Johnny Granskog scraping paint off the Kelley House in 1975. (Photographer: Michael MacDonald) Many of the people who had a hand in the restoration of the Kelley House 50 years ago are no longer with us. However, some were barely out of their teens when they got involved in sanding, scraping, stripping, and clipping, and they are still around. They have wonderful stories about [...]
A patriotic turkey family in a postcard from about 1900. Image from the Library of Congress. I was in the grocery store the other day looking at the displays of all the edibles and drinkables I am supposed to buy for Thanksgiving. Turkey, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberries, sweet and mashed potatoes, gravy, Beans or Brussel sprouts, and, of course, dinner rolls. Is there [...]
Kelley House Board Member, Jane Tillis, leading a walking tour through Mendocino. As a kid watching “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show,” I was captivated by Mr. Peabody and his Wayback Machine. Sherman set the controls to a year and place in history, he and Mr. Peabody walked into the machine and closed the door, and they were magically transported back in time. I knew [...]
Back in early May and June we discussed the histories of Mother’s and Father’s Days, respectively, and since we’re coming up on National Grandparents Day, it’s a good time to complete the trilogy. The newest, and least known, celebration of parental units, the observance was designated by Congress as the first Sunday in September after Labor Day, and it was proclaimed a national holiday by President [...]
The best-known local dad, Father Time and the Maiden. Photograph of statuary on top of the Masonic Temple in Mendocino. Writing on the front says, "Symbol on Masonic Hall Tower. Hand carved from solid Redwood by first master of Lodge in 1866. Mendocino, California." The statuary consists of Father Time, the Hourglass of Transience, the Maiden, the Anointment of her Hair, the Acacia Branch in [...]
One of this year’s Mendocino Film Festival selections, “Three Minutes: A Lengthening,” is a memorial to lives long gone and an interesting approach to film making. Director Bianca Stigter takes a three-minute reel of faded 16mm color home movie footage shot in 1938 in the Jewish quarter of Nasielsk, Poland, and looks at it very closely. She identifies the people in it, and explores the Jewish [...]
As April is National Poetry Month, I decided to look through the Kelley House archives to see what sort of poetry selections we had. I was pleased to discover that we have a few and was immediately drawn to our collection of Country Women magazines. The publication—published from 1974 to 1979—called itself "a feminist country survival manual and a creative journal” and contained essays, stories, and [...]
The inside of the lighthouse was a mess after the big wave washed through it. A few days into this new year, a little after 8:00 am on January 5th, a large wave scaled the 50-foot bluff in front of the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse, broke down the double front doors, and flowed through the main room all the way to the back door. It [...]
When we were young, all we wanted for Christmas were our two front teeth. Once we got them, many of us wanted to sink them into some Dungeness crab legs on that holiday. And for almost 170 years in Northern California, we have been granted our wish. It didn’t seem like too much to ask. But in various recent years, demoic acid, migrating whales, and poor [...]
Author Dave Sverko riding his horse and carrying the American flag during the Fourth of July parade of 1976 in Mendocino, California. (Gift of Bill Wagner) When I was about 13, I went to work on the Woodward Ranch, which took in all the area where the Mendocino Coast Hospital is now, as well as the Redwood Health Club and what was later Bolden’s [...]