By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The “Swinging Sixties in the Swingingest Town in America” were celebrated at the San Moritz Lodge in Crestline on Dec. 9 by the Rim of the World Historical Society. More than115 historical society members and guests came dressed in 60s styles, from Beatniks to Mods and Rockers and Greasers to Hippies. All evening long, they were serenaded by rock hits from the 60s, played by DJ Frank Pirolo, who even accepted song requests, with many of those hit songs being sung along with by the attendees as they jumped up to dance.
The holiday party was one of peace and harmony between the many groups representing the decade of the 60s from Beatniks to Hippies at the San Moritz Lodge.
The evening began at 5 p.m. in the historic bar area, with drinks being offered by The Bear Claw. While drinking and enjoying the appetizers, the guests bought lots of raffle tickets in addition to the ones they were given just for attending and deposited them in front of the dozens of raffle baskets being offered from stores such as Encompass and for the topical baskets such as gardening, history, fishing and several wine baskets. The silent auction for a boat trolling engine and a handmade quilt were very popular.
The historic Club San Moritz began in Crestline in 1939 after the Depression and moved to the current San Moritz Lodge building in the 1950s and operated until the 1970s. Those members, over the years, built alpine-style homes in the San Moritz development, which can be identified by the Swiss and alpine named roads overlooking Lake Gregory. The Club San Moritz was known for having events and parties for their members and their guests over those decades, so the San Moritz Lodge was a perfect location to hold the 60s party as it always had been the party place in Crestline during those swinging years.
At the check-in table were photos from the museum from the days when Crestline was the Swingingest Town in America. Also, there were three large three-foot-wide, black and white photos of Crestline on display. Two of them featured museum docent and long-time Crestline resident Barbara Carey on her horse when she was a young teen. One photo is a well-known post card featuring a photo taken at the Switzerland Monument on Lake Drive and the other on the horse trail that used to surround the lake. These photos are planned for display this next year when the museum reopens after their winter break. The third photo was of the lake itself with large crowds on the north shore beach, now on display at the Lake Gregory Company’s office.
After socializing in the bar, dinner was served in the main lodge room, catered by Fox in the Woods, with delicious tri-tip or chicken cordon bleu, with salads, twice-baked potatoes, veggies and tasty chocolate mouse and cake desserts with coffee, tea and lemonade.
After dinner the new board of directors of the historical society was introduced by outgoing President Bill Pumford, who received a framed certificate honoring his years of service and recognizing his writing of Mountain Milestones newspaper articles. Incoming ROWHS President Terry Ebert gave brief remarks and then, after a couple of photos, the dancing began!
The 2023 board members are Terry Ebert, Greg Naylor, Bill Pumford, John Stevens, Rhea-Frances Tetley, Sheila Arnett, Gary Bancroft, Duane Banner, Cindy Burnett, Sheila Davis, Connie Johnson, Sandra Koos, Zack Milan, Chandra Olivas and Castulo Olivas.
The Rim of the World Historical Society, established in 1986, has over 225 members who volunteer to help run the free Mountain History Museum and offer numerous educational and historical tours and events during the year to their members and museum guests.
“I like to support the historical society and their events as they are a community benefit organization which offers so much to the community and to our kids all year long. Plus, they always do it in such fun ways,” said one of the long-haired hippies (a recognizable community leader and member of the historical society), who was wearing tie-dye at the party. The place was very colorful, as the decorations were created by Laura Sharp who came dressed head-to-toe in pink.
Steve Valentine led the party in learning 60s style dances on the dance floor at the installation of officers.
Steve Valentine of Ballroom Burn gave a dance demonstration of the dances of the 1960s with his dance partner Susan Middleton. He then invited the audience to dance with him and the dance floor immediately filled.
“Again, this is the best holiday party of the year,” said Lake Arrowhead resident Bob Gladwell. “So many people wait for the historical society’s party to start the holidays as they always have the best fun.”
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