• Wildomar Bell Ringing 2015

It was a spectacular evening to ring the bell at Wildomar Elementary school. The reason was to celebrate the 7th year of Wildomar becoming a city. The consensus was that there were between 60 and 75 people in attendance... I asked three fire fighters and a boy scout, so I'm going with it.

A wide angle look of the onlookers as Council Member Bob Cashman speaks about the bell and the history of the area.

The bell ringing is an event put on by the Wildomar Historical Society. In addition to MC Kristan Lloyd and WHS President George Cambero, there were many other local dignitaries in attendance. Mayor Ben Benoit, Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore, Council Members Tim Walker and Bob Cashman, City Manager Gary Nordquist, Assistant City Manager Dan York, and Planning Commissioners Bobby Swann and Gary Brown. I'm sure I'm leaving more out, but it may have been easier to direct you to the local white pages. (does such a thing actually still exist?)

Still, the people that impressed me the most were Thomas and Jewel (sp?) Burkhead (AKA Bill and Ellen Burkhead... not too sure about the back story on that one, just jotting down what I was told). ☺

Happy 65th anniversary.

What makes them special? Well, it was their 65th anniversary and they met at Wildomar Elementary back in the 1940s. He was telling me about ringing the bell back when he went to school there and how she rode her horse to school. He lived up on Grand Avenue and his mother had a beauty shop and cut the hair of most of the men in the area. He was telling me about going up in the belfry and chasing the owls out of it.

He had a lot of other great stories too, but it was a bit too loud with the bell and road noises to catch them... Perhaps someday in the future. ☺

Thomas (AKA Bill) Burkhead got the honors of ringing the bell first.

The Historical Society was selling root beer floats as a fundraiser. They raised about $115 that will be going to their Brown House project.

Here's a link to last year's blog on the bell ringing, 

which includes some interesting stats and a link to a short video.

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A people's relationship to their heritage is the same as the relationship of a child to its mother.
― John Henrik Clarke

Wildomar Rap has been belfry free since day one.