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CABOT'S PUEBLO MUSEUM KACHINA DEDICATION CEREMONY
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istory was made on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at Cabot‘s Pueblo Museum. Eleven students from Desert Hot Springs Alternative Center donated new interpretations of the original kachina paintings that adorn the city‘s cultural and historic center—Cabot‘s pueblo. For their exceptional work, the students—Sofia Alvarez, Jose Arroyo, Diana Bustamante, Saul Clemente, Karina Fregozo, Dana Johnson, Dennis Lopez, Raul Lopez, Carlos Lozano, Marco Perez, and Michael Velarde—were each presented a Certificate of Appreciation by Michael O‘Keefe, president of Cabot‘s Museum Foundation. Over 50 years of blazing sun and wind-swept sands nearly destroyed the original kachinas. These eight large wall art paintings are signature ele-
ments of the pueblo and were created by Cabot Yerxa in the mid-1950s. Louisa Castrodale, the Visual and Performing Arts Specialist for the Palm Springs Unified School District, se-
two artists, Bijan Panah, a Desert Hot Springs resident who has specialized in murals and photography for more than 40 years, and Eduardo Valadez, a young local artist and graduate of PSUSD with two gallery shows so far in his emerging career. Both are giving positive direction to the students they supervise. More than 300 hours were spent on this project. The art team examined photographs of the originals works, as well as undertaking an investigation into Cabot Yerxa‘s design palette to select the colors for lected students paint. They chose lighter colbased on their artistic talent and inter- ors and added shading to approximate est. the aging process. Cabot‘s Museum The installation of these kachinas is and the school thank Dunn-Edwards the first completed project of the City of for their donation of materials. Desert Hot Springs‘ new public mural The city of DHS has now begun and program. The project‘s directors are will soon finish replacing the kachinas.
TP&G OFFERS UNIQUE ART FOR SALE BROWSERS WELCOME!! rom the day it opened, Cabot’s Trading Post & Gallery (TP&G) has offered unique treasures for sale to the public that can be found nowhere else. Featured this month are the exquisite, one-of-a-kind gourds of Ron
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Churchwell, a All of Churchwell‘s local artist from gourds, as well as works of other local artists, are availMorongo Valley. able for purchase at the Note the intricate artwork on these gourds and the clever uses he puts to them. Churchwell‘s considerable origiPainted Gourd nality with Twisted Root can easily be seen in the artistic TP&G, Satsnake (at left) that doubles urdays & as a mirror, to say nothing of Sundays, the cattail gourd (right) and 10 a.m. to his many other subjects on 3 p.m. display at the TP&G. Snake Gourd with Mirror on Reverse Gourd with Cattails
What’s Up on Miracle Hill
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CABOT’S VOLUNTEERS—COCKEYED OPTIMISTS PRESIDENT=S CORNER by Michael O’Keefe friend once defined ―optimist‖ as a person who volunteers at Cabot‘s. He meant that despite the problems inherent in an old building and questions about the archives is the perennial hope that we‘re going to discover something new while restoring the pueblo. And he‘s right. Almost every day someone wonders, ―What would Antiques RoadShow say about this?‖ or ―This might make some money on Ebay!‖ For those of us in the museum, it‘s just another day at the Cabot. Where we really obtain valuable information is from our guests. We are at a unique place in history at Cabot‘s where the principals are fading into history and even legend, but they were here recently enough that people who knew them tell me their stories. Almost every time I give a tour, I learn something I didn‘t know before. I then take that information and incorporate it into
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my next tour and seem even smarter than I was before.
Usually the information I get is great— For example, Dr. Dick Roger is the retired head of cardiology at Eisenhower. I gave him a tour one day not knowing who he was. He grew up in Desert Hot Springs and remembered bicycling at Cabot‘s as a child in the 40s and 50s. Cabot had given him a box of LP‘s (one-sided) as a gift. He returned them to us 50 years later along with four boxes of photos from that time that had not been seen in over half a century. One woman came in who had been friends with Portia in San Francisco before she and Cabot were married. She told me that Portia was a real lady, although a bit ―naughty.‖ I‘m not sure what she meant—although Portia had been married twice before she wed Cabot. One day a woman in her 80s came in from Bishop, California, with her grandchildren for a tour. Her last name was Yerxa. She saw a photo we had of
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some unidentified folks from the early 1900s and said, ―Oh my God, there‘s Grandpa.‖ He would have been Cabot‘s third cousin, and now they‘re talking about having a Yerxa family reunion at the museum if we can get it arranged.
Sometimes, the information I get is stuff I‘d rather not know— For example, Cole Eyraud‘s escapades are in many cases not G-rated, and, while interesting, are not to be discussed by docents on their tours.
Enough said! Another time a woman called me and told me she was donating her collection to the museum—one that would enhance the museum. She arrived with every copy of TV Guide since 1963. I referred her to the public library. So, Cabot‘s attracts the beautiful, the good, and the curious. All are wellintentioned. All are welcome. Together we are creating a unique, dynamic, regional destination. We believe that the best days of Cabot‘s are yet to come. After all, we are ―optimists.‖
Help Out Cabot’s Pueblo Museum and New Trading Post & Gallery! Call for Our Exceptional Rates:
Don Reed 760-770-6562 CABOT’S CERTIFICATE CAMPAIGN
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rt lovers – Did you know that Cabot Yerxa sold his paintings from the 1920s until the 1960s? Anyone fortunate enough to own a Cabot original can donate it to the museum, where it will be enjoyed by thousands of visitors in our new Cabot Yerxa Gallery. A letter reflecting your generous donation can be used for tax purposes to confirm your contribution to our non-profit organization. Not ready or able to donate at this time? Then bring your painting to the museum for authentication/ documentation and receive a Certificate of Authenticity to show that your Cabot is the ―real deal.‖ Call 323-833-3415 today for an appointment!
What’s Up on Miracle Hill
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INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT VISIT DHS (Part 2) by Jane Pojawa (Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of four articles on Cabot and Portia Yerxa’s involvement with the flying saucer movement in America.) n 1949, flying saucers and their warning to humanity to stop its warlike ways were very much in the news. Jean Shannon, the ―Feminine Reflections‖ columnist for The Desert Sentinel, wrote an article about George Adamski‘s lecture to the Fallbrook Rotary Club ―Flying Saucers, Ships from Mars.‖ Significantly for Desert Hot Springs, Cabot and Portia Yerxa were to become friends of Adamski and another ―local boy,‖ George Van Tassel. On Jan. 5, 1950, Portia joined Shannon and Evelyn and Eloise Kane to hear Adamski speak in Banning. 1952 was a big year for alien contact. Adamski made contact first (physical contact after years of psychic contact) with Orthon from Venus, who landed near Adamski‘s home in Desert Center. Van Tassel was not far behind. ―His‖ alien, also from Venus, was named Ashtar. Van Tassel had a better location. He was the lessee of some property around Giant Rock, in Landers. On April 4, 1953, Van Tassel hosted the first Interplanetary Spacecraft Convention, and among the noted speakers was Adamski. The two Georges—Adamski and Van Tassel—had an uneasy friendship/rivalry over the years, but in 1953 there was no doubt that aliens were coming to earth and they were going to make things right. The Sentinel was right on top of these new developments, declaring ―Professor George Adamski, who is a friend of Cabot and Portia Yerxa, claims he has actually taken photos of flying saucers and had an hour‘s talk with a small man who came and left in an outer spaceship from the sky. This is the first time in the history of the world an occurrence of this kind has been recorded and by a man of recognized scientific standing.‖ Cabot started selling Flying Saucers Have Landed, George Adamski's earth-
Astonishing, indeed. In the next month DHS would host a small-scale version of the Mount Palomar forum. (Next month: The Desert Hot Springs forum and more confirmations of Cabot and Portia’s involvement with the movement.)
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COMING IN MAY— News about upcoming events—Cabot‘s Annual Birthday Bash and the 30th Birthday Celebration of our Waokiye Sculpture by Peter Toth More on Cabot & Portia and UFOs More information about the TP&G and the Pueblo and its surroundings
George Adamski with an illustration of his Space Brother, Orthon, who looked more like Orlando Bloom’s character Legolas from The Lord of the Rings than the sort of creature one would expect to have evolved to deal with the challenging atmosphere of Venus. (Perhaps life on other planets may not be all that different from life in the United States of America.) shaking book, at the Pueblo. The editors of The Sentinel might not have been as impressed with Adamski‘s ―scientific standing‖ if they had known he had only an 8th grade education. In September of 1954, the newspaper ran this gossipy tidbit: ―Portia and Cabot Yerxa have just returned from a vacation trip of several weeks. The first of August they attended the ‗Flying Saucer‘ forum on Mount Palomar and talked with George Adamski, who contacted the flying saucer at Desert Center [and] Truman Bethram, who is the man who talked with the beautiful woman captain and her crew of 32 men who flew their Flying Saucer here from the planet Clarion. Also, they spent some time with Dan Fry, who it was that boarded a flying saucer and was given a ride of 4,000 miles in 30 minutes, and Desmond Leslie of England, a nephew of Winston Churchill, who told them very astonishing facts concerning Flying Saucers in Europe.‖
What’s Up on Miracle Hill Newsletter Staff Donald Reed ................................. Editor Bent Reed Press .......................Publisher Michael O’Keefe .................. Contributor Helen O’Neill-Pottery .......... Contributor Jane Pojawa ........................ Contributor Vonda K. Smith .................... Contributor Donald Reed .................... Photographer
Cabot’s Pueblo Museum Board of Directors Michael O’Keefe ..................... President Barbara Maron ............... Vice-President Linda Blake......... Chief Financial Officer Donnalda Smolens................... Secretary Robert Brasier............................ Director John Brown ................................ Director Judy Gigante ............................. Director Mary Hutchinson ........................ Director Wes Laws ................................... Director Penny Mathewson ...................... Director Muffi Mendelson ........................ Director Jane Pojawa .............................. Director Donald Reed .............................. Director Susan Rubini .............................. Director Donn Sholty................................ Director Dan Spencer .............................. Director Joanna Stark ............................. Director
Cabot’s Pueblo Museum 67616 East Desert View Avenue Mailing Address: P.O. Box 104 Desert Hot Springs, California 92240 760-329-7610 www.cabotsmuseum.org Tours: Weekends, 11 a.m. & 1 p.m., and by appointment
Cabot’s Trading Post & Gallery 760-329-7610 Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
What’s Up on Miracle Hill
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THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF THE ALTAR IN THE WILDERNESS VOLUNTEER’S CORNER by Helen O’Neill-Pottery (Editor’s Note: The following are notes of one of our dedicated volunteers of her experiences in restoring an important water feature at Cabot’s.) he Agony— Moving 48 wheelbarrows of desert sand. Cleaning out the dirty water too many times to mention. Falling in the water and smacking my head and driving home soaking wet. Constant snaking of the hoses to open, and then repairing the ground leak under the concrete.
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... Now that that‘s out of my system:
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he Ecstasy— This has been the most emotional, rewarding, intense, pride-filled project that I have ever done. I could not have done it without the help of other volunteers, but special thanks go to Gordon Grib-
ble. He was so supportive and such a hard worker. Four minutes after the first water was put in, a roadrunner practically knocked me over to get to the water. He returns daily and even shares a happy hello with me. It was a privilege to work in the special place. There were times I wasn’t sure I could make it all come together and I am happy I hung in there. That final feeling of accomplishment is what makes volunteering worthwhile. (Editor’s Final Note: Thank you, Helen, and all you other volunteers for your hard work and loving gifts of service to Cabot’s Pueblo Museum!)
NEW ARRIVAL IN TOWN!
On Sen - Miracle Hill Hot Springs Inn. This new addition to our neighborby Vonda K. Smith hood is a four-unit hotel and spa loabot's Pueblo Museum and the cated on Miracle Hill Road at Desert Miracle Hill community extend a View. Warm Welcome and Best Wishes for a Grand Opening will be Saturday, big success to the owners of Yamazaki April 5th.
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Susan Rubini and Jeff Abbott, Artists Natural Wood Art and Desert Paintings and Pastels
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Cordially invite you to visit their Studios Rancho Mirage, CA (760) 202-1802 Call for appt.
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20% donation to Cabot's on all Studio purchases
DONALD REED Owner 39421 Bel Air Drive Cathedral City, California 92234 760-770-6562 donaldreed@dc.rr.com