The 9^th ANNUAL GHOSTS OF THE SAGEBRUSH TOUR

Sept. 28 and 29, 2012: Explore the history of Lee Vining

Friday night dinner at the Lee Vining Community Center, 6 PM; $25

Purchase tickets online at: Ghosts of Sagebrush dinner tickets

Saturday, 10 to 4: Walking Tour of historic Lee Vining: meet at the Old Schoolhouse Museum; SPEAKERS AND EXHIBITS; lunch at Bodie Mike's restaurant included with $25 ticket

Purchase tickets online at: Ghosts of Sagebrush Tour tickets

Ninety years ago, in 1922, Chris Mattly bought land then known as “Poverty Flat” and, by 1926, had subdivided lots for a town that became Lee Vining. Today, some of the oldest buildings in Lee Vining house the Mono Market, the El Mono Motel, Nicely's and Bodie Mike's Restaurants, the Mono Lake Committee Information Center, the Mattly residence, and the community's two churches. The Ghosts of the Sagebrush walking tour will visit those places and include talks by old-timers about the history of Lee Vining. Preparations are just getting going, so please share any stories, ideas, photos, and if you would be willing to present we would like to hear from you. Send an email to us at: curator@monobasinhs.org, or give us a call at (760)647-6644 to help.

PRESIDENTS CORNER

by Steve (Cedar) Barager

Welcome back to the Mono Basin Historical Society!

8th Annual Ghosts of the Sagebrush Tour was in 2011!

Thanks to all of our supporters, we have had a great year. In September, the Eight Annual Ghosts of the Sagebrush Tour was held, featuring historic programs and speakers, including the lovely Terri Geissinger, channeling Venita McPhereson as the highlight of the Friday night dinner. The Historic Mono Inn and Tioga Lodge/Hammond’s Station were the spectacular settings for the event, and both establishments provided delicious food for the attendees.

Thanks goes to Terri Geissinger, Martin Strelneck, Lily Mathieu, Phillip Fish, Augie Hess, Shon Mattly, Bill Nay, Frank Cassidy Jr., Jamie Stewart, for their illustrative presentations on the history of the West shore of Mono Lake. Many volunteers helped make the logistics run smoothly, even though we had over 100 guests (expected 50 or so). A great time was had, many old and new acquaintances were met, and the event brought in a needed boost to the funds of the MBHS.

Elections of Officers and Trustees

January saw the election of officers for the 2012 year. President: Cedar (Steve) Barager; Vice President: Dave Carle; Treasurer: Chris Lizza; Secretary: Duncan King; and Historian: Norm DeChambeau.

The Mono Basin Historical Society also had elections for 4 out of 7 trustees, who serve 2-year terms. Continuing to serve until 2013 are Carolyn Crawford, Laurie Gehrman, and Bartshe Miller. Joining these trustees to serve until 2014 are: Frank Cassidy Jr., Linda La Pierre, Randy DesBaillets, and David Dore.

Leaving us as Trustees, but continuing to work hard as volunteers on so many committees are Judy Goldberg, Vineca Hess, and Nicholas Faust.

Conservation Assessment Grant Awarded

The MBHS has been awarded a grant for $7190 from Heritage Preservation Foundation, to contract with two professional conservators/assessors to evaluate the museum and its collections. Gretchen Voeks, of Death Valley National Park, will be our collections assessor; and Stephen Farneth, of Architectural Resources Group, of San Francisco, will be our architectural assessor to evaluate the historic Old Schoolhouse Museum and Upside Down House. These evaluations will generate professional advice for how to properly care for our historic resources, and will be the basis for both long-term planning and fund-raising. The Assessors will be visiting June 29 to July 1, 2012. They will be meeting with staff, officers, trustees and volunteers, to understand how our museum and historical society operate and determine our areas of need and goals. From there, we will be eligible to apply for conservation program grants, to professionally protect and interpret our historic artifacts.

California Association of Museums Conference

In February, our Curator Norm DeChambeau, President Cedar Barager, Trustee Frank Cassidy Jr., and Patron Member Bill Nay were able to attend the California Association of Museums Conference in Berkeley, California. We applied for and were awarded a scholarship to cover the registration for Norm, and donations from members contributed to registration and expenses so that we could get the most out of the conference. Frank attended the workshop on Leaders of the Future; Bill attended the session on Legal Issues for museums; and Norm participated in sessions on interactive displays and working with the public; and Cedar attended sessions on care of Native American baskets, working with school groups, fund-raising, to name a few.

Community Collaborations

One of my main goals as President of the Historical Society is to raise the profile of the MBHS, to build relationships and alliances for mutual goals, in order to build community support and strengthen the organization. To this end, we are active on several fronts:

We are members of the Conference of California Historical Societies (of which Cedar has been appointed the Regional Vice-President for Alpine, Mono and Inyo Counties);

Norm and Cedar are on the Steering Committee for the Eastern Sierra Cultural Heritage Alliance, which produces a brochure that covers museums, visitor centers, and chambers of commerce from Ridgecrest to the northern Mono County border;

The MBHS is an active member of the Lee Vining Chamber of Commerce, of which Cedar has volunteered to take a turn as president.

We have invited the Mono Lake Kuzedikaa Paiute Tribe to work with us to make sure our displays and interpretation of the Native American history of the Mono Basin is developed into a way that is appropriate, accurate and vibrant, and in keeping with our mission statement.

Thanks to our Generous Contributors

The Mono Basin Historical Society has been fortunate this year to receive a number of special contributions: numerous individuals have contributed through their annual dues, but some deserve extra special mention include: Bill Silvester, Bill and Karen Nay, Frank and Robin Cassidy, Cole and Priscilla Hawkins, Larry and Carol Holt, Jim and Rebecca Watkins. A big thanks to Oak Valley/Eastern Sierra Bank, for a generous gift to the MBHS in 2011! They really put their money where their mouth is, in supporting the communities they serve.

Thanks for Mono County Support Grants

We are grateful to Mono County Board of Supervisors for their continuing support of the Mono Basin Historical Society. Besides their yearly support grant, we have also recieved for the 3rd and final year, a grant from the Mono County Tourism and Film Commission to support our annual Ghosts of the Sagebrush event. We hope we have learned enough about what works to continue this event without the support of the MCTFC, since the 3rd year is the last that we can be eligible.

You Can Help Make the Mono Basin Historical Society Great

We have had a great year with lots of community support, and from members far and wide. If you would like to help, we can always use volunteers with the Ghosts Tour in September, as well as people to get involved and help out on various committees and projects. Please contact us if you can/would like to help: curator@monobasinhs.org. We also want to hear your ideas, and/or critiques.

We are also in need of a donation for a new laptop computer for Norm, so that he or other staff can work on musuem/historical society business when they are away from the museum, such as at conferences, trainings, meetings, or just at home during the off-season or when the museum is closed.

Become a Member, Renew or just Send a Donation

If you are pleased with the direction of the Mono Basin Historical Society, and support our mission, to preserve and interpret the mining, ranching, pioneer and Kuzedikaa Paiute history of the Mono Basin, please feel free to become a member or renew your membership if it has lapsed. Donations are also welcome, and will be put to good use. Even though Mono County has been able to contribute $5000 for the last few years, current economic realities indicate that we need to find other sources of fundings to pay for basic operating costs at the museum, and to properly care for and display our precious collection of delightfully odd and interesting artifacts. So feel free to kick in, and share ownership of this community-based project.

The Mono Basin Historical Society is on Facebook: click to link to our page

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE

MONO BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Click to join online at: join or pay dues

Annual Dues (deductible as a charitable donation):

General $25

Sustaining $50

Business/Organization $75

Lifetime Membership $250

Patron (lifetime membership) $500

Please send a check with your name, address, and email (if applicable); we promise not to pass it to others):

Mono Basin Historical Society, PO Box 31, Lee Vining, CA 93541

(760) 647-6461, EMAIL curator@monobasinhs.org

last updated April 8, 2012

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