A California Online Magazine with Local Focus and Global Appeal
The first time I went inside the Reedley Museum was with my daughter’s class in elementary school many years ago. When I worked for the Reedley Exponent I was there often as they are a fountain of information about Reedley’s interesting past. Recently I sat down for a chat with their current Curator, Karey Olson, to touch base with all they have to offer. Karey has been a volunteer with the museum for six year.
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Rome, in the 6th Century AD, was a terrifying place to live and no one travelled there unless they had to. For John, the Lord Chamberlain exiled to Greece by the Emperor, it was even more perilous. When word got back to the Emperor, John would be executed for disobeying orders to remain in exile, and in danger of forfeiting his life as a Mithran convert.
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Whether you’re a history buff or you just enjoy exploring pieces of our past, visiting a local museum is an educational and interesting experience. One such museum, the Tulare Historical Museum, is the perfect place to learn more about Tulare, a small town located in the heart of the Central Valley, which holds a special place in our valley’s history.
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It was the summer of 1964. My family was on our annual pilgrimage back to Texas and Oklahoma. This year, though, instead of heading to Texas first, we stopped in Tulsa to give Grandma’s yard a major trim and clean-up, and get the house ready for the coming winter.
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Becoming the seamstress-in-residence for a reality show entry seemed like the ideal opportunity for Daria Dembrowski, who hoping to focus less on wedding gowns and more on historical garments. My House in History had chosen Priscilla Compton’s eighteenth century estate to be featured as she restored it back to how it was when it was first built, giving Daria the opportunity to sew embroidered curtains as well as Priscilla’s gown.
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This week we are interviewing Valley historian and author Stephen H. Provost. Last year he released his book Highway 99. The book is filled with historic photographs and forgotten tales. Highway 99 is a nostalgia-fueled road trip into California motoring culture. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Highway 99, and a link to purchase it from Amazon.
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Decorating the Christmas tree is a walk down memory lane for me. Each ornament that is unwrapped has a special story. Included in this collected are “ornaments” that have been made with bits and pieces of Christmas. It was looking at these that started me thinking about popcorn.
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Since I was born just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, my first exposure to “gear-head-itis” was to the cars of the 1930s. At that time, all the car makers were vying for what few dollars there were available for new cars. During the Great Depression, many of America’s finest auto makers would perish from bankruptcy.
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Every Reedley High School student from the late 1940s into the 1970s remembers Willie’s Drive In, directly across the street from the high school. This was the closest place, off campus, where the smokers could light up their cancer sticks.
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This is the season when our patriotic blood seems to flow the strongest and we seem to pay more attention to memorials dedicated to fallen patriots. Since we celebrate the birth of our Nation in July, we often reminisce about wars and conflicts, how and where those patriots served. I’ve been thinking about ships.
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There was once a time, that small family farms surrounded the Reedley city limits. Does anyone remember where the Sellers, Fast or Nickel farms were? The home Johnny Rios lives in, in the triangle of North, D and 10th streets, was once a family farmhouse. Does anyone remember horses and cattle grazing in the pasture west of the Lincoln School playground next to Frankwood Avenue? Or the Harry Shuklian farm east of Lincoln School?
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As Freda Simonson looks out her bedroom window, she sees a man being tossed out on his ear from the local pub. He’s obviously had too much to drink and lands in a heap in the gutter. Before the barman can go back inside, a man rushes from the darkness and in the following scuffle, the barman falls to the ground, dead. A crowd gathers, and it’s assumed the drunken man was the murderer. Only Freda knows the truth, and no one believes her.
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Here I am, continuing my school days saga, getting ready to start junior high school and evolving from adolescence into becoming a young adult. General Grant was the only junior high in Reedley, so both elementary schools attended seventh and eighth grade there.
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Lincoln is my favorite elementary school. Since I have shared many stories in Kings River Life, this may be a bit repetitious, but I owe more than just an education to the school district. Since both of my parents were teachers, it provided a roof over my family’s head, clothes on our backs and food on the table.
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