Garden Grove, my tiki blog, Wally George, etc.

Garden Grove resident Josh McIntosh recently posted a petition asking his city to adopt the Mills Act. The Mills Act program encourages the restoration and preservation of historic buildings by offering small but significant tax breaks. In return, the community gets improved neighborhoods, (improved by residents, that is), increased property values, and therefore often a net overall gain in tax revenue.

The Mills Act is a state program, but must be adopted by each individual city. It's generally a win-win for everyone, but a surprising number of communities still haven't caught on. Usually, it's left to concerned, history-minded members of the community to bring it to the attention of local government. If you'd like to help Josh and his friends, check out his petition at http://signon.org/sign/its-time-for-garden-grove.

The photo above comes from the City of Garden Grove and shows the historic Stanley-Ware Ranch House, which also serves as the home of the Garden Grove Historical Society.

 Last weekend I started a second blog, called Tiki Lagoon. I will continue to write the O.C. History Roundup, and it will continue to be my primary blogging priority. (Has anyone ever used the phrase "primary blogging priority" before?) But I think there's room for a blog about all the stuff that fascinates me about the tiki or "Polynesian Pop" craze that had its heyday during the Mid-20th Century.

There will sometimes be some overlap between my two blogs. My second post on Tiki Lagoon, for instance, was about longtime Garden Grove resident and loopy KOCE-TV personality Wally George who, surprisingly, had a connection to America's (often wildly inaccurate) celebration of the South Seas.

Anyway, if you're interested in all-things tiki, you may want to bookmark the new blog or add it to your reader. And if you have related stories or images (from O.C. or not) to share with the world, let me know.

The Daveland blog is always worth checking out, but today Dave gave us an especially good installment from an O.C.-history perspective. Click on over and check out his virtual tour of Walt Disney's personal apartment, which is still largely intact above the Fire Station on Main Street inside Disneyland. An image from that post appears below.

Also in local theme-park history news, Knott's Berry Farm held a special event today to mark the opening of a historical exhibit in Ghost Town celebrating the 40th anniversary of their Halloween Haunt event. The folks at Knott's were kind enough to invite me, but I just couldn't escape from work this afternoon. (We were quite busy, which is a nice problem to have.) I do, however, look forward to seeing the exhibit soon, as it will be up for the public to enjoy (presumably) through Halloween.