Sunday, May 26, 2013

Update: Planning Commission meeting discussion postponed until June 25

NEIGHBORS: A 1947 aerial shows a portion of the Furuta farm, the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission complex on the east side of Nichols Lane, south side of Wintersburg Avenue.  On the west side of Nichols Lane is the home of the Nichols family, with whom both the Furuta family and Mission clergy had a friendly relationship.  At the time of this photograph, Wintersburg Village was still unincorporated Orange County.

UPDATE: The next Huntington Beach Planning Commission discussion regarding the draft Environmental Impact Report for Historic Wintersburg (Warner-Nichols) will be 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 25 (the May 28 discussion is being postponed), Huntington Beach City Hall, 2000 Main Street (corner of Main Street and Yorktown Avenue). 

   If you wish to speak on May 28, you may still do so during public comments.  However, in order to have your comments included as part of the administrative record for the Historic Wintersburg project (Warner-Nichols), you should submit them in writing.

   Comments may be emailed to the Huntington Beach Planning Commission via the administrative secretary, Kim DeCoite, KDeCoite@surfcity-hb.org.  Please reference "Warner-Nichols Project" in your email and request your communication be delivered to the Planning Commission for the June 25 meeting.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Land Called Wintersburg: An Ethnographic Film Project about Historic Wintersburg

The California State University - Long Beach Anthropology Department presents its annual film festival, Visual Anthropology Showcase, featuring an ethnographic film about the efforts to preserve Historic Wintersburg.  The screening is 6 p.m. Friday, May 24, at the Long Beach Historical Society.

   For several months, a group of California State University Long Beach anthropology students have been following the progress of the preservation effort for Historic Wintersburg for a class project.  Their final assignment is a short ethnographic film.

   The film, Land Called Wintersburg, debuts at its very first film festival on Friday, May 24, 6 p.m., Historical Society of Long Beach, 4260 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA, 90807, http://hslb.org/.  The public is welcome. 

The Visual Anthropology Showcase is hosted by the Historical Society of Long Beach, 4260 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, California.

   From the anthropology class Facebook page:

   "The Department of Anthropology at CSULB is proud to present the 2013 Visual Anthropology Showcase at The Historical Society of Long Beach. This year we will be presenting a number of student-produced augmented photo essays and ethnographic films that explore the ways in which images and sounds can be used to engage and represent sociocultural worlds - in collaboration with film subjects and communities. We will also have a Khmer classical dance performance this year!!!

   The projects cover a range of topics including: Gender in the World of Warcraft; Jazz, improvisation and the creative process; Prumsodun Ok's revitalization and modernity through Classical Cambodian dance; the role of Food, Music and Art in the Occupy Movement; an augmented reality tour of Cambodia Town in Long Beach; reclaiming the original meaning of Dia de los Muertos; Jewish tattooing and the Holocaust; saving the oldest Japanese-American church in Orange County; Steampunk culture
."


   Those working on the preservation of Historic Wintersburg appreciate the interest and time of the anthropology students, some of whom plan to continue following our efforts.

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