THE POPPY PAPER. By: Jeffry Smith, Maintenance Aide-Curatorial

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1 THE POPPY PAPER Official Monthly Publication of the Boosters of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park A Non-Profit Organization January 2019 By: Jeffry Smith, Maintenance Aide-Curatorial Left to right: Hope Hanafin, daughter of Dr. Therese Truitt Whitcomb (local NSCDA, San Diego Chapter, Property Manager), Nancy Corbin Asaff (Chairman NSCDA), Amy Lew (Museum Curator 1 and acting Interpretation and Education Manager, Old Town San Diego SHP), Richard Dennison (San Diego Coast District Public Safety Coordinator and Superintendent), and Ruth Donohugh (President of NSCDA) display the Lamar Award in the newly redesigned La Casa de Estudillo museum. On November 27, 2018 a small ceremony was held in La Casa de Estudillo to honor the Colonial Dames San Diego Committee with the prestigious Lamar Award for Excellence. State Park employees, members of the Colonial Dames, and Old Town volunteers gathered on the veranda to recognize the San Diego Committee for their efforts, in conjunction with State Parks, to research and refurnish the historic casa. The project, which began in 2013 under the direction of Karen Beery of State Parks and the late Therese Whitcomb of the Colonial Dames, sought to more accurately represent the prominent Estudillo family and paint a clearer picture of the life and culture of the people of San Diego in the mid-19 th century. For years there was a lack of diligent research and a tendency toward aesthetics over authenticity. This led to an historic home, furnished and decorated in a fashion which its original Californio inhabitants would have found unfamiliar, if not unsettling. Continued on page 2 pg. 1

2 Estudillo Project (continued from page 1) Under the new plan, items like the late 19 th century pianos, and the East Coast drapery were removed. More historically accurate furnishings were added, such as the Sisal floor coverings and the original desk of Judge Benjamin Hayes, to recount the authentic story of the Estudillos and life in Old Town San Diego. Thousands of person-hours went in to research and procure the new objects to fill the Casa. If an item could not be found privately or from the California State Park s collection, Old Town employees, volunteers and guild members (experts in their trades) fabricated the necessary objects, using period correct techniques in order to guarantee authenticity. When the museum needed displays for the various lariats, branding irons, and other ranching equipment, Pat Downing and Sal Sandoval hand-crafted the wooden pegboards now hanging in the Rancho Storage room. When it was time to redesign the gates for the view-only areas of the museum, Beth Holmberg hammered iron into hinges to fit both the Californio period and comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. It was undoubtedly a community effort and truly a labor of love - from the State Park intern who crafted a quilt to lay atop a doll in the Children s Room, to the tireless research and work of State Park Museum Curator Amy Lew and Colonial Dame Therese Whitcomb. Over the last five years, members of the Colonial Dames San Diego Committee and Old Town San Diego State Historic Park strived to more accurately tell the tale of early San Diego. This is San Diego s origin story. It is a true story of multi-culturalism, an amalgamation of customs and traditions, and a community which forged ahead, despite political strife and natural disasters, to become the San Diego we know today. It is said that you don t know where you re going until you know where you ve been. Thanks to the Colonial Dames and Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, we will have a clearer picture of our past for years to come. Quilt Guild News by Patt Seitas The Old Town Historic Quilt Guild raffled off the "Old Town Sampler Quilt" on December 15, It was won by Juan Molina. Left to right: Susan Monroe, Patt Seitas, Ginny Pence, Evette Weiss, Leah Estrin. The blocks were made by Susan Monroe, Amy Lew, Frances McMeeken, Donna Wright, Susan Hector, Ginny Pence, Megan Curtis, Cathy McMeeken, Patt Seitas, Beth Holmberg, Susan Plack, Evette Weiss, Claire McKarns and Karen Beery. We are happy Juan is excited about the quilt, but we are sad to see it go. It was one of our favorites! pg. 2

3 Treasurer's Notes By Deanna Turton This year for Christmas, I got an early start. Decided on gifts and got the shopping done before Thanksgiving - check. I cooked the Halloween pumpkin and baked eight loaves of bread and two pies - check. I wrote the annual Holiday letter and got it mailed check. So, the week before Christmas, I was DONE! It was the first time I was not going crazy, trying to do everything and then worrying if the gifts would get there in time for Christmas Day. Some years, I even had to write IOU's for my sewing projects. Not this year! But, on Christmas Eve, I got an from Editor Ruth French asking if I had forgotten to do my monthly article for the Poppy Paper!!! Oops, I guess I was not as efficient as I thought. Since we had to be in church at 3:00 pm for the Children's Mass at 4:00 pm, and it was after 1:00 pm, I had to dash off this article to get back in good graces with Ruth November was a good month, even though we spent $5, more than we earned. Perhaps you think going into our savings that much was not a good idea? Well, let me explain During 2018, the BOOT Board authorized several thousand dollars to help the State redo the signs in the Seeley Museum. The first half was already reported in the Poppy Paper, so this last half ($4,000.00) was for installing the new signage. There was another big expense for the Blacksmith Shop ($4,653.00) for coal. With more blacksmiths volunteering and working in the blacksmith area, coal needs to be purchased about once a year or perhaps every fifteen months. Blacksmith Todd Caffo orders a lot of coal at one time, because it has to be shipped from Georgia. Other expense categories over $300 were: $3, Park Store (inventory replacement) $1, Period Attire Bank and Subsidies $ Gardens (receipts for things bought throughout the year) $ Burros (food and hay) There were nine spending categories at or below $ Now to the income side of the ledger. In the holiday spirit, I thought I would write about the good news last! BOOT earned $9, from all sources in November, with most of that coming from The Park Store ($6,111.68). It is a good thing that the Store is doing so well because the daily average in the donation boxes has dropped to $42.47, which is far under our budgeted $55.00 a day. We were lucky, however, that the following other sources of income helped raise the monthly total. $ Period attire sales. Thanks to Vanessa Jones for keeping all of these records in good order. $ Marigold sales. Thanks to Gregg Giacopuzzi for working so hard on this event. $ Threads of the Past sales. Thanks to the guild members who work in this area. $ Quilt Raffle ticket sales. Thanks to everyone who made the quilt! $ Membership. Thank to Susan Hector for doing such a great job. And, finally, although you will all read this article in January, I hope you had a very happy holiday season. Last week, when I thought I was being efficient this year, I called the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and ordered the required forms that come in triplicate, and downloaded the rest. So, now I am all set to go for With all of your help, BOOT will have another good year! pg. 3

4 From the Editor s Desk New Supervising Ranger! By Richard Dennison, San Diego Coast District Public Safety Coordinator & Park Superintendent After being vacant for quite a while, the position is filled! John Anderson has been selected as the new State Park Peace Officer Supervisor (Ranger) for Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. John transitions to his new positon on January 1, John has worked as a seasonal, and rank and file lifeguard in Santa Cruz, Monterey, Orange Coast, and Silver Strand, since 1996, and has also been a limited term supervisor. John is an instructor in driving, defensive tactics, and dive programs, and has led various projects and assignments in the course of his career. He earned a Bachelor s Degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Long Beach, and has experience as a successful soccer and water polo coach. John has great skills bringing persons together, knows Old Town State Park, and has a great enthusiasm for history. It is anticipated that there will be a transition time during the next few months, as the Silver Strand position is backfilled and coordinator functions are re-assigned. With a high enforcement environment with drugs and vagrants, blended with many seasonal staff, volunteers, partners, concessions, and a historic environment, we welcome John to his new position and challenge. As we enter into the New Year, it is very gratifying that this first Poppy Paper of 2019 is FULL of great Old Town news. Historically, the January issue tends to be very meager, as everyone gets so consumed with holiday activities in December, there is little time for anything else. So, thank you to staff and volunteers who survived the holiday frenzy and were able to meet this month s deadline. Besides the usual job as an editor arranging articles to fit on the pages, correcting grammar and spelling errors, contacting contributors for clarifications and extra information I also spend considerable time making sure that individuals names and titles are correct. My apologies to those who I might have missed from time to time. Since I spend little physical time in Old Town these days, I m not as familiar with all the staff and volunteers as I used to be. So, if you send in articles for publication, I appreciate your providing that information, especially with pictures, to make my job a little easier. Additionally, I try to make sure that places are properly identified. One that is commonly misidentified is The Park Store, which used to be called The BOOT Store. No matter what you call it, the important thing is that the Store brings in a considerable amount of revenue to directly support the Park. So, many thanks to all the volunteers and staff who help to make the Store so successful. And, a special thanks to the Craft Committee for their tireless efforts to keep it stocked, as well as BOOT Board Members and Volunteers, Mary and Bob Jones, who continually work to manage and improve logistics and operations. Their contributions are immeasurable! And finally, in this New Year, it s important to remind ourselves that whether we are staff, volunteers, guild members, consecssionaires, descendants, or Old Town residents and friends we all have come together cooperatively with one common goal to support the interpretive and educational activities of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!!! Happy New Year and Happy Reading! Ruth French, Editor, poppypapereditor@gmail.com (Deadline for submissions is the 20 th of each month for inclusion in the following month s issue.) pg. 4

5 Japanese TV Comes To Threads of the Past! By Tim Downing, Volunteer Coordinator Left to Right: (seated) Ginny Pence, Tae Kimura, Rie Shibata, Evette Weiss (standing) Frances McMeeken, Patt Seitas On November 12th and 14th volunteers Patt Seitas, Evette Weiss, Ginny Pierce, Frances McMeeken, Jo Beth Hull and Park Aide Carmen Harvey all participated in a Japanese television documentary called Treasure Hunt in the West Coast, USA. This documentary is produced by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK, and is reminiscent of familiar programs like American Pickers and Antiques Road Show. The hosts of the Documentary are Rie Shibata and Tae Kimura. They use their own money to purchase items, and then they see who gets a better deal on those items. However, the real focus of the documentary is on what part of American culture and history the items represent. The hosts even got dressed up in period attire! Thank you to Senior Park Aide Vanessa Jones for helping with the attire. Once dressed up, they came over to Threads of the Past to learn some basic quilting, learn why it is important in American culture, and to purchase quilts. They were excited to work on the Orange Peel Quilt that our quilters were working on at the time. What better place to learn about historical handmade quilts than in Old Town San Diego! Between the two days of filming, our volunteers and staff spent about eight hours with Shibata, Kimura and their crew. When all was finished, I am not sure who had a better time from the experience. It was wonderful to see the interactions and smiles from everyone! This is one more excellent example of how great our Living History and Volunteer Program is here in Old Town San Diego. Our programs made such a lasting impression on the producer when he visited the Park, he wanted to incorporate them into the documentary! Thank you again to everyone who participated. The documentary will air some time in February of pg. 5

6 By Tim Downing, Volunteer Coordinator Goodbye 2018 Hello 2019! I can t believe 2018 is over! We did a lot in 2018, more than most would think! Between the volunteers and the staff, we did over 180 living history events in Many of you will read this and say, No way! Yes, we stay busy! We are doing living history events every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Then, you add in extra events like 4 th of July, Day of the Dead and Battle Day that are not always on our normal days, it all adds up quickly! We do on the average of 15 living history programs a month! We awarded seven Poppy Awards in The Poppy Award is the second highest award a California State Parks Volunteers can earn. We saw just shy of 12,000 students come through our Park in Getting all those children through our program could not have been done without our volunteers! Many of you helped as guides, covered museums, or were there to talk to the students. We had some great accomplishments this year. Volunteers were published in several professional journals for Blacksmithing and Fiber Arts. Our Blacksmiths Guild had some of their work displayed in the San Diego City Clerk s Office for their Second Annual Archives Month. The Quilters Guild participated in a Japanese television documentary. A wood turning class was held by the Woodworking Guild. And, the Fiber Arts Guild hosted World Knit in Public Day, when we had about 30 ladies knitting in front of Threads of the Past! We started a new tradition in 2018 for Day of the Dead. We built an Altar in the Robinson-Rose Building to honor our volunteers who have passed. The Blacksmiths built, and I do mean built, an altar in the Blacksmith Shop to honor Blacksmith Jose Arroyo, who was killed at the San Diego Mission in This altar was a little different for our Park. It was made entirely of metal! We switched from Volgistics to Better Impact, volunteer program management software. All of you have done a great job making the switch, and we are really the envy of many of the parks because of how smooth our transition was. I want to say, Thank You to all of the volunteers for making it easy on me, as well. The volunteers of Old Town never ceases to amaze me. The loyalty, passion and dedication each one shows the Park, and the simple fact that they give the Park their most valuable gift their free time! Thank you for all you do for Old Town San Diego State Historic Park! Happy New Year! Pictured: Old Town Mountain Men (upper left); World Knit in Public Day (lower left); Woodturning Class (lower right) pg. 6

7 Jean Musgrove Memorial Service Sunday, January 13, 2019, 2:00 pm Pacific Beach United Methodist Church 1561 Thomas Ave. San Diego, CA Dorothy Jean Mackay was born in Escondido, California on August 11, 1925, to Paul Elroy Mackay and Helen Wilkins Mackay. The oldest of four children, she grew up in a "temporary house" that was built on property purchased by her maternal grandparents when they came to California from Minnesota in Paul and Helen had planned to use the proceeds from their lemon crop to build an adobe home but unfortunately, a freeze took their profits and the plan never came to fruition. The house was small but always welcoming and full of love. It was the site of 50 years of wonderful family gatherings. Jean attended Orange Glen Elementary School and Escondido Union High School, where she graduated in Since she was only 17 and not old enough to work in the aircraft industry with many of her friends, she took a job at Bank of America, where she continued to work at various branches on and off until she retired. One of her customers at the Escondido branch was William James Musgrove, Jr. Recently discharged from the Navy, Bill had been a radio operator aboard the USS Saratoga and then the USS Lexington when it was sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The two of them struck up a friendship, and eventually married on October 12, He took a job at Convair, which required a move to San Diego. He then left Convair and got a job at the Navy Electronics Lab in Point Loma. When they were expecting their daughter, Peggy, they bought a home in Pacific Beach where Jean lived until her death 69 years later. Throughout her lifetime, Jean was always an avid reader with eclectic tastes. History and historical fiction were of special fascination, which led to her interest in travel. She was always curious about the "how" and "why" of everything from religion, to history, to mechanics, to interpersonal relationships. Jean was a longtime member of Pacific Beach United Methodist Church where, over the years, she taught Sunday School and was involved in almost every committee, including the Presidency of the Women's Society of Christian Service, later known as United Methodist Women. She especially enjoyed working on the yearly rummage sales. Always a fan of patronizing thrift shops, her love of a bargain was nurtured by the birth of her grandson in She found more toys than one child could possibly need, so her business, "Auntie Jean's Previously Loved Toys," was born. She rented booths in several antique malls and really enjoyed stocking them with her latest vintage finds. Another of her favorite pastimes was volunteering with Boosters of Old Town, or BOOT, as it is known. She was one of the women who dressed in "period attire," sat on the porch of one of the buildings in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and made baskets or corn husk dolls, while fielding questions asked by visitors regarding San Diego history. Unfortunately, in her last decade, Macular Degeneration eventually rendered her legally blind and she had to cut back on many of her favorite activities. Her physical involvement was reduced; but, her curiosity, interest in people, and love of learning never waned. She listened to over a thousand audio books, provided by the Braille Institute, on topics from how a computer works, to robots and cyborgs, to historical fiction, to cozy mysteries. Editor s Note: When Jean s daughter, Peggy, was asked if she would like this published in The Poppy Paper, she replied, My mom would love it, while at the same time being amazed that anyone would care. She was always so humble! Rest in peace, Jean and thank you for all you did for us in Old Town! pg. 7

8 The Top Twelve Accomplishments made in 2018 at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park By: Gregg Giacopuzzi, State Park Interpreter I La Casa de Estudillo Museum officially opened with new interpretative exhibits, and interior ADA renovations. The State Historic Park Maintenance Department, along with the volunteers from the California State Park Foundation Park Champions program, repaired and replaced the white fencing around the McCoy House. The Maintenance Department repaired and replaced a majority of the picket fencing along Congress Street, adjacent to the Native Plant Garden. Boosters of Old Town (BOOT) funded the replacement and rehabilitation of the worn interpretative panels in Seeley Stable Museum. The Park added ten new enthusiastic volunteers. The Boosters of Old Town (BOOT) donated over $50, toward Park projects and interpretative support. We welcomed additional new Maintenance and Visitor Service Park Aides. The San Diego Coast Archeology Lab was remodeled. BOOT Member Bob Jones repaired and improved the audio and lighting system for the Robinson-Rose Diorama. The Old Caltrans building, a recent Park acquisition, is currently under demolition to make way for a new section of the Park. The Park helped coordinate and host over fifteen successful special events. The Boosters of Old Town (BOOT) were able to secure over $10, in grants and donations. Los Californianos Meeting in San Diego January 25-27, 2019 Our meetings are open to the public, and the details on the program and how to register for the meeting are published on our website, Our headquarters will be at the Handlery Hotel in Mission Valley, which is where the library, a Saturday dinner, and a Sunday brunch will take place. For more information, please contact Benita H Gray, gray850@aol.com, pg. 8

9 \\\\\\\\ THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS! Balboa Park Plaza th Ave., Ste. 210 San Diego, CA (619) mtaylor@nwbenvironmental.com MONTHLY BOOT BOARD MEETINGS BOOT Board Meetings are held the 3 rd Wednesday, 1:00 pm, at Café Coyote. Monthly Board Meetings are always open to the public. BOOT BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Jeanne Ferrell (619) Vice President: Gary Turton (619) Secretary: Linda Jacobo (619) Treasurer: Deanna Turton (619) The Park Store: Mary Jones Historian/Grants: Bob Wohl Restoration Specialist: Chuck Ferrell Web Master: Bob Jones Membership: Susan Hector Board Members: Cindy Furlong Becky Halliburton Stephen R. VanWormer Tom Young Poppy Paper Editor: BOOT Website: Park Website: Ruth French poppypapereditor@gmail.com pg. pg. 59

10 BOOSTERS OF OLD TOWN San Diego State Historic Park 4002 Wallace Street San Diego, CA **************************************************************************** Membership Application or Renewal $20.00 Senior (62 yrs. or older)/single Student $25.00 Single Supporting Member $30.00 Senior Couple (62 yrs. or older) $40.00 Family (2 or more individuals) $ Life Member (62 yrs. or older) $55.00 Corporate Basic Membership* (includes window decal and 1 month business card sized ad in The Poppy Paper) $ Corporate Enhanced Membership* (includes window decal and 1 year business card sized ad in The Poppy Paper) Donation Enclosed (Or Gift in Honor of: ) *Corporate applicants only: Please enclose a business card or logo for inclusion in The Poppy Paper. NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE # TO USE A CHARGE CARD: VISA MasterCard Exp Date: Month Year M M Y Y Y Y Card Number: CSC/CVC: Three numbers Signature: pg. 10 Send to: BOOT Membership Committee, 4002 Wallace Street, San Diego, CA 92110