HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

VOL. 13 NO. 7 September 15. 1998

Welcome back to the Historical Society after a long, hot summer which we hope you survived in some fashion or another. Much is on tap for this year that will unfold to you as time progresses. It should be a good year of accomplishment and growth as we take on one challenge after another The Board

SEPTEMBER 15 PROGRAM

A special treat is in store for Historical Society members on Tuesday, September 15, when our first meeting of the season will feature four China Lake alumni swapping yarns about "the way it used to be."

Our honored guest will be Dr. Emory Ellis, who came here in November 1943 as head of the first group of scientists, engineers, and technicians sent by the California Institute of Technology to establish a rocket-testing center at China Lake. Dr. Ellis had already pioneered research at Caltech in a form of virus (bacteriophage). He helped Caltech Biologist Max Delbruck start working in the genetic specialty for which Delbruck later won the Nobel Prize.

Once he arrived here, Dr. Ellis didn't look back. During long days of work, he began conducting the first tests, crouching behind makeshift berms in the sagebrush to observe the first aerial rocket tests. In the evenings, he and his wife would entertain at their home at the White Star Mine in what became the valley's de facto Officers' Club until the real club could be built.

Between then and his departure from here in 1954, Dr. Ellis was head of the Rocket Department and the Systems Programing Group. After three years as director of planning for the Rheem Ordnance Laboratory Government Products Division in Downey, he spent the following four years as a member of the Institute for Defense Analysis at the Pentagon. In 1970 Caltech honored Dr. Ellis for his career achievements in both rocketry and genetics.

He is now retired and lives in Santa Maria.

Joining him at the discussion table will be Lee Lakin, Ted Lotee, and George Silberberg. All have long and distinguished histories at the Naval Ordnance Test Station and its successor organizations. All still live in Ridgecrest.

Lakin, who arrived at NOTS in 1946, specialized in instrument operations and data assessment. He was in on the computer revolution here and worked with everything from Marchant calculators to high-speed data processors. For many years he was head of China Lake's Computer Sciences Division.

Lotee came here at the relatively late year of 1947 and spent many of his early years here working on rocket launchers and testing rocket fuzes. In 1955 he became head of the Engineering Department's Fleet Support Division, a job he held for the following two decades.

As for Silberberg, he arrived here in 1945, beginning his China Lake career in the Exterior Ballistics Group. His subsequent work was in optical instrumentation in the Range Department. Silberberg and two other NOTS employees earned a patent on shuttered video technology that is used today in all video cameras. Amazingly enough, the co-inventors earned a grand total of $200 each for this technology, which the Navy turned over to industry. Today the invention is worth untold millions.

The meeting, which will be held in the Sylvia Winslow Gallery of the Maturango Museum, will begin at 7:30 p.m. We're predicting standing room only!

As always, the meeting is open to the public, and refreshments will be served. Come and listen in on some fascinating memories of a productive, fun place to work. Liz Babcock

FROM THE PRESIDENT:

The Society takes pleasure in welcoming John Fickewirth as a new member.

Constitution Week and the Pate Bell dedication will be celebrated at the Maturango Museum on Sunday, September 13, at 3 P.M. Please see related article elsewhere in this newsletter.

Plans are underway for a field trip to Briggs Mine on Saturday, November 21. Details will be in our and the Museum's October newsletter.

Your Society will once again have a booth at the Maturango Junction on Saturday October 17. Volunteers to set-up and take-down the porch are needed. Additionally volunteers are needed to man the booth. Please call Lou if you can help with the porch set-up on Friday Oct. 16 at 4 PM, or take-down on Saturday about 4 PM. This year we will have bakery-made and prepackaged cookies along with the usual lemonade. We also hope to have a fruit, such as apples, and maybe a prepackaged cheese for sale.

Getting the Bullion Trail nominated as an historic trail is moving along nicely. The BLM is developing a more comprehensive plan than the one that we submitted. They believe this is a very worthwhile project that will add a lot to recognition for the Indian Wells Valley. They envision your society and other interested organizations in becoming partners in this endeavor. They also feel there is grant money to support such a project, and that they may be able to formally announce a project go-ahead shortly. Lou Pracchia

P.S. There is still a need for copies of Desert Magazine for our archives. Duplicate copies can be used as trading material. Also, some of you may have unwanted copies of the now defunct Californian magazine and we would also like to build-up a reference file of these. Among other "wish we had" items are: A current Pentium computer, scanner, ink-jet printer, read/write, CD capability, someone to make copies, prints and enlargements of black and white photos, and a magic wand to make our desires come true. Lou Pracchia

CELEBRATE THE CONSTITUTION AND OUR BELL

Please join us for a very special celebration on Sunday, Sept. 13, 3 p.m. at the Maturango Museum. That's when our historic bell will be rung for the first time in public.

The celebration will last just an hour, concluding with an activity that's bound to bring a lump to your throat and a tingle to your spine. As John Pate, the bell's donor, pulls the bell rope a symbolic 13 times, Supervisor Jon McQuiston will read each of the names of the first 13 states to join the Union.

The HSUMD is jointly sponsoring this event with the Panamint Springs Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The DAR part of the program will focus on Constitution Week, an annual celebration that begins every year on Sept. 17, the anniversary of the date the United States Constitution was signed.

On Sept. 17 this year, as always, bells across the land will ring out precisely at 4 p.m. Philadelphia time (1 p.m. here in Ridgecrest) in a gesture of gratitude for this nation's freedom and political stability under the world's oldest continually operating constitution.

In order to give everyone an opportunity to come to the museum for the bell-ringing ceremony, the Panamint Springs Chapter will also commemorate the Constitution's 211th anniversary a few days early. Sunday's program will begin with an invocation by DAR Chaplain Elaine Pott, followed by the pledge of allegiance. The "Star-Spangled Banner" will be sung by Christina Cosner. DAR Historian Dona Anderson will give brief remarks on the meaning of Constitution Week, and Lou Pracchia will talk about the bell and all the people and organizations helping to make its installation in Ridgecrest a reality. Music on the program will include a duet, "Let There Be Peace on Earth," by Shay Terry and Lisa Cosner, and a "Yankee Doodle Dandy" medley by 11-year-old Katie Berkhimer. Terry and the Cosner girls are students of Lynn Paulsen and members of the Rave Show Choir. One of the Orange County Song and Dance Kids, Berkhimer has toured all over the country with this group since the age of 4. Just before the 4 p.m. tolling of the bell, McQuiston will give a brief patriotic talk.

Please bring your own bell to ring along with the tolling of the Little Lake bell. Bring neighbors, friends and family members " this should be an event that's educational and involving for all ages.

After the program, cookies and lemonade will be offered in the museum. Stop in and take a look at our new exhibit, "Stars and Stripes ­ and Bells," installed just in time for Sunday's event. The DAR will also have pamphlets available about the Constitution. Liz Babcock

NEW EXHIBIT IN MUSEUM VESTIBULE

A new exhibit in the vestibule of the Maturango Museum is designed with a patriotic theme to honor our new bell and the Constitution Week framework within which we will inaugurate the bell.

The text of the Constitution will be displayed, as well as some fascinating related items, such as photos from a 1915 Liberty Bell tour across America and a of lyrics to the National Anthem, penned by Francis Scott Key himself.

We're also taking advantage of the Revolutionary theme to display a greatcoat worn in two local productions of the musical "1776" and the American Flag that flew over Little Lake Post Office.

Also on view will be other bell-related items, such as photos of our own bell and other historically significant bells.

Take a peek at this historical potpourri, put together by Liz Babcock, with the help of Bruce Wertenberger and Josh Albertson, to commemorate our bell and Constitution Week, which is celebrated every year on Sept. 17-23 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution. Liz Babcock

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE LITTLE LAKE BELL

The following people and organizations contributed to make local installation of the Little Lake bell a reality:

The John Pate family, which donated the bell in memory of Rosemary Pate.

Historical Society President Lou Pracchia, who accepted the bell, and the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert, which agreed to sponsor the bell.

The Board of Trustees of the Maturango Museum, which agreed to house the bell on museum grounds.

Museum Curator Elva Younkin, who helped site the bell.

Fred Weals, who designed and engineered the bell tower and who did the paperwork for the permit.

Carroll Evans, who was the expediter for tower construction and bell installation. He ordered material; arranged welding, mounting, and assembly; prepared and painted the tower; worked on installation; contributed funds - whatever it took to complete the project.

Jan and Anne Thompson, who brought metal for the tower from Rosamond.

Mike Morgan, who welded the tower.

Dick Moe, who stored the bell during tower preparation.

Jason Freeman, who helped prepare and paint the tower.

Pat and Terry Rogers, who prepared the pad.

Doug Lueck of US Rentals, who donated cement and the cement mixer.

Jason Freeman, Joe Ernst, Josh Albertson, Terry Rogers, John Pate, Carroll Evans, and Lou Pracchia, who worked on tower installation.

Coast to Coast Hardware, which donated the bell rope.

Carroll Evans, Bruce Wertenberger, John Pate, and Chet Creider, who made financial contributions. Liz Babcock

LOCAL HISTORY VIDEO

Additional copies were ordered over the summer of our Sand Canyon Station thirty-seven minute video. It will be available for purchase at our regular September meeting still at a cost of $20, tax included. The video continues to arouse interest and enthusiasm, as most recently evidenced at a Rotary Club presentation.

The cover design is complete at long last and currently is being reproduced. All those of you who've purchased the video in its "plain" case will be notified as soon as the covers are received. Charlotte Goodson