If you haven’t already heard the news, it is something that you will be pleased to learn. The Society is buying another building, mainly to protect their precious historical Searles Valley archives from the possibility of being completely destroyed by fire. Nearly all of those materials are stored in a 1917 vintage, highly flammable, wooden building that has no fire suppression. It contains thousands of photographs and negatives and tens of thousands of pages of historical documents, all of them relevant to the history of Searles Valley. The entire treasure could be wiped out with one fire, leaving behind very little documentation left of our beloved history.

The building they want to buy is the Credit Union Building, which has two fire-proof safes, one of which is a large walk-in. In addition to providing protection of the historical photos and documents, the new building will provide additional space for researchers to work while exploring our history. It will also free up three rooms in the Old Guest House Museum for more displays of our historical artifacts.

The Society has raised $27,000 to make the purchase, but they still need about $20,000 more from personal donations by people like us. This seemed like a huge amount to me until I realized that, if each of us on this e-mail list gave $200, we would be providing a little more than what is needed. With that in mind, I have sent a check for $200 to the Society as my donation. I’m not asking that every one else do the same, but would greatly appreciate any amount you can donate to this very worthy cause. Don’t send it to me. Please send it directly to the Society at Searles Valley Historical Society; P. O. Box 630; Trona, CA 93592. Be sure to indicate that it is a donation to the Searles Valley Historical Society Building Fund. Since the Society is a 501c(3) non-rofit corporation, all of your donation will be tax deductible. Any amount you can donate will be greatly appreciated by me and by the hard-working volunteers of the Society.

Much love,

George