Mystery History -- Solved!

I stumped everybody this week.

In the photo above, golfers Wayne Griggs (left) and Gil Gentry play through despite a runaway car that had landed on the rim of a sand trap at Carmelita Park on Nov. 19, 1951.

Pasadena Star-News Nov. 20, 1951:

Golfers yelled "Fore!" for a runaway automobile at the Carmelita Park Pitch and Putt course yesterday.

The car belonged to Mrs. Jane Cheeseman, 77, of 150 South Oak Knoll Avenue who left it in the parking lot while she worked in the Red Cross building.

Somehow the car slipped its brakes and rolled 100 yards downhill into the eighth fairway where three golfers were carefully studying their approach shots. They scattered just in time and the car wound up in the sand trap, police reported.

Carmelita began as a huge private property owned by Dr. Ezra Carr and his wife Jeanne (more about that fascinating history here)

After the City of Pasadena took ownership of the land in 1941, the Carmelita Pitch and Putt course was established at the northeast corner of Colorado and Orange Grove boulevards.

Here are a couple of photos of the course, sans runaway cars:




Lofty plans originally calling for an extensive city park complete with a large, multifaceted cultural complex never came to fruition.

Today the property is owned by the City of Pasadena and leased by the Norton Simon Museum.


Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library and USC.

Mystery History

Where are we? And what's happening?

The first person to guess correctly will win a fabulous prize!

I'll have the full scoop on Thursday.

161 School

The 161 School in the Xicheng District of Beijing is in a set of ancient buildings in the Forbidden City. And we think Pasadena schools are historic!

Students from 161 School and Blair High School have been communicating with each other via the Internet for more than 10 years, and delegations of students have visited each other's communities.

This past Thursday, a large group of 161 School students came to Pasadena City Hall after visiting Blair.

I took a few moments to welcome them:


That's Cathy Wei next to me above in red, taking the interpreter role. She teaches Chinese language at PCC, serves on the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee and came with us on our trip to the Xicheng District last summer.

We all gathered on the front steps for a group photo:


On the right in this photo is Liu Wen Ming, director of academic studies for 161 School:


We exchanged gifts. I received a DVD about Beijing.


Many thanks to Darci, our Thursday afternoon volunteer in the information booth at City Hall, for shooting all the photos except the top one, which I snapped at 161 School last summer.

Looking for Something to Do?

Sunday, Feb. 13, from 1 to 6 p.m. – Black vintage films including “The Green Pastures” (1936) and “The Girl in Room 20” (1946) will be shown during a Black History film festival at Jackie Robinson Center.


Monday, Feb. 14, at 2:30 p.m. – Children are welcome to celebrate Valentine’s Day at San Rafael Branch Library with special stories, crafts and treats.


Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m. – This week’s film in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Pasadena Central Library is “Ladies in Lavender” (2004, PG-13) starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in the story of two sisters who befriend a mysterious foreigner who washes up on the beach of their 1930s Cornish seaside village.


Saturday, Feb. 19, FROM 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – The 29th annual Black History Parade and Festival will begin at Charles White Park in Altadena and end with a family festival at Robinson Park in Pasadena.

All events listed above are free and open to the public. See a more comprehensive list of events here.

Stadium Expansion is Off and Running

I'm frightfully late in posting these photos from the groundbreaking at the Rose Bowl Stadium on Jan. 25. I served on the planning committee for the event, which marked the beginning of an extensive three-year, $152 million renovation and expansion project.

In the top photo, that's Mayor Bill Bogaard (center) on the 50 yard line, flanked by (left to right) RBOC President Victor Gordo, Tournament of Roses President Rick Jackson, UCLA Athletics Director Dan Guerrero and Legacy Campaign Director Andrea Van de Kamp.

Here's a closer look:


Later several other officials joined them on the field, including Pasadena City Council and RBOC members, and City Manager Michael Beck (second from left):


Darryl Dunn, general manager of the stadium, was the MC for the formal program, which preceded the photos above and featured several speakers:


As you can see from that shot, some preliminary stages of renovation had begun by the time this event took place, such as removal of seats.

The program was followed by a lovely luncheon on the field for about 150 people, which was capped off by a cake with very subtle symbolic decoration:


Emina Darakjy, one of the Rose Bowl neighbors, carried a rose-themed purse for the occasion. She happened to set it down next to one of the centerpieces. I couldn't resist the shot:


Perhaps the hardest worker of the day was Walt Mancini, Pasadena Star-News photographer extraordinaire whom I've worked with for 20 years:




I took all of the photos except the top one, which was shot by a photographer hired for the event. I don't do ladders.

They Got Pinned

When there are promotions of sworn personnel in the Pasadena Fire Department, ceremonial badge-pinnings are part of the well-deserved pomp and circumstance.

In the photo above, Kevin Costa, a 14-year veteran of the department, receives his new badge from his wife and mother at Fire Station 34. He was promoted from battalion chief to deputy fire chief for operations.

You can see the badge in all its glory in this photo (that's Pasadena Fire Chief Dennis Downs behind him):


Robert Sepulveda, a seven-year veteran, was promoted from firefighter to fire engineer and pinned by his wife and daughter:



Also promoted was Seaton King, who rose from fire captain to battalion chief. Seaton has been with the department for 20 years.

Congratulations to all three!

Mystery History -- Solved!

Sorry for the long delay in posting the big reveal to my Jan. 25 Mystery History post. I'm back and (almost) fit as a fiddle.

Petrea wins with her 5:33 p.m. Jan. 25 guess "Owen Brown's funeral, Pasadena, 1889."

Click on the two images below to see even greater detail of the photo above, which shows the funeral procession through the streets of Pasadena:




The church was plenty large enough to hold the 2,000 people who attended the funeral:


Owen Brown was one of the sons of John Brown and was side-by-side with his father during the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 -- an important precursor to the American Civil War.

Although John Brown was captured, charged with inciting violent abolition and later hanged, Owen Brown (below) was one of only six men who escaped. He was the last survivor of the incident.


After the war, he settled in Ohio for several years before moving to this area in his later life with his brother Jason and some other family members.

They became celebrities in Pasadena, particularly among the African American community, once word got out that they were local residents. Owen and Jason also took on several civic and cultural responsibilities.

Here is Owen Brown (on left) with his brother Jason at their property north of Pasadena.


And here they are at Mt. Wilson (Owen is on the right):


For more than 100 years people have trekked up to Owen Brown's grave site. There was a court battle over whether hikers had the right to take the trail that goes partially through private property, but a judge found in favor of the public.

The grave marker, shown below in a 1914 photo, mysteriously disappeared in 2002.


See Owen Brown's obituary notice from the Jan. 12, 1889, issue of the Pasadena Standard, which includes plenty of historical information, here.

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena Museum of History, Tim Rutt and Altadenatrails.org.