2015 February PASO Magazine

The Quasquicentennial Wrap-up Issue
By Chuck Desmond
Before you even begin to read this article,
get your scissors, a pen and an envelope
ready. Write on the outside the envelope,
“For the Grandchildren; to be opened on
March 10, 2114.” I’ll explain why at the
very end of this article. Okay here we go.
Sometime early 2012, City Manager,
Jim App, was sitting at his desk looking out
into the future of El Paso de Robles. That’s
when he discovered that 2014 was going
to be the 125th anniversary
of Paso as an
incorporated city. As
with many important
things to be done, he
called Julie Dahlen,
the Director of Library
and Recreation Services.
“Julie, we have to
do something and who
better to make that
‘something’ happen,
than you!”
The conversation
was probably something
like that and
not really a mandate
but pretty close. After
all, if potentially there
would be a historic
celebration, who better
to assign the project to than the overseer
of City Library for records and the
Recreation Division to plan the fun?
First task was to find out if there was a
real word that defined a 125th celebration!
Turns out it is QUASQUICENTEN-
NIAL – the word that has twisted our
tongues for 27 months!
Julie’s next task was to “encourage” some
cohorts (who had also never planned
a 12-month long party) to come along
for the thrill of it! Lynda Holt, Freda
Berman, Shonna Howenstine and
Suzanne Robitaille met at Centennial
with a really strong pot of
coffee and a stack of sandwiches.
After a very long meeting, they knew
this was a going to be a hum-dinger
of an assignment. “Our normal
every-day work assignments
and now we are going to reach
out to 30,000 residents, involve
every agency in the city plus the
schools, no strategically developed
agenda or mission statement,
no logo, no city flag to
rally around, 1 year to get ready,
1 year for the actual event and a
city-sponsored budget of zero!
Okay Mr. App, we’ll get right
on it! Oh yes boss, this will be
a slam dunk! Stand back and
watch us go!”
And, GO they did! A few
more meetings (with undoubtedly
stronger coffee) and it was
pretty clear that “The Fab Five”
needed to swell to about 50 to
have any chance of pulling this
off. Their call went out and the
first month’s meeting moved to City Hall.
Julie, usually rock-solid, was shaking just a
little as she stood at the front of Council
Chambers and addressed business and civic
leaders, Kathy McNamara (then Superintendent
of Schools), local press, Mayor
Duane Picanco and the City Council, the
heads of the Museums, Lt. Tim Murphy
from the PD and Fire
Chief Ken Johnson
and a gaggle of others
whose thoughts,
comments and ideas were
anxiously received. “Can we
really do this?” Julie kept up
the mantra – We are Roblans.
Of course we can!”
A few more months of
meetings and things were
falling into place. The goals
were crystallized and three
City-sponsored events were
determined – A New Year’s
Eve bash at both ends of
2014 and a birthday party in
City Park on the actual day
of incorporation – March
11th. Pioneer Day Committee,
The Historical
Society and Pioneer
Museum each pledged
$500 to sponsor the contest
for a new Paso logo.
Bob Chute, owner of
YOUR Paso Robles Magazine,
committed monthly
coverage. Chris Alba would
write an historical article
each month throughout
the year. Nancy Tweedie
(Historical Society) and Melody Mullis
(Pioneer Museum) vowed to create a 2014
home wall-calendar filled with historic
photos. Robbie Weber with Pam Alch and
Jack Marino took the challenge to create a
recipe book that totaled 400 recipes with
Please see QUASQUI page 16
14 Paso Robles Magazine, February 2015