It’s a date in history once again when longtime Mantecans and newcomers alike come together Sunday, Sept. 30, from 1 to 4 p.m. for the 26th annual Manteca Historical Society’s social.
The social will be held at the Chez Shari upstairs restaurant in the Manteca Golf Course Clubhouse on Union Road just north of Yosemite Avenue. An elevator is located in the building for any of the senior citizens or handicapped unable to use the stairs. Dinner will include barbecued chicken, salad, beans, corn, watermelon, dessert coffee, tea and soft drinks.
Located in a former Methodist Church building on Yosemite Avenue at Sequoia Avenue, the 8,000 square foot museum is regarded as one of Manteca’s crown jewels. It’s named after the late Ken Hafer who was instrumental in the museum being established. The church was gutted by fire and left vacant for a number of years. The museum has since become a unique learning center, telling of the community by housing a vast array of artifacts, documents and hundreds if not thousands of old photographs. A “must see” at the museum is a 1920s horse and buggy donated by the McFall family and originally owned by Raymond Muller of French Camp. The horse and buggy may be seen in the Annex Building now known as the Mabel Brocchini Memorial Building to house additional artifacts centered around agriculture along with the Manteca Fire Department’s original fire engine which is still seen in local parades.
Tickets are still available for the dinner, but only in advance, by calling Sally Mendes at 209.923.7915 or going by Tipton’s Stationery and Gifts on Yosemite Avenue at Maple Avenue or at the Manteca Senior Center. Adults are $25 and children under 12 are $15. There will also be a no host bar. Anyone unable to pick up their tickets may call Sally Mendes and she will either mail them or have them personally delivered.
In the museum’s organizational years, Hafer held garage-style meetings with much of the planning done by a dedicated group of founding members growing to a larger number of some 400 supporters who helped establish the museum as a reality.
The museum was originally located at 214 Poplar Avenue in one of Manteca’s early residential areas north of the present-day library on West Center Street, in what had been a Christian Science Reading Room. The much larger location on Yosemite Avenue was made possible through the help of a $92,000 community block grant along with a $50,000 private donation. That combined with a growing membership of 450 supporters made the move to the larger facility possible in 1992. The grand opening for the new site was held on Feb. 7, 1993. Docents have posted open days and times for the facility on the front door facing Yosemite Avenue. Museum gift shop items will also be available for sale on Sunday at the fund-raising dinner.
To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.
