The Year 2011 in Review
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MOHPG member and owner of this 1914 Model T, Michael Khanchalian, drives his wife Janene and friends in the postponed Monrovia Holiday Parade down Myrtle Avenue on December 7, 2011.
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The month of November found members visiting Rubel's Castle in Glendora, a unique set of river rock and steel structures built mostly of recycled materials.
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MOHPG member Tom Gerfen (center) is one of six docents who provided MOHPG members with a personalized, after-hours tour of the Tournament of Roses headquarters (the Wrigley house) in Pasadena on July 14, 2011.
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Curator Ariel van Zandweghe (left, in white shirt) acts as docent for MOHPG members in January, 2011, as they tour the Lummis Home, located next to the Pasadena Freeway.
At the end of every year, it is worth looking back over the events of the past twelve months in the process of continually evaluating the goal of fulfilling our stated mission: MOHPG is entrusted with Monrovia's heritage through preservation, education, and community involvement.
The principal activity sponsored by MOHPG every year since 1983 has been the Mother's Day Home Tour. In addition to being our main fundraiser, it gives us the opportunity to showcase the large and varied collection of vintage homes in the community. The 2011 tour attracted almost 900 visitors to a tour of some of Monrovia's oldest Victorian homes. Next year we will sponsor our 30th home tour as we continue this important service to the community.
Each month MOHPG plans a meeting for its members, and many of those meetings in 2011 took place at a variety of Southern California historic points of interest. Included were visits to: the Lummis Home in Highland Park, a train trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano, Rubel's Castle in Glendora, a special after-hours tour of the Wrigley Mansion (home to the Tournament of Roses), and the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse (with an exclusive mini-concert on the Wurhlitzer organ by Tony Wilson). And once again MOHPG participated in Monrovia's Make-A-Difference Day in October.
As part of its commitment to the community, MOHPG again made a donation to both of the city's musuems: the Anderson House and the Monrovia Historical Museum. MOHPG was also a sponsor for the summer music festival at Library Park, the Taste of Monrovia event benefiting the Santa Anita Family YMCA and Kiwanis Club, the Monrovia Days pole banner, and the Fourth of July fireworks show.
MOHPG has continued with memberships in the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce, the California Historical Society, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In October MOHPG had a booth at the MAFA Arts Festival in Library Park and used the opportunity to answer questions and inform the public on the role of preservation in the community.
Several vintage homes were threatened with demolition over the past year, so MOHPG Board members began attending meetings of the Monrovia Historic Preservation Commission to track developments on that front. Since its inception in 1980, MOHPG has been a leader in the effort to fight for the survival of our architectural heritage (as it did successfully in saving the Upton Sinclair House from demolition after the Sierra Madre earthquake). Members of MOHPG played a significant role in drafting the city's preservation ordinances.
You can help support our efforts by becoming a member of MOHPG. Go to the Online Store (top of the page) on this website for instructions on how to join.
Credits: Parade photo by Ron Schwartz
Lummis Home photo by Jim Wigton