Celebrate Santa Paula: Saturday Hospice tour showcases best attractions
April 27, 2012
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Celebrate Santa Paula! Museums, Mansion, Garden & BBQ Tour this Saturday is inviting you to come and see some of best attractions the city has to offer.
The 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 28 tour, benefiting Santa Clara Valley Hospice/Home Support Group will offer you fine art and photography, a large dose of history, a stately historic home, a peek at a noted commercial grower’s operation, and a great meal at Limoneira Ranch.
Tickets are only $35 each for this event that features stops at the Santa Paula Art Museum-Jeannette Cole Arts Center, California Oil Museum, Ventura County Agriculture Museum, the Babcock House, Do Right’s Nursery, and the barbeque at historic Limoneira Ranch.
You’ll be able to visit three of Santa Paula’s famous museums and enjoy their latest displays: the Art Museum (117 N. 10th St.) is offering Retrospective: Douglas Shively and Then and Now: A Look Back at the Santa Paula Art Show. Shively, a rancher, banker and acclaimed painter, was one of the founder’s of the famous show, which just celebrated its 75th anniversary. Then and Now features contemporary artists who followed the original show’s format of art depicting an area within eight miles of the highly paintable city and rural areas.
From the 1900 iron and timber full-size operating drilling rig that is a permanent attraction at the Oil Museum (1001 E. Main St.) to the revolving exhibits, Memories of Cuba: Vintage and Contemporary Photographs and Art and 100 Years of Girl Scouts, there’s plenty to enjoy. The museum has numerous permanent exhibits - many interactive - of the oil industry, which can be said to have started right upstairs. The second story of the historic building is where the paperwork was signed creating Union Oil, later known as Unocal.
The Agriculture Museum (926 Railroad Ave.) offers not only an array of farm implements, tractors, memorabilia of the farming life and its history - and don’t forget to check out that live beehive! - but it is also the scene of stunning photographs taken by Horace Bristol. These “Selections From the 1930s” demonstrate how John Steinbeck, whom Bristol traveled with while taking the photographs for Life magazine, found inspiration for “The Grapes of Wrath.”
The Babcock House (829 E. Santa Paula St.) is one of the most elegant ladies on Santa Paula Street, a thoroughfare famous for its beautiful historic homes. This residential district has attracted visitors for decades with its rich mix of architectural styles, rural elegance, and manicured grounds. The oldest homes date to the 1880s, reflecting the early prosperity of the city in oil and agriculture. Many were built by Santa Paula pioneers who contributed measurably to the prosperity and growth of the city.
Built in 1912, reflecting the gentler era of the times and its gracious surroundings, her owners lovingly restored the Babcock House to charm any visitor. Most of the historic homes in this residential district were built between 1885 and 1930.
The museums as well as the Babcock House are an easy walk if you would like to stroll from venue to venue. Then you can hop in your car to top off this day of art, culture and beauty by visiting Do Right’s Nursery (14545 W. Telegraph Rd.), a premiere grower that offers vistas of flowers, plants vegetables, herbs and other garden goodies. From Do Right’s it’s a short, scenic drive to Limoneira Ranch (1141 Cummings Rd.), where the delicious BBQ will be served from noon to 2 p.m. against a historic backdrop of magnificent buildings and parks.
Tickets, $35 each and including museum admissions as well as the BBQ, are on sale now or can be purchased at each stop. For advance tickets in Santa Paula visit the Santa Paula Times, 944 E. Main St., Best of VC Marketplace, 108 N. 10th St., or the Hospice Office 133 N. Mill Street. Tickets are also available at Lautzenhiser’s Hallmark, 1730 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura. For more information call 805-525-1333.
