Old Timers, Again
They threw another big community party in Madera this past Saturday, and as usual, thousands of people showed up.
And why not? There was an impressive parade — with bands and marchers and horses and stagecoaches — all making their way down historic Yosemite Avenue.
There were food trucks galore in Courthouse Park, where the parade ended — and plenty of people jammed the park on that warm, sunny day.
It was all part of the community’s Old Timers’ Day celebration, which has been become part of the fabric of Madera since its beginning in 1931.
As the title suggests, it’s a celebration of those people who have made giant contributions to the life and times of Madera.
The parade always has a Grand Marshall and a King and Queen. This year’s Grand Marshall was former downtown business owner and Rotarian Chris Miller. The King and Queen were lifelong Madera residents Randy and Sheryl Berry (right).
Sheryl is the longtime president of the Madera County Historical Society, which runs the county Museum in the Old Courthouse.
And as part of Old Timers’ Day, the Museum always opens its doors with free admission for anyone who wants to top off their parade-watching and lunch with a look back into the past.
And as usual, several docents took the opportunity to dress themselves up in distinctive historical outfits.
Many of those outfits were designed to reflect dress in the 1890’s — when Madera County was founded.
But a few outfits were put together to bring back memories of the 1950’s — specifically, 1955, when the Historical Society was founded by a group of visionaries who recognized the need to preserve the past for future generations.
The Museum has two-dozen rooms on three floors — with more than 20,000 historical items and photos. It’s housed in the Old Courthouse that was built in 1902 — partially burned by a still-unknown arsonist on Christmas Eve 1906 — and rebuilt.
The Old Courthouse served as the “real” courthouse until the mid-1950’s — when the county determined it was too small for further use.
The old building sat there, mostly vacant, in the park for nearly two decades — until the early 1970’s, when the still-young Historical Society convinced the county Board of Supervisors to let the Society put together a Museum.
That Museum has continued to grow, and this year it won First Place in the annual “Best of Central California” contest for Best Museum and First Place in the category of Best Place to Volunteer.
And this year, Museum volunteers decided to honor the year 1955 by turning the clock back — to that year.
Board member Julian Ascencio led the gigantic effort to turn the 2nd-floor courtroom into a 1955 “shrine.”
If you had been there and walked into the courtroom this past Saturday, you would have been, indeed, transported back to ’55. You’d have seen miniature cars from that year, as well as home interiors from that era.
Mannequins were dressed in 1955 garb.
A variety of ’55 hats were on display — and visitors could try them on.
Photos of 1955 celebrities such as James Dean and Grace Kelly and Elvis and Patti Page were on the walls.
And perhaps most impressively, there was a giant screen, with videos that evoked 1955 projected onto it.
Visitors could sit in the original courtroom seats and view scenes from “Oklahoma,” as well as scenes of “typical” American families in “typical” American towns from that era.
I was one of the greeters near the front door of the Museum on Saturday, and I urged visitors to be sure to stop at the courtroom before they left.
After a time, I came up with the idea of telling the many families who came by that when they stepped into that courtroom, they would be transported back into time as if they were in a “Twilight Zone” episode.
They seemed to like that.
More than 200 people came through our Museum on Saturday. Two-thirds of them said they’d never been there before — even though many had lived in Madera their entire lives.
So our Open House was, indeed, successful — bringing in new people and exposing them to the history of their county.
Perhaps a few will decide to come back and help us old-timers not just maintain the Museum — but bring along new ideas and new energy to help it continue to thrive for future generations.
After all, there will always be an Old Timers’ Day celebration — and always the need for someone to open the Museum that day and show those who come in how exciting — and important — the Past really is.