The Home Front Festival - Rosie The Riveter

I attended the Home Front Festival today (15 October 2011) which is a celebration of the efforts of the folks (mostly women) of Richmond, California, and those who migrated here from the south of mid-west, who helped in the war effort.  This was during a time when people knew exactly what they were fighting for.  Not like today, where reasons are given on minute, and then another one is given the next and another the next.  But I digress.

The event was held in the Craneway Pavillion, originally called the Ford Assembly Plant in which different booths were set up to honor the men, but mostly women, who helped during the war effort and those women were called Rosie The Riveter.

I had the pleasure of going down there before the event opened to the public at 1100.  I was there at 0830 because a friend of mine was volunteering for a few hours.  I say pleasure because I was able to spend time with two women at a table.  One is an author, Jeane Slone, and other works for the Rosie The Riveter Trust by the name of Marsha Mather-Thrift.

Jeane Slone wrote two books based on the women workers and fighter pilots during that time in two books, each dedicated to each subject.

She Built Ships - about women ship builders

She Flew Bombers - about women fighter pilots during WW II

 

I will be interviewing Jeane Slone later, to get more information on her books.

I also had the pleasure of meeting three original "Rosie The Riveters"

Maxine began working at a telephone company after high school.  Shortly there after, she attended school on Mission Street to be a ship burner, but she really wanted to be a fitter and a fitter she became in 1942.  Two years later she joined the Marine Core and served two years

Lee lied about her age to get work on the shipyard.  When she was 17 she wanted to work, but you had to be 18.  She said she was 18, got into wielding school, which was an 8 hr class. At the end of the 8 hrs, you took a test and if you passed you worked on the shipyard.

Not pictured is Betty Soskin, who is not only an original "Rosie" but also gives bus tours of Maritime Richmond Shipyard and surrounding areas, accompanied with her stories of her days as a shipyard worker.  I will be taking the bus tour on 29 October, in which I will provide a picture and stories.

One thing that stood out for me at the event, outside of Rosie The Riveter, were these giant sculptures done by Mario Chiodo, in which the series is called REMMEBER THEM: Champions for Humanity.
I took picture of a few of the sculptures.

Oskar Schindler

Oskar Schindler - yes, I took his picture twice because the Holocaust is my area of interest.

Rosa Parks - she was not the first person of color to refuse to give up her seat to a white person.  Look up Plessy vs. Ferguson.

Ralph Abernathy

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Corretta Scott King

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The SS Red Oak Victor boat was made available for us to take a tour of. 

THE CAPTAIN'S ROOM

THE BEGINNING OF THE SHIP

THE END OF THE SHIP

In all, the ship is 455 feet long.

All in all, it was a great day.  I got more history than I know what do with, but at the same time, it left me wanting more.

As mentioned, I will be back with stories from the bus tour and anything else I can find out relating to Rosie the Riveter.

 

Lafayette Art and Wine Festival - 18 Sept 2011

Today I attended the Lafayette Art and Wine Festival in Lafayette, CA. and thoroughly enjoyed myself. This was the first time of attending and I almost didn't go due to it being a lazy Sunday. But we got ourselves up and headed on out. We arrived at 11:30am and left at 2:57pm and it didn't seem like we there that long which is a good thing and says a lot about the festival - that it was that entertaining that we weren't bored.




Our first stop was at the ticket both to get a beer ticket and mug. They also have these for wine as well along with a commemorative wine glass. There is a choice of getting one ticket or four or more tickets. I choose the four tickets. Yeah I'm a lush. My secret is out (insert laughter). How the ticket thing works is, you find places where they are serving beer (or wine depending on which ticket you have) and you present the ticket to the server and you get your beer. Most of the beer booths were run by companies and they were serving a certain brand of beer. It wasn't like a bar where walk up and have a choice of beer, which made it great because you could discover new beer. Before getting some beer I got something to eat which was Mike's Pizza which for $3 a slice they should make sure the pizza is nice and hot. They didn't have an oven to keep the pizza warm. The pizza were sitting in the delivery bags. I wasn't happy about the mediocre pizza, but at least I had something in my stomach before drinking.
I first tried the Longboard by Kona (KW Builders) which I didn't care for. While walking around I came across two gentlemen that played Italian love songs. One was on a classical guitar and the other on a mandolin (hearstringsmusic.com). We sat on the curb behind them and just listened to the music. After a few minutes, we walked around and came across a booth that had Stella Artois (LoveBugs) and enjoyed it a great deal. After getting my beer I spotted a both selling pens. Now let me just tell you that I am pen hound. The name of the company is Pens 'n Stoppers "handcrafted wood writing pens and wine stoppers by Ron Geren". The workmanship on these pens are amazing. You would have to see them in person to appreciate it. We ended up buying a pen and are having him make us mechanical pencils. He stated that mechanical pencils don't sell that well so that the reason he doesn't make many of them or bring them out for sell. They seem to be a sort of supplied as requested. To contact Ron, you call 925-292-1922 or email pensnstoppers@yahoo.com.

We walked around some more and looked at the other things they had there from wood carvings, to metal sculptures and clothes. On our way back to the main area I stopped at Trumer Pils (Nerd4Rent Computer Service and Training www.nerd4rent.com). This was another beer I didn't care for. We walked back to the Italian music makers and sat down and just watched people, which is one of my favorite things to do. After I finished the beer I wanted to try some dark beer. I told you I was a lush (insert laughter with a strange look). But let me add that I usually don't drink like that. It's usually one beer and I'm done. But since I did purchase four tickets I felt like I had to use all four.

While walking around trying to find dark beer I came across a man holding Stuffed bulldog with a Mini shirt on from the Mini Cooper of Concord. I skipped the beer and went to tell my partner that I found the Mini of Concord booth. We walked over to the booth and found the most unfriendly people on the planet. We looked at the cars that were there and then I wanted a stuffed bulldog but instead I got some stuffed shirts so we left with a bad taste in our mouths. However, this is not the first time we have encountered unfriendliness from the folks at Mini of Concord. The BMW side of the company is fine, but I digress.

I had one more ticket left and decided to try the Wildmer beer at the KW Builders both where I got the Longboard beer and I did like the Wildmer. By that time we decided it was time to head out but not until I finished the beer so we found a place to sit and I drank my beer and we headed out.

Now for the two activities I participated in in between the walking and beer drinking. First was the UFC Gym booth that allowed you to spin a wheel and win a prize. I won a backpack. Sweet. Then later down the line a clock booth (clocksetc.net) had a wheel and I spun that and won a pop out clock. I had to go to their store to get it which was right around the corner from the booth.


The festival was crowded which was a good thing to see. There's nothing like going to an event to find it a bit void of people. Makes you wonder about the event and not want to return. But this one was packed with not only people but dogs as well. All kinds of dogs were there and they were all adorable.
I am looking forward to attending next year.