the john muir exhibit - the_view_from_john_muirs_window - wonders of ranch days
The Wonders of Ranch Days
by Jill Harcke
Something happened in Pleasant Hill that has never happened
before. On September 24th, 1999, people from all around the
country and the world gathered together for a Dinner Dance and
Auction to raise funds for the new Education Center at The John
Muir National Historic Site.
Ross Hanna's Phirehouse Philharmonic Jazz Band from Dixon filled
the air with festive music. The food was delicious and the
atmosphere in the room was charged. The auction items were
artistically displayed and people in the room began to have the
sense that they were about to be a part of something very
special. A first.
People started finding one another and
connecting. Graham White, organizer of "An Infinite
Storm of Beauty", the largest Exhibit of John Muir ever in
Scotland, found Doc Heide, Wisconsin/San Francisco playwright of
"The Mountains Call My Name." Garth Gilchrist, San Rafael
storyteller found Gloria Trombley, producer of "John Muir, the
Musical." Phyllis Shaw, Superintendent of the John Muir National Historic Site,
looking lovely in her blue print dress was found by her son, and
asked to dance. Ranger David Blackburn, looking very handsome in
his civilian clothes had a welcoming smile on his face all
evening. Dan McIlhenny and his wife, Valerie Crawford, producers
of the John Muir Tribute CD, spoke to just about everyone there.
The Muir/ Hanna family members started finding each other and
personally thanking all the people who had come out to pay
tribute to their descendent, John Muir. Michael Hanna, son of
Bill and Claudia Hanna of Napa, and grandson of John Hanna,
Wanda's son, began to discover how much he looked like his famous
great great grandfather.
As the evening drew to an end, we found out not only did we raise
some funds for our new Education Center, but we received the
benefit of working together, as a team for a common cause, and
that was a very satisfying feeling, the strength of working
together.
"You can't pick anything out of the universe without finding it
hitched to something else."
The next day, Ranch Days proved to be a continuation of the
previous evening's celebration. As all of the rangers worked
diligently to set up and prepare the grounds for visitors, the
feeling of a large family gathering took over. The Hanna's
actually did have a family reunion under the shady grove by the
adobe, while Doug McConnell of Bay Area Backroads interviewed
Maymie Kimes, Muir biographer and collector of a 50 year study of
John Muir. Ike Livermore waited under the shade of a cool tree,
enjoying The Alhambra Valley Bluegrass Band and watching the
blacksmith do his work. Entertainment on the stage under the very
Sequoia tree the John Muir brought back as a seedling in a
handkerchief from Yosemite included
Gerald Pelrine, an actor
from Wisconsin who made the trip west solely to tell the moving
story of Stickeen. The Lafayette Scottish Country Dancers
exercised true Scottish grit and grace as they danced in the
midday sun to Scottish Songs.
Authors sat under the grove of tress in front of the house, along
with Harold Wood, Sierra Club amazing person and creator of The
John Muir Exhibit on the web, along side Dan'l and Val and the
John Muir Tribute CD which was released this weekend.
Doug McConnell came to film Ranch Days with cameraman, Brian
Cardello to spend a few hours catching the spirit of the day. But
he couldn't leave. There was too much going on. They kept making
the long trek back to the truck to get even more film and talk
with even more people. There were too many people devoted to and
interested in John Muir to leave. Doug and Brian were, in fact,
one of the last to leave. Artisans practicing crafts of
yesteryear brought it home to us all.The Universal Muir Family
had gathered under one sky to remember and celebrate and ponder
what it might have been like for their hero, John Muir, when he
lived at the Ranch. The chairs and tables have been put away,
the displays taken down, and staff at The John Muir National
Historic Site, in Martinez, California have gone on in their
friendly manner, of greeting school children and visitors from
all over the world who come to find out what this man, John Muir,
is really about.
But something different did happen the weekend of September 24th,
1999................. people from all corners of the world
were energized by each other and the spirit of John
Muir.............
"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out
till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John
Muir
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