ALL ABOARD! STEAM TRAIN RIDES, SQUARE DANCING & DIXIELAND JAZZ AT OLD POWAY PARK’S INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

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July 4, 2011 (Poway) –Decked out with red and blue bunting on wooden railway bridges, water tower and gazebo/bandstand, Old Poway Park today looked like a scene straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. The Old West-themed park exemplifies the best of Americana this 4th of July, compete with rides on the Baldwin steam train (watch for train robbers), a Dixieland jazz band, square dancing, quilting show/contest and craft show—plus two-acres of picnic grounds and family-oriented activities such as three-legged races.

 

Other entertainment included a Wild West gunfight, a working blacksmith, and organ grinder. A reenactment troupe of Union soldiers fired off the park’s newest addition, a Civil War cannon. (Fireworks will be held tonight at Poway High School).
 

“ I made this myself,” said Bob Myer, cranking out old-time melodies on his hand-crafted organ grinder outside the Poway Midland railway station. Vintage autos were on display nearby. But the main attraction was a 1907 Baldwin No. 3 steam engine train taking visitors on a ride around a half-mile track.
 

Participants included both young and old.

 

A 6-year-old from a local middle school won a contest to dress up as a prisoner during a train-robbery skit—and was all smiles over being included in the action.

 

A 96-year-old banjo player performed a nimble solo, backed by the Dixieland band. (View videos of Dixieland band and square dancers at bottom of this article)
 

The Civil War cannon, acquired in June by the adjacent Veteran’s Park, boomed across the festivities. An engineer on the train said that during practice, participants aimed the cannon at the train barn and quipped, “Where do you want your new skylight?” (Not to worry---only powder was actually fired, not cannonballs.)
 

Many San Diegans have visited Old Town, San Diego’s original heart that is now a state park filled with guides in period attire and historical exhibits. But most are unaware of the Western-themed park in Poway, which has similar charm,  characters come to life such as the train robbing band shown here, and a wealth of activities available to the public.
 

The Park contains many buildings that date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. Old Poway Park, which opened in 1993, marked fulfillment of a dream of retired Army Colonel John S. Porter. After settling in Poway in 1948, Col. Porter set out to create a place for people to come and enjoy the Old West. He acquired and built the beginnings of a historic village, including the steam train and track.
 

Back in the 1960s, the Poway Village & Rattlesnake Creek Railroad, as it was known, ran on special events such as the Fourth of July and Pow Wow Days. After Col. Porter’s death in 1979, the city of Poway decided to complete his dream of a fully restored historic village. So in 1986, the City purchased Porter’s 4.75 acre estate and “Old Cantankerous”, as the steam engine is known, then set out to complete the park.
 

The Park also includes historic buildings from around Poway that were brought to this site and restored, including Poway’s first assembly hall, the International Order of Good Templars Hall and the Nelson House. Two existing buildings, the Porter House and Hamburger Factory, were refurbished.

A train barn was built to house the steam engine as well as ore cars and an 1894 yellow trolley from Los Angeles. Overshiner’s Blacksmith Shop and the Gazebo were built to enhance the ambience of the “turn of the twentieth century” setting.
 

According to the Park’s website, Col. Porter’s wife later concluded, “What the City has done to the property was exactly what my husband had planned.”

 

View video of square dancing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ1CC_MoNcM&feature=player_profilepage

View video of Dixieland jazz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIYKa7RxUG8&feature=player_profilepage

 

 

 


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