Colonial Cleaners

 

I just had to take a photo of Colonial Cleaners' window when the Husband and I were taking a walk downtown the other day. The artwork made me smile. The character looked so charming and friendly, I wished I had something to drop off at the cleaners that moment.

Coming into Hollister from the North

The Gabilan Mountains that we see beyond San Benito Street never stops to amaze me. I love how they tower over the city. I took them for granted as a kid, but then what do kids know.

Spring!

The first moment of Spring starts at 9:57 AM today. So says the Old Farmer's Almanac.

The coming of Spring usually makes me go search for this song by Daniel Valdez, a local musician and one of the founding members of El Teatro Campesiño. It's a sweet song called "Primavera" from his 1973 record Mestizo.

The Wizard's Cafe

When you're driving north on San Felipe Road, do you sometimes notice the Wizard's Cafe on the right as you're passing by the airport? If you're like me, you think, "Gee, I forget about the Wizard's Cafe." Or, if you haven't been there before, maybe, "I should try it some time."

The Wizard's Cafe is a neat diner run by Corbin for its employees and customers. It's also open to the public. According to Corbin's website, the cafe is open from Thursday to Saturday, 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM. 

And, yes, that's a mural of Marlon Brando's character from the movie, The Wild One.

Hollister Tamales and Tee-shirts!

Here's another local tee-shirt that outshines any fictional one! If you want one, head over to the Progresso Tamale Parlor on 230 Third Street.

Receding Fog

 

We've been getting a lot of fog lately. Have you ever noticed how on some days it makes its way back towards the west? This photo was taken a few days ago from Cienega Road, looking across the San Benito River by the Union Road bridge. 

1439 San Benito Street

 

I've always thought of the two-story Spanish style house on the southeast corner of San Benito Street and Nash Road as the "Breen House" and that the Breen family lived there...since forever. When the house was for sale last year, I learned that the Breens were the third family to live there.

The original owners were Dr. L.C. and Mary Hull who built the house which was finished in 1926. Today,  the house features a library, formal dining room, breakfast room, wine cellar,  five bedrooms, and three bathrooms. In Dr. Hull's time,  the library was used as his office for seeing patients.

The Library

In 1938, the house was sold to Charles and Dora Hyman who established The Wardrobe, a men's clothing and shoe store. Remember The Wardrobe, you, old timers out there? And, Abe Hyman, the son? He, his wife Mabel, and their son David, lived at 1439 San Benito Street with Abe's parents.

So, when did the Jim and Betty Breen family move into this landmark? 1962.

The Dining Room

The house is back on the market. Renovations were made by the buyers who bought it in December. I think that's what the realtor, Robert Lintner, said at the open house yesterday. A lot of the time, my attention got distracted when my eyes saw another interesting aspect about the house -- the wooden floors, the built-in drawers, the window panes, the chandeliers, the French doors, and so on. Once upon a time, the large front room downstairs was known as the ballroom. It even has large insets in the walls for speakers.

The Kitchen

By the way, there's another open house today, until 5 PM. Thanks, Mr. Lintner, for the tour.

Note to FTC: Of course I am not being compensated for writing a post about this house. 

The Ballroom

Tree Mushrooms

The other day, the Husband and I took a stroll on Monterey Street. We stopped for  a moment to admire an old house and as we turned, voila, we spied tree mushrooms.

It surprised to me see tree mushrooms in town. As a kid, I used to go mushroom hunting with my dad on Cienega Road. We found buckets full of delicious mushrooms that we picked from dead trees along a creek. My parents knew what are edible mushrooms, but they always threw a quarter in the pot as the mushrooms simmered. They told me that if the quarter turned black, we would not eat the mushrooms. The quarters never turned black. To this day, I don't know if they were kidding me.

Cruising on Cienega Road

It's supposed to be in the 70s or 80s this weekend, according to the weather forecasters. Perfect weather for checking out how Spring is popping in the Pinnacles National Park or just taking a drive in the country. 

Hollister by Bill Sparling

Today, Dear Readers, you have a wonderful treat. Mr. Bill Sparling of Washington has kindly allowed me to post his story about his memories of visiting his family in Hollister when he was a child. Please, everyone, give him a big, warm welcoming Hi! Hello! and It's a pleasure to meet you.  Thank you, Bill! 

Hollister

by

Bill Sparling 

Hollister -- I love the way that city name sort of rolls off the end of my tongue.  It is one of those words that almost say themselves -- like Montana and Cumberland.

It is also where I did a good bit of growing up.  My father was born in Panoche in 1894 and he had brothers and sisters all over that area and many in Hollister.  The family name, Sparling, is not unfamiliar to anyone who has lived in Hollister for more than say, 50 years.

I never actually lived in Hollister but since my dad had several brothers and sisters there, we made the trip from Cupertino (where we did live) to Hollister quite regularly.  I had herds of cousins there and many of them were my age and we all got along famously.

When I stumbled over this website (Take 25 to Hollister), I was really excited over all of the information and pictures I found on it.  The first time I hit it, I spent a couple of hours poking around town, checking out familiar old byways and enjoying “visiting” one of my favorite places.
 

One of the things that really got my memory juices flowing was a picture of a house that was used in the TV mini-series East of Eden.  This was no ordinary picture of an ordinary house.  This was a place that I had birthed many happy memories.  My Aunt Nada lived there with her husband Louis Mays who was President of the Hollister National Bank when I was a kid.  Their son, Tom, had some great electric trains and we played with them by the hour in his room and in the upstairs hallway.  We used to sneak down the “secret” back stairway that led into the kitchen and snitch cookies my Aunt Nada or Tom’s sister, Nancy, had made.  I’m sure they both knew who snagged the cookies but they never let on.

The house is on the southwest corner of Monterey and South Streets and is a beautiful old Victorian house with miles of wood trim as well as shiny mahogany banisters inside.  There was a big upright grand piano in the front parlor that I used to play when we visited.  The floors were waxed and shiny, and there was a huge stove in the kitchen where Aunt Nada used to turn out some amazing things to eat.
 
I bought a copy of East of Eden just so I could see that house “in action” again.  Much of the interior as shown in the movie was still familiar, even after 60 years.  Yes, 60 years.

The last time I really remember being at and in that house was Thanksgiving of 1949.  I was twelve years old.  There is a scene in the movie of the Trask family eating their Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room.  I, too, ate a Thanksgiving feast in that same dining room, only 32 years before the mini-series was made -- before some of the actors in the story were even born.  (Why do I suddenly feel so old?)  I have a family picture of our whole clan (ten sons and daughters and their spouses and all of their children), which was taken in the east side yard of that house after our Thanksgiving feast.

All of those Aunts and Uncles are gone now but there are a few cousins left scattered around the country.  My cousin Linda still lives on a ranch outside Hollister and my cousin Frank, whom I thought was living in the San Diego area, now lives in Redmond, Washington just 90 miles and a ferry boat ride from my wife and me.

 

Some of you who live in Hollister may be familiar with what is referred to by many as “The Birdcage House” on South and West Streets.  That used to be where my Uncle Brick (Earl) Sparling, his wife, my Aunt Jean (Hawkins) Sparling and their three children, Earl Jr. (Sonny), Tom and Linda lived.  It was just a block from their house to the house I previously described, and my cousin Frank taught me to roller skate on the sidewalk between the two houses.  I took many a nose dive on that sidewalk until I learned where all of the Calaveras fault line branches were.  

There are other memories I could write about like trips with my dad and mom out to the Las Viboras Ranch after Brick and Jean moved from the house in town; trips dad and I took out to the old ranch in Panoche where he grew up; and a trip from Panoche to Los Banos over a road cut with a bulldozer where we crossed a couple of bridges my grandfather built and where we had to ford the creek where there were no bridges.  I told you I am old.  Freeways were not even a thought in anyone’s mind when I was a kid but we got there just the same.  It just took longer and gave us more time for counting cows and carrying on conversations.  We had to talk to each other back then; we didn’t have any I-thingies.

To Su-sieee! Mac, the hostess of this amazing web site, I must say thanks for your amazing site and thanks for rewinding the tape of my life so I could play it again.

God bless you.
 
Bill Sparling
Sequim, Washington

©2014 Bill Sparling.  

Past and Present: San Benito County Superior Court

The new Superior Court of the County of San Benito is situated on the residential site of William Welles Hollister, for whom the city of Hollister was named. I think Mr. Hollister's house eventually became a  hotel, then somewhere along the way, this property became the home of first the Hollister Grammar School and then Fremont School.

Lest we forget, the old courthouse is visible across the street.
That's the building in the middle.

Lovely Landscaping

When I look at the new courthouse grounds, I think how that would be a nice setting for a big outdoor party.   I also think that it would be a nice place to just hang out on a bench or at one of the red tables there and read a book or have a picnic. What do you think of the new courthouse grounds?

By the way, Cliff Lowe Associates was the landscape architect for the new courthouse grounds. Thanks for a beautiful design.

Opening Soon: The New Courthouse

If all goes well, the new courthouse of the Superior Court of California in San Benito County will be open for business next Monday, March 17, 2014. Construction on the $33 million building was completed a few months ago, but it could not open because the local officials had no funds to pay for the required security staff.

The new courthouse on the corner of Fourth and Monterey Streets  is a gorgeous building. The project was managed by the Kitchell Contractors. The building design was created by SmithGroup, the oldest continuously practicing architecture and engineering firm in the United States.

I don't know about you, dear Readers, but the Husband and I look forward to seeing what our new courthouse looks like on the inside.

O'Neill Drive

This beautiful humongous tree is in the center of O'Neill Drive, which is in the residential section of historical downtown Hollister.

O'Neill Drive is a hidden gem, and I'm sure has some interesting history about it. It's not a thorough street in the sense that you enter at one spot and come out another. Nor is it a dead-end street because you drive in a circle around this tree and other trees. It's more like a private driveway, as there are several small homes on the street.

I wonder if the houses could've been built for Navy officers and their families who were based at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Hollister during World War II. I also wonder who O'Neill was.

Spring is Popping

This is somewhere along San Felipe Road. All of a sudden, the color just popped out at me as I was pedaling along on bicycle.

Muffler Art

This cute guy always makes me smile every time I pass by Hollister Muffler & Quick Lube on the corner of San Benito Street and South Street. Wouldn't you?

Two years ago, Hollister Muffler & Quick Lube
had this art work on display.

Unique Hollister Tees

I'm not talking about the Hollister tee-shirts made for wannabe imaginary Dudes and Bettys. Uh-uh. The tee-shirts in these photos are local products. They are designed by Dean Machado of Mandego Apparel and being sold at Muenzer's Keys & Teez on Fifth Street. Go check them out. You know you want to.

And, no, I'm not being paid for mentioning these tee-shirts.  They are just so cool I had to show and tell.

Cheap Seats Pub & Grub

"Hey, Husband! Did you know the awning is in the shape of a baseball hat?"

"Yes. You never noticed that?"

In the seven years or more that Cheap Seats Pub & Grub has been around, it never dawned on my that I have been looking at or walking under a very huge baseball cap. What it actually reminds me of are those nightclub awnings in the 1930s movies. Sometimes the obvious just goes over my head. I was in my 30s when I realized that the logo of the Shell Station is a shell. Duh.

Walking Under Fourth Street

Yesterday, the Husband and I decided to go underground to cross Fourth Street. Huh? you say.

Yup. For those who've forgotten, or who had no idea, a pedestrian tunnel runs under Fourth Street. The southern stairway is in front of the former County Jail. I think it was built in the 1920s to provide safe passage for children who walked to and from school.

The Hollister Downtown Association has plans to renovate the tunnel, which includes installing lights and a security system. The group also wants to paint a mural that depicts the buildings that once stood where the new Superior Court is today—the home of Colonel William Hollister, after whom the city was named, Hollister Grammar School, and Fremont School.

For a moment after walking out of the tunnel and looking skyward, I was reminded of how I felt when I used to come out of the Embaradero Bart Station in San Francisco. I'm having a great adventure.

The Northern Stairway

Dunneville Cafe & Market

Have you tried the tri-tip sandwich at the Dunneville Cafe & Market yet? Mine was very tender and oooh so very delicious. After the Husband took his first bite, he didn't think it was too far to drive for a take-out sandwich and fries.

The restaurant is on the northwest corner of San Felipe Road and Shore Road, about nine miles from downtown Hollister.  You can also eat there. It has both indoor and outdoor seating. The patio is lovely and relaxing. And, if you're into bocce ball, or want to try it out, regulation bocce courts are available.

Dunneville Cafe & Market opened in 1972, but a store has stood at that corner for many, many years. When I was a kid, I knew it as Dunneville Store. Our family lived behind it, and I remember going to the store a lot to purchase candy, Nehi soda, and comic books. In my mind's eye, I can see the  candy display around the cash register and the comic book stand in the front window on the left of the door. Ah, yes, nothing like good memories. If you'd like to read another one of mine about Dunneville Store, click here to go to my other blog, Don't Be a Hippie.

Dinosaurs in Hollister

Rrroarrrr!

Have you seen the four dinosaurs standing alongside the west side of San Felipe Road, next to the Swank Farms sign?

Rrroarrrr! 

The Magical Diablos

I was very fortunate the other morning as I was pedaling my bike up Meridian Street. I got to see the Diablos in a different lighting. The mountains seemed so much higher and the Three Sisters was transformed into a Hawaiian pali. I had to stop and enjoy the moment.

Better Late Than Not Ever

Not a lot, and only here and there. But, the San Benito River is beginning to flow beneath the bridge on Nash Road. And, the hills are starting to turn green. Thank you, Rain!

The Glass Connection

Did you know we have a shop in our county that sells clocks, lamps, windows, tiles, ceiling plates, and other products made of colored glass? Walking by the shop one evening was what inspired me to look for examples of stained glass art in our area.   If you're in San Juan Bautista, check out The Glass Connection.

I hope you enjoyed the stained glass theme the past few days. Here are links to the posts, in case you missed them or want to revisit them.

• The Stained Glass in St. Benedict
• Church Stained Glass Windows
• Stained Glass Windows in the Former Hospital

Enjoy the rain. Until tomorrow, Dear Readers.

Stained Glass Windows in the Former Hospital

The building that was once the original Hazel Hawkins Hospital on Monterey Street has a few beautiful stained glass windows in its south wing. Notice how the glass is bubble-like rather than smooth? 

When the Husband and I stopped by a few days ago, we saw that the plates lining the ceiling of the hallway were ripped out. Too bad.  It was an amazing sight to behold. I still wonder the inspiration for such a design. For those of you who never saw it, click here and scroll down to the bottom of the post.

This small piece of glass work is on a back door. I like how at first -- and second -- glance the outdoors seem to be part of the window. In a way, it really is.

Church Stained Glass Windows

Many churches in San Benito County have stained glass windows. Some artwork depict stories from the Bible, while other pieces are decorations. The photos on this page show two of the beautiful stained glass windows at the Hollister United Methodist Church on Monterey and Fifth Streets.

To see more church stained glass windows in our area, check out these pages.

• More from the Hollister United Methodist Church
• Hollister First Presbyterian Church
• Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
• St. Benedict Church 

 

The Stained Glass in St. Benedict Church

I wonder how the term stained glass came about that people thought it was uncool to say, "Wow! That's beautiful colored glass."

Anyway, I've been noticing stained glass lately that I decided to feature some of the local sightings over the next few days. Today's photo shows some of the beautiful stained glass artwork  at St. Benedict Church on Fairview Road. To see another piece at the church, go to this page on Take 25 to Hollister.

A Night of Music

Last night, the Husband and I attended "A Night of Music" at El Teatro Campesiño in San Juan Bautista. What a joyful night! The event showcased many local musicians.

The evening began with a premiere of Voices, the collaborative works of Emiliano Valdez and Michael Annotti, which they developed in partnership with Mr. O's Academy of the Arts and the San Benito County Arts Council. The songs of Mr. Valdez and Mr. Annotti were inspired by stories of many of the residents of San Benito County. One song, for example, was about working in the canneries. Their CD will soon be released.

Playing out the night was  Mr. O's  Jazz Band, under the direction of Mr. Joe Ostensen. As always, Mr. O's band, composed of teenagers and adults, were grooving and moving the audience away.

Here are some links to check out the sounds of these wonderful local musicians:

• Michael Annotti   
• SoMoS, which features Emiliano Valdez on guitar and vocals and Michael Annotti on keys 
• Mr. O's Jazz Band 

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

Queen sang, "I want to ride my bicycle." And, that's how I feel most days. Hollister is a great place for pedaling around, whether it's up and down the back roads or through the neighborhoods.   Even going up the hills is fun, because eventually you get to coast down. Wheeeee!

If you're interested in finding some long bike trails in the county, check out this page at mapmyride.com

Farming Continues

San Juan Valley

Drought. Or not.

The Old City Hall

The words City Hall are etched into the front of this building. But, it is not the City Hall, although the city of Hollister now uses the bottom floor for some offices.  Today's City Hall is a few buildings to the west—the white, concrete building that was once the Hollister City Library.

The old City Hall was built in 1906 and also housed the fire department. It was designed by the infamous California architect William H. Weeks, who designed many other buildings in town. Here are a couple of older posts about the old City Hall that may interest you:

• Look Up: The Old City Hall
• Postcards of the Old City Hall 

The Gilmore Colony of Cienega Valley

Poster by the San Benito County Historical Society

 In 1888, Daniel Gilmore of Arkansas bought several hundred acres of land in the Cienega Valley where he planned to create a plantation like the one he grew up on. To make it happen, he invited former slaves of his father's to move to San Benito County and work for him. Gilmore was reported to have paid the train ride west for more than 40 men, women, and children who arrived in Hollister in 1889.

So, where did the name Gilmore Colony come from? I have no idea.  But, perhaps, it will be clarified at the presentation this Friday evening, February 21, from 6:30 to 8 PM at the San Benito County Historical Museum Open House on 498 Fifth Street, next to the library.

For more about the Gilmore Colony, check out these links:

• The Gilmore Colony Story by Phil Reader, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History Research Forum
• February is Black History Month | A Look at the History of African Americans in San Benito County, BenitoLink

Some of the original family members who worked
at the Gilmore Ranch are buried in the southeast corner
of the IOOF Cemetery.