On Sunday, March 22 at 12:30 p.m. The Ford Theater is celebrating the grand-reopening of the historic Lopez Adobe with the song and dance of the Tataviam Band of Mission Indian Singers of San Fernando. The public is invited to make music using handmade gourds and tortoise-shell rattles, sing bird songs, and dance throughout the afternoon. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
JAM Sessions are participatory and centered around movement and music. All JAMs are FREE, and all ages and skill levels are welcome.
The city of San Fernando is the oldest town in the San Fernando Valley.
Rudy Ortega, who heads up the local tribe that is based in the city, said the Lopez Adobe has special meaning for his family. “My great-grandfather was actually one of the people who built the Lopez Adobe,” he said. The young members of the tribe will perform and teach others about the area’s heritage in addition to learning about the Lopez family.
Also representing “early California,” Ballet Folklorico Ollin will perform and there will be a booksigning of Hotel Maraiachi by Catherine López Kurland and Evangeline Ordaz-Molina.
Located at 1100 Pico Street in the city of San Ferndando, the Lopez Adobe is one of the two oldest private residences in the San Fernando Valley and is considered a “historic treasure.” Built by early settlers of the San Fernando Valley a short distance from the San Fernando Mission, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Geronimo and Catalina Lopez purchased 40 acres of land near the Mission San Fernando in 1861 and built an adobe home / The original adobe became known as the Lopez Station.
Lopez Station
The Lopez couple also operated the San Fernando Valley’s first general store, its first English language school, and the first post office (in 1869) at the site.
One account of the early days of the San Fernando Valley noted the significance of the Lopez family:
“In the late 1860s and early 1870s a traveler riding through the high wild mustard fields of the San Fernando Valley would find little evidence of people except for the mission, a few other adobes, cattle grazing in the fields and a stage house built by Geronimo Lopez and his wife, Catalina. The Lopez family played an important role in the valley’s development and were responsible for establishing the first post office and the first English-speaking school.”
The Lopez Adobe suffered much damage following the Northridge quake and was closed for several years for renovation. It is now open one Sunday a month. For more information regarding hours and availability call the City of San Fernando Parks and Community Services Department.(818) 898-1290.
For more informaiton about this Ford sponsored event go to: : http://www.fordtheatres.org/en/events/details/id/886#sthash.XK0s6wbn.dpuf