Past Speakers and Events

2014 Events:

Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday January 23rd, 2014
7:00pm at the
Highland Senior Center
3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.
Program: Mark Landis “The Tail of the Kite” and how it influenced the area that becomes known as Highland.

 Well known historian and author Mark Landis gave an outstanding presentation on “The Tail of the Kite” and how it influenced the area that becomes known as Highland.

Mark had copy's of his books Touring The Eastern Loop of The Kite-Shaped Track and Arrowhead Springs, California's Ideal Resort available at the meeting.

For more information on Mark and his books go to his web site: Landis Publications



2013 Events:

The 17th Annual  Highland Citrus Harvest Festival was be held on
Saturday, March 30th, 2013

The theme for our booth was the "History of Highland Schools".
Historical
educational items and photographs were displayed in the booth.

We were honored to win a First place for best Historical Display!


 

Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, March 28
th 2013  7:00pm at the
Highland Senior Center
3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION  -

The program was presented by Nancy Alexander on “An Overview of the History of Highland Schools”. It included a PowerPoint presentation on Highland schools, including Warm Springs, Cram and Arroyo Verde, and their histories.


January 27, 2013 - 30th Annual Highland Family Run

We staffed one of the water stations and cheered on the runners at the 30th Annual Highland Family Run


Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday,
January 24th 2013  7:00pm at the
Highland Senior Center
3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

Our first meeting of 2013 was a potluck dinner and installation of the officers and board members for 2013-14.

For entertainment, a slide show was presented featuring highlights from the City of Highlands first 25 years.

Good food and comradely was enjoyed by those in attendance .


2012 Events:

Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, December 6th, 2012 7:00pm at the
Highland Senior Center
3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

The December 6th  presentation was "The Harris Company," by Arcadia Publishing Author Aimmee Rodriguez


"The Harris Company," was an overview of the business from its early beginnings to its merger with Gottschalks in the late 1990s.   Aimmee discussed the company's growth from a small store front in San Bernardino, California to the Inland Empire's premier department store.  Harris' during the Christmas season, and memories of what made the Harris Company a beloved business, was also addressed. 
Aimmee's book was available for sale for $20.   She had a book signing afterwards. 

 


The Highland Area Historical Society was at the
Discover Highland Night Sat. October 27, 2012 (3-7 pm) in the Lowes parking lot.
The booth was donated by the Hampton Inn & Suites Highland, and we thank them very much!

 


 

Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, Sept. 27th, 2012 7:00pm at the
Highland Senior Center
3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.


The September 27th program
was a power point presentation entitled "Highland, The Journey to Cityhood". It  included the beginnings of incorporation and some of Highland's "Firsts". Also included were the changes from an agricultural township to a modern city.


Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, May 24th, 2012 7:00pm

Anne Viricel posted a great recap of the May 24th meeting:

Highland city founders reminisce

Founding Highlanders Jim Rissmiller, Jody Scott, Ross Jones, and Dennis Johnson comprised the ‘Roundtable of Founders’ panel that met at the Highland Historical Society May 24.

Turbulent times preceded incorporation

By Anne Viricel

Published: Friday, May 25, 2012 4:25 PM PDT 


Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, May 24th, 2012 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center
3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

May 24th meeting -

 Roundtable of founders including:

Ross Jones, Dennis Johnson, Jim Rissmiller and Jody Scott.

As part of our celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Highland, we held a roundtable discussion with some of the people that made the dream of Highland Cityhood become a reality. The round table was an excellent opportunity to hear “straight from the horse’s mouth” about the inception of the idea for cityhood, the reasons people felt so strongly for and against the idea and the preparations put in place to make the new City succeed.  

 

 

Highland Citrus Harvest Festival

Saturday, March 31, 2012 from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm.     Highland Citrus Harvest Festival 2012

The City celebrated its 16th Annual Citrus Harvest Festival. The Historic District was filled with crafters, delicious food, antique and classic cars and lots of area residents. There was fun for everyone including live entertainment, kids games and rides, an historic home tour, shopping and much more.  

For further details, please contact Stater Kim at:
(909) 864-8732, extension 204.

 



Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center 3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

The March 22nd program will be:

A Racy History of Highland

 

Race photo 1
Don Harkey presented a “lively” and “spirited” program on the history auto racing,
racers and race tracks in the Highland area. He covered topics from the “Ashcan Derby”
to the National Orange Show Raceways, and a lot in between.
 Some of the items covered are:


1) A bit about Don’s racing career
2)  Inland Empire Speedways
        Ash Can (Kan) Derby which was on 3rd St. in Highland (1945-1948)
        Orange Empire Speedway (1938-1942)
        Orange Show Stadium / Speedway (1941-2011?)
        Riverside International Raceway (1957-1989)
        Ontario Motor Speedway (1970-1980)
3)  Highland's Racing Champions (OSS)
4)  Notable Highland drivers (including Swede Savage)
5) A viewing of, a short Super 8 mm film titled "Orange Show Speedway '71



Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, January 26, 2012 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center 3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

Marilyn Cram Donahue PhotoMarilyn Cram Donahue, daughter of Fred Cram and Nellie Carter Cram; widow of Robert Donahue (son of Leo Donahue) and prolific author  shared her memories of Highland in the 1930's and 1940*s, concentrating on the downtown area; the two grocery stores, the drugstore, Hambly's dry goods store, etc. and some of the social activities, including the Women's Club and the Knitting Club. She also talked about the Canteen that operated during the war years. Marilyn also shared her memories of orange ranching and what it was really like. The Rohrer Block on Palm Avenue as it appeared in 1936. Photo courtesy Bill Calvert’s “A Pictorial History of Highland.”

Pioneer recipes and some of the "snake oil" curatives, street games and songs and dances were part of the treasure trove of memories that Mrs. Donahue will shared.

The public was invited to share their memories of this time.

Marilyn has a new book coming out soon (hopefully). It takes place in a town called Messina in 1939. The story is fiction, but the setting is factual.

For those of you who read her first novel, Sutter's Sands (1971) and any of her young adult books, Straight Along a Crooked Road, The Valley in Between or any of her books, you won't want to miss this opportunity to meet the author and hear her share her personal memories of early Highland.
 

As Always the programs are open to the public. Light refreshments are provided after the program.



2011 Events:

 

Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, December 1, 2011 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center 3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

(Don’t forget, because of Thanksgiving the November meeting will held the First Thursday of December.)

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION:

Tom Hooker on "From Highland To Hollywood"

The presentation began with a little Hooker family history. Tom told about his Grandfather who had a plumbing business in Highland from about 1906 to about 1920 and owned a building in town. Tom’s Grandfather also had an orange grove on Atlantic Ave at Church Ave (now the Valencia Lea Mobile Home Park). Tom gave a history of the grove and of the buildings that were on it. That led into the main presentation about a little known Highland family from 1902 to about 1911. Mention of things that happened from as early as 1876 and as late as 2011 were made. Photos taken from 1904 to 2006 with an emphasis of 1909-1911 were shown. The connection with Hollywood become apparent. A discovery of new information about two well known Highland photos were also a part of this presentation.

Tom Hooker was born in 1946 in San Bernardino as that was where the hospital was located. His father was Robert E. Hooker who lived most of his 80 years of life in Highland and His mother was Elva V. Hooker who lived a good portion of her life in Highland. Tom was raised on the orange grove in Highland on Atlantic at Church in his Grandfather’s house. He attended Highland Cypress School, Highland Pacific Elementary, Highland Jr High School and Pacific High School where He graduated in 1964. He went on to San Bernardino Valley College, and then Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo where he graduated with a BS degree in Chemistry. Tom then went on to San Diego State where he graduated with an MA in Chemistry. After San Diego State, he Joined VISTA and they sent him to Williams, Arizona for one year of service. After VISTA he got a job with Kaibab National Forest and spent the next 34 years working for the US Forest Service. After Tom retired from the Forest Service four plus years ago, he decided to put together a family history. While doing so, Tom made contact with Howard Ingham, a grandson of the man who had planted the Hooker orange grove in 1884. They talked and decided to do a history of the Inghams and Hookers in Highland. Howard died a couple of years later and the history project grew to include much more. Tom is still working on the project today. The title of the book that Tom hopes to publish will be "A Pioneer History of Highland California and the North Fork Ditch." Most of the book will deal with the time period of 1852 to 1900. However, a little of the book will go past 1900.


Dont forget meetings have been changed to the FOURTH Thursday of Jan., Mar., May and September. Because of Thanksgiving the November meeting will held the First Thursday of December.


Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, Sept 22, 2011 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center 3102 Highland Ave. at the entrance to Patton.

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION:

Tom Atchley On Lugonia and Highland Connections.

Tom Atchley, historian, retired teacher, tour guide, researcher, Past President of the Redlands Area Historical Society, and director of the Junior Historical Society has immersed himself in history. With A.K. Smiley Public Library Director Larry Burgess, he teaches a popular ten-week-long evening course about the history of Redlands and the local area. He recently published "A Driving Tour of the Mill Creek Zanja."

As Always the programs are open to the public. Light refreshments are provided after the program.


Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, May 26, 2011 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION:

History of Water in the Inland Empire
by Suzie Earp

Suzie Earp, historian - archivist for the Water Resources Institute at California State University, San Bernardino, presented a lecture about the early history of water use and water development in the Highland and Inland Empire areas.

Earp, who has been employed at WRI for more than seven years, is enthusiastic about the work she does. In 2009, she and Joyce Hanson, professor of history at CSUSB, published the book, "The History of San Bernardino Community Hospital."

Some of the topics Earp will cover during the lecture are recreational water use, bottled water, the Clean Water Act and the State Water Project.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

 


15th Annual Highland Citrus Harvest Festival
Saturday March 26, 2011. Time: 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Location: Historic Highland Address: Main St. and Palm Ave

The Highland Area Historical Society had a display focusing on the history of citrus in Highland, at the north East corner of Palm Avenue and Main Street.

View of the area of the Highland Citrus Harvest Festival in a Google map.


View Highland Citrus Harvest Festival in a larger map


Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, January 27th (remember our meeting dates have changed to the fourth Thursday) 2011, 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

Installation "pot-luck" dinner. the Highland Area Historical Society held its first meeting of 2011. The event was a potluck dinner and installation of the officers and board members for 2011-12.

For entertainment, a slide show was presented featuring highlights from the Society's last 30 years.

This included photos of some of the charter members, program highlights, National Orange Show displays, Fourth of July parades, and of course, the Citrus Harvest Festival. This year’s Citrus Harvest Festival will be held March 26. Be sure to save the date!

Also included in the slide show were “Now and Then” photos of places in Highland. While some places have changed dramatically, others remain virtually unchanged.

The Historical Society has changed its meeting from the first to the fourth Thursday of January, March, May and September. The November meeting will be held Dec. 1 because of Thanksgiving. Business meeting of the Officers and Board members will be held on the alternate months, so that the regular meetings will be for programs only.



2010 Events:

 

Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, November 4, 2010 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

David Harkey presented our November program. Dave spoke on the Vapor-Kool Engine Cooler that was invented and marketed by long time Highland resident Jerry Duns. It was a simple device that sprayed water on a car's radiator to keep the car from overheating especially while towing a trailer......."It stops overheating with the pull of a switch" was the slogan.


Highland Area Historical Society meeting
Thursday, September 2, 2010 7:00pm at the Highland Senior Center

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION

Britt W. Wilson gave a presentation on Indians of the Highland-Redlands-Yucaipa area, including a site he has recently been working on in the Santa Ana river canyon above Highland.

Britt_W_Wilson

Britt W. Wilson BIO

Mr. Wilson is an archaeological technician conducting surveys throughout southern California and Nevada. He has a deep interest in native cultures particularly the Apache, Cahuilla and Serrano people. Previous to working as an archaeological technician, he was the Cultural Resources Coordinator for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

Britt is also a volunteer archaeological surveyor for the Bureau of Land Management. As a volunteer, he has recorded close to 300 new sites throughout the southern California region including village sites, rock art sites, rock shelters, milling sites, etc. He has worked in Anza Borrego State Park, the San Bernardino National Forest, and BLM lands across southern California in addition to his work on Indian reservations.

Mr. Wilson has a master’s degree in Public Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration but clearly loves archaeology. He is a member of the San Bernardino County Museum Association, the Society for California Archaeology, the Coachella Valley Archaeological Society, the Malki Museum, the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, the Mayflower Society and the Sons of the Revolution.


The City of Highland Community Trails Day


Community Trails Patch

Please join the Community Trails Committee on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. for our 16th Annual Community Trails Day event. Free guided trail tours, lead by our Community Trails Committee members, start at 8 a.m. and run until 9:15 a.m.. Tours leave every fifteen minutes for a total of five groups. The last group will set out at 9:15 a.m.. The tour lasts approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour


View City of Highland Trails Day 2010 in a larger map This years event will be staged at the eastern terminus of Base Line.

The City of Highland's Community Trails Committee (CTC) invites participants to hike, or ride horses on the City's newest trails. The Route is approximately 1.6 miles in length. The Route will follow unimproved dirt trails. Participants should wear appropriate clothing and shoes or boots.