California's 150th anniversary to be celebrated this weekend

History San Jose brings gold rush days to life with miner 49ers and costumed melodrama

By Chantal Lamers

Willow Glenites who don't want to spend their Memorial Day weekend sitting in a freeway traffic jam can travel back in time instead. History San Jose's upcoming Gold Rush Festival 2000, on May 28 and 29, relives California's original gold rush--the one that erupted almost 150 years before the dotcom rush to Silicon Valley.

Festival coordinators want visitors to get a taste of California as it was when people were striking it rich in the gold mines. Gold panning, music, dancing, old-time crafts, working mining camps, butter churning, candle dipping and blacksmith demonstrations will fill the day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the San Jose Historical Museum at 1650 Senter Road. Admission for adults is $8. Admission for youths and seniors is $6, and children under 4 get in free.

The second annual event highlights a new exhibit, Voices of Gold: Santa Clara Valley and the Gold Rush. The exhibit is featured at the Pacific Hotel Gallery. It features artifacts, photographs and documents from the era.

Cecilia Clark, History San Jose's director of marketing, said the museum holds a family festival each year. For the second year, the Gold Rush Festival is held in honor of California's sesquicentennial. Clark says next year the weekend festival will feature a new theme.

A snake-oil salesman will make a few appearances over the weekend. He'll stop his wagon of notions and, in a loud, obnoxious voice, will gather a crowd and try to sell gimmick remedies to them.

Children may participate in the Overland Wagon event. They'll dress in costumes and learn to pack a covered wagon with items chosen from a wooden supply shed. Clark says children learn what to pack and what to leave behind on a trip westward.

Other popular activities include the Old-Time Town Ball--"town ball" was a precursor to baseball--and mock poker games in the Pacific Hotel.

Visitors also may purchase tasty treats that miners ate between their gold diggings. In the Pioneer Demonstration area, sourdough biscuits and hoe cakes will be sold.

Five theatrical performances, including "The Adventures of Mountain Charley," will run throughout the day. "Mountain Charley" tells the story of a woman who was one of the valley's most dynamic historical figures.

Audience participation is required in Liz Mitchell's Melodrama Troupe. Performers encourage the audience to boo, hiss and throw popcorn at the villain.

Authors JoAnn Levy and Judson A. Grenier will speak and sign books. Levy's four award-winning novels include Women in the California Gold Rush. Her newest release is For California's Gold. Grenier will present California's Sesquicentennial: Reflections on the Birth of a State, its Capitol in San Jose, and the first State Controller. He also will read excerpts from his book Golden Odyssey: John Stroud Houston, a biography of a California pioneer.

Music will be provided by the Calicanto Singers and the ever-popular Black Irish Band. Dance groups include the Irish groups Reel Rabble and Golden Greene School. Other dance troupes are Los Lupeños, Island Moves, Cirrus Dance & Art and Estampas de Chile.

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For information, call 287.2290, or log onto www.historysanjose.org.

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