Community: Burbank history museum thanks its docents

Sharing Burbank history is a labor of love for docents at the Gordon R. Howard Museum, but most of them agree the most fun is seeing the reactions of local school children when they come for their tours.

The Burbank Historical Society’s board of directors recently thanked docents for their service during the annual holiday luncheon in the Cunningham Room, which serves as the auditorium of the museum.

Wife and husband Myriel and Jim Tyree have been docents since 2005, and Myriel Tyree conducts the school tours.

“First, they say ‘wow’ when they come in the front door and see all the antique cars and trucks,” she said, adding that a lot of them bring their parents back on the weekends.

The Tyrees were docents at the Autry Museum when they were recruited by Burbank Historical Society board members Les and Elaine Rosenberg.

“Once you come here, you think ‘why not be a docent?’” Myriel Tyree said. “It’s lots of fun and you meet nice people. I enjoy talking to people about Burbank history or history in general. You find you have a lot in common with people. And when you’re traveling, you often meet people who have heard of Burbank landmarks like Martino’s Bakery.”

The couple have fun on the day of Burbank On Parade. They wear old-fashioned sandwich boards advertising the museum and walk up and down the parade route on Olive Avenue telling people about it.

“We are always trying to encourage people to see the museum,” Myriel Tyree said. “We want to keep it from being Burbank’s best-kept secret.”

Kimberly Hendrix remembers when a child was taking a tour of the Mentzer House with his family and, when he walked by a plate of wax cupcakes on display, he picked one up and bit into it.

“He was angry that I didn’t tell him it wasn’t real before he bit into it,” she said.

Hendrix was born and raised in Burbank, but moved to the west side of Los Angeles as an adult.

“I guess I always loved Burbank, but I didn’t know it,” she said. “One day, I visited the museum and soon I was volunteering and seeing things I grew up with here in Burbank. It is really a fabulous collection and is displayed lovingly.”

Following the holiday party, the board of directors elected new officers and longtime board member Dave Filson was voted in as president.

He has two goals for his year. He wants to upgrade the audio-visual system in the Cunningham Room, which is where special programs and presentations are held. Filson also wants to reintroduce barbecues in the courtyard in front of the museum.

Manager celebrates 25 years at Chevron

My longtime friend and reader Javed Khandaker is celebrating 25 years as manager at Raymond’s Chevron gasoline station at Glenoaks Boulevard and Olive Avenue.

I met Khandaker after he started at the station when the Leader’s office was on Glenoaks and Orange Grove Avenue in the early 1990s. I became an avid customer for about four years while I lived in Canyon Country and was racking up the miles of my Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

I’m still a customer and each time I roll into the station, he gives me a big smile and welcome, saying, “Hello, my friend.”

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JOYCE RUDOLPH can be reached at rudolphjoyce10@gmail.com.