By MICHAEL FLEMING,Cowboy Festival Manager,

City Of Santa Clarita.

CITY TO HOST WESTERN POETS, SINGERS

AND MUSICIANS AT MELODY RANCH.

Shine up those spurs and dust offthose ten-gallon hats — the Santa ClaritaCowboy Festival is riding back into town!

The best performers in Western en-tertainment will help celebrate the city ofSanta Clarita’s Thirteenth Annual CowboyFestival from April 26 through April 30 atthe Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studioand other venues in Santa Clarita.

The Santa Clarita Cowboy Festivalattracts Western singers, balladeers, sto-rytellers and poets from all over the coun-try who embody the spirit of the Old West.It is considered one of the premier festi-vals of its kind.

“The Cowboy Festival has become atradition in Santa Clarita,” said MayorLaurene Weste. “We attract visitors fromall over the country and beyond who lovethe cowboy way of life and the celebra-tion of Santa Clarita’s Western heritage.”

City Manager Ken Pulskamp is cred-ited with starting the Santa Clarita festivalafter visiting a similar event in Elko,Nevada. The city held the first annual fest-ival months after the devastating North-ridge earthquake of 1994. Finding itsoriginal festival site — the Hart HighSchool auditorium — in shambles, thecity scrambled to find a new venue. TheVeluzat family, owners of historic MelodyRanch, generously offered their propertyfor the event.

The studio is the current home to the

MARCH-APRIL 20065 CENTS YEAR 12, NUMBER 2

By GENE AUTRY,Singing Cowboy.

Exclusive.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE

OLD TOWN NEWHALL GAZETTE,

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1995.

Under A Blazing Newhall Sun,

Director John Ford Punished

The Duke For Staggering Onto

The Set Several Hours Late.

When I bought the old MelodyRanch, as I called it, from MonogramPictures, it had been used for thefilming of hundreds of Western mo-vies with stars like Harry Carey,Johnny Mack Brown, Bob Steele,Tom Tyler and many more.

My first feature picture for Re-public Studios, “Tumbling Tumble-weeds,” had been filmed at thePlacerita Canyon ranch in 1935.Years later, in 1958, John Wayneand I worked there together for thefirst time in a television specialcalled “The Western” for the NBCseries, “Wide, Wide World.”

Directed by John Ford, the 90-minute show was essentially a his-

tory of the Western movie, with acast that included Walter Brennan,Ward Bond, James Arness, GabbyHayes, James Garner and dozens offamiliar cowboy and Indian faces.

The novelty of working for thefirst time with John Wayne at MelodyRanch, more than twenty years afterwe were the first two players undercontract when Republic Pictureswas formed in 1935, would havebeen reason enough to rememberthat day. But what has stayed withme in the years since then was theunique relationship between JohnWayne and John Ford.

John Wayne was a man withoutpretense. He could be tough and

Post Office Box 802993Santa Clarita, Ca. 91380RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

CCCCOOOOWWWWBBBBOOOOYYYY UUUUPPPP!!!!Memories Of The

Place I Called‘Melody Ranch.’

GENE AUTRY, 1907-1998.

COWBOY POET WADDIEMITCHELL RETURNS TO TEASE

AND PLEASE HIS MELODYRANCH THEATER AUDIENCE.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10.

Best Festival In The WestGallops Into Newhall.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8.

How About A VenueFor Foreign Films?

Dear Editor:Downtown is great for cul-

tural events. What we missare foreign movies. Why nothave a Laemmle movie thea-ter in this area? I have to goto Pasadena to enjoy inter-national culture. Maybe it’ssomething to think about. Iam sure people from SantaClarita would enjoy it.

ANNE MARIE WHALLEY,Canyon Country.

I Know Where To PutThe Southern Hotel.

Dear Editor:As a resident of nearby

Placerita Canyon, I want tothank you for the Old TownNewhall Gazette, which pro-minently featured many in-formative articles on thestatus of the downtown New-hall redevelopment project,the new Community Center,the future plans of Master’sCollege, and so on (January-February 2006 issue).

One of the most inter-esting articles to me featured“the finest hotel south of SanFrancisco,” the historicSouthern Hotel, located for arather short time in the late1800s on what is now thecorner of San FernandoRoad and Market Street. Thearticle states that Council-man Bob Kellar would like tosee it rebuilt.

Further, what I also foundmost intriguing was yourdiscussion about the futurespecific plan for the“northern gateway” to OldTown Newhall. Reference ismade to the current zoningof the vacant ninety-fiveacres for a business park, aswell as to the current land-owner’s proposal for a zonechange to accommodate eighthundred to fifteen hundredtownhouses, the latter ofwhich is not welcome withopen arms.

Why don’t the powers thatbe connect the dots and placea replica of this fine oldSouthern Hotel on the

vacant ninety-five acres?Just consider the possibil-ities that this would bring.

LINDA TARNOFF,Placerita Canyon.

Longing For The DaysOf Gene And Roy.Dear Editor:

I am seventy-two yearsold, and reading about Mel-ody Ranch (on the OldTown Newhall website)brought tears to my eyes.Oh, but if only we couldrelive those days.

HUNTER MILLER,Hideaway, Texas.

Santa Clarita ValleyIs Steeped In History.Dear Editor:

Love the great history ofour valley. Have lived in thearea for fourteen years.

NICK VESTUTO,Castaic.

The Old Town Newhall Ga-zette welcomes your com-ments.

Letters express the opin-ions of their authors and arenot necessarily the opinionsof Old Town Newhall USA orThe Gazette.

The publisher reserves theright to edit or withhold ma-terial submitted. Send lettersto the e-mail address or postoffice box below.

2.

The ink is barely dry onthe specific plan for Old TownNewhall and already the cityof Santa Clarita is at work ona second specific plan.

This time they’re lookingat “North Newhall” — the 213-acre swath of mostly vacantland east of San FernandoRoad between ThirteenthStreet and the Circle J commu-nity (see story, page 3). Youmight know it as the “Glaserproperty” or the “Cowboy Fest-ival parking lot.” Today half ofthe land is controlled by Cas-den Properties Inc., a develop-ment company that bought itfrom the Glaser family in 2004.

The decision to draft aspecific plan is yet anothersign that the city is done withthe “anything goes” type of de-velopment that Santa ClaritaValley residents came to knowunder county rule and in theearly years of cityhood. Justlike the Downtown NewhallSpecific Plan, this approachwill enable property owners,city planners and residents towork together to “concept” thebest development for the area.

Should there be homes?Should there be retail stores?Should there be offices?Should there be an entertain-ment complex? You’ll have asay. Watch the Gazette for up-coming meeting dates. TheCity Council is expected tolaunch the specific plan pro-cess formally in April.

The process will costsomething short of $1 million.The city is asking Casden tofront about half of the cost,and Casden has agreed. Theother 40 to 50 smaller propertyowners will be expected paytheir proportional share on theback end when they submittheir projects for approval.

One idea that’s being kick-ed around is a mixed-use de-velopment on some of the 213acres, with residences upstairsand retail shops downstairs. Ifthat sounds familiar, you mayrecognize it from the specificplan for Old Town Newhall. Or

you might have seen it in theplans for The Newhall Landand Farming Company’s Sole-dad Village, to be built betweenSoledad Canyon Road and thecompany’s Riverpark project.

As time goes on, we’ll seemore and more infill projectsthat build “up.” Santa Claritais largely built “out.” Gone arethe days of building vast, sin-gle-family housing tracts withneighborhood shopping cen-ters surrounded by acres andacres of ground-level parking.

A specific plan is the per-fect approach for the NorthNewhall property. Buildableland doesn’t stay vacant for-ever. It’s going to be developed.A specific plan gives the com-munity a voice and, with care-ful attention, can lead tosomething that really compli-ments the Old Town next door.

The city has tried severalapproaches over the years toimprove living conditions fordowntown Newhall residents,particularly those of modestmeans. Renters often find itdifficult to persuade absenteelandlords to maintain homesand apartment units properly.

In January the city hireda housing inspector who willgo door-to-door to make surehomes — both rental andowner-occupied — meet allhealth and safety codes. Theinspector will assess structur-al integrity and look for leakyroofs and plumbing, exposedelectric wiring, unsealed win-dows, hot and cold runningwater and so forth.

He’ll also make note ofhow the dwellings are beingutilized. While there is no limiton the size of a family that canlive in a home, occupancy lim-its apply when it comes to sub-letting to non-family members.

Inspections will be vol-untary at first; then they willbe mandatory, annual andunannounced. They will alsohappen in other parts ofSanta Clarita. It’s not an alienconcept; apartment building

owners are used to annualimpromptu health, fire andbuilding inspections by thecounty of Los Angeles.

Kudos go to NewhallRedevelopment Committeemember Amparo Cevallos forfacilitating outreach aboutthe inspection program toSpanish speakers in Newhall.

Three initiatives have en-tered circulation to limit theuse of eminent domain. Twoare sponsored by state Sen.Tom McClintock, R-ThousandOaks; Orange County Super-visor Chris Norby; and JonCoupal, president of the How-ard Jarvis Taxpayers Associ-ation. The third is sponsoredby Douglas Adams McNea, acongressional candidate in SanJose, and Karin Annette Hipo-na, a San Mateo school trustee.

The initiatives need598,105 signatures to qualifyfor the November ballot. Takentogether, they go beyond any-thing the U.S. Supreme Courtcontemplated in Kelo v. NewLondon, Conn., where thecourt held that a city could useeminent domain for economicdevelopment purposes as longthere was an approved planthat complies with state law —similar to the Downtown New-hall Specific Plan.

According to the Leagueof California Cities, the threeinitiatives “would significant-ly undermine the ability of thestate and local governments”— such as the city of SantaClarita — “to make public in-vestments in roads, schools,housing and other essentialinfrastructure.”

Moreover, as they apply toOld Town Newhall, the meas-ures could “significantly limitefforts by cities and redevelop-ment agencies to revitalizeblighted areas, thereby con-demning many economicallystressed neighborhoods to acontinuing downward spiral.”

Certainly there have beenabuses of eminent domain inother communties. Thoseabuses should be addressed.Santa Clarita has not abusedthat power. So far, the city hasused eminent domain just oncefor Newhall revitalization (partof the Anawalt property, forMetrolink parking); the ownerwas justly compensated.

For a city such as SantaClarita that needs so manyroads, and for a communitysuch as Newhall that has strug-gled for years to arrest its “con-tinuing downward spiral,”further restraints can only hurt.

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OLD TOWN NEWHALL USAPost Office Box 802993Santa Clarita, Ca. 91380

letters@oldtownnewhall.com

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www.oldtownnewhall.com

PUBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITHTHE SIGNAL NEWSPAPER.

©2006, OLD TOWN NEWHALL USA.

LEON WORDEN, Editor and Publisher.

EDITORIAL.

Look North.

From TheMailbag.

3.

By JASON SMISKOAnd JASON MIKAELIAN,

Planners,

City Of Santa Clarita.

Process Will Explore

Development Potential

Of Mostly Vacant Land

North Of Old Town.

Now that the city ofSanta Clarita and the commu-nity have deemed the prepar-ation and approval of theDowntown Newhall SpecificPlan an overwhelming suc-cess, the city has initiatedanother specific planningprocess for two hundred thir-teen acres north of Old TownNewhall.

It’s called the “NorthNewhall Specific Plan.” Therough boundaries of the pro-ject area are the Circle JRanch boundary to the north,the Metropolitan Water Dist-rict easement to the east andNewhall Creek to the westand south.

The specific planningprocess will allow the multi-ple stakeholders — who havevaried opinions and ideas onthe area’s development po-tential — to work collabora-tively to propose a projectthat the city and communitycan support.

City staff members will

work closely with the proper-ty owners and surroundingcommunities in developingthe proposed plan. This willinclude an outreach programwith various communitymeetings, workshops andpublic hearings.

The ultimate goal of thisspecific plan is to give prop-erty and business owners thetools needed to entice qualityinvestment into the area,ensure a consistent develop-ment pattern with com-plimentary uses, preserveenvironmentally sensitiveareas, and provide a mechan-ism to construct neededpublic improvements.

“Requests For Propos-als” were distributed to ap-

propriate consultant firms inlate February. The city hopesto award a contract at a CityCouncil meeting in April.Property owners within theproject area will receive anotice of the council meeting.

Although the process indeveloping the plan will besimilar to the process thatwent into creating the Down-town Newhall Specific Plan,the North Newhall area is aunique part of the communitywith its own opportunities,objectives and issues.

Since the plan is in its ear-liest phases, no specific appli-cations have been submitted,and there have been no formal

By PHILIP ELLIS,Chairman, Newhall

Redevelopment Committee.

Next Steps Involve Cleaning

Up, Reaching Out And

Strategizing Opportunities.

Have you been to OldTown Newhall lately? If youhaven’t, you should, becauseright now is a very excitingtime for Newhall. The NewhallRedevelopment Committee, inpartnership with the city ofSanta Clarita and the commu-nity, continues to work dili-gently to complete the visionoutlined in the DowntownNewhall Specific Plan.

Although a significantamount of work remains, thereis a variety of things happeningin Newhall right now. Mostnotable was the grand openingof the new Community Centernext to the Jan Heidt-NewhallMetrolink Station. Hundreds ofresidents attended the event,and members of the Rede-velopment Committee and citystaff were on hand to answerquestions about the redevelop-ment plan. Feedback was over-whelmingly positive.

In addition to attendingthe Community Center grandopening, the Newhall Rede-velopment Committee is in-volved in several programsand activities:◆ In an effort to reduce streetpeddling, the committee isproposing that the city of San-ta Clarita adopt an anti-peddl-ing ordinance. The ordinancewould remove peddlers fromthe street, thereby eliminatingthe various “nuisance” merch-andise they sell and, at thesame time, improving the com-munity’s health and safety.◆ In February, the commit-tee met with the city’s Com-munity Preservation Divisionto discuss public outreachstrategies. Part of the meet-ing focused on determining

ways to com-municate ef-fectively withresidents inNewhallwhose onlylanguage isSpanish.◆ In March,

the committee will join citystaff members for a redevelop-ment training session. Thetraining will provide infor-mation on the overall planitself, the opportunities thatwill be provided to residentsand businesses, and how towork with the developmentcommunity in a redevelop-ment area.◆ The city will hold anotherfree cleanup event in OldTown Newhall in April. Theevent will be open to all New-hall residents. The last suchevent, held in November, wasa resounding success. And alltypes of non-hazardous wastewill be accepted. The exactdate of the April event is yetto be determined. If you havequestions, contact David Pet-erson of the city’s CommunityDevelopment Department at661/284-1406.◆ In the near future, the com-mittee will conduct a strategicplanning session with mem-bers of city staff. The goal willbe to determine opportunitiesfor portions of Newhall outsideof the specific plan area. Moreinformation will be provided asthe meeting draws near.

As you can see, there isplenty of work to be done,and the Newhall Redevelop-ment Committee is at the cen-ter of the effort to revitalizeOld Town Newhall.

Hard work today will payoff in the future. We look for-ward to making a great com-munity even better.

SEE THIS AD?This space could be yours

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An Update OnRedevelopment.

VISIT OLD TOWN NEWHALL VIRTUALLY.www.oldtownnewhall.com

A ‘North Newhall’ Plan.

‘NORTH NEWHALL’ PROJECT AREA AT LEFT,LOOKING SOUTH TOWARD OLD TOWN NEWHALL

FROM THE WILEY-PRINCESSA BRIDGE.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5.

By ALEX HERNANDEZ,Economic Development

Administrative Analyst,

City Of Santa Clarita.

Haven’t Been To

Newhall Lately? You Can

See It On Television.

Newhall has long beenhome to many of the enter-tainment industry’s mostfrequently filmed locations.Our community offers arange of backdrops, historicsites, scenic vistas, parks andan authentic Western setting.

Filming in Newhall variesfrom commercials to televis-ion shows; independent pro-jects to feature films. Thelargest permanent film loca-tion in Newhall is the MelodyRanch Motion Picture Studio.The twenty-one acre back lothas been the site for more thantwo thousand productionssince 1915. The ranch is thesetting for present-day fav-orites including the Bruce Wil-lis film, “Last Man Standing,”and HBO’s “Deadwood” series.

“Deadwood” films ap-

proximately nine months ofthe year at Melody Ranch, us-ing nearly two hundred castand crew members. The movieranch consists of a Westernstreet and an eleven thousand

square-foot sound stage thatwas added in 2000. Plans wererecently approved and con-struction begun on a new, six-teen thousand square-footsound stage to accommodate

growing production demands.A television show called

“The Unit” also films frequent-ly in Newhall. It is set to debutthis month on CBS. StarringDennis Haysbert and RobertPatrick, “The Unit” chroniclesthe lives of the members of aSpecial Forces unit and theirfamilies. Local viewers mayrecognize their neighbors’houses in exterior shots of themain characters’ homes.

San Fernando Road is a

popular street for “driving”shots for various projects be-cause of the small-town feelingand recognizable look it offers.

Other notable projectsthat have filmed recently inNewhall include a Wendy’scommercial starring a “uni-corn” that galloped along Rail-road Avenue and MarketStreet. The hit show, “24,” film-ed for two weeks at the Can-yon Crest apartment complexfor the season-four finale.

4.

The Only Real Hardware StoreIn The Santa Clarita Valley

NEWHALL HARDWARESINCE 1947

24322 San Fernando Road, Newhall661.259.3212

“If We Don’t Have It, You Don’t Need It.”

Newhall: Hollywood’s Back Lot.

LIGHTS, CAMERA—

Above: The Family Dentist Office on San Fernando Roaddoubles as a U.S. Post Office in the single-season “Push, Nevada,”produced by Ben Affleck, Sean Bailey and Matt Damon. Upperright: Newhall Ice house is used in an episode of “NCIS.” Right: A“unicorn” gallops through Newhall in a Wendy’s commercial.

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Recently Shot In Newhall:

HBO’s “Deadwood” series“CSI” episode“NCIS” episode“Without a Trace” episode“The Unit” episodeMTV’s “Pimp My Ride” episodeMTV’s “Date My Mom” episodeNickelodeon“Yours, Mine and Ours” feature filmHardee’s commercialWendy’s commercial

5.

By ANDREE WALPER,Economic Development

Assistant,

City Of Santa Clarita.

The Walk of WesternStars was originally producedby the Downtown NewhallMerchants Association. Itbegan in 1981 to honor thelegends of Western film, tele-vision and radio who havecontributed to America’s heri-tage since 1900. The Old Westcomes alive again each yearwhen Western stars are im-mortalized in bronze andterrazzo tile on the streets ofOld Town Newhall.

Each year in conjunctionwith the city of Santa Clarita’sCowboy Festival, four newhonorees are chosen for induc-tion into the Walk of WesternStars. This year’s unveiling,which is free to the public, willtake place on Friday, April 28,at noon. Later in the evening isa ticketed award ceremonyand dinner in the Hyatt Valen-cia Grand Ballroom. Thisyear’s multi-media event fea-tures live entertainment byR.W. Hampton and The QuebeSisters. Tickets may be purch-ased through the CowboyFestival office, 661/286-4021.

The 2005 honorees ranthe gamut of Western stars.Powers Boothe, star of HBO’shit television series, “Dead-wood” — which is shot at Mel-

ody Ranch — has an extensivelist of feature film credits.

Also inducted was HarryCarey Jr., who was born andraised at the Harry CareyRanch in Saugus and attendedelementary school in Newhall.Carey has appeared in nearlyone hundred films, includingnine John Ford classics.

Best known for his role in“Dancing with Wolves,” Can-adian actor Graham Greenewas nominated for an Oscarfor this performance and mostrecently appeared in TNT’sepic series, “Into the West.”

Jack Williams is a found-ing member of the Stuntmen’sAssociation of Motion Picturesand has been inducted into theStuntmen’s Hall of Fame. Aresident of Agua Dulce, Willi-ams has performed in numer-ous Westerns including “RedRiver,” “The Alamo,” “RioBravo” and “Cat Ballou.”

The Walk of WesternStars currently honors sixty-four Western heroes alongthe streets of San FernandoRoad, Newhall Avenue andMarket Street.

The Walk is producedjointly by the city of SantaClarita and the Santa ClaritaValley Chamber of Commerce.Two lifetime achievementawards have been awarded —in 2000 to Dale Evans, and in2001 to former Santa ClaritaMayor Jo Anne Darcy, whohas been intimately involvedwith the Walk of Western Starssince its inception.

By SCOTT BRUCKNER,President,

Santa Clarita Artists’ Association.

The Santa Clarita Artists’ Association hasjust moved from its first gallery space on SanFernando Road that opened in May 2005 to itsnewly painted, bright “Egg Plantation yellow”house at 22614 8th Street.

The smaller quarters are packed withoriginal art by local artists, including oils, wa-tercolor, acrylics, photography and sculpture.The gallery is open Fridays, Saturdays andSundays from noon to 4 p.m.

The seventeen-year-old nonprofit Associ-ation of more than 120 independent artists hasmore than seventy pieces of fine art ondisplay, and changes the exhibit every month.The only truly independent group of artists inthe Santa Clarita Valley has as its mission, “to

make the visual arts visible.”Another “first” for the Association was an

award by the city of Santa Clarita of a grant toprovide after-school art classes for NewhallSchool District elementary children. This is a pi-lot project for the Association to provide art clas-ses where they were never previously available.

The Association also has provided oppor-tunities for artists to hang their paintings at theCanyon Theatre Guild, Barnes & Noble, Fresh-works California Grill and the Newhall FarmersMarket. Very soon the city will also give Associ-ation members a space in City Hall to hang anddisplay the work of its finest artists.

The Association grew dramatically in 2005when it opened its first gallery. Membership in-creased from 80 artists to more than 170.

The Association obtained further supportfrom the community with the annual ArtClassic, held each November. The 2005 awardswere given out by Santa Clarita Mayor LaureneWeste. The 16th annual show was judged bytwo notable art professors and was recordedon video for further education of the memberson what makes a critically acclaimed piece.

The Santa Clarita Artists’ Association en-courages members of the community to comein and have a true “art experience” in its newhome. The gallery is staffed by artists who usethe quarters to talk about their art with theirfellow members, as well as with the public.

For further information or to make adonation, contact the Artists’ Associationgallery at 222-7328 or visit www.santa-claritaartists.org.

Art Finds New Home.

ARTISTS AND AFICIONADOS MEET ATTHE NOVEMBER 4 GRAND OPENING OF

THE ASSOCIATION’S NEW GALLERY.R

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discussions on the type or lo-cation of potential uses.

Once the project is underway, it is expected to take ap-proximately two years to com-plete the specific plan andenvironmental impact report.

The main sub-areas ofthe project area include the

hundred-acre vacant Casdenproperty, the MWD ease-ment, the Southern PacificRailroad property, the com-mercial properties along SanFernando Road from 12thStreet to Via Princessa, andthe industrial and residentialproperties along 12th Streetand Arch Street.

The physical landscapeof the project area includesflat, vacant areas, small com-mercial and industrial devel-opments, waterways such as

Newhall and Placerita creeks,and hillsides. The majority ofthe project area is currentlyzoned “business park planneddevelopment.” Other zoningdesignations within the pro-ject area include industrial-commercial, communitycommercial, open space andresidential-low.

For more informationabout the North NewhallSpecific Plan, call AssociatePlanner Jason Mikaelian at661/255-4330.

North,CONT.FROM PAGE 3.

‘Walk’ HonorsWestern Stars.

POWERS BOOTHE OF‘DEADWOOD’:

2005 INDUCTEE.

‘DALLAS’ STAR ANDSAND CANYON

RESIDENT LINDA GRAY:2002 INDUCTEE.

6.

By PATTI RASMUSSEN,Gazette Correspondent.

Tim Lankford Makes A

Connection With Students

In The Classroom.

Three R’s At Newhall

School: Respect,

Responsibility, Results.

It is early morning andthe students at Newhall Ele-mentary have gathered on theplayground, greeting friendsand tossing balls. Soon avoice is heard in the middle ofthe crowd, addressing thestudents and asking them toquietly form classroom lines.

This is Tim Lankford’smorning routine. As the newprincipal at Newhall Elemen-tary School, Lankford likes tobegin each morning by greet-ing his students and givingthem encouragement and re-minders about the schoolday. He asks them, “Are youready for another great dayof learning?” The studentsshout back, “Yes!”

For the next hour or so,Lankford visits classrooms. Hecalls this the best part of theday. He checks on students’homework or helps them withtheir current assignment. Stu-dents who pass by in the hall-ways yell out a greeting. Someeven stop to give him a hug. Inhis first couple of months onthe job, Lankford has clearlymade an impression on theseyoungsters.

Newhall School DistrictSuperintendent Marc Wingersaid the school has beenlooking for a principal for acouple of years.

“We didn’t havedirection (at the school) for awhile. There were circum-stances that caused us to bethat way,” Winger said. “Weare always looking for strongleaders, and I think we foundone in (Lankford).”

Newhall Elementary isthe oldest school in the New-hall School District, havingbeen originally built in 1878.After several fires, the schoolbuilding that exists today atthe corner of Walnut and 11thstreets is in the process of yet

another modernization pro-ject. This time it’s a new li-brary, technology and safetyupgrades.

There are more than sixhundred and fifty students atNewhall Elementary. Forty-fivepercent list English as theirsecond language. While Lank-ford is not bilingual, he said hedoes not have a problemcommunicating with his stu-dents. He has met most of theparents during PTA and SiteCouncil meetings and duringparent-teacher conferences.

Parent Suzy Miladin saidLankford is highly visible.

“He’s making a lot ofchanges, which is good,” Mila-din said. “It’s nice having afirm hand on the reins. Andthe kids really like him. Mydaughter runs up and hugshim every time she sees him.”

Lankford has been in theteaching profession for twelveyears. Previously he served asthe principal at 118th StreetElementary in the Los AngelesUnified School District.

There are three “Rs” thatLankford lives by and rein-forces to the students on aregular basis: Respect, re-sponsibility and results.

“It’s important to me thatthe students respect all adultson the campus (and) that theydo their homework every day.The results will be good grad-es and test scores that keepgoing up. That’s important,”Lankford said.

He raves about the teach-

ing staff at Newhall, sayingthey and the many involvedparents truly care about allthe children. Teachers areequally impressed.

“He knows everythingthat’s going on and holds thechildren responsible for theiractions,” said teacher CindyEdwards.

Winger said Lankfordknows instruction and heknows what he’s looking atwhen he walks into a class-room. Lankford recently initi-ated a language arts programfor students who have scoredbelow grade level. Instead ofpulling individual studentsfrom the classroom, Lankfordis having the whole class meetwith Title 1 instructors so allstudents receive the same in-formation. Everyone, he said,benefits from the extra help.

Lankford also has theteachers ask the students atthe end of the day what theylearned. Kids are very honest,he said, and they will saywhether they learned a newvocabulary word, conquereda math problem or just say,“Nothing new.”

“He’s assertive and takesthe time to make the connec-tion with the kids,” Wingersaid. “They see him as fairand concerned. He is wayinto the kids.”

They young studentsseem to have a real affectionfor their new principal, andthe affection is mutual — butLankford said he’s firm withthe students when it comes

to discipline.“You treat students fair-

ly, but that doesn’t meantreating them all the same,”he said. “Everyone here isvery child-focused, and thechildren are successful.”

There is a lot of learninggoing on at the school forboth the students and theprincipal.

A fairly new resident to

the Santa Clarita Valley, Lank-ford and his wife, Josephine,are expecting their first childin May. Although he has onlybeen at Newhall Elementary ashort time, he seems to be agood fit.

“I want to make sure ev-ery child is safe when theycome to school and they have awonderful time learning,” hesaid. “I believe every day isanother great day for learning.”

New Principal Makes His Mark.

THE BEST PART OF TIM LANKFORD’S DAY IS WHENHE GETS TO HELP KIDS WITH THEIR ASSIGNMENTS.

Por PATTI RASMUSSEN.

Traduccion Por

AMPARO CEVALLOS,Miembro Del Comite Del

Reedesarrollo De Newhall.

Tim Lankford Esta

Envuelto En El

Aprendizaje De Los Niños.

Las Tres R’s De La Escuela

Primaria Newhall:

Respeto, Responsabilidad,

Resultados.

Es temprano en lamañana y los estudiantes dela escuela Primaria Newhall,estan juntos en el patio delrecreo, saludando con susamigos y jugando con losbalones.

Se escucha una voz enmedio de los estudiantes diri-giendose a ellos y pidiendolesque se formen en linea paraentrar a sus aulas.

Tim Lankford tiene unarutina diaria,como el nuevorector de la escuela PrimariaNewhall, a el le gusta comen-zar cada mañana saludando asus estudiantes, dandoles ani-mo, y recordandoles sobre esedia escolar. El pregunta “Estanlistos para otro gran dia deaprendizaje?” Los estudiantescontestan con un grito “SI!”

En la proxima hora. Lank-ford visita las aulas. El llama aesto, la mejor parte del dia.

El revisa las tareas de losestudiantes o les ayuda consus tareas actuales. Los estu-diantes que pasan por los cor-redores, le gritan con unsaludo y algunos paran paradarle un abrazo.

En sus primeros mesesde trabajo Lankford ha hechoya una impresión muy claraen estos estudiantes.

El Superintendente delDistrito Escolar Newhall,Marc Winger dijo, La escuelaha estado buscando un rectoren los ultimos años.

No habia dirección (en laescuela) por algun tiempo,dice Winger, hubieron circun-stancias que causo que fuera-mos asi.

Winger dice “Siempreestamos buscando por lideresfuertes y pienso que hemosencontrado uno en (Lankford).

La escuela primaria New-hall es la mas antigua en elDistrito Escolar Newhall. Ori-ginalmente fue construida enel año de 1878, Después devarios incendios, el edificioescolar que existe ahora en laesquina de la calle Walnut y lacalle 11th, esta en el procesode otro proyecto de moderni-zacion. Esta vez es una biblio-teca, tecnología y mejoras enel sistema de seguridad.

Hay mas de seiscientoscincuenta estudiantes en estaescuela El cuarenta y cincopor ciento de ellos registranque Ingles es su segundo idi-oma. Mientras que Lankfordno es bilingüe, el dice que notiene ningun problema de co-

El Nuevo RectorPone Sus Huellas.

CONTINUA EN LA PÁGINA 7.

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municación con sus estudian-tes. El ha conocido a los pad-res de sus estudiantes durantelas reuniones de PTA (aso-ciación de padres y maestros)y durante las conferencias depadre-maestro.

Suzy Miladin, madre deun estudiante dice Lankfordes altamente visible.

“El esta haciendo mu-chos cambios, los cuales sonbuenos,” dice Miladin. “Esbueno tener una mano firmeque este guiando. Y los niñosrealmente lo quieren. Mi Hijacorre hacia el y lo abrazacada vez que lo mira.

Lankford, ha estado ejer-ciendo la carrera de maestro

por los ultimos doce años,Previamente el ha servidocomo rector en la EscuelaPrimaria “118th Street” en elDistrito Unificado de LosAngeles.

Hay tres R’s por las queLankford vive y refuerza a losestudiantes regularmente yson: Respeto, responsabili-dad, resultados.

“Es importante para mique los estudiantes respetena los adultos en la escuela yque hagan sus tareas cadadia. Los resultados seran bue-nas notas y en sus examenesbuenas calificaciones lascuales seguiran subiendo.Esto es importante” diceLankford.

El entusiasmadamenteelogia a los maestros de la es-cuela Newhall, diciendo queellos y los padres de familia

que estan involucrados, ver-daderamente se preocupanpor todos los niños. Losmaestros estan igualmenteimpresionados.

“El sabe todo lo que su-cede en la escuela y hace quelos niños sean responsablespor sus acciones, dice la pro-fesora Cindy Edwards.

Winger dice Lankfordconoce sobre la enseñanza ycuando entra en una de lasaulas, el sabe lo que quiereencontrar. El recientementeha establecido un programa“arte del lenguaje” paraestudiantes que tienen bajascalificaciones. En vez deretirar a estos estudiantes desu clase, Lankford tiene atodos los estudiantes de esaclase trabajando con instruc-tores del programa titulo 1,para que todos reciban lamisma información, Todos, el

dice, seran beneficiados deesta ayuda adicional.

Lankford, ha pedido a susmaestros que pregunten a losestudiantes al final del dia quehan aprendido en ese dia. Losniños son honestos, el dice, yellos diran si han aprendidouna nueva palabra del vocabu-lario, resuelto un problema dematematicas o solamentediran “Nada nuevo.”

“El es positivo y se tomael tiempo necesario paratener afinidad con los niños.”

Winger dice “Lo miranjusto e interesado en ellos. Else ha compenetrado con losniños.”

Parece que los jóvenesestudiantes tienen un afectoverdadero por su nuevo rec-tor. Y este afecto es mutuo,Lankford dice, que el es firmecon los estudiantes cuandose trata de disciplina.

“Trato a los niños justa-mente, pero eso no quiere de-cir que los trato a todos porigual” el dice “Todos los niñosaquí son exitosos.

Hay mucho que apren-der en la escuela para ambos,los estudiantes y el nuevorector.

Lankford y su esposa Jo-sephine, estan esperando suprimer hijo en el mes deMayo, son nuevos residentesdel Valle de Santa Clarita.Aunque solamente tiene pocotiempo en la escuela PrimariaNewhall, parece que ya haencajado.

“Quiero asegurarme quetodo niño que viene a la escu-ela este seguro y que ellostengan un maravilloso tiempode aprendizaje “dice el ”Yocreo que cada dia es otrograndioso dia para aprender.”

Rector,CONT.DE LA PÁGINA 6.

In Brief.

CANYON THEATRE STAGES ‘OKLAHOMA!’Rodgers and Hammerstein’s award-winning musical,

“Oklahoma!” will come roaring into the Canyon Theatre Guildon March 24 for a six-week run. This timeless classic featuressuch memorable songs as “People Will Say We’re In Love,” “ICain’t Say No,” “All ‘Er Nothin’,” “The Farmer and the Cow-man” and, of course, “Oklahoma!” Be sure to see this high-spirited musical, with choreography that made musical the-ater history. It’s fun for the whole family — so come on, y’all,and join the Canyon players for some foot-stomping fun, withromance and adventure thrown in for good measure. Perfor-mances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., with Sat-urday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and Sunday evening per-formances at 6:30 p.m. Call the box office at 661/799-2702 forspecific dates and times. Tickets are $10, $13 or $17.

‘COTTAGE’ TO CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY.Cottage On Walnut will celebrate its first anniversary in

business with a fun-filled evening for the community onSaturday, March 11, from 9 p.m. to 9 p.m. Local residents andfriends for 20 years, owners Colleen Henriques and Sue Nei-berger have invited more than three hundred guests to “puton their party shoes” for a unique encounter with severalartists who will share their creativity, including Mary AnnRipper’s “Shoe Stories” sculptures and performance art;Glenn Anderson’s Scandinavian wood carvings; Donna Weil’soil and water color paintings; and Joshua Esparza’s murals,interior finishes and more. The ladies are planning a host offestivities along with food, spirits, music and “Sole Readings.”Specializing in antiques, home décor, gift items and aneclectic mix of old and new, Cottage On Walnut is open sevendays a week at 24417 Walnut Street in Old Town Newhall.

NEWHALL FARMERS’ MARKET REOPENS APRIL 6.The Old Town Newhall Farmers’ Market on San Fernando

Road at 5th Street will reopen Thursday, April 6, coincidingwith daylight savings time. Shop weekly to stock your homewith fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables and handicrafts. Visit withfarmers and friends, eating an informal dinner and tasting awide variety of your favorite produce. Make it a family traditionin the spring and summer. Hours are Thursdays from 4 p.m. to8 p.m. through September. Convenient parking is available.

By JENNY AURIT,Economic Development

Project Technician,

City Of Santa Clarita.

High-End Fashion Show

Mixes Traditional Western

With Cowboy Chic.

Western fashions will do-minate the runway at the city’sannual Cowboy Couture Fash-ion Show, a one-of-a-kind trib-ute to Santa Clarita’s Westernroots and modern-day charm.

Back by popular demand,the fashion show kicks off theCowboy Festival on Wednes-day, April 26, at 7 p.m. at theCanyon Theater Guild, withthe latest in Western fashionfrom some of the nation’s hot-test couture designers includ-ing Marrika Nak, Double DRanch and Ann & Eve.

The evening is perfect forboth men and women. It be-gins with an elegant wine re-ception in the foyer; the showitself feature scores of West-ern-influenced designs formen and women, from extrav-agant and antique to adaptablecowboy chic. The evening’smodels include communitymembers from local busines-ses and charity organizations.The expertly choreographedshow will be emceed by acelebrity deejay from Countrystation KZLA 93.9-FM.

Santa Clarita’s rich West-

ern heritage makes the cityan ideal setting for a Westernfashion show. In fact, HBO’s“Deadwood,” shot in SantaClarita, has sparked in-creased interest in cowboyfashion the world over.

However, while the de-signs seen at Cowboy Couturewill include elements of thepast, they will also include anundeniable modern-day flair.

For the first time at Cou-ture, fashions from rodeotailor Nudie Cohn will be fea-tured. Nudie is well known forhis work with some of the en-tertainment industries elite,including Roy Rogers, JohnLennon, John Wayne, SteveMcQueen, Johnny Cash, Cher,Elton John, Liberace, EricClapton and the rock bandAmerica. Nudie is probablybest known for the $10,000gold suite he designed forElvis Presley, rocketing him

to stardom and solidifying hisplace in the fashion industry.

Nudie died in 1984; todayNudie’s granddaughter, JamieLee, carries on his tradition ofcrafting one-of-a-kind Westernclothing featuring ornate lea-therwork, silverwork, em-broidery and rhinestones,resulting in the best rodeo tail-oring money can buy.

Designer Amy Hoban,whose Western line, Califor-niawear, has been featured inthe fashion pages of Cowboys& Indians magazine, will debutpieces from her new collectionincluding retro cowgirl outfitsand cowboy shirts.

Attendees will delight inlive entertainment from KatyMoffatt, whose two Columbiaalbums, “Katy” and “Kissin’ inthe California Sun,” have gar-nered rave reviews from Rol-ling Stone and Newsweekmagazines. A Santa Clarita res-ident, Moffatt was dubbed oneof America’s most honest andaffecting singer-songwriters.

As a commemorative,Cowboy Couture T-shirts willbe available. All proceedsbenefit local charities.

Whether you’re lookingfor a hot new pair of Cowboyboots, a prairie skirt, a patch-work shirt or just a little West-ern flair for your next night out,don’t miss Cowboy Couture.Tickets are $20 per person andare available online at www.cowboyfestival.org. For moreinformation call 661/286-4021.

Cowboy Couture Returns.

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hit HBO series, “Deadwood,”and is the perfect venue for thepopular Western festival.

The 2006 Cowboy Festivallineup looks to be one of thebest yet. Featured performersinclude some crowd favorites— the Sons of the San Joaquin,Don Edwards, Waddie Mit-chell, Lorraine Rawls andmany others. A full perform-ance schedule is availableonline at the festival website,www.cowboyfestival.org.

This year’s kick-off eventsinclude the Cowboy CoutureFashion Show, a Women Art-ists of the West event at HartHall and an “Art of the Chuck-wagon” demonstration at Heri-tage Junction Historic Park.

On Friday night, April 28,four simultaneous CowboyFestival events will be goingon, ensuring that everyone hasthe chance to “cowboy up!”

The popular SpaghettiWestern Family Dinner Train,hosted by the Fillmore andWestern Railway Company,will offer fun and food for thewhole family.

The Walk of Western Starsceremony will give folks theopportunity to enjoy a star-studded evening out to honorthe accomplishments of starsof the silver screen. The eventactually begins on the side-walks of Newhall at 3 p.m. withthe unveiling of new plaquesfor the Newhall Walk of West-ern Stars, and concludes with agala dinner at 7 p.m. at theHyatt Valencia Hotel and SantaClarita Conference Center.

Meanwhile, Singer DonEdwards and other musicianswill explore the history ofWestern music at the “Legacyof Violence in Western Song”event at the Autry Museum.

Finally, The Canyon The-atre Guild will present aspecial production of thepopular musical “Oklahoma!”

Be sure to save some en-ergy for the weekend, whenthe Melody Ranch MotionPicture Studio opens itsdoors to the public forentrance to the annual Cow-boy Festival. Guests aretransported by shuttle to theranch, disembarking to thesounds of cowboy music andthe smell of authentic cow-boy peach cobbler.

Five separate music stag-es will feature ongoing enter-tainment throughout theweekend. Tickets are $15 foradults and $10 for childrenunder eleven years of age eachday and include entrance tothe Cowboy Gear Show andGold Rush Food Court.

On Sunday, you can be-

gin your day at 8 a.m. at TheMaster’s College with CowboyChurch. Admission is free. Al-so on Sunday, Atlasta Ranchwill host a Carousel RanchBenefit Trail Ride from 8 a.m.to noon. Each of these activi-ties is a great way to get in thecowboy spirit before youhead out to Melody Ranch.

Some events sell out, sobuy your tickets early toavoid being left out of thisSanta Clarita tradition.

A special two-day week-end pass is available, and thecity offers a limited numberof “Friends of the Festival”packages, which include ad-mission to Melody Ranch forboth Saturday and Sunday;preferred seating at all Mel-ody Ranch Stage shows; all-weekend access to theMelody Ranch VIP Haciendawith catered food andbeverages ... and much more.

For more informationabout the 2006 Santa ClaritaCowboy Festival, to subscribeto “eNotify” e-mail notifica-tions or to buy tickets, log ontowww.cowboyfestival.org.Tickets are also available byphone from the city’s FestivalBox Office at 1-800-305-0755.

8.

SANTA CLARITA’S LARGEST NURSERYOver 12 Acres of Large and Healthy

TREES ~ PLANTS ~ SUPPLIESComplete Garden Center

26191 Bouquet Cyn. Rd., Saugus(at Cinema Drive between Trader Joe’s & Kmart)

Lic. #C-27 404890

OPEN 7 DAYS ~ 661/255.8838

Festival,CONT.FROM FRONT PAGE.

WHETHER YOU’RE A FAN OF ‘GUNSMOKE’ OR‘DEADWOOD,’ YOU’LL RECOGNIZE MELODY RANCH.

OLD PALS —Jack Hannah of the

Sons of the San Joaquin, left,with his onetime high schoolstudent — City ManagerKen Pulskamp, who broughtthe Cowboy Festival toSanta Clarita in 1994.

WHAT’S THIS, A RIVAL GAZETTE?Not really. Melody Ranch was the setting for the 1996

Bruce Willis film, “Last Man Standing.” The name of the townwas Jericho, and its newspaper was the Press-Gazette.

Cowboy Festival Sidelights.

SAVOR THE ART OF THE CHUCKWAGON.In partnership with the Thirteenth Annual Cowboy Festival,

the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society will present “The Artof the Chuckwagon: A Feast for the Western Senses” onThursday, April 27, at Heritage Junction Historic Park in OldTown Newhall. The evening starts at 6 p.m. with an art showfeaturing works by members of the Santa Clarita Artists’Association, as well as other local artists featured in previousfestival “Quick Draw” events. Music will be provided by aWestern band, and real, live chuckwagon cooks will demonstratehow they fed the crowds on the cattle drives across the prairie.

Admission is $35 and includes an up-close and personal lookat the cooks, the gear and the art. There will be a no-host saloonand an evening’s worth of prairie lore. All proceeds benefit theHistorical Society and its preservation efforts. There are threeways to get tickets for the event: Log onto the city’s CowboyFestival website at www.cowboyfestival.org; call the city’s tickethotline at 661/286-4021; or visit the Arts and Events Office at CityHall, 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Suite 120, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WOMEN TO DISPLAY AND SELL WESTERN ARTWORK.Women Artists of the West — WAOW, pronounced “wow”

— will hold its fifth annual art exhibit and sale inside Hart Hallat William S. Hart Park from April 27 to 30, in conjunction withthe Cowboy Festival. The Lost Canyon Rangers, Cowboy PoetJoe Herrington and Buck Corbett and the Boys from the DoubleJ will perform at a reception for festival participants at HartHall on Thursday, April 27, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The art showand receptions are open to the public, and admission is free.

WAOW is a national organization of women artists workingin diverse mediums and styles. Visitors will see original worksin oil, watercolor, mixed-media, pencil, pastel, mezzotint andother fine art print processes, and sculptures in bronze andclay. Subject matter includes Western work and horses,landscapes, wildlife, still life, figurative and abstract works.

Exhibit hours: Thursday, April 17, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.(reception, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.); Friday, April 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.;Saturday, April 29, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (WAOW reception, 2 p.m.to 5 p.m.); Sunday, April 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

TELL EVERYBODY WHAT YOU THINK.E-mail A Letter To The Gazette: Letters@oldtownnewhall.com

9.

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES& CORRECT PRINTING ERRORS. PRICES GOOD

WHILE SUPPLIES LAST, NO SUBSTITUTIONS

WE GLADL Y ACCEPT ALL MANUF ACTURERS COUPONS

INTERNATIONAL

PHONE CARDSSOLD HERE!

25¢ Ea.UP TO $500.00

CAMARILLO PG 4

OPEN 6 A.M. TO 10:00 P.M.13158 VAN NUYS BLVD.

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OPEN 6 A.M. TO 11:00 P.M.24316 SAN FERNANDO RD.

NEWHALL(661)255-3345

OPEN 6 A.M. TO 10:00 P.M.11350 SATICOY ST.

SUN VALLEY(818)764-7932

OPEN 5 A.M. TO 10:00 P.M.280 E. HARVARD

SANTA PAULA, CA. (805) 933-0555

SANTA CLARITA, CA OPEN 7A.M. TO 10:00 P.M.389 ARNELL RD.

CAMARILLO, CA 93010(805) 764-0141

OPEN 5 A.M. TO 10:00 P.M.133 W. PLEASANT VALLEY RD

OXNARD, CA 93033(805) 487-6666

NUTRITIONALFOOD VOUCHERS

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OPENING SOON SANTA CLARITA

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PARA MAS INFORMACION, PRE-GUNTE AL GERENTE DEL SUPERMERCADO

Free Transportation To Your Home See Store Manager For Details

Tresierras Santa Clarita Coming Spring 2006Tresierras Santa Clarita Primavera 2006

PRIVATE LABEL SAVINGSThank you, Newhall and Santa Clarita, for helping us grow. We've had the pleasure of serving the community since 1981, and now we are preparing to celebrate the grand opening of our new store in Santa Clarita on San Fernando Road in Spring 2006.

Our Meat Department features USDA Choice and Harris Ranch Beef, Farmer John Pork and the freshest chicken, pork and marinated meats ready for your grill. Tresierras Carne Asada is famous for quality and authentic taste. Our expert butchers will prepare any cut you like to order.

Fruits and vegetables from the Produce Department are the freshest in town, to help you and your family eat right and priced to help your budget.

You will find the freshest baked good and tortillas prepared here in our store along with authentic Mexican food entrees in our Cocina Dona Pilar, named for the wife of Tresierras' founder, Sr. Frank Tresierras. Everything is prepared daily and ready for you to take home and enjoy!

See our website, www.tresierras.com, for locations and directions to all Tresierras Markets.

10.

rowdy, but in the presence ofFord, whom he revered, hecould be as obedient andinnocent as an altar boy. Thenight before the telecast, Dukelost track of the time, did someserious partying, and arrivedon the Melody Ranch set twoor three hours late with a headquite sensitive to loud noises.

Ford’s voice must havesounded like a hammer beat-ing against the lid of a garbagecan. He was furious. He berat-ed Wayne for holding up re-hearsal and inconveniencingthe rest of the cast. Duke justkept ducking his head andscuffing his toe in the sand andrepeating, “I’m sorry, boss.”

Wayne’s part requiredhim to walk down the Westernstreet where “High Noon’s”immortal face-down occurred,as he recited his lines from thescript. Ford punished him bydemanding endless run-throughs over that quarter-mile stretch of red dust, undera blistering desert sun.

“And you’ll not get somuch as a drop of water,” Fordroared. “Do you HEAR me?”

“Yes, boss,” Wayne re-plied.

While the Duke was suf-fering his penance, Fordsidled up to me and said,“Gene, about twenty minutesbefore we go on the air, Iwant you to give Duke a good,healthy slug of bourbon. Andhalfway through the show,give him another. But don’t lethim know that I know.”

I understood. I walkedover to the ranch house, tooka Coke out of the refrigerator,emptied half of it into thesink, and filled up the bottlewith bourbon. As I recall, werehearsed until four-thirtyand were to hit the air livehalf an hour later, catchingthe East at prime time.

Wayne was standing off-

camera with his tongue hang-ing out when I sauntered upto him, holding out the bottleof Coke.

“Here, Duke,” I said.“Have a swallow of this. Ithink it will help you.”

His face puckered up,and he waved the offer asidewith a short chop of his hand.

“Get that mouthwashaway from me,” he growled.“You want to get me sick?”

As sternly as I could, Isaid, “Duke, I’m telling you,this is just what you need. Tryit. Take a sip.”

He looked at me a littlesuspiciously, took the bottle,and tilted it to his lips. Hiseyes got as round as saucers.When he handed me the emp-ty he said, “Autry, you mayhave saved a man’s life.”

Halfway through theshow I performed the same er-rand. The second time, Waynedidn’t have to be persuaded.

Years later, after his suc-cess in the movie, “True Grit,”I received a package in themail from Wayne. It containeda glossy photograph of himselfas Rooster Cogburn, with thepatch over one eye. The in-

scription said: “To Gene Autry.A lot of water has gone underthe bridge. And whiskey, too.”

When a fire all but devas-tated Melody Ranch in August1962, what I lost could not bereplaced or even measured.

The ranch was in the pathof the terrible firestorm thatraged through the San GabrielMountains. Covering onehundred acres, the ranch hadonce been one of the finest inthe business when Monogramowned it. I had purchased itten years before the fire, leas-ing it for the filming of suchshows as “Gunsmoke” and“Wyatt Earp,” as well as thoseproduced by my own com-pany, Flying A Pictures.

I had always planned toerect a Western museumthere, but priceless Indianrelics and a collection of rareguns, including a set used byBilly the Kid, went up insmoke. Thank God, the ranchhands and all fourteen of ourhorses were uninjured.

The fire left the terrain soconvincingly battle-scarredthat it was used two monthslater for an episode of televis-ion’s war series, “Combat.”

The network specialwith Wayne and Ford wouldbe the last time I went beforethe cameras at MelodyRanch. I have been back onlya very few times. I kept ituntil the last living Championdied and then sold it to twoenthusiastic young men,Renaud and Andre Veluzat,who decided to rebuild it.

Now, in the Nineties, it isonce again the site of much

filming of features and tele-vision.

As for my plans for aWestern museum, this came tofruition with the opening in1988 — after much hard workspearheaded by my wife Jack-ie and Joanne Hale — of theAutry Museum of Western Her-itage, located in Griffith Parkopposite the Los Angeles Zoo.

My dream finally cametrue.

The Autry Museum ofWestern Heritage (the AutryNational Center) is openTuesdays through Sundaysfrom 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. TakeInterstate 5 south to WesternAvenue and turn right. Turnleft at Victory Boulevardand follow the signs. Admis-sion is $7.50, with dis-counts for seniors andstudents. For more informa-tion, call 323/667-2000.

Autry,CONT.FROM FRONT PAGE.

THOSE TWO ‘ENTHUSIASTIC YOUNG MEN,’RENAUD AND ANDRE VELUZAT (RIGHT), HAD

ONLY JUST BEGUN TO REBUILD MELODY RANCHWHEN AUTRY (LEFT) VISITED IN 1991. SECOND

FROM LEFT IS PATRIARCH PAUL T. VELUZAT.

THREE AMIGOS: DIRECTOR JOHN FORD (CENTER)WITH JIMMY STEWART AND THE DUKE.

JOHN WAYNE PULLS A GUN ON BAD GUY YAKIMACANUTT (OFF CAMERA) WHILE GABBY HAYES

GUMS HIS CHAW IN ‘BLUE STEEL’ (1934), ONE INA SERIES OF LONE STAR WESTERNS SHOT AT

MELODY RANCH AND OTHER NEARBY LOCATIONS.

Watch Santa ClaritaHistory On The Tube.

“Points Of Interest”WITH HOST PHILIP SCORZA

MONDAYS AT 6:30 P.M.

“Legacy: Santa Clarita’s Living History”WITH HOST LEON WORDEN

THURSDAYS AT 6:30 P.M.

ONLY ON S.C.V.T.V. CHANNEL 20AVAILABLE TO COMCAST & TIME WARNER CABLE CUSTOMERS

11.

COWBOY FESTIVAL HEADLINERS.

Don Edwards.Historian, author, musicologist and the best

cowboy balladeer in the business, Don bringsa rare complement of knowing and loving hiscraft. He will show you the wide panorama ofthe West with songs and storytelling.www.donedwardsmusic.com

The Lucky Stars.Our Saturday Night Swing Dance will feature The Lucky Stars, one of the hottest West-

ern swing bands going. These boys come from the wilds of Los Angeles but play like theywere born and raised in Texas. They look, sound and feel like a premier ‘40s Western group.www.theluckystars.com

Syd Masters And The Swing Riders.Syd and the boys really had the audiences hopping last year with their infectious

energy and high-octane swing. You’ll love their renditions of vintage Western swing.www.sydmasters.com

Stephanie Davis.Truly one of the best songwriters around,

Stephanie’s songs have been recorded by GarthBrooks and she’s a regular on “A Prairie HomeCompanion.” You’ll find that her music revealsthe longing and laughter inside all of us.www.stephaniedavis.net

Brenn Hill.Billboard Magazine writes, “Brenn Hill is a

bridge between Western music’s best tradi-tions and the future of the genre.” His wonder-ful voice and well crafted songs are alwayswelcome in Santa Clarita.www.brennhill.com

R.W. Hampton.R.W. has always been a crowd favorite at

our festival. He’s grown up working on ranchesand performing on stages throughout theWest. He’s a multiple award winning singer-songwriter with nine CD releases to his credit.www.rwhampton.com

Sourdough Slim.Totally retro, hilariously entertaining and tri-

umphant from Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center,county fairs and cowboy events across thenation, Sourdough is a delight to watch and hear.www.sourdoughslim.com

Chris Isaacs.Two-time winner of the Academy of Western

Artists “Will Rogers” Award, Chris Isaacs haslived what he writes. His poems and stories re-flect the heart and humor of his life as a cowboy.www.chrisisaacs.com

Sky Shivers.Inveterate storyteller and truth stretcher,

Sky is back to emcee the Melody Ranch stage,proving once again that you can fool some ofthe people most of the time.

Jon Chandler.From Colorado come Jon Chandler and the

Wichitones. Jon is a great songwriter and vocal-ist and is paired with two great musicians whobring a new sound and flavor to Western music.He’s also an award-winning Western novelist.www.jonchandler.com

Lorraine Rawls.Lorraine and her group are back with their

unique, soulful sound. Listening to her songsmakes you want to stretch out in front of awarm fire on a cool prairie night, gaze at thestars and snuggle up to the one you love.www.lorrainerawls.com

Waddie Mitchell.Waddie writes and recites cowboy poetry as

only one who has lived the life can. With a wrysense of humor and heartfelt compassion, hebrings insight to the trials and tribulations ofthe working cowboy.www.somagency.com/WaddieMitchell

The Sons Of The San Joaquin.With a new CD release, “Way Out Yonder,” the Sons prove that no one com-

pares when it comes to the classic Western sound. Festival favorites, the Sons ofthe San Joaquin always thrill with perfect harmonies and powerful vocals.www.thesons.com

The Quebe Sisters Band.A fantastic new fiddle trio from Texas, the Quebe Sisters Band amazed crowds

at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, in 2005 with flawlessthree-part harmonies on fiddles and vocals. Hold on to your seats — they’re allunder 20 years old but play like veterans.

Back At The Ranch.This superb trio delivers a swinging blend of original and roots-based music

featuring the husband and wife team, Clover and Rachel Carroll, with Ricky Turpinon fiddle. The effortless ease with which the combo performs their classic selec-tions will, as Red Steagall says, “knock your hat in the creek!”www.backattheranch.biz

12.

By SHELBY JACOBS,1953 Class President,

Hart High School.

Parents Toiled To Provide

Opportunities For Family.

Star Athlete And Scholar

Didn’t Let Them Down.

My family moved to ValVerde from Santa Monica in1944-45, primarily because myfather was appointed pastor ofthe Macedonia Church of GodIn Christ, which remains inoperation to this day. My fath-er also thought that raisingchildren in a smaller, lessdensely populated area wouldenhance the chances of grow-ing up to be productive citi-zens by avoiding what heperceived to be the too-numer-ous pitfalls of urban life.

My parents were devoutChristians. My father, ShelbySr., worked full time, holdingvarious jobs over the years inaddition to his pastoral du-ties. My mom, Rosie Lee,worked part-time as domes-tic in Newhall.

We were a family of four— Mom and Dad, me and abrother, Horace, who was oneyear younger. We werebrought up with strong moralvalues because of the conserv-ative Christian philosophy ofmy dad’s church.

One of my lessons of alifetime came when I inadver-tently took a pencil homefrom church. My mom had mereturn it and say I had stolenit. She believed in the absolutedefinition that stealing is de-priving one of his propertywithout specific permission,regardless of intention. I wascrushed. I had no intention tosteal; I had simply forgotten toput down the pencil down be-fore I left church.

I never forgot the embar-rassment of the incident, andhow harsh it felt at the time.But I learned beyond a reason-able doubt what stealing wasabout, and why it’s included inthe Ten Commandments.

Looking back, I did not re-alize how poor we were. Myparents never held more thanminimum-wage jobs, and somefolks on welfare seemed better

off than us.We lived

in two housesover thoseyears. Thefirst was asmall, rented,two-bedroom,

one-bath house on the cornerof the only road between ValVerde and Hasley Canyon. Thesecond house my father built.It was somewhat larger —although small, by today’sstandards — and included adining room and other mini-mal amenities.

During the year or two ittook to build our new house,we lived in a one-room, all-purpose tent with a two-holeouthouse toilet and no run-ning water. At the time, I didnot realize the health hazardof having an outhouse andwater source in the sameyard, but we had learned avery important safety lessonfrom past experience: Theold hole was too full; thus thedirt covering was too shallow.

The lesson came from anincident at a new home wehad owned in Texas in the ear-ly 1940s. We had an outhousethat was relocated in the backyard. The old hole had notbeen dug deep enough, be-cause my brother sank almostto his waist while playing. Ittook a couple of days to gethim cleaned up, and thelesson served us well in ValVerde because it took severalyears to afford the construc-tion of a new septic tank.

We never owned a tele-vision or telephone because ofconservative church values,combined with limited re-sources. Evenings were spentdoing chores, homework andoccasionally gathering aroundthe radio for entertainment.

I recall learning how todrive at a very young age —twelve or thirteen — not forfun or recreational use, but tohelp my father transport Momto and from work and shop-ping during the summers,which tended to free up week-ends for church events. Natur-ally, we could afford only onecar. My father often workedsecond- or third-shift jobs andslept during the day, so I wasthe chosen one.

My mom did housecleaning for at least one ofmy schoolmates’ parents that

I knew of; perhaps therewere others. The fact that Iwas able to excel academ-ically and athletically tendedto mask the class differencebetween me and many of mymore privileged school-mates.

I’m sure there wereothers who lived middle orlower-middle class, but wewere so isolated in Val Verdethat it appeared the wholeworld was better off.

We were generally prettyconfined in Val Verde. Myonly outings during the sum-mer were my chauffeuringchores, driving Mom to New-hall. Of course, duringschool, we got out to Newhallfive days a week. Wow!

I became quite a profici-ent swimmer, taking everyopportunity when not work-ing or chauffeuring to spendtime at the Olympic-size poolprovided at Val Verde Park.

I was a three-sport, four-year letterman (football, bas-ketball and track) at HartHigh School and managed tofind time to be a member ofthe Key Club and VarsityClub, and serve as seniorclass president. I occasional-

ly made the academic honorsociety. My days were alwayslong, beginning at 6:30 or 7a.m., with a twelve-mileschool bus ride to Hart,classes until 3 p.m. or so, fol-lowed by two to three hoursof sports practice, returning

home by bus at 6 or 6:30 p.m.I sometimes hitch-hiked

home when I missed the latebus or it didn’t run. One Fri-day after an away game at Fill-more High School, I had thebus driver drop me off at Tip’s

Life Lessons From The ‘Good Old Days.’

Hart High’s senior college preperatoryclass of 1953 takes a field trip to Hollywood tosee the first 3-D film, “Bwana Devil” (ArchOboler, 1952). There were sixty-five studentsin the entire Class of 1953; two of the threeblack students — the author and Mary How-ard — were in college prep. Front row, from

left: Charles Merrill, Shelby Jacobs, MaryHoward, Nadra Bruton, Claudine Helm, Con-nie Thomson, Diane Corwin, Veda Dull, JoEllen Edwards, Doris Daily, Mrs. Norma Lewis(English teacher). Back row, from left: AllenHayne, John Lockey, Tom Cox, Michael Kel-ley, Bill Caruthers.

SHELBY (FRONT LEFT) AND HORACE (HART CLASSOF 1954) WITH THEIR PARENTS, SHELBY SR. AND

ROSIE LEE (BEHIND THEM) AND ANOTHER COUPLEAFTER A CHURCH MEETING IN VENTURA, 1946-47.

COLLEGE PREP CLASS OUTING —

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13.

restaurant at CastaicJunction, where I worked allnight (the third shift).

That was a 24-hour dayof activity without sleep. Ididn’t even give it a secondthought at the time. Lookingback, it seems a little harsh,but I endured.

I had decided to take acollege preparatory coursebecause of my early demon-strated capabilities in ele-mentary and junior high,even though I didn’t have aclue as to how my familycould afford college. I knewlittle, if anything, about thepotential for academic orathletic scholarships.

I took an aptitude testsometime near the end of myjunior year or the beginningof my senior year (1952-53).My scores were high in mathand science, indicatingcareer potential in technicalfields such as engineering,physics or other sciences.

I was reminded of the“Jackie Robinson phenome-non” — the removal of legaland social barriers that pre-vented blacks from partici-pating in professional sports,beginning with baseball in1946-47 and spreading tofootball, basketball andothers by the early 1950s.

The Jackie Robinson phe-nomenon had not includedthe technical professions bythe time I was ready tograduate from Hart in 1953.

The “good old days”served a useful purpose inmy life. I learned to strive forsuccess in spite of the odds.

It is said that life’s experi-ences determine one’s charac-ter — which I can’t deny.However, it may be moreabout how one reacts to cir-cumstances — the choicesone makes — that has moreto do with whether one over-comes or succumbs to theissues of the day.

I would not prescribethe social climate of my era;we’ve come too far to turnback the clock.

Shelby Jacobs retiredfrom Rockwell in 1996 aftera 40-year aerospace career.He now lives in Oceanside,California.

13.

By PAUL BROTZMAN,Community Development

Director,

City Of Santa Clarita.

Experienced Engineer Has

Been With City Since 1991.

PARKING STRUCTURE AT

SIXTH AND SAN FERNANDO ROAD

IS FIRST ‘CATALYST’ PROJECT.

I am excited to announcethe appointment of AssistantCity Engineer ChristopherPrice as implementation man-ager of the Downtown New-hall Specific Plan.

Chris will be coordinat-ing with all of the many dedi-cated city representativeswho have been working onvarious aspects of the plan inorder to help focus the effortsof all city divisions toward ourshared goals. He will organize,assist and participate directlyin the efforts of the city’sPlanning, Economic Develop-ment, Finance, Capital Im-provement, DevelopmentServices and Traffic divisionsto bring the best possible re-sults to Newhall.

Chris has lived in the cityfor nearly twenty years. Hisfirst job after completing en-gineering school in the late1980s was with a smallprivate engineering company,Hale & Associates, formerlylocated near the northwestcorner of San Fernando Roadand Market Street in Newhall.

His career with the citystarted in 1991 as an assistantengineer, reviewing gradingand infrastructure improve-

ment planssubmitted bydevelopers.Chris wenton to man-age severalcapital pro-jects thatbrought ear-ly street and

drainage improvements tothe older residential neigh-borhoods of Newhall. Heeventually supervised the en-gineering staff members in-volved in all capital projectsacross the city.

Among his many pro-jects throughout town, underChris’ leadership, the New-hall Metrolink Station wasconstructed and the recentlyopened Community Centernext door was planned anddesigned, also creating much-needed parking for both facil-ities.

In his last assignmentbefore moving to the Com-munity Development Depart-ment, Chris managed theDevelopment Services Divi-sion of the Public WorksDepartment. In that capacity,Chris was back to workingwith the city’s planners, landdevelopers, and their con-sultant engineers to carefullyplan and implement their pri-vate projects to best comple-ment the city’s highcommunity standards.

Chris brings to theDowntown Newhall SpecificPlan the ability to manage adiverse variety of infrastruc-ture projects; negotiate withand guide land developersthrough complex procedures;and coordinate and com-municate effectively with all

city departments, divisions,commissions and outsideagencies that have impactson the plan.

His extensive experiencewithin the city and with out-side, private developmentpositions him ideally to ad-vance the plan while protect-ing the interests of thecommunity.

Asked about how he feltabout this new challenge,Chris said he was veryexcited and looks forward “tohelping further the positivechange that the large groupof staff members, citizens,the Redevelopment Com-mittee and council membershave already brought so farinto the process.”

One of the first orders ofbusiness for the implementa-tion plan is the creation of adevelopment proposal for the“South Parking Structure.”

Prior to Chris’ as-signment to the project, staffmembers had drafted and re-leased a “request for quali-fications” that was sent out toquality developers in order togenerate interest in this first“catalyst” project.

The current owners ofthe property identified forthis exciting new facility havethe first opportunity to pro-pose a development that fitsinto the specific plan on thesite in question. If those prop-erty owners are unable to as-semble the componentsnecessary to create such aproject, city staff will takefurther steps with identifieddevelopers to help bring theproject to fruition.

Meanwhile, ongoing ef-forts to help bring privateinterests together with moti-vated property owners willcontinue. The always proact-ive members of the city’sEconomic Development andPlanning divisions have beenspeaking and meeting withmany curious commercial in-terests to bring exciting newshopping, dining and enter-tainment possibilities to theplan area.

Chris can be reached atCity Hall by e-mail atcprice@oldtownnewhall.comor by phone at 661/255-4961.

BEFORE —The home of John and Sarah Gifford, built in

1883, once sat on a portion of the new CommunityCenter property on Market Street, opposite the oldNewhall train depot (erected 1878). John (inset) wasthe Southern Pacific’s first stationmaster in Newhall;Sarah was involved in social circles and was an organ-izer of Newhall’s first Chamber of Commerce. Thehouse was gone by the time Anawalt Lumber — muchless the city of Santa Clarita — occupied the property.

Jacobs,CONT.FROM PAGE 12.

JACOBS OVERCOMESHURDLES IN TRACKAND FIELD AT HART.

New Man ResponsibleFor Downtown Plan.

PRICE.

JOB ONE: PARKING STRUCTURE AT SIXTH STREET.

By BRAD BERENS,Executive Director,

Santa Clarita Valley

Committee On Aging.

LANDMARKS TELL THE STORY

OF MEETING ELDERS’ NEEDS.

Senior Center In Newhall Is

Expanding Services For

Eight Hundred Daily Users.

The Santa Clarita ValleyCommittee on Aging is thirtyyears old this year, and we re-cently got together to honormembers of the communitywho make a difference in thelives of our elders.

In many non-western socie-ties, conceptions of time arecyclic and repetitive. As Amer-icans, our concept of timetends to be linear, highlightedby landmarks along the way.Our landmarks include birth-days, accomplishments, hist-orical events, relationshipsand, unfortunately, tragedies

and the loss of loved ones.As a human services organi-

zation, we are like the peoplewe serve. We view time as tem-poral and we depend on theseframes of reference that markour organizational journey,driven by a mission to servethe elders of our community.

Some of those landmarkswere the development of ourAdult Day Care in 1992 and ourHome Modification Coalitionin 1993, through which staffgained expertise in home mod-ification and universal designfor frail and disabled patrons.

In coordination with thecity of Santa Clarita and othernonprofits, our organization’sresponse in the wake of the1994 earthquake earned rec-ognition as far away as Japanand led to our participation inthe 1996 International Dis-aster Symposium in Tokyo.

In 1999, the Committee onAging hosted and gave testi-mony in congressional hear-ings for the reauthorization ofthe Older Americans Act. Inthat same year, the Committeeopened Bouquet Canyon Seni-

ors, a 264-unit affordable hous-ing community for our elders.

In 2000, the Committee par-ticipated in the AdvantAge Ini-tiative, a nationwide study todetermine how well preparedwe are locally and nationally toaddress the concerns of ourelders. Santa Clarita wasdeemed the most elder-friendlycommunity in the survey.

In 2002, the Committee wasa major contributor to the LosAngeles County Strategic Planfor Long Term Care with anemphasis on home and com-munity-based services. In2003, the organization openedits second affordable housingcommunity in Canyon Coun-try. Close behind was theopening of the Castaic LakeSenior Housing in 2004.

In 2005, we began the pro-cess of facility expansion thatis due to be completed thissummer. With the help of thecity of Santa Clarita, the SeniorCenter will be adding three act-ivity rooms that will enhancerecreational and supportiveservices programming for themore than eight hundred eld-ers who access services everyday. When we begin, our seni-ors will enjoy the new ameni-ties as they are built literally infront of their eyes, as programsand services continue duringthe construction process.

The city of Santa Clarita, itsleaders and staff are vitalparts of our collective journeythat builds landmarks eachand every year for the qualityof life for us all.

These landmarks have ledto wide recognition of theSanta Clarita Valley Commit-tee on Aging as an exemplaryorganization that serves theneeds of senior citizens andthe disabled. Yet they are notwhat define us.

What defines us as an organ-ization are the seniors we serveand the day-to-day com-mitment of a dedicated boardof directors, staff and volun-teers numbering in the hund-reds. Success is achievedprimarily by relationships thatare fostered and nurtured overtime. With more than eightthousand elders in our commu-nity accessing services or pro-grams through the Committeeon Aging, these relationshipsare the most important dynam-ic of our mission of inde-

pendence, dignity and qualityof life for our elders.

These relationships beginwith our patrons themselves.Our seniors provide informalnetworks of care and supportthrough friendships. The dy-namic of seniors helping seni-ors ensures an enhancedquality of life for the entiresenior community. As our eld-ers “age in place,” however,more formal relationships arerequired in order to provideappropriate services whenthey are needed.

The Committee on Agingoffers more than one hundreddistinct services and programsthat address the needs of ourolder population. We are wit-nessing the same dynamic lo-cally that is happening on thenational level — a surge ofneed related to our frail eld-erly. It is our responsibility toanticipate additional needs asthe aging process presentsmore and more limitations onour frail clientele.

Our board of directors, pastand present, should be held inthe highest esteem in our com-munity. Through close rela-tionships and collaborationwith members of the commu-nity, they have launched fund-raisers that benefit our mostfrail elderly and those most atrisk of premature institutional-

ization. They have also provid-ed governance and leadershipto augment the day-to-day ef-forts of a dedicated profes-sional staff.

Our board and the newlycreated board of trustees forthe SCV Senior Center Foun-dation will be challenged aswe look forward to our thirddecade of advocacy, servicedelivery and community re-source management on be-half of our elders.

The journey of the SantaClarita Valley Committee onAging is like a never-ending,long-distance relay where thebatons of leadership, servicedelivery, advocacy and pas-sionate belief in our missionare passed periodically. Likethe proverbial adage, “Thejourney of a thousand milesbegins with a single step,” ourrendition includes “hand tohand and heart to heart.”

With this thought in mind,we are indebted to the GageBriens, the Juanita Heinleys,the Jo Anne Darcys, the RussCockrans, the Clarice Se-crests, the Stan Sierads, thePaul Boogs, the BarbaraStearns-Cockrans, the MaryBlankenships and the hund-reds of others who were andare landmarks in and ofthemselves in this communityjourney of independence, dig-nity, and quality of life.

14.

Especially For Seniors.

STEP INTO YOUR DANCING SHOES.Try out the best wooden dance floor in the Santa Clarita

Valley when Jimmy Raschel and Longshot perform at theSanta Clarita Valley Senior Center, 22900 Market Street, onMarch 24. Doors open at 7 p.m. Couples and singles over 18are welcome. Call 259-9444.

AARP DRIVER SAFETY TRAINING OFFERED.Instructors Roger Oleson and Glenn Grade will teach

the AARP Driver Safety Program at the Senior Center onceper month through the end of the year. The eight-hour class,taught over two days (Fridays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sat-urdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) covers the “rules of theroad” and safety tips. Successful completion earns each par-ticipant a three-year certificate; drivers over 50 earn an autoinsurance credit. Classes will be held at the Senior Center onMarch 10 and 11 (Oleson), April 7 and 8 (Grade), May 12 and13 (Oleson) and monthly thereafter. Call 259-9444.

LECTURE SERIES COVERS SENIOR ISSUES.The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center has scheduled the

following lectures on Wednesdays in March: “Reverse mort-gage: Will it work for you?” on March 8 with JoAnne Leone ofWells Fargo Bank; on March 15, a pharmacist will discuss yourmedications (bring them with you); “How gum disease threat-ens your health” on March 22 with Dr. Bencharit of ValenciaPeriodontics; “Diabetes: Treatment and Diagnosis” on March 29with Dr. Chen. Lectures are held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Activi-ty Rooms 1 and 2 at the Senior Center, 22900 Market Street.

SUPERVISOR MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH ANDHIS DEPUTY, JO ANNE DARCY, CONGRATULATE

THEN-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MARY BLANKENSHIPAT THE DEDICATION OF THE SANTA CLARITA

VALLEY SENIOR CENTER ON MAY 4, 1983.

Serving Elders For Thirty Years.

15.

CowboyCouture

To purchase t ickets: 661-286-4021 or www.cowboyfestival.org

Includes Wine Reception

The Ultimate High-End Fashion Show

Wednesday, April 26 7:00 p.m.

at The Canyon Theatre Guild Playhouse

in Old Town Newhall

$20/person

New Community Center Opens.Boxing and ballet folklori-

co demonstrations, mariachimusic and tasty conchas greet-ed visitors at the January 21grand opening of the Communi-ty Center on Market Street.

In both size and style, the17,000-square-foot CommunityCenter dwarfs the old facility —a warehouse on San FernandoRoad that saw its membershipexplode since 1994 to 2,000youngsters per year.

Hundreds of kids signed upfor programs at the new centeron the first day, and by the endof the first week, there was awaiting list for most classes —which range from the award-winning boxing and ballet pro-grams to karate, violin, drawing,photography and more.

Highlighting its importanceas a true “center” for the New-hall community, the city-run fac-ility also offers homework assis-tance for latchkey kids, age-ap-propriate leadership classes forelementary through high school-aged students, and courses incitizenship and English as a Sec-ond Language for parents.

An Arts And Theater District?By PHIL LANTIS,Arts And Events

Administrator,

City Of Santa Clarita.

City Is Determined To

Weave The Arts Into The

Redevelopment Of Newhall.

STEP ONE: IDENTIFY AND

MARKET A MEMORABLE IMAGE

FOR THE AREA.

What is an arts and thea-ter district? It is an area of acity set apart to enhance artis-tic endeavors of local artists, inaddition to becoming the focusfor arts from all genres in a city.

An arts and theater dist-rict reflects a diversity of cul-tural programming. It shouldbe a place that communicateslocal history together with alook toward the future.

To create a district, sever-al factors need to be consider-ed, including activities andspecial events; the role of thearts in urban design, planning,and economic development;coalitions and coordination;leadership; a reliable source offunding; and image building.

Some of these factors arealready in place for Old TownNewhall — which has not beenofficially designated as an arts

and theater district but has uti-lized some of these approachesin the area’s development.

Additionally, the Down-town Newhall Specific Plansuggests the development of a“creative industries district,”which will also enhance therole of the arts in Newhall.

Old Town Newhall is cur-rently home to the valley’s twolocal live theaters — the Can-yon Theatre Guild and theRepertory East Playhouse —as well as the Santa Clarita Ar-tists’ Association Art Gallery.

The area is also home to

a variety of cultural andartistic events throughout theyear — everything from theCowboy Festival, now in its13th year, to the Santa ClaritaValley Film Festival, held forthe first time in November.

The arts can also play asignificant role in the visuallandscape of the area, with artin public places being a mech-anism that has been an impor-tant component of other artsdistricts. Public art can includemurals, sculptures, uniquedecorative elements and manyother art forms. Artists can al-so be included in design dis-cussions to add a creative flairto the general appearance ofthe community and result in anenvironment that is conduciveto future artistic activities.

A key factor to building asuccessful arts district is acommitment to the coordina-tion, leadership and fundingfor the designated area.

The city of Santa Claritahas made a commitment to re-develop Old Town Newhall,with financial and staff re-sources dedicated to that end.The creation and adoption ofthe Downtown Newhall Spe-cific Plan, and identifying theredevelopment of Newhall asa top goal of the City Council,are further indications of thecity’s commitment to the area.

The final essential factorfor creating an arts district is tobuild an image for the area —what someone thinks of, or the

first thing that comes to mindwhen an area is mentioned.There are numerous examples,from North Hollywood’s “No-Ho” campaign to West Holly-wood’s “Avenue of Art.” It iscrucial that this identity isunique and true to what thearea is currently, and what itwill become in the future.

This marketing effort isone of the biggest challengesin creating an arts district, andthe identity can take years tobe embraced by the entirecommunity and the region.

The next steps need to bedriven by the goals identified inthe Newhall Specific Plan. Thearts need to continue to ad-vance the economic growth ofthe area, while also being a toolto celebrate the historical andcultural uniqueness of the area.

If the arts are able to ach-ieve this, they will be an inte-gral part of the redevelopmentefforts, and the arts and theaterdistrict concept could be im-plemented in the near future.

All of the informationpresented here is drawn fromthe Newhall Arts and TheatreDistrict Plan written by BryanKeene, a Santa Clarita residentand student at Pepperdine

University, who developed theplan for the city of Santa Clari-ta through the Los AngelesCounty Arts Commission In-tern program. The program isa valuable resource for bothmunicipalities and nonprofitarts organizations to augmenttheir resources and work withthe next generation of arts ad-ministrators and advocates.

The city’s Arts and EventsOffice thanks the County ArtsCommission for its wonderfulprogram, and Bryan Keene forhis hard work and dedication.

Bryan’s research includedinformation from a variety ofplans from other communitiesand organizations that werehelpful to him in formulatingthe Arts and Theatre DistrictPlan. These include the Calif-ornia State University Fuller-ton Grand Central Art CenterPlan, the Urban Land Instituteand the City of Santa AnaPlaza of the Artists Plan, theArts Action Plan for the North-east Minneapolis Arts Associa-tion, the City of VenturaCultural District Plan, the Cityof Reno Cultural Master Plan,the Glendale Theatre DistrictPlan and the Los AngelesCounty Downtown Art in Pub-lic Places Plan.

16.

By MICHAEL MARKS,Arts And Events Supervisor,

City Of Santa Clarita.

The city of Santa Clarita’sArts and Events Office will beembarking on a new projectaimed at bringing more art toOld Town Newhall. Called theNewhall Mural Project, themain idea is to add new mur-als to the downtown area forthe purpose of artistic en-hancement and to initiate thegrowth of the Newhall artsand theater district. The goalof the new project is to addone or two murals per year.

The murals can be as cre-ative and artistic as the artistand property owner wouldlike. A variety of artistic

styles, colors and themes arenow being sought for inclu-sion in this ongoing project.

At this time, the city isseeking appropriate locationsfor murals, and is contactingproperty owners to discussthe project for future partner-ships. The Arts and EventsOffice will be developing thematerials for artists to submittheir ideas and concepts forfinal selection by the SantaClarita Arts Advisory Com-mittee and the owner of theproperty involved.

If you own property inOld Town Newhall and wouldlike to have it considered fora future mural location, or ifyou are an artist interested inparticipating, call me at 286-4078 or send e-mail tommarks@santa-clarita.com.

Mural Project ToEnhance Old Town.

WITH TWO LIVE THEATERS ALREADY, NEWHALLHAS THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF AN ARTS DISTRICT.

SHOWN (FROM LEFT): SONDRA MAYER, PAULMULBRECHT AND BARRETT DAVIDSON ON STAGE

AT THE REPERTORY EAST PLAYHOUSE.

RE

NE

HA

GH

A

17.

News From The

Santa Clarita Valley

Historical Society.

TWO SPECIAL EVENTS MARK

THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH

ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRAGEDY.

Thanks to the hard workof the U.S. Forest Service andLos Angeles County, the roadto the St. Francis Dam site isnow open — albeit rerouted— and the Santa Clarita Val-ley Historical Society’s annu-al tour is on.

Don’t miss this opportu-nity to learn about thesecond-worst naturaldisaster to hit California: thefailure of the St. Francis Damon March 12, 1928, that killedmore than 450 people, level-ed farms and homesteads,destroyed property and live-stock and changed the waydam safety was addressedforevermore.

To fulfill the society’sgoal of educating as manypeople as possible aboutimportant historic events,“Dam Man” Frank Rock hasdivided his presentation intotwo parts:◆ A free, two-hour lectureand question-and-answer ses-sion on Saturday, March 11,from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at theSaugus Train Station Muse-um at Heritage Junction Hist-oric Park, inside William S.Hart Park in Old Town New-hall. No reservations are re-quired, but early arrival isrecommended.◆ A ticketed, $35-per-persondam tour a week later, on

Sunday, March 19, with alecture at Heritage Junctionat 1 p.m. and departure at 2p.m., returning to HeritageJunction at approximately 5p.m. after visiting the damsite. The tour includessnacks and motorcoachtransportation. Only ticketholders will be admitted tothe March 19 lecture.

Along with the histori-cal, illustrated narrative,Rock will also talk aboutsome of the changes in thecanyons, brought about byrecent fires and floods.

The society gives special

thanks to the city of SantaClarita and Santa ClaritaTransit for providing thebuses for the tour.

Tickets may be reservedby calling 661/254-1275 withcredit card and contact infor-mation. Because the tour isan extremely popular fund-raiser, it can’t be guaranteedthat seats will be availablefor purchase on the day ofthe tour — so call today.

FRANK ROCK, DAM MAN.Perched high above Saugus, the St.Francis Dam held 12.5 billion gallons ofwater to serve a thirsty and growingLos Angeles. But William Mulholland’sfinal engineering feat would last justtwo years. At three minutes before mid-night on March 12, 1928, the great St.Francis collapsed and sent at least 450people to their deaths. In words andpictures, local dam expert Frank Rocktells the story of America’s worst civilengineering failure of the 20th Century.

IVAN DORSET, DAMDISASTER WITNESS.Henry Ivan Dorset was 18 in March1928 when the mighty St. Francis Damcrumbled. Included in the death rollswere Lyman Curtis, husband of Ivan’ssister, and their two little girls. Nowdeceased, Ivan tells his gripping taleand shares important historic photo-graphs from his personal collection.Dam Anniversary Special:Take $5 off your total if you order bothFrank Rock and Ivan Dorset.

DON EDWARDS,COWBOY SINGER.A perennial favorite at Santa Clarita’sCowboy Festival, headliner DonEdwards shows he’s more than “just”the West’s best cowboy crooner. JoinDon for a trip back in time to thebeginnings of this unique form ofAmerican “roots music,” learn how ithas changed through the years, andfind out what Don and others aredoing to preserve it.

BAXTER BLACK,COWBOY POET.Considering he’s been a regular on Na-tional Public Radio, you might assumehe’s from New York City. Of course, heisn’t. Enjoy an up-close-and-personalvisit with cowboy humorist Baxter Blackon his ranch in Arizona and find outhow he comes up with all those crazycowboy poems you’ve grown to love.

Cowboy Festival Special:Take $5 off your total if you order bothDon Edwards and Baxter Black.

ANDRE AND RENAUDVELUZAT: OWNERS,MELODY RANCH.Just when you thought you were limit-ed to visiting Gene Autry’s old stomp-ing grounds just once a year, now youcan take it home with you. Join cur-rent owners Renaud and AndreVeluzat as they walk you through theMelody Ranch Museum and find outhow they rebuilt the famous Westernmovie town after it burned down —with absolutely no blueprints.

NNooww OOnn DDVVDD..

~ MORE TITLES AVAILABLE ~All DVDs 1/2 hour ~ $15 each ~ 100% of proceeds benefit SCV Historical Society

Available at the Saugus Train Station Museum, Saturdays & Sundays 1-4 p.m.Or online at scvhistory.com ~ click on “Books-DVDs-VHS” ~ add $3.20 postageOr write to SCV Historical Publications, P.O. Box 802993, Santa Clarita CA 91380

Make checks payable to “SCV Historical Society”

Take The Dam Tour.

ABOVE: RUBBLE FROMTHE FACE OF THE DAMDWARFS A WOMAN ATLOWER RIGHT IN THIS1928 PHOTOGRAPH.RIGHT: WEAR BOOTSOR STURDY SHOES IFYOU PLAN TO TAKE

THE DAM TOUR.

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OLLIN

S

KEEP UP WITH NEWHALL HAPPENINGS.The city of Santa Clarita’s Newhall Redevelopment Com-

mittee meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. inthe Century Room at City Hall, 23920 West Valencia Boulevard.(When a holiday falls on the first Monday, meetings are held onthe second Monday.) The public is encouraged to attend.

THE GAZETTE WANTS YOUR NEWHALL NEWS.Ready to cut the ribbon on your Newhall business? Is

your nonprofit organization planning an event in Newhall? Tellthe Old Town Newhall Gazette. Send your press release by e-mail to info@oldtownnewhall.com, or the old-fashioned wayto: Old Town Newhall USA, Post Office Box 802993, SantaClarita, Calif. 91380.

ADVERTISE IN THE GAZETTE.CALL 661/259-1234 ext. 237

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By DARRYL MANZER,Gazette Correspondent.

Cattle Ranching Has Been

Big Business Since

The Spanish Days.

But It Wasn’t Always

About The Beef.

Not that long ago, thous-ands of cattle roamed the San-ta Clarita Valley. Along with oil,agriculture was a major com-mercial enterprise.

Dairy farms and beefcattle ranches were just partof the everyday landscape.For many years there wereten to twenty — or more —cows for each man, womanand child in the whole of theSanta Clarita Valley.

In 1769. when Gaspar dePortolá and his expeditioncame through the area, henoted the abundant water andpasture lands in the valley.Later, when the Mission SanFernando was established in1787, the Santa Clarita Valleywas seen as a possible exten-sion of mission lands. In 1804,an estáncia, or outpost, of theMission San Fernando wasfounded at what is now Cas-taic Junction. This marked thebeginning of cattle ranching inthe Santa Clarita Valley.

Cattle were raised not formeat, but for their hides.

Leather goods were the “plas-tics” of that era. Leather wasused for clothing, saddles, car-riage springs and even buck-ets. Leather was a vital part ofthe transportation systems ofthe day; it was used to connectthe horses, oxen and mules tocarts, wagons and carriages.As such, it became a major ex-port from Alta California.

The export of hides iswhat first brought thosepesky Yankee traders andtheir ships to California.Many of them liked what theysaw and decided to stay. Mostwere welcomed with openarms — something Mexicowould one day regret.

By 1813, so many cattleinhabited the Santa ClaritaValley that a fence (a bar) wasplaced across the NewhallPass in Elsmere Canyon to

keep them from wanderinginto the San Fernando Valley.For those of you who com-plain about the commute fromthat valley to Santa Clarita ev-ery day, remember that it usedto be a very long day’s journeyfrom the Mission San Fernan-do to the estáncia at CastaicJunction. Most of the time, the“commuters” made the trip onhorseback or by wagon. Manyhad to do it on foot.

The Mexican revolutionthat started in 1821 eventuallygained Mexico its independ-ence from Spain. California be-came a territory of Mexico.The missions continued to op-erate the various ranches theyowned until 1833, when theMexican Congress took overall of the former mission lands.

Thirteen months later,Lieutenant Antonio del Vallearrived at Mission San Fernan-do to dismantle the churchholdings. Of course, he took alarge part of the land in theSanta Clarita Valley for himself.

This was the era of theMexican land grant. Manyranchos were parceled out ofmission lands in the SantaClarita Valley. Cattle were stillbeing raised — by the thous-ands. There were also largeherds of sheep in the valley.

Following the war of1846-48 between Mexico andthe United States, most of theland grants remained in effect.The former Mexican landown-ers now became United Statescitizens and essentially contin-ued to use the land of the San-ta Clarita Valley as they had inthe past — although the newregime required landownersto prove their claims to realestate that had been poorlyplotted during the periods of

Mexican and Spanish rule. Inthis manner, the United Statesgovernment seized disputedlands and opened them tohomesteading by Americansettlers from the East — suchas the Pico Canyon area,between the Rancho San Fer-nando on the south and theDel Valles’ Rancho San Fran-cisco (the Santa Clarita Valley)on the north.

Cattle and sheep ranch-ing remained the major com-mercial enterprise on the DelValles’ rancho until 1862when, after three years ofdrought, most of the rancherswent broke. By the 1870s, theland was being sold off forback taxes. The remainingranches still had cattle — butoil was starting to take overas the major industry, alongwith mining and the railroad.

In 1883, the heirs of New-hall’s founder and namesake,Henry Mayo Newhall, incor-porated The Newhall Landand Farming Company.Ranching and farming werethe company’s primary busi-nesses; orange trees, walnutorchards and fields of alfalfa,

onions, carrots and othercrops joined cattle operations.A large feed lot was eventuallybuilt near the site of whattoday is the Magic Mountainamusement park.

Cattle remained a largepart of ranching operationsthroughout the valley untilabout 1960. The ranches weredivided and developed into thehousing tracts we know today.People, homes and cars replac-ed the cattle, sheep and orch-ards. Some call it “progress,”while others call it “sprawl.”

One thing is for sure: To-day, the cars outnumber thecattle. That simple, little baracross the Newhall Pass could-n’t keep them out — and somedays, the commute from theSan Fernando Valley seems totake as long as it did in 1821.

Funny. You’re often sittingon leather seats, holding a lea-ther-wrapped steering wheel,wearing your leather shoes.Wonder where the cattle arebeing raised today?

Darryl Manzer grew upin the Pico Canyon oil townof Mentryville in the 1960s.Today he lives in Virginia.

Evolution Of The Local Rancho.

NEWHALL LAND’S STOCKYARDS WERE LOCATEDROUGHLY WHERE MAGIC MOUNTAIN SITS TODAY.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RUTH NEWHALL.

THE ESTÁNCIA DE SAN FRANCISCO XAVIERWAS BUILT IN 1804 AT CASTAIC JUNCTION.ILLUSTRATION BY ADOLPH HENKEL, 1957.

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