in New York City!) Great music interspersed with some documentary and some forgettable fantasy scenes. Songs include “Dazed and Confused”, “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”,” Stairway to Heaven”, and more. In February, Concerts on Film will show concerts from the man who brought you Ziggy Stardust (2/6), and from Jack and Meg White (2/20). Refreshments will be available, including drinks, popcorn, chips, and hot dogs. Admission is free- but donations are always gratefully accepted. Come enjoy music history at your Historic USO Building!

High School Days in 1960’s Ridgecrest

What did some of us do in the mid-1960s in Ridgecrest, especially when we were let loose after classes at Burroughs High School? Here’s a walk through the memory of one of our “veterans” of those days, giving us a glimpse at our community’s history as well as our contributor’s brain. Here are his words: “A common activity then was to leave the school grounds and walk to Fosters Freeze on China Lake Boulevard (where La Fiesta is now) to get a soda. Then we’d cut over a block to Balsam Street and go north a bit to Sprouse-Reitz, a 5-and- dime store (where T.J. Frisbee’s Bicycles is now located). There we’d sit in the chairs that lined the front of the store on the sidewalk and drink our sodas as we waved at passing cars. Some time was spent in either of the town’s two theaters. There was the Ridge Theater (located roughly where today’s Burger King sits), where we could sit inside – out of the weather – and watch two movies with a couple of cartoons between them. Or there was the Crest Theater (a drive-in theater located about where the VCA Crestwood Animal Hospital on Inyokern Road is currently located and just west of Inyo Street). It might be that some of us went to the drive-in theater in the trunk of a friend’s car. If we could get together with a friend who had, or could borrow from a parent, a car, then we would ‘cruise’ China Lake Boulevard and always spend some time sitting at the A&W Root Beer stand, located where Cordell Construction Company is currently located on China Lake Boulevard. Other places that we could find fun included the Sandquist Spa, located a couple of miles straight north of today’s Buttermilk Acres market on Inyokern Road; you had to have the gate unlocked to get there, since it was on Navy property. There was also the bowling alley (now Triple T’s Tavern) on

5 Vol. 35, No. 1 January 2020 Ridgecrest Boulevard. There we’d put a quarter under each of the two front legs of a pinball machine to tip it up, allowing us to play for a long time without having to put additional money into the machine. And just west of the bowling alley and its pinball machine was Hucek’s Travel Service (on the southeast corner of China Lake and Ridgecrest boulevards), where I worked for a while washing rental cars; and when I wasn’t washing cars, Hucek would have me go to his ranch south of town and do various tasks there to make a little spending money.” Source: Interview with Richard Lasell, Burroughs HS graduate of 1967.

Recently, we’ve included some history of the historic buildings now restored and stewarded by HSUMD, but later this year we will celebrate the 75th year of the Historic USO Building and it is fitting that we share its origins as a USO Club. The Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) was opened in November 1943, and on June 26, 1944, a Field Report was sent that outlined the basis for a request for a USO Club to be built in Ridgecrest. Here are some of its points: • “…are typical small desert towns. …54 in Inyokern, 98 in Ridgecrest before the Navy development started in December 1943.” • “Ridgecrest is growing at a rapid rate, from 100 to 1500 in six months.” • “Plans call for 2 dry goods stores, a restaurant, a beer hall, a gift shop, and a 5-10 and 25 cent store.” • “Strongly recommend an ‘urgent and immediate need for a servicemen’s recreational center.’ ” On Saturday, October 13, 1945, the USO Club was opened in Ridgecrest. The Salvation Army was its “directing agency” and Oliver L. Franklin was its Director. After serving as a center of community activity for NOTS and the Indian Wells Valley for 15 months, the USO Club in Ridgecrest was closed on January 7, 1947. In announcing its closing (USO clubs around the nation were being closed because the war was over), it was said in our newspaper that “since its construction in 1945, the Ridgecrest USO building has been the scene of constant community activity, with the various organizations of the valley using its facilities in a schedule which has kept it busy almost every night of the week.” The NOTS command was asked to write a letter outlining an evaluation of “the services rendered by the U.S.O.” and the Navy’s evaluation was submitted on December 16 1946. In part, the letter stated, “…the contractor’s personnel and the Station employees living in Ridgecrest used the club to a great extent and their morale was improved by the fact that the facilities of the club were made available to them. The U.S.O. Club was the only place for recreation in the area except saloons, cafes, gaming establishments and one motion picture theater.” “In the opinion of the writer [Commander J.O. Richmond], who served as Executive Officer of the Naval Ordnance Test Station from April 1944 to June 1946, the U.S.O. Club in Ridgecrest was operated in an excellent manner and was well worth the time, money and effort expended on it. It was the one bright spot among the sordid recreational facilities in the area. The greatest expenditure was the cost of the building, but the value of the building still remains for the use of the community. It is, therefore, hoped that suitable arrangements can be made with either the community or the county to continue the operation of the U.S.O. Building for the benefit of all the people living in the Ridgecrest area.”

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Member Categories Welcome New Members! HSUMD has three membership categories- all very important to us. Our regular memberships are $35 per individual or family. Our business memberships are $45 each. We also have a special category: Life Member, Nancy Ball which is an honor the HSUMD Board bestows only on members who have supported the HSUMD in sustained and special ways. Our Life Members’ names are shown on our website: hsumd.org!

Ale’s Steakhouse and Bar High Desert Genealogical Society L & N Properties Anna Marie Bergens, Realtor Phyllis M. Hix, Attorney Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce *Baxendale’s Inyokern Chamber of Commerce Ridgecrest Moving and Storage Best Western China Lake Inn IWV Premier Landscaping Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Bob & Ardyce’s Bicycle Shop *Dana Lyons, Best Realty *Ridge Writers *Cathy Kline’s Floral Accents Kern Antelope Historical Society *Ridgecrest Cinemas China Lake Photographic Society *Roaming Dog Kitchen *Center Pharmacy Pleistocene Foundation Rodeway Inn Clarion Inn *Maturango Museum *Romancing the West Comfort Inn MOAH *S&M Coins & Collectibles *Cordell Construction Co. Mohave Historical Society Searles Valley Historical Society *Cosner-Neipp Computing Mojave River Valley Museum Shoshone Museum Association Desert Empire Fair Motion Tire & Wheel Starbucks Diana Said, Vaughn Realty *Museum of Western Film History Gary P. Staab & Associates, Inc. Earth Landscaping Needles Regional Museum Tehachapi Historical League Eastern California Museum The News Review *Tender Cut Meats Econo-Lodge Rand Desert Museum Vaughn Realty The Flower Shoppe *Red Rock Books *Warren’s Automotive Edward Jones Investments- Allen County Public Library, *Kathy Walker’s Window Tinting Brook H. Andreoli Genealogy Department Community Light Opera & Theatre *Ridgecrest Area Convention & Wrightwood Historical Society Assoc. Visitors Bureau

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Tex Hoppus, President Newsletter Editor 760-382-1852, [email protected] [email protected] Doug Lueck, Vice-President Joe DePina, Gift Shop Manager 760-375-8202, [email protected] [email protected] Richard Hendricks, Secretary-Treasurer Marti Hoppus, Bookkeeper [email protected] 760-382-1852, [email protected] Andrew Sound, Programs Jim Kenney, Historian 760-608-7296, [email protected] 760-371-2458, [email protected] John Abbott, Building Mgr., Bldg. Rental Craig Porter, SEEP Coordinator 619-808-2223, [email protected] 760-446-3400, [email protected] Chuck Cordell, Building Alan Bailey, Field Trips Coordinator [email protected] 760-977-6806, [email protected] Carol Porter, Accessions and Exhibits 760-446-3400, [email protected] Nick Rogers, Publicity, Movie Night IMPORTANT REMINDERS 760-375-8456, [email protected] Annual Dues are $35 (family) and $45 (business). Matthew Zubia, Fundraising 760-793-8152, [email protected] Please remember HSUMD in your wills, trusts, and other gift giving. HSUMD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.