San Lorenzo Valley Museum digitizes Community newspapers
In 2021, the San Lorenzo Valley Museum received a grant to have 50 newspapers digitized through the California Revealed Digitization and Preservation program.
These newspapers are now available online at californiarevealed.org/partner/san-lorenzo-valley-museum, the Internet Archive at archive.org/details/sanlorenzovalleymuseum and other online repositories.
Community was a Boulder Creek newspaper that ran from 1921-23. After the closing of the Mountain Echo newspaper, Arthur H. Townsend, “an old newspaper man of Ben Lomond,” worked with students studying printing at the Boulder Creek Union High School to publish Community.
Townsend, Community’s editor, believed in the need for a community newspaper because, in his words: “The people of the San Lorenzo River Valley are bound together by ties of neighborhood, common environment, resources and interest.”
The issues, as well as the articles within them, demonstrate the quality of newspaper reporting and print production by the Boulder Creek Union High School students. The issues document the residents and community activities of the San Lorenzo Valley and contain advertisements by local businesses, as well as articles of greater social significance with interpretation by high school students.
St. Andrew’s to celebrate the lives of community leaders
This Sunday, April 28, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ben Lomond will celebrate the lives of local (San Jose) saints and African American educators and community leaders Peter and Annie Cassey.
Peter Williams Cassey was a fourth-generation freed African American. His great-grandfather bought his and his family’s freedom and founded the first black church in New York, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Peter’s grandfather was the first African American Episcopal priest in New York and founder of St. Philip’s in Manhattan.
Peter himself was ordained a deacon in 1866, at Trinity Church by Bishop William Ingram Kip. He and his wife, Annie Besant Cassey, founded St. Philip’s Academy and Mission for Colored People in 1863 and later Pheonixonian Hall, the first high school for Black students west of the Mississippi River (1866).
Annie died in 1875 and is buried in San Jose. The school and mission closed. Peter founded Christ Church in San Francisco. Peter was called to New Bern, N.C., (1881) and then to Florida (1900). After a distinguished career as an educator and clergyman spanning several states, he died at the age of 86.
Bishop Edwin Gardner Weed of Florida eulogized Peter, saying, “He was a remarkable teacher … He was broad-minded, an omnivorous reader, a clear thinker. His devotion to the Church and his untiring pastoral work brought many into the Church … A devout servant of the Lord, a Christian, a true and faithful pastor … The poor and the sick will miss him, and the example of his life will lead many to the Cross.”
Leading the worship at St. Andrew’s at 10am this Sunday will be the Rev. Canon Jerry Drino, custodian of the Cassey Archives.
St. Andrew’s is located at the corner of Glen Arbor and Riverside Avenue in the center of Ben Lomond. For more information, go to saintandrewsbenlomond.org.
Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival set for May 4-5
Discover the world of fascinating fungi at the Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival at Roaring Camp Railroads on May 4-5.
Presented by Far West Fungi, the event offers two days of entertainment, education and activities that are all about mushrooms, 10am-7pm, Saturday and Sunday.
View the art gallery and installation art, explore for wild mushrooms on the guided nature walk, engage in DIY workshops, view cooking and cultivation demos, try your hand at fabric dyeing or painting with mushroom pigment, attend mycology talks by experts, and more.
There will be live music and activities for the entire family with beer, wine and food vendors available for purchase. The Kid Zone offers face painting, henna, bubbles, giant hoops, an archery range, bounce house, rock painting and games.
Admission includes all mushroom fest activities, except food/beverage or train fare. Children 12 and under are free. For tickets and information, visit scmfest.com.
