Destination  . . . Chorale Bel Canto

            By Linda de Vries, Singer and Chair of the Board

Love classical choral music? Think Chorale Bel Canto.

Seldom or never listen to classical choral music? Think again.

On December 7 think the City of Whittier, where Chorale Bel Canto is singing Christmas with Chorale Bel Canto.

Think Whittier is too far to drive for just a concert? Think again.

“Destination . . . Chorale Bel Canto” posts several times in advance of each of our concerts, offering you ideas for a different day trip to the city in which we’re singing, with a Chorale Bel Canto concert at the center of your experience. These trips appeal to a wide variety of interests and share fascinating, sometimes intricate, connections between the city and the music.

Today, think Early California.

The demand for tickets for this concert has been significant, so we have added a second performance—you may celebrate with us at either 4:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. If you opt for the evening performance, which we now encourage, you may wish to begin your day later than 10:00 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

Begin your day at San Gabriel Arcángel Mission, 428 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel 91776. (626-282-5308). Founded September 8, 1771 by Spaniards of the Franciscan order as the fourth of what would become 21 missions in California, this mission is still a fully-functioning parish church. Father Antonio Cruzado designed the mission, its Moorish architecture reflecting his home in Córdoba, Spain.

Tour the church, museum, and grounds. Museum exhibits include mission relics, books, and religious artifacts. The grounds feature operations from the original mission complex, including indoor and outdoor kitchens, winery, water cisterns, soap and candle vats, tanning vats for preparing cattle hides, a cemetery, and a gift shop.

San Gabriel Mission

12:00 noon

There are many places to lunch around the mission, and you may wish to spend more of your day in San Gabriel.

Or, you might want to head to Whittier for a great Mexican meal. Try El Buen Gusto Mexican Restaurant, a proud supporter of Chorale Bel Canto, at 10820 Beverly Blvd., 562-692-4448—“the best chile verde on the planet.” Another good authentic choice is Bizarra Capital at 12706 Philadelphia St., 562-945-2426. Owned and operated by chef Ricardo Diaz, who also runs the much touted Colonia Taco Lounge in La Puente, Bizarra Capital has the best guacamole on the East Side!

2:00 p.m. 

If you do choose to spend more of your day in San Gabriel and lunch later, you have many choices.

You might visit the Ramona Museum of California History, at 339 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel, CA 91776, 626-289-0034. It is open most Saturdays 11:a.m. to 4:00 p.m., but it is a good idea to call in advance. This museum is Parlor #109 of the Native Sons of the Golden West, an organization dedicated to preserving and promoting California history. The Ramona Museum includes artifacts and relics from the early Rancho and Mission Periods.

There is also the San Gabriel Historical Museum at 546 W. Broadway, San Gabriel, CA 91776, 626-308-3223, and the historic Hayes House next door. The Hayes House, also known as the Bovard-Wilson-Hayes House, was build in 1887 for Reverend George Finley Bovard, who later became the fourth president of the University of Southern California (USC). During the 1990s it was moved to its present location next to the museum. The museum is open the first Saturday of the month and by appointment, 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free.

Or, you might want to make your way toward Whittier and visit Rancho La Merced, Misión Viejo, and the Sanchez Adobe.

Rancho La Merced, meaning "Rancho of the Mercy of God," was originally a part of the San Gabriel Mission, but became subject to private ownership with the secularization of the missions in the 1830s. In 1844 Mexican Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted the 2,363-acre parcel to Casilda Soto de Lobo, the widow of  José Cecilio Villalobo, also known as José Lobo. Today, parts of the cities of Montebello and Monterey Park occupy former Rancho land.

The Rancho was also known as Misión Vieja, because the site of the original San Gabriel Mission was within its boundaries, on the banks of the Rio Hondo in the Whittier Narrows. The first mission was destroyed by a flash flood and was then relocated five miles closer to the mountains. The site of Misión Vieja can still be seen near the intersection of San Gabriel Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue in Montebello.

Why was Señora Lobo granted the land? Ancestry provides a clue. Cecilio Lobo’s father, Juan José, had been a soldier with the Rivera-Moncada expedition of 1781, the group that founded the pueblo of Los Angeles. Casilda Soto’s mother was of the Nieto family, recipients of the huge Nieto land grant of 1784, encompassing territory where today stand the cities of La Mirada, Whittier, and Santa Fe Springs.

In 1845 Señora Lobo built a small adobe on a bluff overlooking the Rio Hondo, the original channel of the San Gabriel River, and lived there with her children during the Mexican-American war. Indeed, not far from her house is a monument commemorating the 1847 Battle of Rio San Gabriel, seen today at the crossing of Washington Boulevard and Bluff Road in Montebello.

In 1850, however, she approached William Workman, one of the wealthiest ranchers in the San Gabriel Valley, for a loan of $2,000, a loan she was unable to repay. Apparently rather than foreclose, Workman purchased Rancho La Merced from Casilda Soto for $4,500 in 1851. The following year he deeded his son-in-law, F. P.F. Temple, and his former La Puente ranch foreman, Juan Matias Sanchez, each a half interest in Rancho La Merced for one dollar apiece.

Sanchez and Workman had first met in Taos, New Mexico, and Sanchez followed Workman to California in 1848. Workman staked Sanchez to prospecting in the Northern California gold fields where Sanchez struck pay dirt, for which Workman was ever grateful.

Sanchez first married Luisa Archuleta, a widow with four children. The couple produced an additional five children. Luisa died in 1873, possibly murdered by her husband, who had a reputation for a reckless use of firearms. Sanchez subsequently married Maltide Bojorquez, with whom he had three more children, and to whom he ceded 200 acres of his property—which ultimately proved to be his salvation.

After the Workman gift, the Temples farmed and raised cattle, building an adobe that stood at what is today the southeast corner of Rosemead Boulevard and San Gabriel Boulevard/Durfee Avenue (destroyed by fire in the early 1900s). Sanchez moved into the Soto adobe, now known as the Sanchez Adobe, and eventually added a wing to the house. Also a successful farmer and rancher, Juan Matias later bought adjoining ranchos, which are today the city of South El Monte.

Workman and Temple partnered in ownership of one of two commercial banks in Los Angeles, located at Spring and Main Streets, the present site of Los Angeles City Hall. The bank was poorly managed, however, and fell on hard times in the 1875 economic collapse caused by silver speculation. Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin granted them a loan, requiring Sanchez to put up half of his land as co-collateral.

 

Unable to meet the terms of the loan, the bank closed and Workman took his own life at his home in La Puente on May 17, 1876; Temple died of a stroke soon after. Sanchez, however, continued to live in his adobe until his death in 1885, after which his widow Matilda lived in the adobe until 1892, when Baldwin filed to acquire the remainder of Rancho La Merced.

After Baldwin’s death in 1909, his estate sold the Rancho to a group of oilmen, including W.B. Scott, who received title to 45 acres and the adobe in 1915. He took up residence and modernized the house, creating a showplace of the period. At Scott’s death the property went to his widow and their two children. The property was subdivided in 1957, creating Sanchez Street, Avenida de La Merced, Scott Avenue, and Adobe Avenue. Josephine deeded the ranch to the Montebello Historical Society and the City of Montebello in 1972. The Sanchez heirs were able to recoup their family’s lost fortune when their property in Santa Fe Springs yielded oil in the 1920s.

The Sanchez Adobe, the oldest standing structure in Montebello and some say in Los Angeles, is located at 946 N. Adobe Avenue, Montebello, CA 90640, 323-887-4592. It is open Saturdays 1:00-3:45 p.m. Admission is free.

Juan Matias Sanchez

Rancho La Merced c. 1907

Fountain at the Old Rancho La Merced

Even closer, right next door to Whittier you’ll find Pio Pico State Park at 6003 Pioneer Boulevard, open Saturday and Sunday 9:30-4:00, 562-695-1217. The Pio Pico Mansion, known as “El Ranchito,” is the former residence of the last Mexican Governor of California, Pio de Jesus Pico, and is also one of southern California’s few remaining 19^th century adobe structures.

2:00 p.m.

Time for lunch, if you delayed. After lunch, make your way east along Whittier Boulevard.

4:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.—The Concert

This year Christmas With Chorale Bel Canto features Vivaldi’s Gloria as well as new arrangements of Christmas music by Edward Zeliff, a southern California composer and arranger. Mr. Zeliff and members of his choir will be in attendance in the audience. The concert will also include the popular feature of sing-along carols. The concert is at East Whittier United Methodist Church, 10005 S. Cole Road. Whichever performance you choose to attend, we look forward to seeing you there!

6:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.

If you lunched elsewhere, you may wish to return to El Buen Gusto or Bizzara Capital for dinner. Or, you might want to drive further east on Whittier Boulevard to El Cholo Spanish Cafe, a landmark in La Habra for decades. If you attended the evening performance, any would do for drinks or dessert as well.

Destination  . . . Chorale Bel Canto

            By Linda de Vries, Singer and Chair of the Board

Love classical choral music? Think Chorale Bel Canto.

On December 7th think the City of Whittier, where Chorale Bel Canto is singing Christmas with Chorale Bel Canto.

“Destination . . . Chorale Bel Canto” posts several times in advance of each of our concerts, offering you ideas for a different day trip to the city in which we’re singing, with a Chorale Bel Canto concert at the center of your experience. These trips appeal to a wide variety of interests and share fascinating, sometimes intricate, connections between the city and the music. This time it’s

Early San Gabriel Valley History

 

Chorale Bel Canto sings for the enjoyment and education of a number of different communities in the San Gabriel Valley. Today’s suggested visit focuses on the Workman, Temple, and Rowland families, who lent their names to Workman Mill Road and the cities of Temple City and Rowland Heights. Their property became the City of La Puente, and their offspring gave their names to numerous other southern California towns. Let’s look briefly at this history before describing your day.

 

John A. or “Juan” Rowland was born in either Pennsylvania or Maryland around 1790. Early in the 19^th century his family moved to Ohio, and in 1823 he migrated to New Mexico by way of the Santa Fe Trail, residing in San Fernando de Taos. He gained Mexican citizenship in 1825 and soon after married María Encarnación Martínez.

William (“Don Julian”) Workman was born about ten years after Rowland, in Cumbria, England. He followed his elder brother David to Philadelphia in 1822 and in 1825 made his way, as had Rowland before him, to Taos. Workman entered into a ten-year common-law marriage with Maria Nicolasa Urioste de Valencia, a Taos Native American, and formally wed her here in California at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in 1844.

Rowland and Workman formed a partnership in Taos, working as fur trappers, grist mill operators, and manufacturers of “Taos Lightning,” a whiskey popular with other trappers. The two became embroiled in political conflicts between Mexico and the United States and were at one point arrested for smuggling, which “encouraged” them to travel to California along the Old Spanish Trail in 1841.

Even though they couldn’t use wagons on the trail, and not all of them were Americans, the Workman-Rowland Party has long been considered the first wagon train of Americans to travel overland to Los Angeles.

Rowland obtained a Mexican land grant to Rancho La Puente in 1842. Workman built an adobe on the land while Rowland returned to New Mexico to bring his family west. Within a year he, too, had built his own adobe.

Again at the center of political activity, the two fought in the Mexican-American War. At the Battle of Cahuenga Pass, they assisted Pio Pico in becoming the first Californio (native-born Californian) to assume the office of Governor of Alta California. Workman was one of three who brought out the flag of truce. In 1845 Governor Pio Pico added Workman’s name to the land grant, enlarging it to almost 50,000 acres.
The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 proved to be a windfall for the partners, who forsook their hide and tallow trade to raise cattle to supply beef to the miners. They later expanded their holdings by establishing wine vineyards and apple, fig, peach, pear, and pomegranate orchards. Rowland had built the first grist mill in the Los Angeles area in 1847, but Workman also built a mill, remembered today in Workman Mill Road. During the US Civil War they supported the Union by supplying horses to the federal government.

Their cattle industry declined with the slowing of the Gold Rush, the importation of better cattle breeds from Texas, and floods and droughts in the early 1860s. They were able, however, to move their livestock to the Mojave Desert and retain strong herds into the 1870s. Rowland retained most of his La Puene holdings until his death in 1873.

John and Encarnación Rowland had ten children, and three of their sons married into families whose names and land holdings became the sources of other Southern California cities—Yorba Linda, Chino, Santa Ana. One son became president of the Puente Oil Company as well as Sheriff of Los Angeles. When Encarnación died in 1851, John married Charlotte M. Gray. Their daughter’s husband married General Charles Forman, who established Toluca Lake. Today, heirs of Rowland still own over a hundred acres in the City of Industry and Rowland Heights.

 

Workman’s daughter Antonia Margarita married the transplanted New Englander F.P.F (Francis Pliny Fisk) Temple in 1845, the first marriage in Los Angeles in which both persons had Anglo surnames.

 

By 1879 Workman and Temple had joined in real estate subdivisions that became Alhambra, San Marino, and Redondo Beach. The two also engaged in oil speculation and railroads—always, always oil. They formed the second bank in Los Angeles, Temple and Company, with Isias W. Hellman, who later founded the Farmers and Merchants Bank with John G. Downey.

 

The Workman and Temple bank was poorly managed and fell on hard times in the 1875 economic collapse caused by silver speculation. Ultimately unable to meet the terms of a loan granted them by Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin, the bank closed and Workman took his own life at his home on May 17, 1876. His granddaughter, Josephine Workman, became silent movie actress Mona Darkfeather, who played American Indian women—a casting we would certainly not see today!

 

Temple suffered a series of strokes soon after the closure of the bank, one of which finally felled him. The Temples had eleven children, the tenth of whom, Walter P. Temple (1869-1938), brought resurgence to the family fortunes through oil, real estate, and construction.

 

Walter married Laurenza Gonzalez and purchased 400 acres about four miles east of San Gabriel, land that had originally been part of Lucky Baldwin’s Rancho Santa Anita. His subdivision of this purchase, where moderate-income families could afford to own their own homes, officially became Temple City in 1936. Echoing a familiar theme in the area, Walter was also influential in the development of the oilfields of Montebello.

 .........................

Morning. Begin your day at The Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum, 15415 East Don Julian Road, City of Industry, 626-968-8492, info@homesteadmusuem.org. On this six-acre site you can explore the evolution of architectural history and domestic style during the century from 1830 to 1930.

 

The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. Guided tours of the historic houses, the only way to see the interiors, are offered Wednesday through Sunday every hour on the hour beginning at 1:00 p.m. Spanish language tours are offered on the second Sunday of every month at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. The museum is closed on holidays and special tour and festival weekends. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. There is ample parking, and most of the site is handicapped accessible. There is a museum store with vintage and special holiday gifts. There is no food service, but you can bring a lunch and eat in the picnic area or by the pond. Before your visit, you might want to view the introductory video on the museum website.

 

There is a special treat available to you today. You may enjoy Homemade at the Homestead, a “Holiday Gifting” food workshop, and the last in a series of three. Here you can “create gifts that capture the scents and tastes of the season.” You will need to call the museum to register, and class size is limited to 18, so it’s possible that it’s booked. This workshop, led by chef, historian, and educator Ernest Miller, costs $30 per adult and $25 for students over 12 and seniors. All materials are included in the cost. An adult must accompany students. The museum also hosts special events on December 8, 14, and 15. Visit their website for more information.

On this site is the Workman House, built by William and Nicolasa Workman. The couple first built a three-room adobe, but as their wealth increased they continued to add rooms to the house. By the 1870s they were able to build a “modern” country estate, adding a second floor and numerous decorative features, but maintaining the three original adobe rooms as part of the building.

 

Although there is no definitive evidence, Ezra Kysor, the first trained architect in Los Angeles and designer of the Pico House Hotel, St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, and the Perry House is believed to have designed the home. The exterior has been restored to its 1870s grandeur, and the interior designed to house exhibits. As noted above, the Workmans unfortunately lost their share of the ranch.

The Workman House

 As wealth from oil exploration replaced wealth from farming and banking, Walter and Laura Temple were able, in 1917, to repurchase 75 acres of the family’s original ranch. Between 1922 and 1927 they built La Casa Nueva, “the new house,” a Spanish Colonial Revival mansion, initially designed by the architectural firm of Walker and Eisen and refined by Roy Seldon Price. Constructed mostly of adobe bricks handmade by a group of Guadalajara artisans led by Pablo Urzua, the contractor on the 26-room highly decorated mansion was Sylvester Cook of Whittier.

 

Sadly, the Temple family lost the house in the early 1930s, and it became first a boys’ military school—Raenford (later Golden State), under the direction of Lawrence Lewis, then a holding of California Bank, and in 1940 a convalescent hospital, El Encanto, operated by Harry and Lois Brown, before it was purchased by the City of Industry in 1975.

 

La Casa Nueva

At the Homestead Museum you can also view El Campo Santo, one of the oldest private cemeteries in the area and the resting place of Pio Pico, the last governor of Mexican California, whose adobe can be visited in nearby Pico Rivera. It also contains the remains of the Workman and Temple families, as well as the grave of John Rowland.

 

The Workmans established El Campo Santo as a private cemetery in the early 1850s. In 1856 artist Henry Miller, touring California, sketched the design for a chapel. The cornerstone was laid on May 30, 1857 and Bishop Thaddeus Amat of Los Angeles dedicated it to St. Nicholas, in honor of Workman’s wife Nicolasa. After the fall of the Workman fortunes, the cemetery was neglected and the brick chapel was destroyed by fire. Workman’s grandson Walter Temple purchased it in 1917 and began its restoration, building a mausoleum designed by the architectural firm of Garstang and Rea, into which he relocated the remains of his family and those of Pio Pico and his wife.

 

El Campo Santo

Lunch. Bring a lunch and picnic on the grounds of the museum, or visit one of the many nearby restaurants.

Afternoon. Complete your day at the Homestead by taking the 1:00 tour, which gives you plenty of time to wend your way to Whittier for the concert: 10005 S. Cole Road, East Whittier United Methodist Church.

4:00 p.m.—The Concert

This year Christmas With Chorale Bel Canto features Vivaldi’s Gloria as well as new arrangements of Christmas music by Edward Zeliff, a Southern California composer and arranger. Mr. Zeliff and members of his choir will also be in attendance in the audience. The concert will also include the popular feature of sing-along carols.

The demand for tickets for this concert has been significant, so we have added a second performance. You may celebrate with us at either 4:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Today’s schedule recommends that you opt for the afternoon performance, but at whatever time, we look forward to seeing you!

Vivaldi..

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) was one of the first Baroque composers other than Bach to gain real popularity in the second half of the 20th century. So Vivaldi has had a major role in the modern Baroque performance movement, and he also had an enormous effect on the musicians of his own time. He was a strikingly original composer in many respects and made contributions to program music, forms, violin technique, novel combinations of instruments, and musical style in general. His influence on just about everyone who wrote concerti after him was considerable, and it is impossible to consider the music of Bach without taking him into account. Throughout his life Antonio Vivaldi complained of “strettezza di petto,” probably asthma, and his health as a newborn was so fragile that the midwife performed an emergency baptism as soon as he was born. Most likely he learned the violin from his father, and by 1696 he was appearing at San Marco for Christmas services. Vivaldi was ordained as a priest in 1703, but stopped saying mass a few years later, presumably because music was occupying all of his attention. In 1737, he was censured for conduct unbecoming a priest, which he blamed on his health. There is the famous early 19th-century story about him rushing from the sacristy during mass to write down a fugue he had rattling around in his head; but perhaps his own version of the incident is correct, and he simply was having an asthma attack. At any rate, he remained personally observant for the rest of his life and added “Laus Deo” and other religious mottos to the beginnings of many of his autograph scores, interestingly enough especially his operas. In 1703 Vivaldi was first appointed maestro di violino at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà, one of four such Venetian institutions dedicated to the care of the illegitimate children of nobility. The Pietà specialized in providing musical training for the girls under its care who displayed talent, and the concert-like services there in which they performed were enthusiastically attended by visitors and the Venetian nobility. In addition to teaching violin, Vivaldi was responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of the Pietà’s stringed instruments. Although his position was not renewed in 1709, it is unlikely that Vivaldi’s performance or conduct had anything to do with the decision. Perhaps, rather, he had done his job too well, and his pupils no longer needed instruction. During this time, Vivaldi increasingly turned his attention to composition. A print of his first sonatas appeared in 1705, and some of his concertos seem to have been in circulation as early as 1708. His opus 3, the tremendously influential set of concertos called L’estro armonico, was published by Etienne Roger in Amsterdam in 1711. Roger used engraving for his publications, a much more handsome and readable process than the block type printing still used in Italy. This collection marks the beginning of the great demand for Vivaldi’s works in northern Europe and is only the first in a series of important and much emulated Vivaldi concerto prints issued by Roger. Vivaldi was reappointed to his former position at the Pietà in 1709, and in 1716 he was promoted to the position of maestro de’ concerti. It is during this period that the sacred vocal works performed here were likely composed. The Gloria RV 589 is Vivaldi’s most famous sacred work and is known today simply as “Vivaldi’s Gloria,” even though there is also another setting of the text by the composer. RV 589 was composed between 1713 and 1717 during Vivaldi’s second period of employment at the Pietà and was likely intended for performance there. There are various ideas about the circumstances of the first performance. It might have been for Pietà’s festival on July 2nd of 1716, or for Christmas later that year. Another theory is that it could have been used for a service commemorating Venetian victories over the Turks at the very end of 1716, and this would explain the rather martial character of the opening movement. The first modern performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria was in Siena in 1939, making it one of the earliest works by the composer to be brought back to public attention. While Vivaldi certainly did not display a Bach-like sensitivity to detailed and profound text expression, his sense of the general mood of each phrase of text and his creative musical solutions for each are extremely effective. The brilliance and variety of textures and affect displayed in the 11 movements of this work make it a tremendously appealing example of late Baroque sacred music. —Robert Eisenstein (Used by permission)

Destination  . . . Chorale Bel Canto

            By Linda de Vries, Singer and Chair of the Board

Love classical choral music? Think Chorale Bel Canto.

Seldom or never listen to classical choral music? Think again.

On December 7 think the City of Whittier, where Chorale Bel Canto is singing Christmas with Chorale Bel Canto.

Think Whittier is too far to drive for just a concert? Think again.

“Destination . . . Chorale Bel Canto” posts several times in advance of each of our concerts, offering you ideas for a different day trip to the city in which we’re singing, with a Chorale Bel Canto concert at the center of your experience. These trips appeal to a wide variety of interests and share fascinating, sometimes intricate, connections between the city and the music.

A Day in Montana—but in Whittier!

Backstory. At the age of 69 I became an angler. In that same year I also became a singer. In this post I bring those two together—in Whittier.

At our 2008 50^th Whittier High School reunion I joined up with an old friend and his wife. Ken and I had reconnected through correspondence some time back, but here I met Helena for the first time—love at first dinner! They invited me to visit them in Missoula, Montana, where both were on the University faculty. Ken joked about a fly fishing trip, hardly guessing that it had long been a distant fantasy of mine—pictures of all those anglers standing in waders on gravel bars amidst gorgeous scenery! So, we fished—the Blackfoot (A River Runs Through It), the Bitterroot, and the Clark Fork, which does, indeed, run right through Missoula—love at first cast!

Rainbow Trout in Montana

In the same year, I had just retired from 50 years of university teaching, planning to write and travel. One day the elderly gentleman at the YMCA who was handing me back my membership card mentioned to another exerciser something about singing—in a class at Rio Hondo College.

Four years later, I have amassed 30 units in music at Rio Hondo College, continue to study privately with two teachers, sing with Chorale Bel Canto, am Chair of its Board of Directors, and continue to fish in Montana. In the curious way of the world, the Chorale’s Music Director, Stephen Gothold, was also at Whittier High with Ken and me!

In thinking about yet another way to spend a day in Whittier, I realized I could come close to replicating a couple of days in Missoula compressed into one lovely day in Whittier: fly fishing, a spa visit, a beautiful music concert, and a delicious meal at a fine dining restaurant. In Missoula the venues would typically be the Clark Fork River, a Vichy scrub and hot stone massage at Sorella’s Spa or Cedar Creek Spa, the Friday Art Walk, and dinner at Pearl’s.

In Whittier, this itinerary comes very, very close!

Morning. Head to the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, a 56-year old, 1,492-acre oasis located in the City of South El Monte. The park is located on both sides of the Pomona Freeway at Rosemead Boulevard and Santa Anita Avenue: 750 S. Santa Anita Avenue, South El Monte, CA 91733, 626-575-5526. Park hours are from sunrise to sunset and vehicle parking is $6.00 per car on the weekends.

From Beverly Boulevard, head north on Rosemead Boulevard, turn right at San Gabriel, which becomes Durfee Road. Along Durfee you will find the parking entrance to Legg Lake. Access the two other lakes—North Lake and Center Lake—from Santa Anita Avenue, a left turn off of Durfee Road.

Legg Lake Whittier

Boats are not allowed, but bait casting, fly fishing, and spinning are possible. There is a fishing pier right by the parking area for Legg Lake, and many also report good fishing by the pedal boat rental area. The lake is stocked with bluegill, largemouth bass, small mouth bass, rainbow trout, crapple, panfish, and channel catfish. To find more detailed information about fishing times and tips from anglers, go online at www.hookandbullet.com. If you choose to fish from the pier, it’s always a good idea to read up on pier fishing etiquette and safety.

You will, of course, need a fishing license, which you can purchase online for $14.61 for one day at www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/ols/intro.htm, or at any one of several nearby bait shops or sporting goods stores—see www.hookandbullet.com. For the kids, you might also want to check out the Daniel Hernandez Youth Foundation Junior Fishing Club at Whittier Narrows.

Should you want to go out on the lake, you can rent pedal boats. Call the park or contact www.wheelfunrentals.com, 823 Lexington Gallatin Road, South El Monte, CA 91727, 805-253-5894. They rent from August-June Saturdays and Sundays 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Rentals are also available for surreys, bikes, and group picnic spots. Legg Lake also allows the operation of radio-controlled model speedboats.

The park offers many other amenities: walking, biking, and equestrian trails, including a BMX Bicycle Moto Cross Track and an Equestrian Center; comfort stations, picnic areas, children’s play areas, a paved airstrip for radio-controlled hobby aircraft, a dog sports field, and an American military museum.

Sports enthusiasts will find a multi-purpose athletic complex, a disc golf course and frisbee golf, softball, baseball, and soccer fields, volleyball and tennis courts and a pro tennis shop, a small bore rifle range, trap and skeet shooting ranges, and an archery range.

Nature lovers may enjoy the community garden, bird watching, nature walks, and the Nature Center, which contains exhibits about the plants and animals of the San Gabriel River environment, including live displays. The center offers public programs, lectures, ranger tours, and education programs.

Lunch. The obvious choice here is a picnic in the Recreation Center. Before your arrival at Whittier Narrows you might have traveled from east to west along Whittier Boulevard and stopped at Sprouts (at Santa Gertrudes), Trader Joe’s (at Colima), or Fresh and Easy (at Painter) to gather your picnic supplies.

Following a morning of outdoor activities, to continue the parallel with a day in Montana, you might enjoy a spa experience. There are several spas in Whittier, but the Zen Den Spa at 7750 Painter Avenue, 562-945-2490, is highly rated. They have full shower facilities, so after a relaxing massage or other treatment, you can get all spiffed up for the afternoon concert!

Or, if you are a member of the YMCA, the Uptown Whittier branch has a lap pool, a warm-water therapy pool, and an even hotter Jacuzzi, with, of course, full-service dressing rooms with showers.

4:00 p.m.—The Concert

East Whittier United Methodist Church, 10005 S. Cole Road. This year CantChristmas With Chorale Bel Canto features Vivaldi’s Gloria as well as new arrangements of Christmas music by Edward Zeliff, a southern California composer and arranger. Mr. Zeliff and members of his choir will also be in attendance in the audience. The concert will also include the popular feature of sing-along carols.

The demand for tickets for this concert has been significant, so we have added a second performance—you may celebrate with us at either 4:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Today’s schedule recommends that you opt for the afternoon performance, but at whatever time, we look forward to seeing you!

Dinner. There are many fine restaurants in Whittier and the surrounding area, but the two that for me would come the closest to replicating the experience of Pearl’s in Missoula are either the Cat and the Custard Cup at 800 E. Whittier Boulevard in La Habra, or Setá, on the corner of Philadelphia Street and Bright Avenue in Uptown Whittier.

There you are—a day in Whittier á la Montana!

Chorale Bel Canto

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Destination . . . Chorale Bel Canto

Destination  . . . Chorale Bel Canto

            By Linda de Vries, Singer and Chair of the Board

Love classical choral music? Think Chorale Bel Canto.

Seldom or never listen to classical choral music? Think again.

On December 7 think the City of Whittier, where Chorale Bel Canto is singing Christmas with Chorale Bel Canto.

Think Whittier is too far to drive for just a concert? Think again.

“Destination . . . Chorale Bel Canto” posts several times in advance of each of our concerts, offering you ideas for a different day trip to the city in which we’re singing, with a Chorale Bel Canto concert at the center of your experience. These trips appeal to a wide variety of interests and share fascinating, sometimes intricate, connections between the city and the music.

Think Christmas!

Morning. Begin your day in Whittier by viewing the 60^th annual Uptown Whittier Christmas Parade, complete with marching bands, floats, local drill teams, equestrian groups, Miss Uptown, and Santa Claus. The parade begins at 10:00 a.m. at the corner of Hadley and Greenleaf and ends at 12:00 noon at Mar Vista.

Lunch. Following the parade, you may lunch at any one of a number of Whittier restaurants. Begin at the corner of Greenleaf and Philadelphia and walk north or south on Greenleaf and you will find many choices. More choices abound if you walk east or west on Philadelphia. One block north of Greenleaf, turn right on Bright Street and discover more eateries.

After lunch you may wish to shop for that special Christmas gift in some of the unusual Uptown stores, or visit The Whittier Museum at 7555 Newlin Avenue, 562-945-3871, open Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Lunch Alternative. You may wish instead to head along Whittier Boulevard to East Whittier, where the Chorale will sing, and lunch at one of the many restaurants in Whittwood Town Center: Black Angus Steakhouse, Carl’s Jr./Green Burrito, Chipotle, IHOP, Johnny Carino’s, Mimi’s Cafe, Panera Bread, Red Robin, Ruby’s Diner, the Thai Table, and more.

This gives you a further chance to shop and explore an area whose history embodies the southern California postwar experience. Much of the history of Whittier was, and still is, intertwined contentiously with the oil industry, and the landowners whose holdings became East Whittier were the initial drillers.

Before WW II, the land to the east of Whittier was open farm and ranch land. During the postwar population explosion the areas of Murphy Ranch, Friendly Hills, and Leffingwell Ranch were sub-divided into housing developments. These became known as East Whittier. In 1961 the City of Whittier annexed these areas, adding over 28,000 people to its population. East Whittier, however, contines to maintain a significant individual identity. The Murphy and Leffingwell families each donated a special thread to the fabric of the Whittier locale.

Murphy Ranch. Simon Jones Murphy, born in Maine, became a wealthy businessman in the Michigan lumber industry. While vacationing in California he participated in the real estate boom of 1887. He and an associate purchased the Ramirez Rancho and began to subdivide the rancho. Unfortunately, the land boom went bust soon after, and the city of Whittier barely survived.

Murphy was wealthy enough to hold on, however, and he invited Arthur L. Reed, a Michigan engineer, to join him in the Whittier colony to build flumes, conduits, a pumping station, and a reservoir to bring water to the City and to his farmland. He formed the East Whittier Land & Water Co. and the Murphy Oil Company, the latter drilling 50 successful wells. By the time Murphy died in 1905, Whittier was well on the road to survival. His son, Simon J. Murphy, Jr. led the family business ventures until his death in 1926.
Murphy gave his name to the long-gone Murphy Hospital (the land now a chic condominium housing development), a packinghouse on Whittier Boulevard (now the home of King Richard’s Antiques), an elementary school, and a Little League organization.

Not only at the center of the oil industry, Murphy also had a connection to another southern California controversial phenomenon through his Michigan origins—the automobile. One of his five sons, William H. Murphy, was a financier of Henry Ford’s Detroit automobile projects, while William’s nephew, Walter M. Murphy, built Duesenberg bodies in his company in Pasadena. The Murphy family is also known for building several buildings in the Detroit Financial District.
In 1954 Murphy Ranch sold its holdings for a subdivision to be called Friendly Hills, in homage to the Society of Friends, the Quaker founders of Whittier.

Leffingwell Ranch. Dr. Charles Wesley Leffingwell (descended from an Englishman who settled in Connecticut in 1636) was an Episcopal clergyman from Knoxville, Illinois, who came west in 1833 to officiate at St. John’s on Adams Street in Los Angeles.

The farmland he owned began to produce only when his son, Charles W. Leffingwell, Jr. began to manage the lemon orchards and walnut groves. Leffingwell prospered in the Whittier real estate recovery of the first decade of the 20^th century and bought additional land, 261 acres of which he sold to an oil exploration company.

Leffingwell employed Japanese and Mexican farm hands, building—in what is now the City of La Habra—segregated bunkhouses designed by the noted Pasadena architectural firm of Greene and Greene. He later took advantage of the Bracero Program, as did Simon Murphy at his ranch, to hire more Mexican hands.
Leffingwell began subdividing his ranch in 1919, but it was not until the postwar housing boom that the ranch was given over to housing. In 1951 the Lusk Company began building tracts of 3-bedroom, 2-bath ranch-style homes throughout the area. The company’s first commercial development on former ranch land was the Whittwood Shopping Mall (now Whittwood Town Center), which opened in 1961. That same year he sold the first homes in a tract between Cole Road and Scott Avenue, “set back from the Boulevard for suburban seclusion.”

During this boom period, the Santa Ana District of the Methodist Church purchased 22 acres along Cole road. John D. Lusk donated his Whittier Boulevard home as the first building to house The East Whittier United 

Methodist Church.
The first services were held in the living room of this home, now Lusk Hall, in 1951, led by Pastor Raymond L. Wirth. Twenty-three members were present. Sixty-two years, several additional buildings, and eleven pastors later, Chorale Bel Canto will sing its Christmas concert at this historic church, located at 10005 S. Cole Road.

4:00 p.m.—The Concert

This year Christmas With Chorale Bel Canto features Vivaldi’s Gloria as well as new arrangements of Christmas music by Edward Zeliff, a southern California composer and arranger. Mr. Zeliff and members of his choir will also be in attendance in the audience. The concert will also include the popular feature of sing-along carols.

The demand for tickets for this concert has been significant, so we have added a second performance—you may celebrate with us at either 4:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. If you opt for the evening performance, your day in Whittier might include dinner at one of the establishments we’ve mentioned earlier. At whatever time, we look forward to seeing you!

Our Next Concert..

Beautiful postcard for beautiful music. 

We hope you join us for one of the two performances. 

Visit our website to purchase tickets now...