230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. ● P.O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556 ● 760-375-8456 Vol. 34, No. 8 October 2019 To see our schedule of events, visit us at hsumd.org or on Facebook at HSUMD The Society’s October program will offer everybody a chance to learn about disaster preparation with a team of experts. The October meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 15th, at 7:00 PM at the Historic USO Building at 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. Linda Harris and Daren Masten of So Cal Corporate Growth Partners will join us to discuss Emergency Preparedness. The evening will cover the basics, with everyone being provided an assessment that they can use at their home or business to determine what may be missing from their existing plan. We will review the FEMA Family Communication Plan, and Linda and Daren will show participants where to go online to complete their plan and print it out into a card size that each family member can always carry with them. Anyone who is interested in further assistance for their home, family or business disaster plan can make an appointment to meet with the team at the USO Building the next day, October 16th. Appointments can be made in advance by emailing Andrew Sound at [email protected]. Please include “SCCGP Appointment” in the subject line. So Cal Corporate Growth Partners (SCCGP) is a non-profit 501(c)3, public benefit organization formed in April of 2011, located in Southern California. The Mission of So Cal Corporate Growth Partners is to actively support and strengthen businesses and their communities by acting as an established and trusted conduit to educational, civic, political, business, financial and global partners. SCCGP has a long history of supporting the growth of small businesses but felt the topic of Emergency Preparedness and Business Recovery, especially in the State of California, should be a priority in all small business plans. In reviewing statistical data on the inability of small businesses to withstand a disaster, SCCGP was inspired to create a program that moved this topic to the forefront of the conversations and training they provide to their clients. 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. LEARN MORE AT: ready.gov/prepare Vol. 34, No. 8 October 2019 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE- October is coming, bringing our version of fall with it. October is my second-favorite month and at HSUMD this October promises to be filled with things that are fun, educational, and rewarding. (And I won’t mention that the month includes my birthday.) If you go to our website at hsumd- dot-org and then go to “Events” in the menu and then select “Calendar” you will find our schedule of events in the Historic USO Building during the month. We will, of course, be enjoying our regular family-friendly Classic Movie Nights, the new “Concerts on Film” shows, and our musically fascinating Open Mic Nights during the month. We will have our monthly free breakfast for all of our community’s veterans and their spouses on the third Thursday morning. We will have our regular meetings of the Veterans Stress Support Group. We will host the monthly luncheon meeting of the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce on the second Tuesday (if you aren’t a member of the Chamber, stop by and become one!). We will have our monthly entertaining-and-educational General Meeting presentation on the third Tuesday evening. But there’s more! On Wednesday, October 23, we will host a public meeting of the California State Parks to discuss a revision of the General Plan for Red Rock Canyon State Park. On Saturday, October 26, we will host the Big Band Xpress and it will be playing classics and modern big band/swing tunes for your dancing and listening enjoyment. And always remember to watch for our special sales days in our Gift Shop. I know there will be a special sale on Thursday, October 24. (And I won’t mention why!) See you there. - Tex Hoppus A memorial brick set in front of the Historic USO Building makes a wonderful gift- it can be a in memoriam remembrance or a great way to honor or celebrate a person, organization, or event that will be there for friends and family to enjoy for years to come. If ordered by the end of October, your brick can be engraved and installed in front of the Historic USO Building in time for the Holidays. Single 4”x8” bricks are $100.00 with up to three, 21-character lines of engraving. Double size 8”x8” bricks are $250.00 and allow for six lines of engraving. To order a memorial brick, just stop by the Gift Shop in the Historic USO Building and fill in the form with your contact information and your desired engraving. Because these are customized, the bricks must be pre-paid. We’ll let you know when your brick arrives and when it is installed. Rather than tweeting those characters- why not put them on a memorial brick? The Gift Shop is open Tuesday- Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 2 Vol. 34, No. 8 October 2019 This month is not quite as newsy as others as we have been adding file cabinets and shelving to our work area. It seemed like a good time to unstack stuff and move things about. Now when visitors look at our disorganized messy area, they just think we haven't cleaned up from the earthquake. It is getting better; we do have the upstairs to get back in order but that will come along in time. A lot of moving around is necessary to secure the book cases along bearing walls. You will see an interesting letter written to Ken and Joy Young and donated by Joy a few years back. It is from our Sister City, Tepatitlán, and was written in Spanish. My high school Spanish classes are way too far in the past to be drawn from but Matt Zubia, a fellow board member, came to the rescue. This letter and the translation are a very nice addition to our collections. Gerry Praccia invited Liz Babcock and me to come for a visit and go through Lou's library. We now have several new books, as well as like-new books for our library, as well as some we will have available for the October Book Sale that gift shop manager Joe DePina is planning. It works well for Liz and me to work together as she is familiar with Maturango's book collection and I, of course, HSUMD's. Any books neither of us need go to Friends of the Library. The most difficult part is to avoid getting into the emotional mode and keeping items just because they belonged to and meant so much to a person so very important to the very existence of the HSUMD. This has happened several times over the years I have been in charge of our collection. It is with great pleasure and honor we are asked to preserve these items so important to our early history researchers and authors but there is a sadness that comes along with the honor. Lastly but not least, Monica Ames, a local resident is working to complete her Master’s Degree and selected HSUMD to study the methods and practical ways we store, preserve and compile our collections. This includes our exhibits, history files, library and all collected items. Big job for her and even bigger for us. For one thing she will be assessing our methods and offering improvements. She already warned me not to become too offended if there are suggested changes as that is also part of her requirement. On an up note I know it always helps when applying for grants if you have outside suggestions for changes that require financial change. It keeps groups from just changing for the sake of change. - Carol Porter 3 Vol. 34, No. 8 October 2019 WE CONTINUE TO (HEART) CARY GRANT…IN OCTOBER! Our movie love affair with one of Hollywood’s most enduring film icons continues in the month of October with three of the legend’s most famous of his famous roles. We start off the month, on Wednesday, October 2, with Cary Grant as a Navy commander, in World War II, finding himself stuck with a decrepit submarine, a con man executive officer (Tony Curtis) with creative skills as a scrounger, making him the perfect supply officer, and a group of stranded army nurses plucked off of an island threatened by Japanese invaders. Such headaches as where to house the nurses, running out of toilet paper and having to prime the sub a light pink because of a lack of enough red and white paint make the voyage, on this barely seaworthy vessel, one hilarious adventure for the audience. Let’s trek on out to Wednesday, October 16 and find Grant literally dangling off Mt. Rushmore, trying escape some baddies mistakenly thinking that HE is the guy they must kill. One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most dazzling thrillers, the film gets by the 1959 censors with a bevy of suggestive one-liners with Eva Marie Saint that can still titillate modern day filmgoers. Beautifully filmed in crystal clear VistaVision® this is a highly entertaining adventure, indeed, and considered one of Grant’s very best later films.