PLOUGHSHARE & PRUNING HOOK

VOLUME 4 NUMBER 6 January/February 2000

Photo Display to Highlight Historical Meeting January 17th

   We are honored to have a special photo presentation about our community by Patricia Windbigler. She has taken numerous pictures of the Patterson House in our quest to have the house put on the National Historic Register. We invite all to join us on January 17th at the church annex to see her photos of the area.

Memories of Benedict School

   Our picture of the old Benedict School brought us a response from a local resident who filled us in on the schools history.

    I read with interest your article referring to the Benedict School. I would like to share with you what I know about this school and its location.

    The Benedict School I know of was located on Briggs Road about a mile or more south of Hwy 74.  There still remain a few trees there.  It was on the right before you go over a small hill and over the railroad tracks.

    My mother, Bessie M. Tibbens, taught there in 1911 and 1912.  Shecame to Calif. in 1910 to visit her brother Charles in Los Angeles. She had graduated from Normal School in Washington, Pa.  She took herCalif. teachers exam in Riverside.  She said at the same time as Ira Landis, and according to her, bested him by a few points.  At any rate she found employment at the Benedict School.  She boarded with the older Guthridge family, and had the sons of Will and Lela as her pupils.  She also mentioned that several of the Lindenberger children were her pupils.  She mentioned that the students were difficult to control.  If the older boys got bored, they simply climbed out the window, got on their horse and did whatever boys do.

    She met and married Marcus Fred Schain, one of the local ranchers, on June 23, 1913.

(From a letter sent to us by Bernice Schain Hammerschmidt)

Team Penning January 15th and 16th

   The annual Winchester Community Benefit Team Penning which is a fund raiser for some of our local non-profit groups is schedule for the Winchester Wild West Arena. People and their horses will be in town from all over the western United States to compete for prizes as they try to cut cows from a heard and put them in a pen. The Patterson House Museum will be open special hours to accommodate our visitors. On that weekend the museum will be open at 8:00 A.M. and stay open until dusk. If you have a chance go out and watch the events and help support some of our local groups like the Cub scouts, Boy scouts, 4-H, W.H.O.A., and Woman's Club.

Supervisor Jim Venable Installs New W.H.O.A. Officers and Directors

    Jim Venable, our local County Supervisor, was on hand to install the new directors and officers at the Winchester Homeowners Associations January 3rdmeeting. Dave Ledbetter was installed as the new President for this year. The organization meets the first Thursday of each month in the church annex at 7:00 P.M. The organization was formed 20 years ago this year and is open to all residents and anyone interested in the improvement of our area.

    At the December meeting of the group funds were handed out to local groups. Donations of $500 were given to Cub Scout Pack 383, Ryan Field Volunteer Fire Department, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars for the community pantry. Also $400 was given to the Life Program that helps local children do better in school. The program is staffed by volunteers of the Winchester Community United Methodist Church.

New Fire Station Nears Completion

   Winchester's own fire station is near completion and should be occupied some time in March. The crew and volunteers of Station 27 at Ryan Field will be bringing  their equipment, including their rescue squad and water tender, to their new home. There will be 2 full time firefighters on duty every shift. Response time should be around 5 minutes. The station is located behind Winchester School in the Winchester- Domenigoni Park. If you get a chance drive by and watch the community grow.

Items Donated to Historical Society

    We are in receipt of an interesting piece of paper thanks to the Hemet Area Museum Association. They found and donated to us a stock certificate for the Pleasant Valley Land and Water Company. It is not filled out and comes with a partial date of 188 with an area to fill in the last number.

    Also donated by Evelyn Domenigoni were items related to Winchester history. Among the items was a sales brochure for Florida(Valle Vista), a copy of the 75th anniversary of the church, and a program from a May 22, 1970 Winchester Schools program called "Winchester Days 1890" and had such stars as Fred, Angela, and Steve Domenigoni. The script was produced and directed by Mrs. Lois E. Rusk. If anyone has a script from this play we would love to have a copy.

    Another item we became aware of this month that we hope to get a copy of is an old diary from 1889. A woman from the San Jacinto Museum called us to tell of a diary that had been sent to them from Portland Oregon. It seems a woman in that city went into a thrift store and bought a suit. Upon further inspection she found the diary in a pocket and sent it to the museum. Stay tuned for further on this in the near future.    Click here to continue reading