Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Blog-A-Thon

Reader Ed proposed that I m.c. a blog-a-thon here, in an attempt to raise the rest of the money needed for the Goddess of Pomona's missing sword for the statue at Garfield Park.

Things are more than slim in my household right now, but I went down to the Historic Society on Friday, and made an embarassingly small donation towards the sword. It felt good to put my money where my mouth usually is.

At the risk of losing all my posters and readers, I'll throw it out there: If anyone feels so inclined to go down to the Historical Society and donate however little or much you can, you should do it. If you report back here that you have done so, it may encourage others to do so too.

Mickey Gallivan of the Historic Society assured me that the sculptor who will do the new sword will secure it so that it is impossible to take it off. She said that the sculptor's price of $3,500 is already bargain basement, as the sculptor is happy to be a part of restoring such a beautiful work of art. The sculptor's name is Richard Myer and he recently completed a sculpture in Duarte aptly called Duarte in Bronze. He lives in neighboring Glendora.

The Historic Society is open every weekday afternoon after 1 p.m., other than Fridays. They have a book and gift shop there, as well as a museum. The museum features additional photos and momentos to the ones in the book. The museum was not officially open when I went, but I plan to return to see everything.

I did spy two more Goddess of Pomona statuettes inside the museum (but perhaps I'm the only one counting at this point). I got my book signed by Mickey Gallivan. I even got to take part in a planning meeting for their upcoming dinner/fundraiser on Feb 10, 2008. In attendance at the meeting was Bill Smith, the author of yet another Pomona history book called Citrus Empire. Bill is a history professor at Mt. Sac. Bill and his wife Gayle live in Upland, but they are all about historic Pomona.

The society's yearly dinner will have a love theme this year. Among other things, it will feature stories from people about the things, people and places they love (or loved) in Pomona --including a love story from a 100 year old Pomona woman. If you've got a tale to tell, or are like me and just want to listen, then perhaps you should go.

THE END

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for taking up the cause. I dropped by the Ebell Club (another must see) last week to donate, and if I can find where the darn kids hid their piggy banks, I just might make another stop.

Anonymous said...

I was at a meeting last night at the Ebell and dropped $20 into the sword kitty. The museum is open Monday-Thursday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Or, if you see the lights on in the early evening, it's likely that there's a meeting of one sort or another going on. Ring the bell and I'm sure they'll be happy to take your money.