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Our By-laws state: “The purpose of this organization shall be: To preserve the heritage of early Hispanic Californians in Alta California; to conduct research on genealogy and on civil, religious, military, and cultural activities in Alta California; and to provide an accurate and authentic interpretation of Alta California’s history by such means as the Board of Directors may prescribe.” Preserving our Heritage. What does that mean to us as members of Los Californianos? I’m sure a lot of us have stories that our grandparents told us about their Californio grandparents. My grandparents belonged to an organization in Southern California called the Alta California Club. Most of their membership still carried the early Californio names. They would meet to carry on the traditions of their Californio ancestors. In my parents’ generation it was an organization in the San Gabriel area, that was a carry over from the Alta California Club, named Los Californios. Mostly the same family names, carrying on the heritage and traditions. The Early California barbeques with the Asadero, whose job it was to barbeque the large steaks. The women brought the giant Sonora and Sinaloa style flour tortillas. The Californios that had Palominos corralled behind their houses, Palominos that they would sometime ride in parades. What happened to all this wonderful Californio Pastime and Culture? Most of it left us with our grandparents. California is now a different place than the California of our grandparents. As members of Los Californianos we must preserve our Californio Heritage and culture for our generation, so it can be passed on to the next generation and to generations to come. Preserving our Heritage. With this purpose in mind I am looking forward to serving as your President for 2009. Along with our Vice President, Mary Triplett Ayers, herself a Past President of Los Californianos, our Directors, Posh Bandy, Rose Marie Bauer, Andrew Calkins-Carrillo, Michel Franco, Arlene Haywood, Lois Jimenez, Joseph McMahon, Luis Marmolejo-Meillon and Curt Mullen, our other Officers and Committee Chairmen we will focus on devising ways of promoting our stated purpose, preserving our Californio Heritage. One of the ways that we have of preserving our heritage and providing an authentic interpretation of our history is through our Antepasados publications. Our Antepasados for this year will be about the Asalto on Mission San Diego. It is now getting its finishing touches by our diligent Publications Committee. Another way of informing our membership is through our newsletter Noticias. Boyd de Larios has been doing a great job as editor of Noticias in writing articles and getting Noticias out to our membership. In 2009 I am requesting that you, our general membership, get more involved. If you have an article you would like to submit, especially about family stories, activities, and customs of your grandparents’ or earlier generations in Alta California, please submit your idea to our Editor of Noticias. It is also time for our Historian members to get more involved in helping Los Californianos promote our great heritage of Alta California. Our By-laws say the Program Committee is responsible for presenting programs of educational worth and entertainment value concerning the history of Alta California, both to the members of the organization and to nonmembers in places of historical interest. The year has started off with a great Quarterly Meeting in Monterey. We had 139 registrants. I thank all the people who helped make the meeting a success. Thank you to The Hilton Garden Inn and their staff for making us feel welcome. A big thank you to Charlie and Pat Kieffer not only for purchasing and preparing all the great food but also managing the Hospitality Suite on Friday, with their gracious hospitality. Dr. Rubén Mendoza led the tour of the Royal Presidio Chapel, now the Cathedral of Monterey. He followed it up at our Saturday evening Dinner Banquet with his lecture on “Archaeology, Art and Conservation at the Royal Presidio of Monterey,” sharing with us the wonderful discoveries that were made during the Royal Presidio Chapel renovation project. Our Historian member, Julianne Burton-Carvajal, guided us on a tour to the Munras Family Heritage Museum at the Carmel Mission of which she served as curator, presenting to us the Munras family heirlooms donated by the Munras Family, in a way that let us look into the lives of the Munras Family. For anyone who will be visiting Monterey in the near future I would suggest visiting the Munras Family Heritage Museum at the Carmel Mission. Alan Kemp helped organize the tour to the Monterey Maritime and History Museum and gave us his interesting, informative lecture at our Sunday Breakfast General Membership Meeting on “The Vessels and History of the Naval Department of San Blas.” A thank you to John Lorenzana and Michel Franco helping with the opportunity drawing and to everyone who helped by making goodies, donating beverages, helping with the car-pools and everything else. A special thank you to Benita Gray for helping with the reservations, making all the tickets, the program and putting together all the envelopes and manning the registration table which was all a tremendous amount of work. To George Gray for his, once again, diligent managing of the Traveling Genealogy Library. I have to say I think it was the largest group of members getting together after our Saturday evening banquet, singing along with our musicians to the old Californio songs. This year we have to make an effort to get our younger generation involved. If you have children or grandchildren who even have any inkling of interest in history, genealogy or any part of our Alta California culture, have them e-mail our Juniors Chairman or myself to tell us of their interest. Fourth grade California history projects? What a better place to get or present your information, than Los Californianos. To you, our general membership, please be vocal, keep in touch with us, we are always open to ideas. I hope to see you all at one of our meetings this year. Saludos, Joseph Sepulveda Barnes.
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