2009-2010 Desert Institute Lecture Series Continues...
Season of the Sand Blossoms

Friday, March 12, 2010.

Don't miss this excellent film and presentation by award-winning filmmaker, Peter
Rhalter.

All lectures begin at 7:00 pm and are presented in the Old Schoolhouse Museum, 6760 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms, CA. Cost is $5.00 at the door.

Don't forget, you can have dinner with the lecturer at the 29 Palms Inn. It's dutch treat at 5:00 p.m. on the Friday of the lecture. Please be sure to RSVP to Marion at 760-361-1202.

A lecture schedule can be seen by clicking here.

For more information please call 760-367-5535 or email desertinstitute@zippnet.net.

To download a flyer for this lecture (in pdf format) click here.

To download a flyer with the 2009-2010 series schedule click here.

 
GIGANTIC Community Garage Sale!

    Saturday, 27 March, 8:00am - 2:00pm

Join in and help us raise funds for the Hastie Bus Restoration project.

The 29 Palms Historical Society is sponsoring a Community Rummage/Garage Sale to raise funds for the restoration of the Hastie Bus.

The Sale will be in the parking lot of the Old School House Museum from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 27, 2010.

We are asking for donations for the sale, no clothing please. Any items that you might want to donate (large or small) may be brought to the Old Schoolhouse Museum on any Wednesday morning between 9 am and 12 pm. Contributions will be accepted up to Friday, March 26th.

Small items may be brought to the Museum, and left with the Docent's who are on duty Wednesday - Sunday between the hours of 1:00 and 4:00 pm. If these drop-off times are inconvenient, please call or send an email to arrange for an alternate time.

Tax receipts are available upon request.

Our exhibits curator, Marilyn Fernald, has put together a superb Christmas display again this year! Be sure and drop by the museum and see the finished product.

The Fall 2009 Volunteer of the Quarter is Dana Bowden. Click here to learn more. CONGRATULATIONS Dana, it's well deserved!!!

29 Palms Annual Weed Show - 2009

The 2009 Annual Weed Show will be Saturday & Sunday, November 7th & 8th. The categories and rules are now available. Click here to see them.

To download and print a poster click the image to the right.

Old Schoolhouse/Desert Institute Lecture Series 2009/2010....

The schedule of lectures for the 2009/2010 season has been posted. Some of the lecture topics are Tales of the Mojave Road - the Military with Dennis Casebier, Bighorn Sheep with the JTNP Wildlife Ecologist and Muir Roots: At One with the Wild with David McChesney. Don't miss these presentations on topics relating to Joshua Tree National Park and the surrounding communities. All speakers are carefully chosen experts who will present about cultural history, natural history and creative arts.

A season subscription is only $40.00 and can be purchased by sending a check, payable to Desert Institute, 74485 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms CA 92277. You can also pay with a credit card by calling the office at (760) 367-5535 during normal business hours. This is a $10 savings off the regular price of $5 per lecture.

This year you can have dinner with the lecturer at the 29 Palms Inn. It's dutch treat at 5:00 p.m. on the Friday of the lecture. Please be sure to RSVP to Marion at 760-361-1202.

A lecture schedule can be seen by clicking here.

To download a poster with the schedule click here.

**Now Available In Our Gift Shop**

Joshua Tree National Park

This 47 minute DVD production is a bold adventure and historical documentary made possible by the tireless efforts of Minerva Hamilton Hoyt for her sincere interest in persevering this park's beauty and history as an intriguing part of the American West. It is full of educational information about the ecosystems and ancient Indian occupation, plus rare astounding footage of the wildlife that occupies this National Park. The story chronicles the historical times of the settlers, miners, outlaws and cattlemen, culminating in the historical events and story of the now famous Keys ranch.
Color DVD - 2009 - by Scrub Oak Productions

Here is a preview:

Old Betsy II

MORONGO BASIN -- The history of public transportation in the Morongo Basin begins with Johnnie Hastie who provided service from Basin communities to the Coachella Valley and Riverside area starting in 1938.

The original Hastie bus was built from a used 1928 Chevrolet, adding a wooden body, seats for 12 passengers and a sturdy roof to hold cargo.

From 1938 to 1973, this unique vehicle made the daily trip over rough and sometimes washed out roads to Banning and back, providing a vital connection for early Basin residents to the rest of the world.

When Johnnie retired in 1973, he had driven more than seven million accident-free miles, leaving behind a legacy of dependable public transportation.

The Hastie bus was fondly known to its loyal passengers by several different monikers including "Old Betsy," "Banning Bullet" and the "Blue Goose." To pay homage to its historical forebearer, MBTA asked Twentynine Palms Historical Society, which owns the rights to the Hastie bus and is in the process of restoring it, for permission to place decals with the likeness of the Hastie Bus using its historical names.

People may notice the new buses going down the road sporting MBTA's new color scheme bearing the names "Betsy II," "Basin Bullet," and the "Blue Goose."

"We are grateful to the Historical Society for allowing us to create an historical connection between the modern day MBTA to the original Hastie bus -- our granddaddy -- and what it meant to our community in days long past,"said Joe Meer MBTA's general manager.

For pictures and more info on the Hastie Bus restoration project click here.

We now have the newly reprinted third edition of Willis Keys's and Art Kidwell's "GROWING UP AT DESERT QUEEN RANCH" in our Gift Shop.

Here is the blurb from the back cover:

"Living at an isolated desert ranch far from the usual comforts of civilization was a challenge in the 1920s and '30s. With the nearest town over sixty miles away, the Keys family used resourcefulness and ingenuity to live in this challenging environment. Working as a team, the family dug wells and built dams to impound rainwater, grew their own food, took care of medical problems, worked their own gold mines, and repaired needed equipment. They also had schoolteachers come to their Desert Queen Ranch to educate their children and those of neighboring homesteaders."

"Willis Keys, son of area pioneers, Bill and Frances grew up at the family ranch with his brother and three sisters and participated in its daily activities. His keen ability to remember the smallest details of past events in his life have been a great help in documenting the history of the ranch, now a part of Joshua Tree National Park. Local historian and author, Art Kidwell, recorded interviews, conversations, and walks through the ranch and the Park with Willis over a twenty-two year period. Their collaboration gives readers a look into the desert's past that has disappeared from view."

Stop by our Gift Shop and pick up your copy soon. Or, you may order a copy from us or pick one up at Cactus Wren Book Exchange, Sagebrush Press Book Store, or the Morongo Basin Historical Society Gift Shop.

Images of America:

Twentynine Palms

by Vickie Waite, Al Gartner and Paul F. Smith

Published by Arcadia Publishing

The book is now available in the Old Schoolhouse Museum Gift Shop for $19.99 + tax or can be ordered by mail.

JACKRABBIT HOMESTEAD Website & audio tour is launched!

JACKRABBIT HOMESTEAD is a web-based multimedia presentation featuring a downloadable car audio tour exploring the cultural legacy of the Small Tract Act in Southern California's Morongo Basin region near Joshua Tree National Park. Stories from this underrepresented regional history will be told through the voices of local residents, historians, and area artists-many of whom reside in reclaimed historic cabins and use the structures as inspiration for their creative work.

To experience the project, please visit www.jackrabbithomestead.com.

Funding for this project is made possible, in part, by a grant from the California Council for the Humanities as part of the Council's statewide California Stories Initiative. The Council is an independent non-profit organization and a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information on the Council and the California Stories Initiative, visit www.californiastories.org.

Come see our expanded purple glass exhibit!

Many thanks to Bruce Arnett for building display cases so we could display more of our purple glass collection. Our collection was recently expanded when Mary Leazer donated her extensive collection.

The photo shows only a tiny portion of what's on display. Stop by soon to see it all.

Hastie Bus Restoration Update

Status update and photos can be seen at http://www.29palmshistorical.com/HastieBus.php

Docents needed!

If you enjoy history and meeting interesting people consider volunteering as a docent at the Old Schoolhouse Museum. Learn more about the Indians, miners, and homesteaders and help the museum in its mission to preserve the history of 29 Palms and the greater Morongo Basin.

Interested? Want to learn more? Drop by the museum any Wednesday morning from 9-noon or call (760) 367-2366 and ask for Marilyn Collier or Joyce Tisdale.

Thank you!

EL OASIS YEARBOOKS NEEDED

We need only three more 29 Palms High School yearbooks to complete our collection for the library at the Old Schoolhouse Museum. This is a very popular collection. Years needed are: 1956, 1988, 1997. If you have one of these yearbooks and you're willing to donate it please drop it off at the museum during regular hours or on Wednesday morning from 9-noon. Or if you are out of the area please contact the museum at (760) 367-2366.

BUTTONS NEEDED

We still need the following Pioneer Days buttons to complete our set: 1947, 1956, 1959-64, 1966-67. If you have any of these and wish to donate them please drop them off at the museum during regular hours or any Wednesday between 9:00 and Noon. Or if you are out of the area please contact the museum at (760) 367-2366.