From the mountains, to the sea, to all of Orange County...

Today's photo is from an eBay auction item I discovered some months ago. It's a model of the water tower at Los Patos, a small community off Warner Ave, on the bluff overlooking PCH in Huntington Beach. This model was created for an "N scale" model railroad by Muir Models Inc. The actual tower was built in 1939 and was still standing as recently as 20 years ago. It's not every day you see a product related to such an obscure O.C. community. (Sadly, I didn't win the auction.)

Happy birthday to Santa Ana historian Francelia Goddard, who turned 100 on Friday.

Bradley Flint, who was briefly the docent at the Old Courthouse Museum, is filling the vacancy left by Ranger Sam at the George Key Ranch historical park in Placentia. No word yet about who will become the new docent at the Old Courthouse.

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Thanks to Jeff Smith for his great talk on grass roots preservation at the Orange County Historical Society on Thursday.

The City Of Huntington Beach is finally taking action to replace the trailers on their pier with permanent buildings. I hope they end up looking like the iconic old deco buildings that stood on the previous pier. It would look sharp, provide historical continuity, and would be a good match for the Ruby's at the end of the pier.

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The Old O.C. Courthouse was the backdrop for a Law Day celebration last week. Actually, Law Day was May 1st, and it would have been more fitting if they'd held it then. It would have been nice to celebrate the rule of law on the same day that hundreds rallied to support illegal activities on the opposite side of the Civic Center. But then, I enjoy irony more than some folks.

On a separate but not completely unrelated note, hundreds showed up for the Peace Officers' Memorial Ceremony at the Santa Ana Civic Center on Wednesday. The event paid tribute to all the law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty throughout the history of Orange County.

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The Tustin Area Historical Society's annual Promenade Home & Garden Tour will be held on Saturday, May 19th from 9 am to 4 pm.

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Guy Ball has also updated the new Tustin Area Historical Society's new website with a bunch of historic photos and a virtual tour of their museum.

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The City of San Juan Capistrano will add a park to the historic Los Rios District.

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The San Clemente City Council voted against replacing a historic garden with two condominium buildings.

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Fountain Valley's 50-year history is discussed in a recent Register article.