Vallejo Garden Tour 2012: New Beginnings

      “New Beginnings” is the theme for the ninth annual Vallejo Garden Tour scheduled for Sunday, May 20^th from 10:00 to 3:00.  Garden Tour organ- izers are highlighting the theme of rejuvenation and raising awareness about Vallejo’s “New Beginnings” after the past few difficult and challenging years.  Focusing on the future, positive growth, and a fresh start, the gardens on this year’s Tour are truly exceptional. 

      Tour participants will be inspired by gardens   that bloom year- round, and by an 1800 square    foot “deck garden” that grows so much food using built-in planters and garden pots that the family    has to freeze, can,  or give away many of their vegetables.  Another garden is set in Vallejo’s old downtown and features two separate grassy areas that look real but are actually environmentally reinvented faux grass secured with shredded tires!  Yet another garden began life as solid concrete.  The gardener got tired of amending the clay soil and producing bonsai plants so they built raised garden beds and now every year their garden produces food for the entire neighborhood!  Or you may find yourself at the garden on the hill with Tahoe rock and a tiered deck that includes carefully placed “doggie” areas for two French Bulldogs who make themselves at home under the canopies next to the hot tub!  There is something on this year’s Tour for everyone.  Purchase your tickets early because the Tour is sure to be a sell out. 

       The Vallejo Garden Tour is the largest annual fundraiser to benefit the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.  Advance tickets are $30 for the general public and $25 for Museum members.  All tickets on the day of the Tour are $35. A buffet luncheon is part of the price of admission and is served from 11:30 to 2:30 at the Museum.  While waiting to be seated at the luncheon, Tour guests and the general public can stroll through the nearly 30 + vendors who will be set up in a Garden Faire along the street in front of the Museum selling their wares. 

        Tickets may be purchased at Zoey June Gift and Garden, 1426 Tennessee Street, the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, 734 Marin St., Mid-City Nursery, 3635 Broadway in American Canyon, and at the Vallejo Convention and Visitors Bureau, located at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal.

Vallejo's Last Civil War Veteran Dies

On this day in 1939 the last Civil War veteran living in Vallejo passed away at age 92. This is how the Vallejo Evening Chronicle reported the story:

   "Vallejo's last remaining veteran of the Civil War - Nelson W. Brown, 92 - succumbed to a short illness today at the Vallejo General Hospital, where he had been undergoing treatment for the last week.
   "A native of Mansfield, Penn., Mr. Brown had made his home in Vallejo for years, and took an active part in fraternal affairs. He was the husband of the late Julia W. Brown, the father of Mrs. J.S. Jewett of Carson City, Nev., and the grandfather of Mrs. Juanita M. Nichols of Tremontan, Utah, and Mrs. May Harlan of Van Nuys, Calif.
   "He was a past noble grand of the Odd fellows, No. 7, of Seattle, Wash.; a member of the silver star chapter, No. 3, O.E.S., of Porter Post, No. 169, of Oakland, and of the G.A.R. No. 30.
   Funeral Services will be conducted at 11 o'clock Friday morning at the J.J. McDonald Mortuary by Henry W. Lawton Camp, No. 1, United Spanish War Veterans, assisted by Rev. Charles G. Zierk of the Methodist Church. Interment will be made in the Presidio National Cemetery in San Francisco.
   "Brown was born in Mansfield, Tioga County, in the north central part of Pennsylvania, on March 4, 1847. His parents were farmers.
   "When the war broke out, he enlisted with his brothers in the Union army, giving his age as 18 although he says he did not look it. He really was only 16 but at the moment recruiting officers were not so particular as he remembers.
   "He was assigned to the same company as an older brother, Company E of the Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, serving with the First Brigade of the Second Division in Virginia throughout the war.
                      
      In Harper Battle

    "He saw action at Harper's battle and saw 26 of his comrades  shot down by Confederate bullets.
    "During the first days of the war one of his brothers died from poisoning in a plot which was laid to a Union colonel charged with placing calomel in his men's meat.
   "Brown was mustered out in June, 1865, at Harper's ferry, receiving an honorable discharge. Later he came to California, moving to Vallejo in 1900, where he entered the sheet metal shop at Mare Island navy yard. He was retired May 28, 1913.
    "From 1913 to1915, he moved to Oakland, where he was married and later separated.
    "He was a member of D.D. Porter Post, No. 169 G.A.R. in Oakland, and an honorary member of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"Gone With The Wind" Premiers in Vallejo

The world premier of the classic film "Gone With The Wind" was held in Atlanta in December, 1939. But in smaller cities like Vallejo, the movie didn't open until early 1940. On this date in 1940 "Gone With The Wind" had its Vallejo premier at the Hanlon Theater on Virginia Street. The next day, Vallejo Times-Herald reporter Will Stevens described the event:

    "Quite a few Vallejo folks who for quite a few good reasons weren't in Atlanta the night "Gone With The Wind" opened there - and might have later wondered how the show, Vivien Leigh, Hattie McDaniel, Victor Fleming and half a dozen other GWTWers grabbed all those first place Oscars - last night got a chance to discover the reasons for themselves.

    "Reviewing the show now, after the millions of words written following its premier, would be almost like telling the people who won the Civil War. Everybody knows who won the Civil War. And everybody knows that "Gone With The Wind" is perhaps the greatest picture ever filmed.

    "Inasmuch as this was the same show that made the folks and all the critics rave in Atlanta, it remains only to record here that no startling or sensationally newsworthy changes were apparent in the show's premier at the Hanlon last night. It's still the same "Gone With The Wind."

    The continuity since the Atlanta premier hasn't been changed to make the South victorious. Vivien Leigh is still playing Scarlett O'Hara just as though she were really Scarlett O'Hara and not Vivien Leigh at all. And Clark Gable, the old rascal, is still playing Rhett Butler.

    "The boys down in Hollywood haven't shoved another Union general into Sherman's place, and Hattie McDaniel is still playing "Mammy" with perspiring gusto and infinite charm.

    "And amid scenes of breathless beauty, in technicolor, Olivia de Haviland's Melanie makes everybody love her and hate Scarlett worse than they hated her in Margaret Mitchell's book, and Leslie Howard's job on Ashley Wilkes is the same excellent job that everybody saw in the Atlanta premier.

    "In fact, it would seem necessary at this time to merely record what everybody must have known at this time; that "Gone With The Wind" is at the Hanlon, on schedule, and will remain for a week, with most of the big crowd that saw it last night already planning to see it again."

USS Wahoo (SS 238)

On this date in 1942 the submarine USS Wahoo (SS 238) was launched at Mare Island. Wahoo was the first sub launched at the Shipyard following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Vallejo Times-Herald reported on the launching:

“Mare Island Navy Yard wrote new history [today]. A very dramatic history, too, with the launching of its first submarine since the declaration of war – the first submarine launched from the new building ways – the first submarine in the U.S. Navy to bear the name USS Wahoo.

“Nor did the sturdy Wahoo’s ‘firsts’ escape the notice of Rear Admiral W. L. Friedell, commandant, who told assembled guests and workmen during the launch-ing ceremonies: ‘With so many firsts to her credit, we may rest assured that Wahoo’s officers and men will see to it that she is first in the performance of her missions and first in her credits for enemy craft.’

“It was another perfect launching for Mare Island. One second, gay flags flying over her decks, the Wahoo was poised high on the ways beside her sister ship, the Whale… another second and beautifully, down sailed Wahoo to the waters of Mare Island channel.”

Vallejo: A Place of Rare Beauty

Perhaps it's true that some things never change. In 1883 the Vallejo Evening Chronicle described Vallejo as "a place of rare beauty," but cautioned that "there is room for a vast amount of improvement." Here is the complete article:

A Place of Rare Beauty

"There are few places in the world so finely situated as Vallejo. The town itself adds little to the lovely scenery that surrounds it. This is a pity, for a clean town with white cottages and church spires enhances the landscape. Still Vallejo is much superior to many of the towns of California and the West. Its yards are trimmer, its shade trees more numerous and the architecture of the cottages and the more pretentious houses more refined and varied. Before the doors of many workingmen's houses geraniums and tea roses are blooming and evergreen trees are carefully trimmed. Indeed the model home for the workingman might be found here in Vallejo, the product of the taste of some mechanic with fine artistic nature. There is a great deal of art displayed in the structure and setting of many of the cottages that cling to the hills. Although there is a great deal of beauty shown in some cottages such instances are too isolated, they are too infrequent. There is room for a vast amount of improvement. Some houses are slatternly kept and their untidiness mars the beauty of the town. Let a generous rivalry spring up between cottagers in the matter of improving their places. In doing this they would be cultivating art, which can find expression in a garden as well as on a canvas. It is a pity that anything is neglected which would add to the beauty of the town, for its location is perfect. The hills, the water, the Island and the colors over them are as beautiful as the most favored spots of Italy."

Vallejo Loses Historic Ship to L.A.?

The recent announcement by the Navy that the World War Two battleship USS Iowa would go to Los Angeles instead of Vallejo is not the first time that Vallejo faced the possibility of losing a historic ship to southern California. Nearly 100 years ago, in September, 1914, the Vallejo Evening Chronicle published an article about the fate of the Receiving Ship Independence, a historic vessel that had been a landmark on the Mare Island water- front since 1857:

"Would Save Independence: Los Angeles Starts Movement to Secure Old Relic From the Navy"

"If Vallejo and other cities in this vicinity do not want the old Independence as a relic there are cities farther away that do. Los Angeles has decided that the frigate would be of value at their port as shown by the following clipping taken from the Los Angeles Examiner."


"By resolution the City Council yesterday requested Mayor Rose to enter into into communication with Secretary of the Navy Daniels urging that official to donate the United States Steamship Independence, the historical craft built at the Boston Navy Yard in the early part of the last century, to Los Angeles as a relic. The resolution was presented by Minute Clerk Carroll at the request of Councilman Betokuski, who is now out of the city."

"The vessel is now at the Navy Yard at Mare Island."

"The resolution calls attention to the fact that the city's acquisition of this historical craft would be acceptable, as forming the nucleus of a naval museum at the Los Angeles harbor."

USS Independence was launched in 1814 at the Boston Navy Yard as the first ship-of-the-line in the U.S. Navy. After more than 40 years of service she was transferred to the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1857 where her upper decks were roofed over and she was converted to a receiving ship. The vessel was a well known landmark on the Mare Island waterfront for many years, but eventually time took its toll on the old wooden-hulled ship.In 1912, Independence sank at her moorings. Efforts to pump out and refloat the vessel were unsuccessful, and the Navy finally decided to scrap the old relic.

Ultimately, the plan put forward by Los Angeles did not come to fruition. Independence was towed out to the mudflats of the Bay and burned. Today, only photographs and a handful of artifacts from the ship survive.

USS Tunny (SS 282)

Seventy years ago today, on November 10, 1941, a keel laying ceremony was held at Mare Island for the Gato-class submarine USS Tunny (SS 282). The United States' entry into World War Two was less than a month away, but already Mare Island was gearing up its production to meet wartime needs that seemed inevitable. Tunny was the 12th submarine built at Mare Island, but many more would follow once the U.S. entered the War. This is how the Vallejo Times-Herald covered the keel-laying ceremony:

"In a dramatic salute to Armistice Day, which the yard is observing tomorrow, Mare Island Navy Yard laid the keel of the submarine USS Tunny at 12 o'clock today"

"The keel laying of the Tunny marks the third submarine to occupy ways No. 3 during 1941 and the fifth submarine keel to be laid down during this year. The USS Gudgeon was launched from this spot on January 25 and the USS Trigger on October 22. Submarine keels laid during 1941 include the USS Trigger, laid February 1; the USS Wahoo and USS Whale, laid June 28; the USS Sunfish, laid September 25, and this, the USS Tunny, laid today."

"The brief formal program was void of speech-making or fanfare - it was a short, businesslike procedure - another job in the process of being done. Commencing at noon with a selection by the yard band, the actual keel laying commenced at 12:05 when Captain F.G. Crisp, U.S.N., yard manager, gave the order and the riggers hoisted the keel into position. Robert F. Cooke, foreman, electric shop, and W.N. Simons, chief quarterman, electric shop, acted as honorary welders by putting the first weld on the Tunny keel."

"At 12:15, upon completion of the welding, Lieut. Comdr. Leverett S. Lewis, U.S.N., acting hull superintendent, inspected the welds and reported: 'The keel is well and truly laid.' The national anthem by the yard band closed the ceremony."

USS Tunny was launched on June 30, 1942 and commissioned on September 1 of that same year. The submarine made nine war patrols in the Pacific during World War Two and survived the War, returning  to Mare Island for decommissoning in December 1945. The sub was later recommissioned and modified to serve in the Navy's experimental Regulus missile program. Tunny served through much of the Cold War and was decommissioned for the last time in 1969. She was sunk in 1970.