essay |
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nonprofit
carla sanders
save the date
myfoothillsmagazine.com
Showing pride in our past
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Some yearS ago, after a trip back to his high school, my husband wrote a letter to the school. In it, he told of his disappointment in returning with his daughter to show her some old school trophies, only to learn that most were in storage. The few trophies and plaques on display were from a mere few years back. He also was saddened by the lack of any kind of school spirit at the homecoming football game, and by the general malaise that seemed to have taken hold since his days on campus more than 25 years earlier. “How do you expect the students of today to be proud of their school, of what it’s been and what it’s accomplished, if there is nothing visible from the past to connect them to their heritage?” he wrote. The same could be said of many of our cities. Sure, bright and shiny and new are all well and good, but having symbols that tether us to those who came before instill a sense of pride in who we are and a feeling of permanence. Just as we often seek our family roots and our place in the world through genealogy records — and puff up with the pride that some searches reveal — so should we support the efforts to bring to light the history of our communities, and in the process help to preserve and restore some of our buildings, structures and other symbols of our past. Several cities in our region have taken this to heart. Pomona has retained a large number of historic buildings at the city’s core, most especially the beautiful and enduring Fox Theater. What could have been a large scrap pile has been renovated in grand fashion, turned into a gleaming space for concerts, films and other special events. In the city’s north end, one of its most enduring buildings, the Palomares adobe, still welcomes visitors. In Claremont, the community’s ties to the citrus industry are displayed through the conversion of one of its former packing houses into a lively space for restaurants and shops. The Claremont Colleges, where Pomona College dates to 1887, are a grand institution that helps give weight to the city’s history. Similar symbols of the past are on display in San Dimas, whose agriculture and ranching history are paid homage through the plank june 2012
sidewalks downtown, and Upland, which has one of a dozen madonna of the Trails statues that were installed across the country in the 1920s to commemorate westward expansion. The city’s annual Lemon Festival is a nod to that aspect of the city’s past. In rancho Cucamonga, the historic Chaffeygarcia House has been preserved and offers public tours, while the home of the city’s most famous resident, the late Sam maloof, is similarly cherished. Throughout the city, the area’s winemaking heritage is celebrated by clusters of grapes on everything from street signs to the city seal. Both the city of La Verne, whose Heritage Foundation helps preserve the city’s treasured relics, and the community of San antonio Heights are marking their 125th anniversaries this year, the latter offering a recent historical talk about the community’s many contributions to the region — and the world. It was there, for example, that the idea for an electric iron was conceived by the man who eventually would invent the Hotpoint electric Iron. a former resident was the founding medical director at Kaiser hospital while another designed the famous euclid avenue gravity mule Car, believed to be the model for the world-renown trolley cars in San Francisco. Speaking of the mule car, in ontario — the southern terminus for the mule car all those years ago — the city maintains its connection to the past with a car on display along its grassy median downtown. at the city’s main library, the model Colony room is a repository for the collected history of the region, housing amazing photos and artifacts of days gone by. each of these is a reminder that it’s not all about the here and now. our cities have a rich history that unfolds and blooms through the dissemination of information. We should each do our part in passing those legacies down to the next generation. Hopefully, one day they, too, will do the same.
events May 21 – OPARC’s Spring Swing Charity Golf Tournament to raise funds for a new healthy living program that helps developmentally challenged adults. Los Serranos Golf and Country Club, 15656 Yorba Ave., Chino Hills; $125; www.oparc.com. June 2 – Helping Out Pets Everyday is having a Grape Expectations wine-tasting. Pine Haven Catering and Confections will provide delicious hors d’oeuvres, and the $45 tickets include a gold medal winning wine to take home. Graber Olive House, 315 E. Fourth St., Ontario; 6-8:30 p.m.; 800-811-4285; www.helpingoutpetseveryday.com. June 9 – Upland Community Foundation’s second poker tournament benefit for the city’s Adopt a Soldier Military Banner Program. Murder mystery dinner plus comedy. George M. Gibson Center, 250 N. Third Ave., Upland; 5 p.m.; $50; 909-985-5429. June 16 – Fiesta Casino Night to benefit the Foothill Family Shelter in Upland. Must be 21 years old or older to attend. Claremont University Consortium, 101 S. Mills Ave., Claremont; 6-10 p.m.; $35 (includes dinner and game chips); 909-920-0453. June 23 – “Light the Night” pup crawl fundraiser to benefit Helping Out Pets Everyday. Register by June 1. Grace Lutheran Church, 2108 N. Euclid Ave., Upland; 7:30 p.m.; $25 (includes a lighted leash) or $10. www.helpingoutpetseveryday.com. Sept. 8 – Soroptimist International Montclair/Inland Valley’s annual “fun-raiser” to benefit community projects. Montclair Senior Center, 5111 Benito St.; 6-10 p.m.; http://si-montclairinlandvalley.org. Oct. 27 – Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Foundation’s annual Celebrating with Style fashion show and luncheon. With the spotlight on cancer survivors, the event benefits the endowment fund at the Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Cancer Care Center in Pomona. 909-865-9139; www.pvhmc.org.