For those that follow me regularly, you know I love CA's Official "only" Gold State Historic Park. I just received in the USPS, yeah and not by Pony Express, the Official Invitation to this year's Annual FOB- The Friends of Bodie Day - August 8th.
For those able to attend, this event is always not only a FUN Day , but full of unusual photo ops that we are not normally exposed to in the West. On this Special Day, in this Special Place, in this SHP that is such a HUGE Part of our Gold Rush history, the town comes ALIVE again for one day.
Yearly Bodie fans, young and old come to share their love of the town, meet old residents & friends, and party with a Parade down Main Street wearing old time period costumes (@ 1:30PM this year), games & contests for kids, food & music and for Actual Members of FOB the day culminates with a BBQ and Evening Entertainment. At 8,400 feet these occasions are Rare like the air, and always new memories are made.
The Daytime activities are OPEN to ALL.. The BBQ and evening entertainment for FOB members ONLY.....as the park is closed by then and the public has left. If you are interested in attending Please do. If you wish to Join FOB and attend the BBQ Please call the Park Office and get info on how to join and then you can be part of those Helping to Preserve our History and join in on the evening's fun. The Member's BBQ starts at 5PM Call for Info: (760) 647-6564 RSVP by August 1st so your dinner will be ready.
Post with Official 2009 FOB Poster HERE A report of last year's event is HERE.
Hope you can come join us not only for the fun but also for reliving our history & the photo ops.
Tis that time of year again and the date has been set and the Poster made... so Mark your calendars and call Bodie to Join and get IN on the Party.... You can read in older posts from last year the report of the event from that event...OK? Please check out this poster and then GET Planning. ...for Fun Bodie-style... YeHaw..
CLICK "ON" the Poster to see a Bigger Version...OK?
2009 has started now and it is Spring up at the 8,000 foot elevation. Visitors are now returning to Bodie and this year there is an Urgency to Visit due to the CA Budget "woes" and the upcoming "cuts" to the State Park System...so we are waiting to see what will happen to Bodie S.H. P. ??? As this special Historic Park is NOT just another tree ( I do LOVE trees) but these buildings and their contents are Actually Part of OUR Historical Heritage, so we NEED to be concerned. Once these artifacts of our history are gone, they are GONE 4 Ever. So Please do all that you can to Help Save Bodie, OK?
http://www.monocounty.org Traveling on US 395 will give you a great view of all that Mono County has to offer. US 395 has been described as taking a "National Geographic Tour through your Windshield Take a tour of Bodie, California's official gold mining ghost town, once notorious as the wildest town in the West. From 1877 to 1888, the community swelled to more than 10,000 residents and produced over $35 million in gold and silver. Now a State Historic Park, Bodie is the largest unrestored ghost town in the West. Visitors can explore the museum, follow a self guided tour, or wander the dirt streets peaking in the windows of the homes, stores, saloons, barbershops, and the church for a glimpse into life of a bygone era. For more information visit MonoCounty.org or call 800-845-7922.
It's almost time for the schedules to come out... So keep "checking back" cuz as SOON as they are confirmed, I will post the info HERE.
I know many want to attend the 3rd Sat Photog Days and want to see this years of Official Workshops Permitted. If there are any other NEW workshops offered I will, also post them here or at least give you the link....OK?
So remember.... the Dust is Archival, Do NOT touch anything inside, and STAY with your Leader! and MOST of all... Appreciate what you see and make some GREAT images to preserve our History, OK?
News to follow.......soon ;-)
*********************************
Here's the report from the 2008
3 day Bodie Photographic Workshop.
It's was a long time in the planning and we were VERY LUCKY that Jill graciously let our group have first dibs to fill this workshop. We did have the entire workshop filled, but then "Life" interrupted a few members plans, so a Canuck was lucky enough at the last minute to tag along and we can thank him for the Group Photo ;-) Thanks, Bruce.
Hint: We (FM_NorCal) are already taking names for next years workshop. Get your name ON the list if you are interested "at all."
FM_NorCal participants: Ed Nunez, Allen Hirsh, Shelah aka "Digital-She", Jean Christopher, Ed's friend Luis Morales.
Trip Report by: FM_NorCal in the field reporter: Allen Hirsh
All six of us met with Jill & Kelly on the night before our workshop for dinner and a little preview of our three days in Bodie, since we were staying in different lodging locations. Jill stressed that we couldn't "move or touch" ANYTHING, and that space is tight, so we HAD to be careful with our tripods inside all the buildings.
For some buildings, not all six of us could be inside at the same time, but when that occurred, Jill would open one building and Kelly would man another, so we could all be "working", then switch shooting locations. This served to maximize our available image making time.
During regular park hours, we often had park visitors peering into the buildings while we were making images, and Jill would let them know this was a VERY "private workshop."
The workshop gave us access to something like 17 or 18 buildings you can "NOT go into" as a public visitor. The only building that has a regular public tour is the Standard Mill, but we got more time in there and could go beyond the roped off areas, - and at hours when the park isn't open, which gave us that great early and late light for more interesting images.
Our venues included: "Ranger's roost" - the rock outcrop overlooking town from the parking lot side, Boone "General Store", Morgue/funeral home, Lottie Johl's house, Wheaton-Hollis and Bodie Hotel - (twice, once in am, once in pm - very different lighting each time), Pat Reddy house, Lester Bell house, Cameron house, Firehouse, Main Street at Sunrise, Dechambeau Hotel/Saloon, Sam Leon Bar/casino & barbershop, IOOF building (which housed the Bodie Athletic Club), Standard Mill, Schoolhouse, Methodist Church, UP on the Mining Ridge Hill, Station House and reservoir with the Sierra mountain range backdrop, and McDonald house.
We met at the Bodie SHP parking lot at 6:30am each morning (usually 25F then - and it was often 65F just two hours later!), and would play until around noon or 1pm, then take a couple hour lunch break. We'd meet back at the parking lot again at 3 or 4pm.
The 2nd day when we did the SPECIAL Event -the night photographic session, we met later, and went until 9pm. The first day, we left the park around 6 or 7pm (after it closed to the public, which is 5pm). The last day, the "official workshop" ended about 10:30am, but then were free to stay and make exterior images the rest of the day while the park was open.
The first day was the only lunch we had together, when some of us shared photographic portfolios; Jill showed us quite a few of her Bodie images, for inspiration.
The night session was something the whole group "really came together for", as we collaborated to make sure everyone who "wanted to" create a night image COULD, no matter the limitations of our respective cameras and gear. When we finished photographing the church, we went on to do a couple "night sculptures".
I firmly believe, if Jill hadn't been concerned we'd overstayed our permit for the evening session, we'd have kept going as a group for many hours longer, as everyone was excited with the images we were getting and the considerable other night possibilities we saw within Bodie.
After the 3 days were over, Edward, Jean and Shelah stayed and photographed around the area the next morning and Ed also stayed a couple extra days after our workshop and was rewarded with a change of weather - storm clouds and snow, so he got very different exterior images than we had during our workshop, when the weather was crystal clear.
The night session was a real highlight for me, not only because I got an image that will be published in the 2009 Bodie Foundation Calendar, a juried contest, and because it was a new form of photography for me.
The "new" Bodie Foundation was formed to raise funds to help SAVE and stabilize Bodie. My image that was Accepted is below...and was a 3-minute exposure of the Methodist Church (taken "within" a 20-minute exposure for star trails that most of the others in the group did during our night session) Kelly "painted" the church with a flashlight several times during our exposure, and we had an incredibly clear sky with very bright stars, as is often the case in the high desert.
I'm pretty sure we all left feeling like Bodie was our favorite ghost town, and someplace worth many more visits, given the richness of its history and the scenes it still holds to this day. ~ Allen H. ********************************
Thanks Jill for helping me arrange this SPECIAL opportunity for the members of FM_NorCal, and show some of them why we are SO Bodie crazy ;-) ....and Kudos to Allen for his first publication and we look forward to the 2009 BF Calendar coming out...
BOTH Logos below will link you to the BF and also to the BodieStore thru which the calendar will be available and where you can Join the Bodie Foundation. To see everyone's images please be sure to check their websites listed on the right-side of this blog.
Welcome Mark "Marko" Langner, in the Spirit of the Bodie Ghosts.... You have already lived amongst us for years and we already know you well. Now, we "Thank You" for taking over the helm and working on behalf of our remnants, to keep us as best you can.... in "arrested decay" and in the hearts and forefront of the minds of the people that love this park and as you also work to preserve it.... May everyone help you continue to spread the word of Bodie, either by mouth, snail mail or blog. .... esp. for all of those who have a Heart of Gold.... It is INDEED a year for New Beginnings.
(click video at bottom of this blog for music to read by)
Sunday, August 10, 2008: The day was as warm as any bright, sunny summer Bodie day without a cloud in the skies. Unusually green for this time of year, it appeared as though the iris might just have finished their brief show for the year.
People anticipated the start of the parade and started lining Main Street from down by the jail all the way past County Barn. The parade was led off impressively by a Color Guard from the Marine Mountain Warfare Training Center followed by our National Anthem sung by a local 15 year old Bridgeport girl, Diana Harris, whose voice rivaled any heard on "American Idol". Grand Marshal was none other than former Bodie schoolteacher and longtime resident, Alice Dolan. Alice rode in a wagon and waved to the crowd which lined Main Street as the parade route took her and the rest down and back Main giving the crowd ample chance to view it.
Mistress of Ceremonies, Terri Geissinger, was resplendent in her period gown of copper colored satin with ebony beading. She announced each parade participant for the crowd as they passed the Miners Union Hall so they could be identified for all. It was a parade worthy of any Bodie celebration.
Besides the treat of Bodie's own "Horribles" joining the festivities there were rigs from around the area, let me give you a sample: All the way from Chico, CA , came the beautiful and very large Dapple Percheron team with Luke and Donna Messinger; a Chuck Wagon from Red's Meadow Pack Station in Mammoth, CA; an authentic Bodie wagon from Smith Valley, Nevada driven by Cub & Tracy Wolff; a Meadowbrook cart pulled by a Shire Belgian named "Butch" and handled by Anna and Jessie Messinger from Chico, CA; Hunewill Ranch chuck wagon from Bridgeport, CA; authentic period wagon driven by Eugene & Sherell Oreb and "Duke" the dog from Yerington, Nevada; a very fancy delivery wagon, actually an 1880's Studebaker delivery wagon painted black and silver pulled by a team of magnificent Stoney Creek Shires that looked as though they had been born and raised just to pull that smart-looking wagon from Orland and driven by Earl & Vickie Strand; another authentic chuck wagon pulled by 4 black mules handled by George Cabral from Ceres, CA; Cherokee on her mustang, Conchita from Wellington, Nevada; and what had to be the hit of the parade -the miniature burros from the Smart Ass Mule Company pulling a small cart and handled by Rick & Lori Edney from Smith Valley, Nevada.
The day was loaded with events and fun. There things like the pie eating contest with delicious apple pie from the bakery and even the Marine contingent got in on the watermelon eating contest. With the costume rental stand, there were a number of people in period dress, not just those who were there to assist with the event as Volunteers so it added to the festive atmosphere of the day.
In additon the Old Tyme Photos seemed to be a lively stop and there was much interest by some about the rigors of gold pannning and what the possibilities could bring you if you'd be willing to work for it as they listened to the demonstrators.
Stamp Mill tours were popular and were given hourly. Folks on Main Street were treated to a real, old-fashioned experience with Dr. Isreal Goode and his snake oil sales show complete with sidekick, wagon and shills in the audience he gave us all a good look and poked some fun at what was commonplace in every town on any given day.
Dave Carle was there to sign his book as was Bodie author Marguerite Sprague. The Photo Fair Gallery was in the Red Barn and is "always" worth a visit and possibly a souvenir. Many Bodie residents upon visiting have been surprised at the images for Sale and many have purchased some to take home to help preserve their memories of living there.
The F.O.B. membership dinner as always was a huge, long line of waiting. There was just barely adequate seating and as happens with many of these events- the steaks were and chicken and I hear they ran out of cake. With the daylight getting thin this reporter knowing better, did not wear long pants and was getting a bit chilly. For as we all know, as soon as the sun starts to go down in Bodie, so does the temperature, therefore I did not stay for the Annual speech nor the dance which was to be an old-fashioned dance called by that lilting lily of the eastern sierra known by all as the capable Janet Carle.
In the meantime, while everyone is recuperating from all of the fun and good times shared at this year's FOB Day... It sounds like the Parade and whole day was a Real success.... Reports and Photos to follow.. For those of us that can NEVER get too much Bodie... Here is a little gem I found to let your eyes musically roam around the town again. ...and remember...a yes, the wind... either helping you cool off in the summer or blowing dust into your eyes... ....waiting to photos is so frustrating... Hope you enjoy this ditty....
It is easy to see by the numbers of folks on the Bodie forums and the number of Bodie videos, and the rapidity with which curiosity seekers, history buffs, and photographers flock to Bodie.... The Ghost town with the NEW source of Gold in CA. Translation... the folks that love it.... dead or alive they continually come back to see the "Official CA Gold Historic Ghost Town" ! Being there and experiencing the history in PERSON and getting to know the nice folks that CHOOSE to live and work there to help preserve it for all of us are few of the gems it still has.... along with the fact that it STILL EXISTS for us to even go to visit..... Visit & Respect and Preserve it.... Preserve it on film, video, and in your memories... and have a Great time while doing it.
Today is the annual celebration of the Burning of Bodie
and thus a fitting day to have the Retirement Party for
the Head Ranger of Bodie for the last 20 years,
Brad Sturdivant.
Those of us that love Bodie have much to thank him for
over the years. His dedication to the preservation of
Bodie amidst the bureaucratic red tape that makes up
the State of CA and the CA State Parks system.
We know Brad will always be near to Bodie in spirit,
if not physically, and we hope everyone will help
Preserve Bodie and carry on Brad's honorable
tradition and remember what the real miracle
of Bodie is....
Thanks Brad, we tip our hats to you,
hoist a shot of the "Good Stuff" in your name,
for all the memories and good times you
shared with everyone....
So as we wish you "Happy Trails to you..."
Here is a collection of Bodie images
to share on this day....
