The Caminos______NewsletteroftheArcadiaHistoricalSociety_____Spring2018President’sMessage:ATributeMostDeserving
TheArcadiaHistoricalSocietyheld itsAnnualMembershipMeetingwith60individuals in attendance on Sunday, April 29 at Prince Erik Hall. EdAndersen who is the Public Relations Director with the Arcadia HistoricalSociety had the honor of presenting a Certificate of Appreciation to GilStromsoe for 30 years of service with the Arcadia Historical Society. Edcommented,“Idon’tknowmanywhohavevolunteeredasmanyyearsasGilhas.”Afteranarousingapplause,GildidsharethatheservedastheSociety’sTreasurerfor25ofthoseyearsandheisstillontheSociety’sBoardbecause“theywon’tletmequit.”
Gil Stromsoehasworked formany years as a CPA and just recently retiredfrom Mark Schaefer Associates. He has also been an Arcadia chamber
memberandamemberoftheRotaryClubforanumberofyears.Gil’swifeCarolwaspresentfortherecognition.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Earlier on the same evening, Rev. Jolene Cadenbach, PhDgave an entertaining account of the life of Prince Erik ofDenmarkonachickenranch inArcadiaentitled “RoyaltyattheRanch: PrinceErikandHisArcadiaLegacy.” Hishome,builtlate1924orearly1925,stillstandsbehindtheArcadiaCongregationalChurchat2607S.SantaAnitaAvenue._______Recently, anewsclippingaboutPrinceErikwasdiscoveredinthearchivesoftheAHSfiles:
Prince&PrincessArrivefromAbroad
“The following clipping sent out by the Associated Press hasmuchtosayaboutanAmericanfamily.
‘NewYork,March 11. – Chickens that cheep are dearer to the heart of Prince Erik than those at Charleston. ThePrince,nephewofKingChristianandcousinofKingGeorgeofEngland,arrivedtodaywithhiswife,theformerLoisBooth,daughterofanOttawamulti-millionaire.TheycameontheLithuania.
PrinceErikcareslittleforalltheceremonywhichsurroundsroyalty.Hepracticesandlivesdemocratically.Hesaid:‘I’llbegladtogetouttoArcadia,myranchinCalifornia,whereIhave6000fowls.Ithinkchickenswhichlayeggsareathousandtimesbetterthanjazzorthevarietyofchickenswhichextractgoldeneggsfromfoolishgeeseinsteadoflayingthem.Iamapracticalranchernowandthatismyprofessioninlife.’
It isnotknown justwhen thePrinceandhiswifewillarrive inArcadia,but fromthenatureof thedispatch itwillundoubtedlybesoon.’”-KarenHou____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
UpComingEvents:
Sunday,July1,2018:AHSboothattheDowntownPatrioticFestival,timetobeannouncedSaturday,Sept.29,2018at10AM:“LuckyBaldwin:TheManWhoWasNeverLicked”Presenter:EdAndersen,PublicRelationsDirectorofAHS;SaturdayMorningCoffee,FlorettaK.LauberEducationCenter;360W.Huntington,Arcadia,CASaturday,November10,2018at5PM:AnotherMysteryDinner,PrinceErikHallGardens,detailstobeannouncedSunday,February3,2019:FundraisingEventforHistoricPurpose,Arboretum,detailstobeannounced
Legendary Artists of Historic Landmarks: Edna Lenz and Justine Wishek
OnSaturday,March10,2018,AHSHistorianCarolLibbyamazedheraudiencewith informationnotgenerallyknown inherpresentationof“Arcadia’sLegendaryArtistsofHistoricLandmarks.”Theeventwasco-sponsoredbytheArcadiaPublicLibrarywithanaudienceof40inattendance.SpecialthanksgoesouttoYvonneNg,LibraryHistorian,andDarleneBradley,LibraryandMuseumDirector,fortheirassistanceinthisevent.AtouroftheArcadiaHistoryRoomwasalsomadeavailabletoparticipants. Paintingscanbeviewedon-linebygoingtoArcadiaca.gov,select“Library”atbottom,thenselect“ArcadiaHistoryRoom,”andthenselect“ArcadiaHistoryPaintingsCollection.”Followinstructionstoviewpaintings.Abitofhistoryontheladies...In1955,EdnaLenzandJustineWishekbegantheirjointprojectofimmortalizinginwatercolorhistoricallandmarksintheSan Gabriel Valley. Mrs. Lenz particularly enjoyed adobes and Mrs. Wishek’s specialty was hotels, but their workencompassedallkindsoflandmarks.TheArcadiaPublicLibraryhasacollectionofmorethan100oftheirpaintingsthatwereobtainedfromtheartistsin1967bytheFriendsoftheArcadiaPublicLibrary.Manyofthepaintingsareondisplaythroughoutthelibrary.EdnawasborninHobard,Indianain1803andstudiedattheChicagoArtInstitutebeforemovingtoArcadiain1946withherhusbandAlvinanddaughterPat.EdnabecameinvolvedincivicprojectsbeforejoiningtheArcadiaHistoricalSocietyasaCharterMemberin1952.ShewasinstrumentalinsavingtheSantaAnitaDepotfromdemolition,anditssuccessfulrelocationtotheArboretumgrounds.ShewasnamedArcadia’sCitizenoftheYearin1968.Ednapassedawayin1981.Justine was born in 1904 and raised in Keystone, Nebraska. She, her husband, Homer and two children moved toEscondido,CaliforniawhereshemadeanameforherselfasadecoratorandorganizerofCityHomeTours.AftermovingtoArcadia, sheandHomer joined theArcadiaHistorical SocietyasCharterMembers, and the friendshipofEdnaand Justinebegan.JustinetaughtAdultArtClassesandwasonthestaffatMayflowerGirls’SchoolinPasadena.Justinepassedawayin1984.–CarolLibbyNoteCardsbyEdnaLenzNoteCardsbyJustineWishek
The Crown Prince of Sweden Visits Prince Erik’s Home in Arcadia
According toWilliamMcConnell of Charter Oak, his family lived in Arcadia from the early1920s to 1937. Over the years, his father, Oliver W. McConnell, took many photos ofinterestingeventsinArcadia.SomephotoshetookwereofavisitfromtheCrownPrinceofSweden,GustafVIAdolf,totheArcadiaestateofPrinceErikofDenmark.Thevisittookplacesometimebetween1924and1928,whenPrinceErikandhisfamilyresidedhere.(Theexactdatehasnotbeenfoundinourrecords.)
It seems that this visit to Arcadia by the Swedish Royal made news in Arcadia, and theentouragewasgivenapoliceescorttoPrinceErik’sestateon“DoubleDrive”(nowknownasSantaAnitaAvenue). Asnotedonthebackofonephoto, “Percy” theranchmanager,wasafriendofOliver’sandpresumablyenabledhimaccesstotheareaatthetimeofthevisit.
PoliceEscortoftheCrownPrinceBystandersWelcomeRoyaltyRoyalCaratPrinceErik’sEstate
FrontViewofPrinceErik’sHome
Mr.McConnellhassharedsevenof his family photos with theSociety. It was a bit of goodfortune that this new treasurerhad come just in time for ourApril 29th program, “Royalty atthe Ranch: Prince Erik and hisArcadia Legacy” presented byRev. Jolene Cadenbach, ArcadiaCongregational Church, UCC.Copies of all seven of Mr.McConnell’s photos were ondisplayattheevent.–CarolLibby
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Save – the - Date
Another Mystery Dinner
Saturday, November 10, 2018 at 5:00 pm
Prince Erik Hall Gardens
2607 S. Santa Anita Ave, Arcadia, CA
. . . . . mysterious details to be announced . . . . .
2018–2019ArcadiaHistoricalSociety
BoardofDirectorsPresident..................KarenHou1stVicePresident....JoleneCadenbach2ndVicePresident.......BeverlyStreetTreasurer.................RickSeekerSecretary..................CharWongPastPresident............GeneGlascoHistorian..................CarolLibbyPublicRelations..........EdAndersenPhotographer.............TimothyJoe
StrategicPlanningCommittee:JimConsidine,Chair
GilStromsoeLeeShimmin
ArcadiaCivicYouthCouncil
StudentLiaisons:CandaceChenandRayaLee
*******************************
ReachUsBy:Mail:ArcadiaHistoricalSocietyP.O.Box661332Arcadia,CA91066Phone:(626)446-8512On-line:
ArcadiaHistoricalSociety.orgwww.arcadiachampions.org
ByAppointmentOnly:
PrinceErikHallOffice2607S.SantaAnitaAveArcadia,CA91007
*******************************
Friends 10th Annual Garden PartyEven though the weather was mild, the hats came out along with the laughter and chatter for the Friends AnnualGardenPartyatCarolLibby’shomeonMay20th.Over100guestscametogethertomakeitoneofthemostsuccessfuleventsinthehistoryofGardenPartiesfortheFriends.PoliceExplorersaswellastheArcadiaCivicYouthCouncilwerepresenttolendahandandhelptheeventrunsmoothly.SuePalmerandherBandperformedjazzandbigbandsoundstoeveryone’slisteningpleasure.Greatfoodandrafflesgaloreaddedtoafantastic,fun-filledday.
Lefttoright:ArleneMarshall,Bev Street, Linda Candy andGailMarshall. Left to right: Char Wong, Cindy
Lee, Bev Street, Carol Libby andKarenHou.Infront,PortiaHo.
Standing, left to right: April Verlato,JoannaLiang,KarenHou,TimothyJoe,andAnnetteVerlato. Seated, left to right: Dr.BeauStocking,MickeyBall,MelanieSmithandKeikoNakamura.
Starting in front, from left to right: Luwana Gurr, Jill Kendrick, ConnieRussell, Carol Phelan, Dorothy Hamada, Dorothy Kistler, Dr. Olga Hassler,JeanParrilleandJoyceMcGregor.
Left to right: Margie Totten,DebbieAndersen,NancyKeathleyandToshikaYoshida.
P.O.Box661332Arcadia,CA91066
_________________________Congratulations to the Friends__________________________
