President’s Message 2013 November/December

President’s Message 2013 November/December

Barbara Profile ShotThis is the season to count our blessings and thank you, our members, sponsors and guests, for your support in 2013. We have enjoyed interesting programs and speakers throughout the year including Dr. Dorian Paskowitz, Mickey Munoz, Eric Jessen, Jack Saunderson, Blair Walker, Joel Bishop and Ingrid McGuire, our Founders Day honoree. This September Linda Sadeghi welcomed 65 DPHS members and guests for a talk and tour of Casino San Clemente. In October, Orange County Historical Commissioner and preservationist Ilse M. Byrnes described nominating 13 local historic sites to the National Register from the Los Rios Street Historic District to Crystal Cove State Park. On March 27th, Mayor Steven Weinberg, the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce officiated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Museum’s Grand Opening. Special guests included Jane Fernald and her brother, David Fernald, who donated portfolios of their father’s Monarch Bay projects on display as part of the Knowlton Fernald Jr., AIA, exhibit; and Mrs. Dorothy Krill, who donated a Hal Akin watercolor in memory of her husband, Charles. Between scheduled monthly events, historical society board members, committees and volunteers were writing and mailing The News Drogher, updating the DPHS web site, moving items out of storage and organizing the museum. The TYBTM Committee, readers and volunteers orchestrated the public reading of Two Years Before The Mast and set up booths to exhibit history at the Festival of Whales in March. Still more volunteers organized the booth for the Toshiba Tall Ships Festival in September. Plans were confirmed for the 2013 Lantern Village Home Tour in March with meetings beginning in May. The Scholarship Committee advertised to schools, read applications and chose recipients. The Scholarship Fundraiser Committee planned the June “Picnic Mexicano” in Beverly Sel’s memory, with Jack Saunderson’s generous assistance, to raise $2,000 for scholarships. Since the museum’s opening, individuals have volunteered as docents each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, to answer telephones, sell merchandise and organize files and newspaper clippings. Shelley Furse volunteered to organize a museum inventory that our Board members can continue to update for organization and insurance purposes. We have been busy!

In addition to our generous Home Tour Sponsors listed in this issue, Keith and I, as co-chairs, are grateful to the Home Tour Committee, docents, volunteers and everyone who purchased a ticket and attended our 2013 Home Tour, a success that earned $14,000 to meet the costs of preserving and exhibiting Dana Point’s history. A tour of Historic Register homes could not happen without the homeowners and Stillwater Spirits and Sounds restaurant who had their beautifully preserved buildings on display.

We appreciate each of you who donate dues, underwrite projects and volunteer expertise, and thank the City of Dana Point, which has leased the DPHS a place to hold meetings and exhibit Dana Point history. My heartfelt thanks go to our Board of Directors and members who have chaired our projects and events this year. As an example, our November 6th field trip to the Huntington Library in San Marino was a perfect day thanks to Ann Shultz and committee. Yet another Baby Beach Tile Wall installation is scheduled for the near future and plans are in the works for our January Annual Meeting. Terry Walsh has formed the Pat Plepler Award Committee, which will meet in December. We look forward to celebrating the 100thAnniversary of the Dolph House in 2014 and sharing the story of the woman who built the city’s oldest extant building.

We will have photos of our year in review at our Sunday, December 8th, Holiday Open House and look forward to seeing you there. Until then, have a Happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

Barbara Force Johannes

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