Upper Mojave Desert 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. • P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556 • 760-375-8456 Vol. 29 No. 6 June 2014 To see our schedule of events, visit us at www.hsumd.org or on Facebook at hsumd Bring Photos, Share Stories on June 17 ome enjoy an evening of nostalgia on Tuesday, June 17, at 7 p.m. at the Historic USO Building, 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. C The meeting will feature an ice cream social and viewing of historic local pictures. HSUMD members and the public are invited to bring their own pictures to share. We last had a similar social in 2010, and it brought forth many interest- ing pictures, includ- ing those shown here from Don Snyder Volunteers help at the opening of and Gene Schnei- the new Maturango Museum in der. So please look Ridgecrest, 1986. Gene Schneider colllection Don Snyder is the little blonde boy astride a pony, circa in your collection of 1954. In the background you can see B Mountain, com- photos and bring those showing interesting people, events plete with “B.” Don Snyder collection and buildings of the local area. See p. 3 Field Trip to Cerro Gordo — June 14 For the last field trip before summer, we’ll return to Cerro Gordo on June 14. Lots of exciting things have been happening up on “Fat Hill,” and it’s time to get caught up. The Hoist House has been rebuilt and is functional again! — we’ve been promised a tour. Robert, the caretaker, has been busy restoring other buildings and the Crapo House is now open as a small gift shop, visitors center, and antique shop, which has both of Cecile Vargo’s books for sale if you don’t already have them. We will be at approximately 8,500 feet in altitude, so plan accordingly. Bring lunch, layered clothing for the weather, sturdy shoes and a hat, camera and other usual stuff. IMPORTANT! Bring all your own WATER, as the mountain is still dry and has no water available! We’ll meet at 7:45 a.m., leaving promptly at 8:00 am from the parking lot on the east side of the Historic USO Building. You won’t need 4-wheel drive, but the road is steep and rocky, so a little clearance and good tires are necessary. Contact me if you have any questions; 760-371-2458. No limit on how many Photo by Liz can go. — Jim Kenney Vol. 29 No. 6 June 2014 President’s Message — Genealogical Committee Thank you, SEEP volunteers The Genealogical Committee will ur army of volunteers has contributed so much to the success of our not have a meeting this month of June. operations and events. I used the opportunity at our Annual Dinner Instead, I encourage all com- Meeting to recognize many of these volunteers. But I must admit that I mittee members Omissed mentioning one active group. to join in an Ice Cream Social on We have a small group of volunteers who represent HSUMD and give their Tuesday, June 10, time to the Sand Canyon Environmental Educational Program (SEEP). Our at Tex’s house! part of that program entails going to Sand Canyon and teaching groups of Call Tex for elementary-school students the human history of the canyon. directions. Our volunteers include Dr. Craig Porter, Dr. Lloyd Smith, archaeologist And thanks to all who expressed Melody Hollinger, and myself. Thanks! sympathy for one of our members Also at our Annual Dinner Meeting we announced three new life member- whose whole left side was cut off. He’s ships to our Historical Society. In HSUMD we do not “sell” life memberships; all right now. — Tex Hoppus they are bestowed by our Board of Directors only to the volunteers who have served our Society in significant and unique ways. The three recipients of new Open Mic Night is still going Society life memberships were Fred Weals, Roger McEntee, and Liz Babcock. strong on non-flex Fridays. Congratulations to three exemplary members of our Society! Admission is a mere $2 per And keep an eye out for publicity notes on our many events. We have lots of adult, with children younger than evening activities coming up, and you’d be amazed at the fun people have when 12 free. Premium beers and they come in on a summer evening and join us in listening to music groups and wines are available along with concerts, or watching classic movies while eating popcorn, or… the usual candies, sodas, pop The Historic USO Building is, indeed, a community center for cultural and corn and jumbo “Crumville” hot educational and recreational events! dogs. The show starts a 7 sharp — a perfect summer activity! — Tex Hoppus Kudos for Our Fabulous Building Carolyn Riise, historian of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, presents DAR’s Historic Pres- ervation Recognition Award to Tex Hoppus, our president. The Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert re- ceived the honor because of the successful work our volunteers did to renovate our Historic USO Building. Thanks, Laura Austin, for letting us publish your photo! 2 Vol. 29 No. 6 June 2014 Bring Photos From p. 1 Report on Collections Multiple scanners will be available to copy pictures to be projected for the audience and Lots Going on in May! to preserve in the HSUMD archives as appro- want to start off with a non-collections message — priate. All photos will be returned, unless you a big thank you to Michelle Andreoli and Claudia choose to donate them to us. We’d also like to Sound for their help in setup and decorations for our hear people’s stories of their early days on our May Business Meeting. The colorful flowers were made by Mi- desert and of other significant local events. chelle for our Cinco De Mayo event. Of course Chuck Cordell Ice cream and cookies will be provided by andI crew did a great (and delicious) job as did our servers and the HSUMD. Please come and enjoy the evening. dessert crew. Thanks for making this a special night. Being able HSUMD meets on the third Tuesday of to enjoy a glass of wine was a nice addition. the month. All are welcome to attend. To learn more about this or future meetings, call I mentioned receiving a PTA scrapbook last month. Lo and us at 760-375-8456. behold, I now have two. This second one was from 1952-53 — Andrew Sound while Felice Plain Muel- ler was president. These scrapbooks, which were for all the schools in the IWV PTA, have lots of news articles and reports of their many activities in the community. Here is something I never knew existed, I would like to say it was before my time but no, I was just very young. We now have a USO Scrap- book, unused. It seems that during WWII these blank books were available for folks to fill with news articles (no war or death notices) and photos from US newspapers and hometown papers. Road openings, new bridges, movie and play reviews etc. were sug- gested. When a scrapbook was filled, it would be sent to the USO national organization, which would send it off to the troops for a touch of home. We had our big move-stuff-around day on May 5, and I should be able to sort and reorder our stored items. No complaint here, At the Chief Petty Officers’ Annual Ball Feb. but we are receiving so many collectables lately that there is no 19, 1972, retired CPOs George Schneider way to stay on top of the incoming and sort the existing. (right) and T. L. Terrebonne (left) are called — Carol Porter to the microphone by Emcee ADCS A. J. “Gus” Getusky to comment on what it was like to be the oldest retired CPOs at the ball. As usual, the HSUMD newsletter won’t be published in July and This is a great example of a significant his- August — so have a great summer, and I’ll communicate with toric photo, since local ties still exist for all you again in September! — ed. three of these guys. Gene Schneider colllection 3 Vol. 29 No. 6 June 2014 Grace — Alan Alpers, 1960–2014 I’ve been friends with Alan Alpers for over 40 years, the Navy has two fine museums, due in no small part to and I’ve probably spent too much of that time taking him Alan’s early behind-the-scenes efforts. We also have a rather for granted, as someone who would always be there. But nice Historical Society in Ridgecrest, due in great part to of course the loss of a loved one concentrates the mind, so Alan’s more recent and more public efforts. I’ve done a lot of thinking lately about Alan Another word that has its roots in Grace and what he meant to me and what one is Gracious. And Alan was an expert at living word best describes him. graciously as well. The art of living graciously is The word I came up with is “Grace.” It’s knowing how to relax. Many hectic afternoons, probably a surprising choice to many, who Alan would text me the question, “Smoke?” and might choose “Strong” or “Smart” or “De- we’d end up in his back yard or mine, smoking ci- termined.” But Grace is a rich word, with gars, watching the sunset or looking for satellites. layers of meanings. Just like Alan. Sometimes we’d talk about his latest research- It’s the root of Graceful, for example, es into local history.