OTD, Again
They threw a party for old-timers in Madera this past Saturday, and thousands of people of all ages showed up.
The event was the annual Old Timers Day parade and celebration.
It’s been going on for most of the past 95 years, and locals fondly refer to it as “OTD.”
When it began in 1931, OTD was designed to honor pioneers — or family members of pioneers — who had worked so hard to settle the town of Madera and the county of Madera.
It now shines spotlights on folks who have been around these parts for many years and who have made enormous contributions to the area.
From its earliest days, OTD has featured a parade that winds its way down Yosemite Avenue in the heart of downtown Madera.
This year — though the parade was moved farther west on Yosemite Avenue because of street construction — it had all the traditional elements.
Horses with riders. Horses drawing stagecoaches. Marching bands. Bands on flatbeds. A grand marshal. A parade queen (often in past years, there have been both a king and queen).
The parade ended just west of the old county courthouse, which houses the Madera County Museum. Many of the parade watchers — who had numbered in the thousands along both sides of Yosemite Avenue — trekked to Courthouse Park next to the museum.
There, numerous booths had been set up — some that offered food for a price — others that featured not-for-profit organizations such as the library.
It was, fortunately, a warm but not hot day — so the park was filled with people young and old.
And in between the end of the parade route and Courthouse Park was the museum. It had been closed most of the summer because of the Valley’s extreme heat.
So this past Saturday marked the re-opening of the museum to the public, and people did, indeed, show up.
Big-time.
In just two hours, more than 300 people came through the courthouse doors and strolled through the two-dozen rooms on three floors that each have their own stories to tell about Madera County history.
The Ag Room. The Native American Room. The Sugar Pine (flume) Room. The upstairs courtroom that only two Superior Court judges ever sat in during the half-century the courthouse was in use.
You get the idea.
The museum opened in 1974 with about 6,000 donated items. There are now 21,000 items that have been documented.
The courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many of those who dropped into the museum on Saturday had never been inside before, though they had lived in Madera all their lives.
Some who came by had been there a few times. And numerous children who h
ad been given tours of the museum as part of their school curriculum that brings them there when they’re in third grade — brought their parents.
Many of our museum docents had dressed up for the day in 19th-century garb. Some visitors were so impressed, they took our pictures.
Flattering? Yes, yes, of course.
Those 300 people who signed in on Saturday — actually, 307 — set a new modern single-day record for museum attendance.
We were, and are, impressed — and we’re all seeking answers for such a large gathering.
Was it because of the appearance Historical Society President Sheryl Berry and I made on ABC30’s 3 p.m. newscast on Friday, talking about Saturday’s upcoming events (right)?
Was it because of the front-page story the Madera Tribune ran the Wednesday before, about both the museum and OTD?
Or was it because the weather was so nice or because the parade route was different this year and forced people to cross in front of the courthouse to get to the park?
Perhaps it was all that, combined. We’ll never know. But there’s one thing we are sure of.
Another OTD came and went, and, yes, thousands of people of all ages showed up.
And I sincerely hope that whoever chronicles future Old Timers Days — be it 50 or even a hundred years from now — can say or write the same thing.