Many thanks to everyone who came to our Knott's Berry Farm day-long history event on Sunday. Phil Brigandi and I had a great time giving the tours and attending the lecture and panel discussion. I still haven't recovered,... but I'd do it all again if asked. If you missed the event, Chris Merritt & Eric Lynxwiler's excellent new book Knott's Preserved, will be available soon in a book store near you..
The photo above shows Sunday's book-signing line-up of (seated left to right) J. Eric Lynxwiler, Tony Baxter, Steve Knott (grandson of Walter and Cordelia), and Chris Merritt. Standing on the left is John Waite, a longtime employee of ride owner/operator/designer Bud Hurlbut. The photo below shows Phil at the old George Washington Fireplace exhibit, which was refurbished in advance of our tour! Way to go, Knott's! I've posted many more photos of the day's events on my Flickr account.
Sometimes the good guys win: The Friends of the Historic Lacy Neighborhood (FHLN), a grassroots preservation group, just sent out a press release saying they have "settled an action in O.C. Superior Court against the City of Santa Ana to enforce the California Environmental Quality Act. The Petition for Writ of Mandamus, filed Nov. 19, 2009, asked the Court to void the City’s unlawful approval of the demolition of vintage homes in the Lacy Neighborhood because the City had not complied with state environmental laws designed to protect historic and cultural resources. The case was settled upon the City’s agreement to: Rescind its imminent salvage and demolition of 11 vintage and historic homes in the historic Lacy Neighborhood of Santa Ana. Reconsider the future of the 11 vintage and historic homes only after certification of an adequate Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The Draft EIR for the Transit Zoning Code, which includes consideration of demolitions of Lacy Neighborhood and surrounding area, was thus revised and recirculated to consider a new alternative for rehabilitation of the 11 City-owned vintage structures. Reimburse the Friends for legal fees and costs."..
The Orange Empire Railway Museum's annual Rail Festival will be held this weekend. The museum is in Perris, California. "Ride trains and trolleys all day long, plus a special mini 'Run One' where you can take the throttle on a real railroad locomotive. There will be live bluegrass music, a special parade of Los Angeles trolleys, handcar rides, and other special exhibits. There will also be food vendors on site for lunch. Both steam and diesel powered trains will operate on the mainline!" Adults $12. Children ages 5-11, $8. Under age 5, free. See OERM's website for details..
.The Laguna Beach Historical Society has posted a bunch of photos from their collection to SmugMug. Check it out.
8 comments:
What an amazing event! Great Meeting you Chris, thanks for all your hard work, it was really a special day. Nice flickr post too, thank you!
I had a wonderful day with everyone involved. Thank you all so much for all the hard work that went into the event! Enjoyed your photos. Here's my few meager attempts at capturing the day... http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3769870007/a=29937134_29937134/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Hope you can open it with this link... :-)
Again, thank you!
Cynthia Damiano °o°
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/
AlbumID=3769870007/a=29937134_29937134/
otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/
COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
link was chopped up...
Cynthia °o°
I've said it elsewhere, and I'll say it again here: I was just blown away by the amazing people at Sunday's program. And I mean the guests, not just the speakers! It made for a really outstanding vibe. (And yes, I know I risk sounding like a stereotypical California nutcase by using the word "vibe.") It will be a day long remembered.
Tim: Great to meet you too. Sorry we didn't have time to just sit around and talk. I'd still like to get all us bloggers together just to hang out sometime.
Cynthia: Those are wonderful photos! Thanks so much for sharing them! Would you mind if I post some of them online elsewhere if I give you credit for them? You got shots of things I wanted to but didn't have time.
No problem, Chris, use what you want. You have shots inside that I couldn't get, so I appreciated that. My husband couldn't make it to the event and really enjoyed your pics and my feeble attempts at description. I was so overwhelmed by the experience and, again, really appreciate all the work and research that went into it!
Cynthia °o°
Thanks, Cynthia! I've posted a handful of your photos to my Flickr account with a credit line. I also added some video from the second Ghost Town tour.
I am sorry to have missed your event. I am a former Knott's employee and my father is the woodcarver/blacksmith in Ghost Town. Knott's has done a good job preserving and sharing it's history.
I am at OC Fair now, and compiling it's history for 120th anniversary exhibit in Memorial Gardens. I love your blog, it is exciting and informative!
While you're on the topic of Knott's... with this weekend's Orange Empire Railway Museum event, you may want to point out that the museum has one of the old San Francisco cable cars that ran around the Knott parking lot. It's nice to visit old friends!
Still recovering from last Sunday... what a great time. Thanks to you and Phil again for a day well spent.
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