By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Historian
The first historical promotion of the new historical society in 1986 was to print a 1987 calendar of photos with short historical captions. They are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. The last two weeks of this column have described the calendar pictures and stories of the months of January through May.
Cover photo of the 1987 calendar showing the Club San Moritz in Valley of the Moon.
The 1987 calendar’s June photo is a close-up of dancers enjoying a night at the Club San Moritz in Valley of the Moon in 1947 or 1948. It said, “Just a piano, a bass, clarinet, trumpet and trap set were all that was needed to get the good times rolling at the original Club San Moritz. The dancers were taking a short reprise from the packed dance floor, gathering for a group photo.”
June: The interior of the Club San Moritz Lodge in Valley of the Moon filled with dancers circa 1947.
The Arrowhead Valley Club was constructed in 1924, closed by the Depression and remodeled in 1939 into the Club San Moritz Lodge located where the Lake Gregory Church in Valley of the Moon is today. That building (on the cover of the 1987 calendar) burned down in August 1950, just as a new, larger clubhouse building was being constructed on Lake Gregory’s shore, now known as the San Moritz Lodge.
To dance at the club, the family had to be a member of the private club or be a guest of a member. These private clubs required membership to buy property within the perimeters of the club’s boundaries. When Lake Gregory was built, most of the lands surrounding the lake were owned by the Club San Moritz and sold to its members as the years progressed. It was these property sales that helped support the club and its activities over the decades.
The ad for Century 21-San Moritz Realty featured broker/owner Theodore Grant in the June calendar. The family-owned real estate office is still located at the same address, next to the north Switzerland monument at the entrance to “Switzerland.” San Moritz Realty has the same phone number as 40 years ago, but with a (909) phone area code instead of (714). The current owner is Theodore’s son, Greg Grant.
The Lake Drive Hardware store on Lake Drive still has the same phone number and the Bauerschmidt family continues to own the business. They have expanded the business over the years, including to across the street, into the former miniature golf course property for the garden center. The unique small shed they use in the garden area was formerly at the mini-golf course and the garden center building is the former arcade. The hardware store suffered damage during Snowmeggedon, closing part of their building, but they are rebuilding.
The July calendar photo is of Crestline’s Independence Day parade in 1968. “The tradition survives. Every year paraders march down Lake Drive on Independence Day weekend.” In this photo, circa 1968, the Skyforest Elks Club leads the parade past Manzanita Drive with the Double Pharmacy behind them, at the corner of Springy Path, passing the Hancock Gasoline station (note gas price: 34.9 cents a gallon). The front two flag carriers are Ted Dewar, former owner of the Rim Lounge in Top Town, and Homer, former owner of the Village Inn on Lake Drive (both now empty lots).
These Independence Day celebrations have been yearly events since the mid-1950s, and were renamed Jamboree Days in the mid-1970s. Previously the celebrations were called Mountaineer Days.
All three businesses that ran ads in July are still in business. San Moritz-Century 21 Real Estate, which opened in 1980, advertised realtor Judy Grant. Judy’s son Greg Grant, not only worked there in 1987 – he still does today.
The other two businesses, although at the same locations with the same names, have new owners. Rim Bowling Lanes with their real wood bowling lanes is on Lake Drive and had Bettie DeLisle as its coordinator in 1987. Down the street, The Stockade – Grub and Whiskey was then owned by Pat and Jerry and served steaks with a full-service bar. The Stockade’s owners and menu have changed over the decades, but the phone number remains the same.
The August calendar photo was of the sun-loving crowds at Lake Gregory’s North Shore beach, just a couple of years after the lake filled in three days in March 1938. “In the days before boat docks and lifeguard towers, the North Shore beach drew hundreds of sunbathers and swimmers and rowboaters on summer afternoons. Paddle boards were very popular, in the early 1940s. Children actually used double-ended paddles,” like kayakers use today. “The upper building in the photo is no longer there, but the foundation now supports county regional park offices” said the photo caption.
The rowboats in the photo were very heavy duty and lasted decades. They were sold off by the previous management company to members of the community in the early 2020s and can be seen in landscapes designs all over the mountaintop.
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