Page 30 - Adelante Magazine June 2022

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By: Scott S. Smith, Christian Smith and Sandra Wells

COOL THINGS TO DO FOR
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS - PART 20
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY 1

The San Fernando Valley, stretching from stars). Local celebrities are often there signing the official accounts, including women, Native
Agoura in the west to Glendale in the east and autographs, and we met Diane Salinger, who Americans, LGBTQ+, religious minorities,
Sherman Oaks on Ventura Boulevard to San appeared with Paul Reubens in three films, Mexican Americans and Blacks. The images
Fernando at the top, don't get no respect from among her many credits. include the Japanese internment camps, Zoot
those south of the Hollywood Hills. L.A. snobs Suit Riots, scenes from the Great Depression,
think it's only claims to culture can be found at There is a lot devoted to BMX bike racing, a Freedom Bus rides, gay rights activism, depor-
Universal Studios and shopping malls. Yet our photo of the Maharishi visiting the Taft High tations of the undocumented, the birth of rock
two-day expedition uncovered a lot of creative campus in 1968, locals reporting their experi- and rock, and so forth. It is located on
fun, education, and inspiration to be had. ences during World War II, functioning vintage Coldwater Canyon Ave. between Oxnard St.
arcade games, an entire room devoted to and Burbank Blvd. in Valley Glen next to the
The Valley Relics Museum historic neon signs (see photo), and much Valley College campus (where studying it is
https://valleyrelicsmuseum.org/ is in a more. You might even have something to part of the curriculum, as well as at Grant High
Chatsworth industrial mall next to the Van Nuys contribute to the collection. School).
Airport in Hangar C 3 and 4. Those who grew
up in the Valley, current residents, and curious The Valley's Public Art is surprisingly extensive Descanso Gardens
outsiders make the pilgrimage to be reminded and outstanding, such as Mural Mile running https://www.descansogardens.org/ is a 150-
of its colorful history. Outside was parked a through Pacoima and Arleta along Van Nuys acre botanical oasis in La Canada Flintridge,
Pontiac Bonneville owned by Nudie Cohen, the Blvd., much of it celebrating local history: despite being just 20 minutes from downtown
legendary clothing designer of Studio City, https://www.laweekly.com/where-to-see-the- L.A., near the intersection of the 210 and 2
decorated with cowboy paraphernalia, best-public-art-in-the-san-fernando-valley/ freeways. The website lists the flowers in
including rifles. He was responsible for the Not mentioned in that article is the Valley's bloom each month and their range includes
"Rhinestone Cowboy" craze and the museum most famous mural, The Great Wall of Los one of the largest collections of camellias in the
displays the gold lame suit he created for Elvis. Angeles by renowned Chicana artist and Western Hemisphere, a five-acre rose garden,
professor Judith Baca (see photo of one small 400 lilacs, tulips, daffodils, irises, and
Lovingly curated by Tommy Gelinas, the part). It is over six blocks long, painted onto the wildflowers. A temple sits in the middle of the
exhibits feature Valley-based stars of cowboy concrete wall of the Tujunga Wash, one of the Japanese Garden (see photo), and you can
movies and TV, like Roy Rogers and James largest in the world, protected by a fence walk through the Ancient Forest, which has
Arness ("Gunsmoke"). On the horror side, the (which somehow has been respected by graffiti flora that dinosaurs encountered. Signs explain
Boris Karloff section includes the screenplay of artists who have refrained from adding to it). the history, variety, and uses of each type of
"The Brain of Frankenstein." And you can see The 13-foot-high mural was executed by her flower, plant, and tree. You can go at your own
the VW bus from 1982's "Fast Times at students over four summers in the 1970s. It pace wherever you want or sign up for a guided
Ridgemont High" (filmed at high schools in Van depicts the history of California from the tour.
Nuys and Canoga Park, with a cast of future viewpoint of those who were largely left out of
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