Wordless Wednesday: Giraffe Gets a Snack

"Giraffe Gets a Snack" (Santa Barbara Zoo, Santa Barbara Co, California). Digital Image. Photographed by H. Aiwohi, June 2, 2008.

About Wordless Wednesday.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Wordless Wednesday: In Honor of Memorial Day

"Remembering Those Who Have Fallen" (Santa Maria Cemetery, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co., California). Photographed by Ben O'Neal, May 24, 2008.

About Wordless Wednesday.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Another One Bites the Dust

Since we moved to lovely Lompoc almost 3 years ago, I've meant to get involved in the local genealogical society. Every month, I would see the meeting notice in the newspaper and make a mental note to attend the meeting. Sometimes I even put it on my calendar.

Life got in the way most months, but a couple of times - including last month - I actually got off my behind and went to where the meeting was supposedly being held. Oddly enough, there were never any cars in the parking lot, and the place was deserted.

Weird.

So, when I saw the meeting notice again in Sunday's newspaper, I decided to do the smart thing and call for information.

The first number I called was disconnected. Not a good sign.

My call to the second number was answered by a very surprised lady.

Where did you get my number?

In the newspaper, I told her.

Really? And what was the name of the group listed in the newspaper?

The Lompoc Valley Genealogical Society.

Wow, that's odd. I haven't been to meetings for that group in a long time. And they don't meet at the LDS Church anymore.

I'd guessed that already.

They're called the Lompoc Genealogy Club now, and they only meet occasionally in members' homes.

She gave me a contact name and number for someone in this "new" group, and asked me to please ask him to call the newspaper and have the meeting notice with her phone number in it stopped.

I called, and the gentleman on the line was quite surprised that the ad for the "old" LVGS was still running in the newspaper.

There's only one newspaper in town - doesn't anyone read it?

Turns out that the "new" group is now defunct, too. Membership had dwindled to about five regular members, and as he put it, it's hard to find officers and run a society with only a handful of members.

So true... and sadly, so common these days. It's often hard to find officers and run a society with 100 members.

He did offer to help me with my research, but I declined. I really wasn't looking for help so much as "fellowship" with live genealogists. Thankfully, I get that with my fellow genea-bloggers, but sometimes that face-to-face interaction helps in the motivation department.

So, how's the health of your local genealogical society?

Mine passed away... leaving no obituary in the newspaper.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Toddler Talk

Me: What's a doggie say?

Daughter: Arf, arf, arf!

Me: What's a kittycat say?

Daughter: Owww, owww.

Me: What's a birdie say?

Daughter: tee, tee, tee

Me: What's a Mommy say (expecting no answer)?

Daughter: Goo grrl

Me: Good girl? Really? (breathes sigh of relief)

____________________

On a side note for all you moms of tots (or anyone else who might be interested):

On Thursday, May 15th, McDonald's is giving away a FREE Southern Style Chicken Biscuit or Southern Style Chicken Sandwich, with the purchase of a medium or large drink. What you get depends on what time you get there.

Lunch anyone?

Photo of Reilly (my dog) taken September 11, 2007, by Elizabeth O'Neal.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Wordless Wednesday: Scenes from Dallidet Adobe

Dallidet Adobe (San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo Co., California). Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, April 5, 2008.


Garden at Dallidet Adobe (San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo Co., California). Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, April 5, 2008.


Single Flower at Dallidet Adobe (San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo Co., California). Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, April 5, 2008.

About Wordless Wednesday.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Wake-Up Call: Historic Atlas 5 Launch From VAFB

Photo Credit: Gene Blevins, L.A. Daily News

Yesterday morning, I happened to roll out of bed at 2:45 a.m., just in time to witness the historic launch of the first Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg AFB at 3:02 a.m. PDT.

It was a pretty amazing display! Living as close as we do to VAFB, we've seen several missle launches over the past few years. However, this one was different.

First, we saw an orange fireball light up the sky. It quickly rose into the air and appeared to be heading directly for our house!

The rumble finally caught up, growing louder and louder until the house began shaking. Had I not known what was happening, I would have thought we were having a good-sized earthquake!

I watched until the fireball passed to the south beyond the horizon. It was a great spectacle, and definitely worth... um... accidentally waking up in the middle of the night to see.

My daughter in the next room was awake when I went to check on her. Being the child of a rocket scientist, these launches are no big deal for her. She saw her first live launch before she was a month old.

____________________

More about the Atlas 5 Launch at Spaceflight Now.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Sending Out an S.O.S.

Part 3 in a series about the proposed closure of La Purisima State Historic Park.


A docent demonstrates blacksmithing skills at "Purísima's Peoples Days" at La Purísima Mission (Lompoc, Santa Barbara Co., California). Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, March 1, 2008.

Imagine that you turn on the TV news one night to find that a wildfire is burning its way through the hills towards your home (those of us in California won’t have to imagine too hard).

Your first thought is to get your loved ones and pets out of the house, right? But what other items will you load into your car? What will you choose to save?

You will choose to save those items that are irreplaceable.

Photos, souvenirs, mementos of family members who have passed on. Items you were safeguarding, probably to give to your own children someday, so that your family’s history will not be forgotten.

This is particularly true if you are the family genealogist. There is no way you would ever leave these items behind.

Unfortunately, the Governor’s proposed budget will leave some of California’s valuable historic treasures “behind,” one of which is our own La Purísima Mission State Historic Park.


Why Should I Care if La Purísima Mission is Closed?

La Purísima Mission is the most fully restored of all the California missions.

The mission’s linear design is unique among all the California missions.

Docents regularly dress in period costumes and demonstrate arts and crafts, as well as everyday life in the 1820’s.

California mission history is a required part of the California 4th grade curriculum. Thousands of students come to La Purísima each year to learn about mission life firsthand.

The mission is situated on a 1,800-acre preserve. Hikers, runners, botanists, equestrians, and photographers come from all over to walk the miles of trails in this state park.

If the park is closed, will there be enough security to protect the mission’s historic treasures?


How You Can Help

Write a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger.

Write a letter to your local lawmakers.

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

Blog about this issue. (Even if you don’t live in California, you will still be affected if you decide to visit a California park or beach and find it closed one day!)

Visit some of the parks on the closure list.

Participate in the Mission Possible Rally on Saturday, March 29. Meet at River Park in Lompoc at 10:00 a.m. for a one-mile walk to the mission. Or just show up at the Mission for the rally at 11:00 a.m.

Participate in Park Advocacy Day on April 7 in Sacramento.

Spread the word that the parks need support!


For More Information

Governor Schwarzenegger’s Proposed 2008-2009 Budget
Map of Proposed Park Closures
SOS – Save our State Parks
SOS – Save our State Parks on MySpace
California State Parks Foundation
La Purísima Mission
La Purísima Mission – Volunteer Opportunities

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Back to 4th Grade: A Brief History of La Purisima Mission

Part 2 in a series about the proposed closure of La Purisima State Historic Park.


Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Founding Fathers

Founded on December 8, 1787, by Father-President Fermin Lasuén, Mission La Purísima Concepción de María Santisima (“The Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Most Pure”) became the 11th of the 21 California missions.

The location for the new mission seemed perfect: the valley was fertile, the Chumash Indians were friendly and intelligent, and everything seemed to bode well for the success of their project.

Construction had to be delayed, however, until the end of the rainy season. In April 1788, Father-President Lasuén and two padres arrived to take charge of the operations, and within four months had baptized seventy-five neophytes (neophytes were “Christianized” Indians).

Within three years, the mission was flourishing. The crops were successful, the herds were growing, and the Indians were happy with their new home. Father Mariano Payeras began his nineteen-year service at the mission, four of which he served as Father-President and La Purísima was the seat of government for all of the missions.

Several years of prosperity followed. A report dated December 31, 1798 indicated that there was insufficient room for the 920 mission residents. New buildings, including a church, were necessary immediately, and were completed in 1802.

Earthquake!


Courtesy of UCR/California Museum of Photography

On December 8, 1812, twenty-five years to the day after the founding of La Purísima, several small tremors occurred. On December 21, 1812, a huge earthquake lasting four minutes badly damaged the walls of the church.

An aftershock, about a half-hour later, destroyed most of the remaining buildings. As if that weren’t enough, the hillside behind the mission opened in a huge fissure, allowing floods from the prolonged, drenching rains that followed to completely devastate whatever remained. Adobe bricks melted back into mud, and stores of food floated away.

1812 would be known in California as “El Ano de los Temblores,” or “The Year of the Earthquakes.”

For many reasons, the mission would not be rebuilt at the same site. Father Payeras was given permission to relocate the mission about four miles northeast, across the river, in La Cañada de los Berros (The Canyon of the Watercress). This new site had several advantages, including better access to El Camino Real, the main road between the missions.

A ten-year period of prosperity followed construction of the new mission. La Purísima became entirely self-supporting, and the community of approximately a thousand neophytes thrived.

The Beginning of the End

Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1821, leaving the missions with no supplies and the soldiers without pay. The declining Indian population was forced to support the soldiers, who used them for military construction projects for little or no pay. Father Payeras died in 1823, leaving the mission without his guidance.

By 1824, tensions were exploding, and the Indians revolted. The immediate cause was the flogging of a La Purísima neophyte by soldiers at Mission Santa Inés. When the news reached La Purísima, the Indians seized possession of the mission and fortified the grounds. They held the mission for almost a month.

The revolt ended when 109 soldiers were sent down from the presidio in Monterey. The battle lasted less than three hours, leaving sixteen Indians dead and many wounded. Only one soldier was killed, and three wounded.

For their part in the rebellion, seven Indians were put to death and eighteen others were sentenced to imprisonment and hard labor.

Secularization and Saving Graces


Historic American Buildings Survey, Photographed by Henry F. Withey, May 1937

La Purísima Mission never recovered after the Indian uprising. The Indians vanished, the padres moved to Santa Barbara, and in 1834, an administrator took control. In 1845, the mission, with all of its lands and historical treasures, was sold to Don Juan Temple of Los Angeles for $1,100.00.

The Union Oil company bought the property in 1903, and in the early 1930’s, deeded several parcels to the State. The National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, soon came to the rescue of the crumbling mission complex.

After nearly a year of study, restoration finally began in 1935 using original tools and techniques whenever possible. The mission was dedicated as a State Historical Monument on December 7, 1941.

La Purísima remains the most completely restored of all the California missions. It was considered one of the finest historic restorations of its time.

____________________

SOURCES:

Krell, Dorothy (ed.) 1979. California Missions (Sunset Pictorial). Sunset Publishing Corporation, Menlo Park, CA.

Nelson, Bob (ed.) 1994. Sagas of the Central Coast. RJ Nelson Enterprises, Inc., Santa Maria, CA.

About.com: California Travel – La Purísima Mission, <http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/missioncalifornia/a/purisima_hist.htm>, accessed March 4, 2008.

La Purísima Mission State Historic Park, <http://www.lapurisimamission.org/>, accessed March 3, 2008.

The California Mission Site, Ed, The Civic Group, <http://www.californiamissions.com/cahistory/lapurisima.html>, accessed March 3, 2008.


FOR FURTHER READING:

La Purísima Mission State Historic Park
La Purísima Mission SHP
Wikipedia: Mission La Purísima Concepción
A Virtual Tour of the California Missions
California Missions: A Virtual Tour
California Missions Study Association

Wordless Wednesday: Scenes From La Purisima Mission

SOURCE: La Purisima Mission Bells (Lompoc, Santa Barbara Co., California).
Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, March 1, 2008.


SOURCE: La Purisima Mission (Lompoc, Santa Barbara Co., California).
Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, March 1, 2008.


SOURCE: La Purisima Mission Garden (Lompoc, Santa Barbara Co., California).
Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, March 1, 2008.


SOURCE: La Purisima Mission (Lompoc, Santa Barbara Co., California).
Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, March 1, 2008.


SOURCE: La Purisima Mission Padre (Lompoc, Santa Barbara Co., California).
Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, March 1, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

The Fourth Cut is the Deepest

Part 1 in a series about the proposed closure of La Purisima State Historic Park.


SOURCE: La Purisima Mission (Lompoc, Santa Barbara Co., California).
Photographed by Elizabeth O'Neal, March 1, 2008.

When California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his proposed 2008-2009 budget back on January 10, 2008, a shockwave went through the typically quiet communities of the Central Coast.

Among the Governor’s proposed cuts/reductions is the closure of 48 state parks.

Included in this list is our own La Purisima Mission State Historic Park in Lompoc.


Do the Math

Specifically, the Governor is seeking a 10 percent, across-the-board reduction among all state agencies in order to balance the $141 billion spending budget and stop the bleeding of the current $14 billion deficit.

Slated for closure are 17 state parks, 17 state historic parks and museums, 3 state beaches, 9 state recreation areas, and 2 state reserves. Statistically, this will close roughly 1 of every 5 parks currently operated by the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation. The closures are expected to be completed by June 2009.

According to the California Department of Parks and Recreation Budget Fact Sheet dated January 14, 2008, this involves:

A total reduction of $17 million including an 8.9%, $13.3 million reduction to our General Fund operating budget and $3.7 million in lost revenue, distributed as follows:.

• $4.4 million from state park headquarters units other than Park Operations and 12 positions. (This represents more than 25% of the total reduction).
  
• $2.0 million and 11 positions from headquarters units of Park Operations.
  
• $10.6 million (including $6.9 million General Fund and $3.7 million in lost revenue) and 113 positions from the field units of the state park system.

The above reductions involve civil service procedures mandated by law that would likely not be fully implemented until the close of the 2008/09 fiscal year.

To achieve a reduction of this magnitude, on top of significant past reductions, the Department must reduce both its permanent and seasonal workforce, because salaries are the largest part of the budget.

48 park units will be closed or partially closed and placed in caretaker status and will not be open to the public. This will allow us to eliminate 136 permanent positions. However, the Department has a number of vacancies and hopes to use those vacancies to lay off the least number of personnel, but some employees may have to move.

In addition, funding for approximately 50% or 100,000 hours of seasonal work would be eliminated. That means approximately half the seasonal workers needed could be hired,to include lifeguards, park aides and others who provide public protection at state beaches and work to clean restrooms and other facilities at parks and campgrounds. Beachgoers will swim at their own risk at many more beaches and routine maintenance of our facilities will be deferred.

Elimination of public access at the 48 parks will result in a revenue loss of approximately $3.7 million to the State Parks and Recreation Fund (SPRF).

The two together, the $13.3 GF reduction and the $3.7 million loss in SPRF revenue, would result in a projected total reduction of $17.0 million in funding for the operation and maintenance of the state park system.

The Weakest Links

How were the lucky 48 selected? The criteria were three-fold:

1. Can the park be closed to the public? In other words, can people really be kept out if the park is closed, or will they find another way in?
   
2. How many people use the park? Will anyone will miss it when it's gone
   
3. The Bottom Line: How much revenue does it bring in?

In addition to La Purisima Mission State Historic Park, these weak links include some very famous, historic California places:

Sutter's Fort State Historic Park in Sacramento, the oldest restored fort in the United States;
Del Norte Redwoods State Park in Crescent City, containing approximately 50% old growth coast redwood;
San Simeon State Park, one of the oldest units of the California State Parks System; and
Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades, ironically rededicated by Gov. Schwarzenegger in March, 2006.

However, as the California Department of Parks and Recreation puts it, "Our proposed park closures and service reductions reflect a long-term, accumulated decline in funding for State Parks, a decline which began long before this administration came to office."

In other words, blame it on the previous administrations because it's not their fault.

Plus, they're just trying to be fair. The "methodology" being used will spread the pain reductions fairly across the state, leaving no region "singled-out or spared." Misery does love company, doesn't it?

So, let us not forget that when these 48 parks are closed, 230 parks, or 83% of the park system, will still remain open.

I suppose that's good news, right? I mean, if the doctor told me that only 83% of my heart was working, I could still live a full life. How much could I possibly miss that other 17%?


Oh No, Not Again

During the fiscal crisis of the 1980’s, a 25-year tradition of “putting off until tomorrow” was begun. This included the deferral of park maintenance such as repairing of bathrooms, roofs, roads, fences, and trails. Since then, the list of deferred maintenance has grown to a whopping $1.2 billion backlog, with the current annual shortfall hovering at around the $117 million mark.

It’s hard to play catch-up to that amount of cash.

The early 1990’s saw California hit another budget bump, which resulted in yet another reduction in State Parks' funding. In fact, La Purisima Mission was targeted for closure in 1992; however, public outcry and a successful protest campaign managed to persuade the powers-that-be to have a change of heart.

From 2001 to 2007, another $10.5 million (net) was chopped out of the State Parks’ budget. Park usage fees were increased to try to offset the loss of revenue, but fee increases can only go so far. At some point, the fees will get high enough to cause people to stop coming to the parks. Apparently, the parks are nearing that point now.

According to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, closing these parks and eliminating jobs will allow them to “consolidate resources” in order to keep the remaining parks open.


Silver Lining?

On the bright side, however, the Governor’s budget proposes an additional $3 million to the General Fund for 28 park ranger positions “to improve detection and prevention of fires in fire prone areas of state parks.” This comes in the wake of the devastating wildfires of October 2007.

NEXT:

Part 2: Back to 4th Grade – A Little History of La Purisima Mission
Part 3: Sending Out an S.O.S. (How You Can Help)

____________________

SOURCES:

2008-2009 Governor's Proposed Budget
California Department of Parks and Recreation Fact Sheet (01/14/08)
Map of Proposed Park Closures

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal