Smiley Library’s tour programs help keep Redlands history alive | News

Since 1983, a group of dedicated volunteers has provided tours of the city to fourth graders showcasing the history and culture of Redlands. More than 2,000 students now attend the annual program.

On April 12, I was lucky enough to attend one of these tours with my son.

Fourth-grade teacher Christine Williams went on the tour as a student at McKinley in 1984 and now says it’s her favorite field trip of the year.

“It is very nice to stay connected to the city’s heritage and share it with my students,” she said.

As Williams’ class settled into their bus seats, a couple members of Smiley Heritage Tours, a committee of the AK Smiley Public Library, introduced themselves.

Kathy Twister and Sylvia Banta encouraged students to follow the coloring books provided by the group at Smiley Heritage Tours.

These coloring books with driving maps are one of many additional components that the program has expanded to include.

Artist Kim Cavanaugh, former director of curriculum and instruction for the Redlands School District, suggested the idea and created the original illustrations.

The program now offers on-campus presentations of Realia (old household objects) and, due to COVID restrictions, a virtual tour. Coloring books include a link and QR code for the virtual tour.

We then made our way through the city with Twister pointing out sites of interest including Zannia, the Redlands Foothill Groves Packing House, the site of the former Casa Loma Hotel and the White Opera House.

While Banta held up cards with basic facts, Twister shared information about cut stone curbs, Victorian and stone homes, California cottages, and important figures in the city’s history.

The other tales were more entertaining than educational.

We learned that on top of the Finney Building on Orange Street, for example, the number 9 fell in the year the building was founded in 1892 just after it was laid.

Mr. Finney chose not to replace him, and it remains that way to this day.

We got off the bus at several locations including the University of Redlands, where students climbed the steps of the administration building and shouted “Hey, Mariposa Monarchs” and listened to the echo coming from the mountains.

At the Lincoln Shrine, Library Director Don McCue educated attendees about President Lincoln and the Watchhorn family who founded the shrine.

At the Fisk/Burgess House, we saw examples of grafted orange trees, and at the Burrage Mansion, we had lunch and learned about the organization’s mission to help children in need.

Student Reece Holliday said the Burrage Mansion station was her favorite because it is “so big.”

I enjoyed learning more about Redlands. “I love how historic it is,” she said.

At Kimberly Crest, Banta shared her homemade gingerbread cookies, a favorite of Mary Kimberly Shirk, who inherited the house from her parents, Helen Cheney Kimberly and John Alfred Kimberly.

“I’m excited just to be around the kids,” said Twister, who has lived in Redlands for 50 years and led tours for three. She loves sharing the history of Redlands because it is “a small, historic town with friendly people.”

Banta, who has volunteered on the tours since retiring from teaching in 2015, said she enjoys working for the opportunity to share “how Redlands was built on so much charity” and hopes the tours will inspire kids to give back to the community.

Heritage began as an auxiliary body to the Redlands Aid League with invaluable textual assistance from local historians Larry Burgess and Tom Atchley.

In 2015, Heritage became a commission of the AK Smiley Public Library with the new name Smiley Heritage Tours. Since the first tour on March 17, 1983, the community has recognized the importance of tours to fourth graders in our area through the generous financial contributions of many local individuals and organizations.

Since the beginning, Redlands Unified School District and AK Smiley Public

The Library has partnered with Smiley Heritage Tours by providing ongoing programmatic support.

Committee Chair Serena Davis has been involved since 1999 and said the tours “inspire interest in local history and community” and encourage students to embrace that throughout their lives.

As Deborah Fallows, co-author with James Fallows of the national bestseller and HBO documentary, said, “It’s rare for a community to identify its historic core values ​​and find a way to engage the next generation of citizens in preserving them. That’s what happened with Smiley Heritage Tours…understanding Your city, establishing partnerships, and taking creative action those are the keys.”

“The core message of the tour narrative is expressed in the statement above the Prosellis at Redlands Bowl,” said Tish Sandos, head of fundraising, who has volunteered with Heritage Tours since 2000. “Without vision, people perish.”

For more information and to participate in Smiley Heritage Tours, whose mission is to encourage interest in the history and cultural heritage of Redlands and surrounding areas, email smileyheritagetours@akspl.org.