SUNDAY - MAY 18

SPRING FESTIVAL

Sights and Sounds of the 1930s
12:30-4:30 pm

$5 Adults/ $3 Children ages 4-12

Explore 1930s America – its art and culture, politics, technological inventions, and leisure past times – through hands-on activities and live performances.

• Dance to Big Band music by Bobby Brent Connection 

• Enjoy a hilarious radio show by the RLC Players

• Meet “Will Rogers”
  Listen to stories and songs of the Dustbowl Era 

• Take an Architectural Tour

• Games and Crafts for children

• Light refreshments available for purchase

For more information, call (562) 570-1755.

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SUNDAY - APRIL 6

GARDEN TOURS

Free

Every 1st Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

May 4

June 1

July 6

August 3

September 7

October 5

November 2

Celebrate the seasons with a guided tour of the Rancho's lush grounds.  Learn the history of the gardens as you stroll past vibrant flowers in bloom & delight in refreshing citrus fragrances.

Reservations are requested by calling (562) 570-1755.

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SUMMER CONCERTS

Mark your Calendars!

Concerts will be held in the backyard of the 1844 ranch house under a canopy of historic trees. For your own comfort, we encourage you to bring a lawn chair or blanket. Gates to the garden open thirty minutes prior to the concert start time and the house will be open for self-guided tours during the concerts.

For more information, call (562) 570-1755.

Sunday - July 13, 2008

Wartime Radio Review

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Free

"BROADCASTING LIVE, all across America, to all the ships at sea, and to all our boys in uniform stationed abroad, this is

WARTIME RADIO REVUE!"

"...listening to this band is like taking a time-machine back to a
World War Two U.S.O. show."

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Thursday - July 31, 2008

Lauren Koval

6:00-7:30 p.m.

Free

Listen to the elegance and grace of Lauren Koval as she soothes

your soul with her beautiful ballads.

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Sunday - August 10, 2008

Sharp Sounds

5:30-7:00 p.m.

Free

The jazzy tunes of Sharp Sounds is sure to enhance your senses.

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Thursday - August 28, 2008

Ross Altman

6:00-7:30 p.m.

Free

Ross Altman, known as a singer/songfighter, embodies the

tradition of the music of Woody Guthrie.

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SUNDAY - AUGUST 17

MUD MANIA - A Celebration of Adobe
12:30-4:30 pm

$5 Adults/ $3 Children ages 4-12

Squish a little history between your toes at Rancho Los Cerritos! Explore the merits of soil in its many forms: dirt, mud, clay, compost, sand and loam! Children can mix adobe, make adobe bricks, plaster a wall or build a mini adobe house.  Events include interactive activities focusing on archaeology, clay pottery, cuneiform writing, construction and gardening, plus messy games, food and live music.

This is one of the few times when it is okay to get dirty! Wear old clothes and bring a towel!

For more information, call (562) 570-1755.

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MONDAY-FRIDAY

RANCHO SUMMER ADVENTURES

Session 1: July 14-July 18

Session 2: July 28-August 1

Mornings 10 a.m. - Noon

or Afternoons 1-3 p.m.

$50/Child ($5 off for FRLC Members)

Ages 6-11 Years Old

Learn about life in old California through historic crafts, activities, games, And stories. This half-day program includes light refreshments and will keep your child wanting more.

Monday:  Rancho Work—Learn about life on the ranch
Tuesday: Rancho Fun—Play like the children on the Ranch
Wednesday: Rancho Gardens—Discover the Rancho gardens
Thursday: Rancho Fiesta—Celebrate a fiesta
Friday: Rancho Mud—Stomp mud, make bricks, and more!

Space is limited and advanced reservations are required. For more information, call (562) 570-1755.
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Click to Download Application Form

Mexican-American families invited to share their experiences of "repatriation" during the 1930s at Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site

Saturday, May 3, 2008

10 a.m. (Doors open at 9:30 a.m.)
Reservations are requested by calling (562) 570-1755.

Free

Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site invites you to learn about and share with each other your knowledge and experiences of Mexican Repatriation between 1929-1944.  It is a piece of history that has gone unrecorded in the history books for years until now.  Come to the Rancho and  help publicize this important and little known issue.   

"Internment: The WWII Experience of Japanese Californians" Presented by: Lillian Kawasaki and Panelists

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Californians of Japanese descent were immediately perceived as a security threat. Unlike their relatives in Hawaii, who were lynchpins of the state's economy, California Japanese were collected, deprived of their property and forced to live in camps created to contain them. Ms. Kawasaki will host a panel discussion of this experience, including several citizens who lived through it.

LIVING HISTORY TOURS

Sunday - March 30, 2008

1:00-4:00 p.m.

Tour the 164-year-old adobe house with "visitors from the past" who step forward in time to conduct tours of the Rancho. Each "living history" presentation opens a window into a distinct era of Rancho life, with characters telling stories from their lifetimes between 1840 and 1940. Which era will you visit?

Enjoy a fascinating journey through time as costumed living history characters share their stories about ranch life and work through their eyes. These free, guided tours by our talented Friends of Rancho Los Cerritos volunteers will be offered every half hour throughout the afternoon, with the last tour leaving at 4:00 p.m. 

"Depression and Betrayal: The Repatriation of "Mexicans"

in the 1930s"

Francisco Balderrama, Ray Rodriguez & Panelists

March 15

When the Depression struck the USA

in the 1930s, the Nation's financial institutions were not the only targets for blame. "Mexicans"-man of them American citizens-were seen as rivals for employment and as drains on an already shaky economy. Francisco Balderrama and Ray Rodriguez, co-authors of Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930's, and several Long Beach residents who experienced the deportation, will present their story from their points of view

"Picking Americans and Training Them Well: Caspar T. Hopkins, the California Immigrant Union and the "Manual of American Ideas"

Kathie A. Schey

February 23

Following the Civil War and the arrival of the railroad, many Californians believed immigration was the key to the State's future. In 1869, the California Immigrant Union was formed to lure specific newcomer groups who would both transform the landscape and become "Good Americans." In California, where most people came from "someplace else" and birthright was an elusive concept, Hopkins believed good citizens were made, not born

DOCENT TRAINING

Wednesdays, February 13-April 16

7-9 p.m.

Expand your knowledge of California History

Make New Friends

Share your community heritage with others as a Volunteer Docent

This 10-week training course covers California and Rancho history, as well as adobe architecture, decorative arts, interpretation and public speaking techniques. Upon completion of training, docents will provide guided tours of the house one weekend afternoon per month. The class and materials are free with membership in our support organization, Friends of Rancho Los Cerritos.

SIGN UP TODAY!

To enroll, contact the volunteer coordinator at (562) 570-1755.

VOLUNTEER COFFEE

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS

You are invited to our Volunteer Coffee

Saturday, January 26, 2008

10am-Noon

Explore exciting volunteer opportunities: Teach young minds, research antiques, become a living history guide and much more!

Learn about the Rancho's educational programs and events

Take a behind-the-scenes look at museum operations

Enjoy a complimentary continental breakfast

Reservations are requested by calling Rancho Los Cerritos at

(562) 570-1755.

A Living History Experience

"Unexpected Guests for the Holidays"
Christmas Candlelight Tours
                      
Fri. Dec. 7 and Sat. Dec. 8, 2007, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

(Tours leave every 15 minutes)
$8.00 members & full-time students; $10.00 non-members
(Children 3 and under enter free)

Step back to Christmas 1878 at Rancho Los Cerritos, where the Bixby family operates an extensive sheep ranch and the extended family, guests and ranch workers are celebrating the holidays.   

A costumed docent will lead you through the adobe house by lamplight, where you can compare yesterday's traditions with today's. Explore 19th century holiday festivities, social attractions, economic viewpoints,

and the changing landscape of the Los Angeles region. 

The 163-year-old adobe house will come to life with the sights

and sounds of holidays past, including Christmas greenery

and decorations authentic to the period. 

Holiday Open House
Sunday, December 16, 2007
FREE admission.
No reservations required.

This December you can again explore the Rancho through self-guided tours of the decorated adobe, learn about old holiday traditions and listen to live holiday music. Children can participate in crafts and activities from the California frontier, join in the piñata breaking and visit with Santa. 

Free refreshments are provided throughout the afternoon.

A Child's Haunted Garden

Saturday, October 20

10:00-noon*

Come have a howling good time and explore the natural haunts of the Rancho's historic garden in a scavenger hunt. Engage in seasonal and create clay ornaments, creepy headbands and ghostly paintings.

Don't miss the scary stories we have to tell!

For Children in grades 1-5. Admission $5 each, paid in advance. Reservations required: Information at 562-570-1755.

The Hathaway sisters invite you to join them and reminisce!

Sweets with the Hathaway Sisters

Saturday, September 22, at 10:00 a.m.

Travel back in time with the 4 Hathaway sisters as they describe their lives in 19th century California and at Long Beach's historic ranchos. Explore the challenges they faced raising families on the frontier, and their experiences during early settlement and the development of Long Beach.

Enjoy Living History with coffee, tea and pastries.

Reservations are required by September 18, or

while space lasts. $10 ($8 for members). Call the Rancho for reservations.