Days of Old

History lovers sang two rounds of “Happy Birthday” under a blazing sun Saturday as they kicked off festivities for this neighborhood’s 112th anniversary and California’s 150th year of statehood.

Flamenco dancing, mariachi music and a display of Native American artifacts were featured Saturday at the grounds around the Homestead Acre in Chatsworth Park South. The festivities continue today with scheduled performances by Scottish and Chinese dancers.

“They’re recognizing that it’s not just the Americans who came here, but also the Spanish and the Mexicans who came here,” said visitor Matthew Sanchez, 11, of Northridge.

After the state’s troubled sesquicentennial commission disbanded last year, the responsibility of commemorating the anniversary of California’s admission to the United States on Sept. 9, 1850, fell to local history clubs. The festival sponsor, the Chatsworth Historical Society, chose to observe the date on this weekend because Chatsworth was first named in a subdivision map filed on March 10, 1888, said Virginia Watson, a society founder.

The first clear Saturday skies in over a month bolstered attendance and brought in donations. “To whoever it was who organized this weather for us, thank you,” said society member Zena Thorpe.

Attending the opening ceremony were U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), retiring state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. In a traditional Native American ceremony, two Chumash men encircled the three politicians with plumes of acrid white sage smoke to cleanse their spirits.

“We remember our heritage, and we combine everyone’s heritage into our own,” Wright said of California’s history.

The mild weather allowed visitors to sample 19th century lifestyles at several outdoor exhibits. At one, West Hills resident Gary Standke hammered metal bars heated in a black iron forge. Farmers once used such a forge to make latches, buckles and hinges for their households, he said.

Alicia Richards, 10, spent several minutes rotating a metal crank behind the forge with her hands, pushing air through the chamber to keep the coals burning.

“It’s kind of neat seeing how in the olden days they used to use this,” said Alicia, also of West Hills. “You’re here in person instead of just reading from a book.”

At the Chatsworth Museum next to the outdoor exhibits, the state sesquicentennial quilt, which Thorpe helped design, was on display. The quilt is being shown around the state until it is placed on permanent exhibit in Sacramento on Sept. 9.

The museum also featured artifacts of Valley history culled from the archives of various local societies. Among the unusual pieces displayed were articles by Charles Weeks, founder of a Utopian community of poultry farmers who lived in Winnetka in the 1920s, and a receipt for the funeral expenses of Francisco Trujillo, the second Topanga homesteader on record.

The exhibit ends June 4.