Graham Home Demolished
It is with a note of sadness we have to report the demise of another historical homestead. The story we hear is that the new owner wanted to fix up the old place but the County of Riverside determined it had been built around possibly an old box car and thus was sub standard. Therefore the owner was told he must remove the home and out buildings. The Graham family produced some very distinguishable people. First in our mind is Owen Graham who while a prisoner of war in 1942 was being transported to Japan when the ship he was on was sunk by one of our submarines. When the first V. F. W. Post was formed in 1947 it was named in his memory. We have some artifacts dealing with this on display at the museum.
Another son, Francis Graham, who now lives in San Diego was for years a teacher and principal. A daughter of the family would become the mother of our current County Supervisor, Mr. Jim Venable.
Old Books Donated
On February 18th we were honored to have a couple of Patterson family members, Barbara McNair and Lisa Blackburn, visit the Patterson House. Barbara brought along a box that had been shipped to Tilla in the 1920's. Inside were little books bound in what appeared to be leather. She donated the collection to the museum for which we are grateful. Upon searching the Internet to find out more about them here is what we found.
There are at least 79 different titles in the green set. They were advertised on the backs of the National Geographic magazines in 1922. In October of that year, the set is advertised as a 30-volume set selling for $2.98, with 4 free volumes of Kipling thrown in. The ad says "the binding is a beautiful embossed Croft which, though NOT leather, looks even more handsome, and more durable." In January and April of 1922, the set is described as follows: "Each of these volumes is complete - this is not that abomination, a collection of extracts; the paper is a high-grade white wove antique, equal to that used in books selling at $1.00 to $2.00; the type is clear and easy to read; the binding is a beautiful limp material, tinted in antique copper and green, and so handsomely embossed as to give it the appearance of hand-tooled leather.
Old Winchester Recorder Found
Thanks to Phil Brigandi, new curator for the San Jacinto Museum, a copy of the April 20, 1893 edition was found in their collection. He has graciously made a copy of it and it will be added to our growing collection We are grateful to our neighboring museum groups for there sharing and donations to our endeavors.
Community Center Update
We have been informed that the last hurdle to opening our new Frances Domenigoni Community Center has been eliminated. Thanks to a grant from Supervisor Jim Venable of $100,000 Valley-Wide Parks and Recreation will open bids later this month to do the electrical work. With any amount of luck we will be in the building in early summer. Also we are informed that the Flag pole that was suggested to be placed in the park at the park dedication has been purchased and will be installed soon. If you have not seen our new park stop by and see what can be done when people join hands and work together. The park is located behind Winchester School.
Newsletter Reaches Milestone
Thanks to your continued support our newsletter starts its sixth year of publication. Your generous support of money, resources, and articles have made it possible. While on the subject of thank you's we would like to say if we have missed sending an appropriate thank you in the past we apologize. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle we have overlooked a donation to our cause. If that be the case we hope you take this note as our thanks for your time, money, and artifacts to the historical society and the Patterson House Museum.
"Station 34 Pump Panel"
(This area will be reserved for news from "your" local fire station.)
It has been a busy time for the fire crew at station 34. In addition to taking care of responses some of them have been attending classes. Engineer Smokey Williamson has attended a class in arson investigation and is in the process of getting certified by the California Conference of Arson Investigators. Firefighter Tod Hopkins attended a class in decontamination conducted under the Hazmat program. Also four volunteers are presently going through training at the academy. Jessica Cooper, Jesse McDermott, Justin Robbins, and Albert Castillo will hopefully soon be joing the ranks of our volunteer company.
On another note the station has been working closely with Code Enforcement to clear potential hazardous conditions from our community. They have found 36 sites located in their area. Some were already in process, but some were new. With the joint effort the community will be a safer and cleaner place to live.
Also look for the fire department to be out the first part of April concerning weed abatement. As we write this article in the rain it appears we will have an abundance of grass this year. They will also be looking at proper clearances around structures, debris, and spark arresters on chimneys.
Also let us mention that in order to burn any materials you MUST have a BURN PERMIT. Failure to do so can lead to fines and or time in jail. Any open fire, such as a pit BBQ or tumble weed burning requires a permit.
Condolences
Our deepest sympathy goes out to Mr. Floyd McCall on the passing of his lovely wife. We had a chance to meet her a few times when we talked to Floyd about his days growing up in Winchester and going to school here. She was a delight to be around and will be missed.
Historical Tourism
We attended another meeting of the group that is promoting historical and cultural tourism in the county. We have volunteered to serve on the presentations committee in hopes of getting the word of what we offer to the public at large. Also soon we will be sitting down with the local museum groups with the idea of producing historical site maps of the area. Stay tuned in on these plans. It may take some time before it gets out.
Library Being Set Up
One of our dreams for the Patterson House was to set up some kind of library for the community. This project has been started with the moving of books and cases to one of the upstairs room We have some of the cases up and books in them. However for the time being only staff is permitted upstairs until we get the bannister back in place. We also need more book cases. So if you have any to donate call the museum and let us know. Some of the books will be able to be taken out while some of the older ones can be used at the museum only.
Tidbits
Our clean-up day was successful and a win-win situation as we were able to clear some rummage and the Cub Scout Pack was able to use it as a donation to the Goodwill as one of their projects. Thanks to all that helped out.
As a result of our power point program at the school we are informed that it will be presented to the May meeting of the Hemet Area Museum Association.
The special cancellation that was created by Ron Williamson for our park dedication made the Press- Enterprise. Sorry to say it was not in our local edition.
We must apologize to those who provided the balloons for our dedication. We failed to mention John Sullivan who arranged for this flight and his associates; Roger Barker, Fred Krieg, Doug Hughes and their entire support teams. Thanks to you for your spectacular show and help.
Speaking of milestones our web site has attracted over 800 visits. We hope to find time to update it soon and bring added information.
Trash Busters
The week of March 31st through April 7th have been designated as get rid of all that junk you have around the place week. In conjunction with Waste Management, the Winchester Homeowners Association and the Patterson House Museum we are endeavoring to have at the museum several large roll-off dumpsters where you will be able to bring your unwanted items that are to large to put out with the regular trash. You will be able to dispose of most items except automobile parts, hazardous waste, and refrigerators. More information will be available through fliers that will be out later this month. Watch for the announcement and lets make Winchester shine.
Tidbits From Our Past
Someone mentioned to us how she enjoyed this feature in the past. So with this issue we will try to continue our journey into our history. This edition is taken from the Winchester Recorder mentioned in a previous article here. The date is April 20, 1893 and near the time the County of Riverside is being formed.
Riverside County will be high on morals as well as being one of the most prosperous and wealthy counties of its size in the state. With temperance principles underlying our county government the very best element of the society of the East will naturally be attracted here and will help develop our boundless resources, maintain the high tone of society and make ours noted for being one of the most desirable counties for residence in the state.
Warrants on the irrigation district taken in exchange at John Patterson's
Early sown grain is heading out rapidly and the fields present an unusually thrifty appearance. Haying will probably begin at no distant date.
The Recorder has entered on its third year and still the books show that a large number have not yet paid their last years subscription. The editor contemplates a trip to Chicago for a brief vacation soon and unfortunately hotel bills can not be paid in advertising.
More next issue.
