News Details (Posted: July 17, 2007):

Del Mar History Week Celebrates Downtown Del Mar ~ July 21st through 29th

Full Description:

Please join the Del Mar Historical Society for a week of activities during Del Mar History Week July 21-29 as we honor our downtown’s history! The heart of our community is our downtown center. It is where we come together as a community to shop, enjoy entertainment, dine or just mingle with friends and visitors. Ever since the first downtown, which was on Tenth Street and Stratford, we have been a community that defines itself by how our city center functions. Not so many years ago, we had a pharmacy, a hardware store and many other unique shops that have left for the larger malls. Del Mar, like so many cities, is struggling to revitalize its city public place. The Del Mar Historical Society supports the work of the Del Mar Village Association as they lead our community to reinvent our downtown. We envision a day in the near future where our city is even more active with people strolling through the shops, the library, the new city hall, and our wonderful hotels, restaurants and cafes. We even hope that the new downtown will have a wonderful Historical Society gallery/museum filled with the stories and pictures of our past citizens. Our city needs only to look to our past to see what our downtown future will be as it begins to emerge. While we on the Historical Society Board are a hard working group of volunteers, we do know how to "party". Even if you have not volunteered yet to help your Del Mar Historical Society, you can still party at our “Puttin’ On the Ritz” this July 21 at the Del Mar Hilton. Believe me, you will so enjoy the remarkable Talya Ferro as she entertains. It will be an exciting night out for our mid summer dreams to come alive. Do hurry as seats are limited. Some of the proceeds from the “Ritz” event will go toward the development of a downtown Historical Society Gallery/Museum. I recently visited the La Jolla and Coronado Historical Societies’ buildings. These communities have created a learning space with their historic exhibits and artwork. The pictures of the La Jolla Cove and the Navy ship mementos are items of real interest. Both societies have the capacity to search and retrieve information from historic documents. With your help we are moving in that direction. We are so fortunate to have the volunteer time of curator and archivist, Harry Katz, from the Library of Congress to help us in this specialized field. With his expertise and your support, I am convinced we will have a place in our expanding city heart that will rival our neighboring cities and make our founder, Jacob Taylor, proud of the city he started. See you at the Ritz! -Brad Allison President, Del Mar Historical Society www.delmarhistoricalsociety.or­g