Past Events


ANNUAL MEETING AND LUNCHEON

Saturday, February 17th at Noon
Friendship Hall, Trinity United Methodist Church
511 Oak Street, Colusa

“We are Americans!”

Presenter: Lani Yoshimura

Photo of General Merrill (center) and US Army linguists Herb Miyasaki (left) and Aki Yoshimura (right). Merrill’s Marauders opened the Burma Road, the gateway between China and India, shortening the war in the Pacific by over a year.

•Just like her parents, Lani Yoshimura was born and raised in Colusa, CA. She attended local schools, and helped at her parent’s business, Vogue Cleaners. Lani relates the story of her parents, Aki and Hizi (Hinoki) Yoshimura and the close-knit community of Japanese Americans who have called Colusa home since the early 1900s. Incarcerated by the federal government during World War II, these families treasure their cultural roots but have never doubted for a moment that “We are Americans!”  Despite being imprisoned, sons from both the Yoshimura and Hinoki families volunteered to serve in the US Army. Aki Yoshimura volunteered for a suicide mission as a linguist for Merrill’s Marauders. Ironically, he was fighting for freedom while his family and friends were held behind barbed wire.

•Lani has a BA in Literature from UC Santa Cruz and a Master’s degree in Library Science from graduate studies at the University of Hawaii and San Jose State University. She retired in 2020 after 42 years as director for the Gilroy Library.  She was instrumental in passing a bond measure to construct a new library in Gilroy. Lani was named 2011 Woman of the Year by the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce. 


October Meeting & Luncheon

October 21, 2023 – Noon

Tremont Cafe

731 Main Street, #1

Red Bluff CA 96080

Vengeance on the Oregon Trail

John Brown’s Family Comes to Tehama County, 1864

Five years after fiery abolitionist John Brown was hanged in 1859 for his failed raid on Harper’s Ferry Arsenal, his wife Mary, three daughters, and son Salmon traveled overland by wagon to start a new life in Red Bluff, California.

Their journey nearly ended in disaster on the Oregon Trail when a wagon train of “rebel” Southern sympathizers discovered who they were. The Brown family and subsequent historical journal and newspaper articles have never identified these rebels or why they doggedly pursued the Browns. This presentation by Tehama County Genealogical & Historical Society board member and publications editor Josie Smith will reveal not only their identity but the reason why. This is a tale about murder, dangers on the Oregon Trail, the Brown family in Tehama County, and members of the “rebel wagon train” who later called Red Bluff their home.



DATE:                   Saturday, April 22, 2023

PLACE:                Glenn Success Square Conference Center                        131 East Walker Street

                              Orland CA 95963

LUNCHEON:      NOON 12:00 Luncheon

                                Director Meeting at 10:00 am

PROGRAM:        The Ground Shakers. A History of  Grindstone. by author Emily Watkins

Before colonization, the Americas were home to millions of Indigenous

peoples. In modern-day Glenn County, the Nomlaki have resided since time immemorial. Emily Watkins, author of The Groundshakers: A History of Grindstone, will present a real history that is inclusive of all perspectives, including the perspective of our neighbors in Grindstone. 

~ Emily Watkins is a native of Willows. She graduated from Willows High School and then Humboldt State with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Native American Studies. She is Ihanktonwan (Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota) and a member of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.


Annual Meeting and Luncheon

Saturday, February 18th at Noon

Friendship Hall, Trinity United Methodist Church

511 Oak Street, Colusa

Through historic Colusa County images, Michael and Julie Garofalo will give a tour of the Colusa County Historic Photos [Facebook page] and the research that is used to create such a page. The collecting and storage of photos on the

computer and “in the cloud” will be introduced and discussed. The images will presented on a big screen for all to see.

~ Michael Garofalo is the creator and researcher of the Colusa County Historic Photos Facebook page. He has been

curating these historical images on social media since 2015.

~ Julie Garofalo is a Water Engineer in Sacramento, and Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Colusa.

They are both volunteers creating historical exhibits for the annual Colusa Founders Day Celebration held in June.



Fall 2022 Luncheon 

Jessica Casas (granddaughter of Joe Chew), presented in depth information about the Chew Family and the Chinese cultural history of Red Bluff.

Chinatown occupied a stretch along Main Street to the end of Walnut Street, to the beginning of High Street (now Rio Street) and ending on Rio Street at Antelope Blvd.

The Ming Terrace Restaurant (now Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant), was where the luncheon/meeting was held. It was both the last Chinese residence and Chinese business to operate in the historic Chinatown closing in 1973.



70th Annual Meeting

The event was held at Granzella's Banquet Hall in Williams, CA.  Over 125 guests were treated to a program by Miriam Pawel. She spoke about her recent published book, The Browns of California.  Guests were also treated to some words by the Honorable Governor Jerry 70th who entertained us with stories of his great grandfather,  August Schuckman and his settling of the family ranch West of Williams in 1852.
Photos courtesy of Charles Martin, Laurie Carr, and Gene Russell.

Fall Luncheon - 2018

Dr. Roger Ekins and wife Helen, California Living History Program, in costume as William B. and Susan Ide - the only President of the California Republic and his wife.