By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
Saturday night, Dec. 14 in the mountains was apparently the evening most of the nonprofits and local families, too, decided to hold their holiday parties. This year, since Thanksgiving was on the last possible day it could be held in November, there was one fewer weekend between that and Christmas. The weather was actually perfect: no wind, rain or snow, and there was a crisp feel to the air, so decisions had to be made about which party to attend.
For those who chose to attend the Rim of the World Historical Society’s Christmas party at the San Moritz Lodge, they had a rocking night with disco as the theme. Historically, the disco era is what killed the Club San Moritz, or maybe it was just a coincidence in timing, as a change in culture and music also reflected the end of that era of private country clubs, such as Club San Moritz which had been established back in 1939. By the mid-70s they also had run out of new property to sell to pay for the amenities the club offered and closed.
The crowd danced the night away to “YMCA.”
Either way, those who attended the Disco Holiday Party were dressed in 70s fashion of shiny, flashy and metallic bell bottoms and long hair. The age of glitter and mirror balls was firmly embraced by the attendees. They ate a great dinner and then, led by Steve Valentine, relearned how to do the Hustle and other disco dance steps. The dancing spread way beyond the dance floor to all corners of the San Moritz Lodge, since the music could be heard everywhere. Even Duane Banner was seen out cutting a rug on the dance floor, discoing the night away.
During the evening, the new board of directors for the Historical Society was announced by President Terry Ebert: Gary Bancroft, Rhea-Frances Tetley, Zack Milan, Sheila Arnett, Cindy Burnett, Sheila Davis, Chandra Olivas, Castelo Olivas and Duane Banner. Not in attendance were Bill Pumford and Greg Naylor.
Everyone who works at the Mountain History Museum, run by the Historical Society, is a volunteer, so the Volunteer of the Year is usually difficult to choose from all the wonderful help that is given to the museum. Not this year – the Volunteer of the Year was announced as Don O’Connell, who is able to drive the 1951 Crestline bus, a converted truck with a wooden box on the back with seats. The truck was converted, back in the day, into a bus for passengers to use and to drive visitors and locals from Top Town Crestline, down to Lake Gregory and Valley of Enchantment every hour during the summer for several years.
The Historical Society found and bought the bus from where it had been sitting in the desert and got it restored to use in parades only, since California law no longer allows riding in the back of open vehicles. During Snowmeggeddon, the bus carport at the museum collapsed onto the top of the truck and dented it. The truck has a three-cam box drive, mechanical brakes and a six-volt battery, so it requires special driving knowledge; it is difficult to drive as it has no power steering, but O’Connell knows how. When the bus overheated in last summer’s Jamboree Days parade, he was able to get it restarted to get it out of town and then had it towed back to the museum. Since then, he has focused on getting it back into working condition and drove it again in the Blue Jay parade this month.
There were over 20 raffle baskets that people could put their tickets into and six silent auction baskets created by Linda Tyer.
The Historical Society is looking forward to another decade to celebrate and a significant milestone in mountain history at next year’s party.
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