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HPL Touches Base with City’s New Community Development Director
On March 26, 2007, Heritage Preservation League of Folsom President Patrick
Maxfield and several Board members met with David Miller, the new Community
Development Director, to introduce themselves and to explain HPL’s mission
and goals.
Miller came to Folsom after serving as Commercial Development Manager for
the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. He has 17 years’ experience
in municipal, county, and regional government and held senior positions in
community development and public works in cities in California, Washington,
and Oregon. He also previously served as Director of Administration for DBO
Development Company in Monterey, California, and as Community Development
Director for the City of LaGrande in Oregon.
In particular the Board members talked about the City of Folsom "Historic
Preservation Master Plan," which was adopted by the Folsom City Council in
1999. This Master Plan describes a process whereby the Folsom Historic
District Commission will maintain an inventory of cultural resources with
staff support supplied by the City of Folsom. [Editor’s note: For the past
few years, the HPL has been helping the city complete the inventory, see
page 2 article “Tory Swim Honored for Research”.]
HPL Board members explained how HPL would like to see more progress made in
processing Cultural Resource forms for National Register recognition as
envisioned in the Master Plan. They acknowledged that this is a long,
tedious process and put forth the idea of the City budgeting for an intern
or graduate student to make this happen. Areas of academic endeavor that
could supply an intern might include: history, archaeology, public
administration, museum studies, and possibly library science. Whether the
city chooses to use a paid or volunteer intern, Board members told Miller
that HPL supports the idea of using an intern to facilitate filing of the
Cultural Resource forms.
Miller was also provided a history of the projects that our League has
participated in during the course of our existence.
Mark Your Calendar for June 18!
Please join us for an evening of fellowship and history on Monday, June
18th, when the Heritage Preservation League of Folsom and the Historic
Folsom Residents’ Association (HFRA) host a joint potluck dinner on the
grounds of the Folsom History Museum’s Interpretive Area. The gathering
starts at 6 p.m.
Members will be updated on the activities of HPL and HFRA. A special program
is also being planned and the plans for the Historic Railroad Station will
be available for review.
For the potluck, please bring the following based on your last name:
A-E — Appetizers
F-J — Main Dish
K-O — Salad
P-T — Dessert
U-Z — Bread
Each dish should serve about 8-10. Beverages, napkins, plates and utensils
will be provided by HPL and HFRA.
Volunteers will be needed to help with cleanup. Please consider helping out.
For more information, call 353-0556. The Interpretive area is located at the
corner of Wool and Leidesdorff streets.
Tory Swim Honored For Research
At their meeting on April 18th, the Historic District Commission presented
graduate student Tory Swim with a Resolution of Commendation.
Tory recently completed extensive research of the 600, 700 and 800 blocks of
Figueroa Street for her Master’s thesis. She then completed Cultural
Resource Nominations for 20 historic properties located on those blocks on
behalf of the Heritage Preservation League of Folsom. To date, nine of these
properties have been approved by the Historic District Commission for
listing and the others are in the process.
Tory is the co-author, along with Paul Sandul of “Orangevale”—a collection
of photographs and personal histories. The Folsom resident was also featured
in an article in a recent issue of The Folsom Telegraph.
HPL’s Board of Directors would like to add their congratulations to Tory for
her outstanding work on behalf of Folsom’s heritage.
Here’s What You Missed If You Weren’t There at HPL’s Last Membership
Meeting
HPL’s quarterly General Membership Meeting, held January 29 at the Veterans
Hall, proved to be part business, part educational, and lots of fun.
The first order of business was the election of officers for 2007. The
results: President—Patrick Maxfield; Vice President—Loretta Hettinger;
Treasurer—Dollie Sundahl-Fagalde; Secretary—Kathryn Corbett; Board Members
at Large—Pat Binley, Bob Cullifer, Jeff Ferreira-Pro, Nancy Percy, Deino
Trotta, and Gaynel Wald.
Next up was Dan Winkleman, a retired state park ranger and docent at the
Folsom Powerhouse. After an entertaining presentation on the Powerhouse’s
history, he updated HPL members on current plans for the Powerhouse and the
new visitor’s center.
Bill Wald from the Interpretive Area followed and he discussed the area’s
rich history represented by the many artifacts and interpretive programs at
195 Wool Street.
The final speakers were Connie Mockenhaupt and Mike Jimema of the Actor’s
Theatre in Folsom. They gave a brief history of their group and spoke of the
upcoming productions at their new theatre at 717 Sutter Street.
After the presentations, those in attendance participated in lively
discussions on a variety of topics. Local developer Jerry Bernau asked
Mockenhaupt and Jimema about the possibility of a public playhouse on the
Railroad Block and Bill Wald brought up ways to generate tourism to Folsom.
The best part of the evening was probably the opportunity for members to
meet and network with members of Folsom’s historical, arts, and business
communities.
HPL Watch Updates
* The Canyon — The proposed subdivision of 11 custom home lots on
Orangevale Avenue on the east and west ends of the Orangevale Avenue Bridge,
is under review by the City again. This project was last considered by the
City of Folsom Planning Commission in July 2005 when it was put on
indefinite hold pending additional study.
* Nimbus Winery — The proposal to place retail pads and a four-story
condominium on the parking lot of the Nimbus Winery shopping mall and to
upgrade the historic winery is still under review by Sacramento County
Planning Commission staff. Staff commissioned a cultural resources review,
which has been completed but is not yet available for HPL review. The
existing winery and distillery were constructed in 1905 to replace a winery
complex destroyed by fire in 1904.
In Memoriam: Mike Riedinger
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Mike Riedinger on April 4th.
Mike was a valued member of HPL’s Board of directors, as well as of our
community. He ran his own architectural firm, MJR Architects, and was a past
chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors. Our warmest
condolences go to his family. Mike’s knowledge, input, and insight will be
sorely missed.
Bronze Plaque for Cohn Mansion
The Heritage Preservation League has been informed by the New Helvetia
Chapter of E. Clampus Vitus that they will be providing a bronze plaque to
mark the historic Cohn Mansion at Scott and Sutter streets.
The home is located in an area of Folsom once known as “Nob Hill” because of
the fine homes that lined its streets. The Queen Anne Style home has been on
the National Register of Historic Places since 1981.
The photograph above, taken around 1890, shows the Cohn family posing in
front of their home. Expect a celebration to accompany the setting of the
plaque later in the year.
Support Your Local History Museum!
In our busy lives, it’s sometimes easy to forget to remember to check out
what new exhibits are at our local history museums. Here are some local
samplings to whet your appetite for history:
* At the Folsom History Museum, the exhibit “A Journey of Faith”
celebrates the 150th anniversary of the St. John’s Catholic Church and the
Sisters of Mercy. The exhibit is open through July 15. The Folsom History
Museum is located at 823 Sutter Street.
* “Scrap Art or Iron Icons” at the California State Railroad Museum,
corner of 2nd and I streets in Old Sacramento, is a unique exhibit of
sculptures by artist Ray Carrington. The sculptures made of twisted and
welded old railroad spikes, tools, and logging artifacts chronicle the
workers of California’s logging and railroad industries.
* Or for something different, check out the Donald F. Salvatori
California Pharmacy Museum located at the California Pharmacists
Association Headquarters, 4030 Lennane Drive in Sacramento. The museum, open
Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., contains hundreds of pharmacy
artifacts from more than two centuries of pharmacy practice in California.
Among the interesting facts you will learn there: Upon entering a western
frontier town, visitors would look to the show-globe in the drug store
window to see which color liquid it contained. Red indicated the town was
besieged by an epidemic.
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