HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT
P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556
Vol. 21 No. 9 November 2006 _______________________________________________________________________________________
NOVEMBER TALK ­ SILVER MINING IN RED MOUNTAIN AREA

The Society's November meeting will feature Bart Parker speaking about the Kelly Mine and silver mining in Red Mountain. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Maturango Museum.

Bart will tell about the silver mining activities in the Red Mountain area, starting with the main strike by Don Kelly in 1919. Kelly had been involved in the Randsburg gold rush of 1895 and, between his times in Randsburg and Red Mountain, served as Kern County sheriff and supervisor. Others became involved in the silver mining activities, which lasted until the 1950's although the main boom was over around 1930.

to Ridgecrest when he was three years old. His collecting interests were started by searching the local desert for a purple glass bottle for his mother. After a 34 year career on the base, Parker now lives in Randsburg and is an active member of the Rand Desert Museum Association.

The HSUMD meets on the third Tuesday of the month. All are welcome to attend. For more information on this or future meetings, call Society President Bill Nevins at 375-4764.
Andrew Sound

DECEMBER MEETING

Our December meeting will be our traditional Christmas party with potluck desserts, entertainment, etc. It is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., Tuesday night, December 12. This is a week earlier than our usual meeting time, so if you haven't already marked your calendars, please do it now.

ADDITIONS TO MEMBERS LIST

Some 61 additional people received a copy of our newsletter for the first time last month. The reason for this is that the board of directors voted to consider all those who had contributed $50 or more to the USO building fund as honorary members for the coming year in acknowledgment of their participation in our effort to rehabilitate the USO building. This is one small way to show our appreciation.
NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT

The following is the Mission Statement of the HSUMD:

"Our mission is to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of Upper Mojave Desert cultural history by collecting and displaying artifacts, preserving historic sites and researching and publicizing local history data."

Your HSUMD board and members are working to ensure program effectiveness and to devote the resources of the organization to achieving the mission statement's stated purpose. It is very satisfying to have the support received from the HSUMD members and the community. We know we do not always make the right decisions on our projects but we are trying to do our best to achieve our stated Mission Statement. With your continued support we will be successful. Presently we are working on the following projects; Restoration of the USO building, monthly lecture program, tours of local historical sites, Joe Fox Publication, Sand Canyon Environmental Education Program, USO building California Historical Building Application, maintaining the HSUMD research library and a Five Year Plan for the HSUMD. Any inputs/ideas on how to better achieve our mission statement are always welcome.

Thanks. Bill (375-4764 or b.nevins@mchsi.com)

USO BUILDING PROGRESS REPORT (SUMMARY)

To date we have raised over $58,000 of our goal of $66,000 for Phase 1 of the project. Recent fundraising activities (many by the USO Fundraising Committee, chaired by Kathy Armstrong) have included the following: supper and auction at the Elk's Lodge, John McCuen benefit concert at All-American Bar-B-Cue, dinner at Eagles Lodge, CLOTA Halloween "Spook House" at the USO Building, yard sale at Lana Jean's yard, Pizza Hut card sales, Community Dinner ticket sales, sales of sponsorships to restore USO building windows (all 51 sponsorships have been sold!), drawing for two signed prints donated by Larry Zabel (with framing donated by Gary Davis of the Border Shack), sales of "Olde Towne Delight" root beer bottled by IWV Brewery, plus grants from Wal-Mart, WACOM Thrift Shop and Altrusa.

The goal of Phase 1 is to refurbish the building to usable condition. Local volunteers have put a great deal of effort into cleaning up the USO building in order to hold several open houses here since May, as well as repairing and preparing to paint the exterior and interior. Renovations are underway. In October, after volunteers removed the old evaporative coolers and siren from the roof, Cooper Roofing began the major task of replacing the roofing. Carroll Electric is currently refurbishing the electrical system. MEC, Inc. has removed the asbestos from the boiler room and from the piping underneath the floor. Earth Landscape & Maintenance is developing the landscape design. In addition, the Rotary Club has adopted the stage, including repair of the old stage floor. Cardinal Plumbing is working to repair the building plumbing system. Gentry Air Conditioning is helping with the evaporative cooler installations. Windows are being removed and repaired or rebuilt by volunteers.

Rehabilitating the USO Building will be a major undertaking, but with the continued support of the community, we will pull it off! For more information, or if you or your organization want to participate in the project, please call Bill Nevins at 375-4764. Donations can be sent to HSUMD ­ USO Building Fund, P.O. Box 2202, Ridgecrest, CA 93556.
Bill Nevins

MYSTERY PHOTO

We ran out of space to include a mystery photo this month. Last month's photo received a great response and many of the people in it were identified. We'll put this information in the December newsletter.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME IS HERE

Our membership year is the calendar year, therefore it is soon time to renew your membership. Annual dues are $20.00 per year per family. Business memberships are $30.00 per year. Renewal checks, payable to the HSUMD, may be sent to the HSUMD at P.O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA, 93556.

END OF THE YEAR CONTRIBUTIONS

It is not too early to consider an end of the year contribution to the Historical Society. Any amount is helpful and will be appreciated. Contributions may be designated to the USO building fund or for general purposes. The IRS considers us a 501 (c) (3) organization, therefore, these contributions are deductible to the extent permitted by law. Thank you.

ZABEL ART DRAWING

Drawing tickets are still available for $35 each, or two for $60. Famed artist Larry Zabel has donated two signed/numbered limited edition fine art prints to be awarded at a drawing on Sunday, December 3rd, 7:00 PM at the Kerr-McGee Center. All proceeds will be for the benefit of our USO Building Restoration project. Only 200 tickets will be sold. They can be purchased from the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce, Maturango Museum, John Di Pol Ph. 375-2610, Ann Roseman Ph. 384-4740, all Society officers and ordered by mail from the Society using the order form shown herein. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday week and processing time, deadline for submitting mail orders is November 17th.
The two prints are entitled "Return to the Valley of the Flowers " (Larry's most recent release) and "Where Rams and Hornets Meet" (from Larry's China Lake Commemorative Series). Both have been custom--framed locally (donated). Both will be on exhibit at the Society's regular meeting Nov. 21st. Tickets will be on sale at that time also. Consider what your $35 will buy: Satisfaction of supporting the Society's major project, an evening of conviviality with friends, coffee and cake for dessert, and two chances for a memorable work of art.

A mail-in ticket order form is available on next page.
John Di Pol

HISTORICAL ARTICLE

(Following is an article prepared by our great local historian member, John Di Pol, drawn from his personal library. Ed).

GOOD TURNS - 1927 STYLE

Recently your writer was rummaging through his old steamer trunk when he came across his Boy Scout Handbook, 1927 Edition. The pages had turned a bit tannish, and some wrinkled, but overall not in too bad a shape. He opened it up, and would you believe, to the section on "Good Turns"? Well, this being the season of cheer and goodwill to all, "Good Turns" seems like an appropriate topic for this month's historical article, so here goes - straight out of the Handbook:

A "Good Turn" is an extra kindness and service---something more than what courtesy and good manners would do. To answer a traveler's inquiry is not a "Good Turn", it is natural courtesy, but to actually GO to conduct him, that would be extending to him more courtesy than he had asked.

SOME MODERN "GOOD TURNS"
Put out forest fire.
Let a dog out of a trap.
Wheeled a crippled man.
Fixed a little boy's bicycle.
Helped boy look for his dog.
Moved a sewer pipe out of road.
Helped the cook pick a chicken.
Cranked car for one-armed man.

Kept a cat from killing a chicken.
Dug post holes for man next door.
Cleaned off cemetery lot for funeral.
Cooked for a sick person.
Put water in chicken coop in store.
Helped a paralyzed man fix his papers.
Helped get a horse up that had fallen.
Carried a crippled boy's book for him.
Took a small child across three streets.

Found and restored a lady's pocketbook.
Picked up nails and glass out of street.
Cut wood for another boy who was sick.
Found a lost child and found its mother.
Polished an old woman's stove for her.
Splinted and bandaged broken leg of dog.
Took chewing gum off streetcar seat.

Caught a cow and drove it home for a lady.
Freed a cow that was tangled in a wire fence.
Went into town to get husband for sick woman.

Removed a slipknot from around cow's neck.
Made scrapbooks for the Home for the Friendless.
Assisted Russian boy with some English grammar.
Climbed a tree at night to get a chicken for a lady.
Pulled a splinter out of a dog's foot and treated it.
Put top back on manhole after same was open part of the night.
Bought stove wood for a poor family and gave it to them.
Helped a blind man off the streetcar and across the street.
Removed overturned garbage can from street after dark.

Ah, the good old days - America at another time, at another age.

John Di Pol

Mystery photo

Dear Andrew,
 
The Choir director is George A. Carson.  The picture was taken on the Base at the High School Auditorium sometime between 1951 and 1955 probably 1953.  The third person in the back row is Patricia Myfin Walker.  If you have access to any of the old El Burros, it should be informative as to the rest of the people.
 
Please note that my Email address is now:  mowalk1@Verizon.net.
 
If you have any more mystery photos, you can send me a color .jpg file and if I can identify or narrow down to a specific time frame, I will be happy to do so.
 
Sally