Sunset Beach, HB, Knott's, Shirley de Graaf, etc.

Since they don't want to be part of Huntington Beach and because Seal Beach won't have them, the little unincorporated town of Sunset Beach is now looking into becoming its own city. The community began when lots went up for sale in 1904. The images above and below were part of the marketing effort that year. I particularly like the poem in the L.A. Times ad below.

I love how optimistic these illustrations of the town were. The one below is from a 1913 ad and shows some sort of "alternate universe" version of Sunset Beach. Don't get me wrong,... Sunset Beach definitely has its merits,... but it never looked quite like this.

Diane Ryan is offering a History of Huntington Beach class through the City. "Come join others in learning about the rich history of Huntington Beach, its early residents and landmarks. Included is a walking tour of downtown." The class includes four two-hour sessions (10am to Noon) from Sept. 17 to Oct. 8. It costs $55. See page 31 of the current issue of the Huntington Beach Sands for details.

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Rev. John Taylor recently wrote about a few angry folks who want the statues of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai removed from the Nixon Library. We don't like communists either, but they do play a significant role in Nixon's story. And if we sanitize history, we become that much more like the authoritarian regimes we revile.

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Jay Jennings will sign his book, Knott's Berry Farm: The Early Years, this Saturday, Noon-2pm, in the Courtyard Room at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant in Buena Park. More details are posted on Viewliner Ltd.

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In case you missed the story in the Register, some cretin has torn up a County Park and an archaeological site for his own enjoyment. According to the paper, he's built, "a 'party house,' walkways, a pond and other structures on top of a centuries-old Native American site at the edge of a county regional park," and is also "accused of constructing at least one outbuilding within the boundaries of Santiago Oaks Regional Park, and illegally modifying a nearby hiking trail and fire road with a bulldozer." I know the Juaneno don't carry tomahawks, but maybe we should give them some.

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Shirley de Graaf, the wife of CSUF Professor Emeritus Larry de Graaf, passed away Aug. 12. A memorial will be held Wed., 2-5 pm, at the Fullerton Arboretum. She was involved in the university's Heritage House and volunteered with COPH's oral history program. More details are available on the Register's website.

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[Ed. - No, I'm not out of the woods on my technical problems yet, but I'm borrowing a computer this evening and posting as much accumulated info as I can.]