OSLHP Newsletter - April 2004

President’s Message

The Old Sacramento Living History Program is now officially part of the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation. I became its second employee March 15 and our checking account was placed in the care of the Foundation March 19th. Now the big part. Planning for the 2004/2005 fiscal year has begun. If you have an idea for a purchase, event, fundraiser etc, now is the time to speak up. Please let me know of any ideas big or small as soon as possible.

I will be on vacation April 3 through 9. My family will be in the Grand Canyon and out of contact. If you have a matter that needs immediate attention please contact Terry Eargle. For information regarding specific events please contact the appropriate person. I will see everyone at the Bonnet Promenade.

*New Mailing Address*

Our mailing address has changed once again, now it goes to the Foundation at : OSLHP 1002 Second Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Meetings will still be at the old location 1101 Second Street. No changes in phone numbers are anticipated at this time.

General Meeting

Our next general meeting is Wednesday, April 14 at 7pm. Have your taxes done early so you can come.

Executive Council Meeting

The next executive council meeting is May 4, 7pm at the Living History Center.

Newsletter coordinator

A big thanks to member Jane Rankin, she has agreed to take over the newsletter starting in May. Her address and email is on the current roster. 

Nominations

The nominating committee has recommended the following slate of officers for the 2004/2005 year:

The committee appreciates everyone’s interest this year, as a reminder for next year to be considered for an office a person must be a member for 1 year prior to the election.

The election will be held at the May 8th general meeting. The above slate is not the final say for voting, a member may be nominated from the floor prior to voting for consideration on the ballot.

Parking Applications

In order to receive discount parking passes I need everyone’s application as soon as possible. This will make our parking cheaper. If you need an application contact Amy immediately.

Volunteer Recognition

This month Ken and his team have done a great job moving the new member training program along. We have about 8 new members and 8 current members who are taking the classes. Also, Mary Carlson did a great job coordinating Women’s History Day. Thanks to all the speakers for the day.

~Past Events~

Women’s History Day

Our best year ever! Moving the event to the Visitor’s Center made it a little more noisy but the exposure was great. Tour busses drove by the Visitor’s Center and many travelers came to see the event. The speeches were excellent, the poetry delightful and over all a good day. We had girls from a Girl Scout troop come and help. The girls passed out flyers for the event and for the Walking Tours. They made the event fun with their costumes and charm.

~Ongoing Events~

After School Program

The kids have finally finished sewing vests and aprons. It was a lot of fun and they are moving along to writing their play. A date will be announced when members can come and see the performance. Help will be needed this summer to take the material from the program and make it into short units to be given to school teachers or for members to teach in classroom visits.

Walking Tours

Currently the tours will run every Saturday and Sunday at 10 am through Labor Day. Costumed volunteers are needed to guide the tours, 70% of proceeds go back to the Living History Program. The tours will replace the strolls starting in April. Scripts are available and you will be given a bound script on 3 x 5 cards to carry during the tour. The OSLHP will be able to pay a stipend to tour guides if requested. Call Amy, 916-264-8142 to sign up.

New Member Training

This seems to be going well. It is not too late to start coming to classes. April 3 will include a free tour of the Discovery Museum. Many of our veteran members have dropped by the new member classes to help out, show support, lend ambiance in period attire or to sit in on the classes and have witnessed the large class size! We have fourteen new recuits this year! We invite you to stop by and meet the new members and welcome them to the Old Sacramento Living History Program, and stay for the class. On Saturday. April 10th, we will have Jay Lawson's memorable presentation on The Guns of the California Gold Rush and Ken's class on Character Development; then on the following Saturday, Amy will teach Research: How, When, Where, What and Why, and Ken will be presenting a new class on Gold Rush Era Entertainments. So if you don't know who brought the Russian Cat from France, exhibited the Feegee Mermaid in New York City or brought the Swedish Nightingale from Europe to America, you sure won't want to miss this entertaining class!
Ken Knott

~Coming Events~

Easter Bonnet Promenade

April 10th. Shelley Green and Mark Hobbs are co-chairing the event with Amy. To volunteer for the Promenade or help with the egg decorating please contact any of the people before hand. We are still in need of trim and scraps for decorating eggs. You can bring them before the event or leave it at the Visitor’s Center in Old Sacramento for pick up. 

Meet and Greet

May 5, 5 to 6:30pm at the Radison Hotel off of HWY 160. This is the Greet for the Great Valley Center annual Central Valley Conference. We are also looking for 1 or 2 people to come May 5 and 6 during the day in costume to interact with the conference goers. You will receive admission to the conference free. Please contact Amy to sign up, 264-8142.

Jazz Parade

May 21. We will have a wagon for everyone to ride. Please arrive by 11am for best parking and the parade is at Noon. You will receive a pass to the Jubilee for your participation. Contact Amy: 264-8142 to sign up.

Bus Trip to Filoli

YEAH!! We have a date. We will be going June 5, 2004. We need to leave at 7:30am to make the 10am tour of the Filloli House and afterwards we can tour their gardens. The trip will include a stop at Half Moon Bay for lunch and shopping. Visit <www.filoli.org> to see the gardens and house.

The anticipated time of return is between 6 and 7pm. The cost is $25 for members. If you are not a member and are interested I will place you on waitlist and the cost will be $35. Members need to sign up by May 1 so that it can be opened to non-members. Also included in the trip will be a continental breakfast, beverages and a snack for the way home. For reservation: Amy 264-8142

Who Are We?

If you have not appeared in this section, please write your story (350 words) and contact Terry Nelson so we can check if we have a picture of your character. If we don’t, we will be sure to get one. We would love to have characterizations and pictures of all our members. They are a great recruiting tool. If I haven’t called upon you yet, be sure I will.\

From the Editor

Submission deadlines are the 15th of the month and should be sent to Jane Rankin.

If you wish your article to be considered for the newsletter. PLEASE KEEP THE 350 WORD LIMIT IN MIND. Articles that are too long or have errors will be returned to the authors for editing and correction. For those without e-mail access, submissions can be mailed to: Jane Rankin or you can submit your piece at our general meeting to Amy, the Director