Chapter 57: 1949 • Sonora ~ Larry’s diary (age 15)
Jul 16 2nd night of pageant. Gov Warren was there. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Velma came up. Got to bed after 2. Almost late for scene 3. I was an actor in the Big Columbia 49er centennial pageant. I was in 6 scenes as a 49er. The play was on two huge turntable stages plus a large center stage. At least 15,000 people attended each performance in the outdoor staging.
Jul 17 Last presentation of pagent. Marched in 49’r Columbia parade. Saw last part of Under the Gaslight. Big Columbia Centennial Celebration all over now.
Jul 18 Went to band practice. Worked all day at Sprouse Reitz for Mr. Fieldings. Get $5 per day. Ate lunch with him.
Jul 19 Worked at Sprouse Reitz again today and got $10 for two days. Redecorated whole edging around top of store with new stock
Jul 20 Started to clean up backyard, wet it down. Betty got hoard of comics from somewhere. Mom canned apricots this morning.
Jul 21 Bought a new pair of shoes (Ox-blood) and a pair of socks. Bum-rushed kid out of store, went to baseball game for first time season
Jun 22 Bought a bottle of Cordovan shoe polish and polished 3 pairs of shoes. Saw pictures of pagent at Pitts.
Jul 23 Went to Columbia fandango. Won a $2.10 fishing reel (Pflueger) at free bingo. Forgot to help Fieldings oil the floors of 5-10
Jul 24 New Father at mass this morning. Sermon on local history. Stayed open till 6 by myself. Bought nutroll.
Jul 25 Went to band practice, talked about buying bass for band. No.
Jul 26 Cleaned out box threw away some 5th grade papers and scenic views. Practiced some on horn. Got whole hit parade out on the racks.
Jul 27 Almost got job at the Sonora Inn. Stayed open till 9 for salesman. Got Decca records in for first time in 1 1/2 months.
Jul 28 Saw show at Uptown The Red Menace. Lower theater got new neon lite, they are still closed for redecorating.
Jul 29 Went to the first Sierra Playhouse presentation Am I Intruding for $1.00. Dad got back from S.F. Carleen and Claudia still visiting Aunt Velma and Uncle Charlie.
Jul 30 Got ground cleared away for new post-office. Sonora assigned television channel. Had a short thunderstorm.
Jul 31 Played at Twain Harte concert. Had professionals from S.F. to fill in band. Had rehearsal this afternoon.
Recap: Governor Earl Warren and many other state officials attended the Columbia 49er Pageant, as well as people from all over California. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Velma Chatfield stayed with us. They took home movies of the celebration and parade and even took home movies of mom and my sisters. It was by far the biggest festival ever in the Sonora/Columbia area. We had many rehearsals for the pageant and the cast of hundreds of people. Most of the thousands of visitors camped out because there were not enough hotel rooms and most people who lived in the area had many guests staying with them just as our family did.
Catherine Sevenau is a writer, humorist, and storyteller in Sonoma. The stories in this series are excerpts from her book, Through Any Given Door, a Family Memoir; the full memoir is available as a web series at Sevenau.com. A longtime Broker/Realtor at CENTURY 21 Epic Wine Country, she can be reached at Csevenau@earthlink.net
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