BIGGERS THE BEE MAN: What’s Doin’ in Meiners

The following article first appeared in the Wednesday, June 5, 1968 edition of “The Ojai Valley News and Oaks Gazette” on Page D-1. That newspaper is now the “Ojai Valley News”. The article is reprinted here with their permission. Effie Skelton is the author.  Photos have been inserted into this article by the “Ojai Valley Museum”.  

BIGGERS THE BEE MAN

What’s Doin’ in Meiners
by
Effie Skelton

Meiners Oaks continued to expand. On February 15, 1961, another subdivision was added by Griffin and Son, Inc., consisting of seventy two lots, on South Rice Road. Soon the homes were built and filled with new residents.

On January 2, 1946, Mr. and Mrs. J. B. (Josh) Smith, 221 South Poli Street, arrived from Wichita, Kansas, to visit their friends, the Edward Sorensens, who had recently move here from Wichita. They prevailed upon the Smiths to make this their home. At that time, there were many homes being built and carpenter work was plentiful. Smith purchased three lots and started his home.

Now, they have a well-cared-for neat home, fenced, with grounds that are attractively landscaped. There is hardly room in which to put a single plant; for they have fruit trees, bouganvilla, hibiscus, fuchsias, bottle brush, palm trees and Monterey pines. Any corner of their garden would make a lovely picture.

Smith helped build many homes in Ojai Valley. He is now retired. Their hobby is keeping their home in excellent condition, and they are an example of what two people may do to improve their home and make it an asset to the community.

Mr. and Mrs. George Biggers moved to 223 South Padre Juan in 1938, a couple that have not only raised their own large family, but helped other children. They have lived in a house by the side of the road and been a friend of man, of bees, of agriculture and of nature. Biggers is also pastor of the friendly Church of Christ on the corner of Padre Juan and El Roblar.

Biggers experiences with bees have been written up in newspapers and magazines, large and small. He is a man who collects experiences in life as many others may collect pretty rocks. He works with millionaires and the poor, the industrialist and the worker, the sick and the well, and as in Kiplings poem “If”, he has not lost the common touch.

Biggers was born in Oakland, his father moved to San Francisco soon afterwards, where they experienced the 1906 earthquake, and lost everything. His father came near being shot for looting when he was carrying his sewing machine up Nob Hill and was saved by having a picture in machine drawer. The family moved to Monrovia where the father was promotion manager for Fleischman Yeast Company. Then — on to Santa Paula, where he operated a bakery and bought a ranch on Santa Paula Creek, where a cloudburst wiped out their home and possessions.

Biggers became interested in bees at the age of eight, when during a school lunch hour the bees swarmed on an oak limb, he contained them in a burlap sack. His teacher, Iris McIntyre, whose father was a beekeeper, gave him books on bees to read. His high school paper was on bees.

Biggers states that “Mankind can learn valuable lessons from these hard workers. They only stop work to sleep. They have a highly organized society. Duties are assigned to various individuals; there are workers who gather the honey, nurse bees who clean and cool the hive, the guard bees who protect. When bees are on long trips the hives are not forgotten by the bees. To keep the wax from melting and the young bees from dying, the nurse bees are stationed near the frames, fanning them with their wings, some lines fanning in one direction and others in the opposite direction, creating refrigeration rotation. In addition to being wise administrators, the bees are excellent architects. The octagonal cells in their combs are so perfect that scientists found they do not vary in construction from generation to generation. A company supplying needs for operation produced artificial wax combs had the bees looking them over. The bees rejected them, chewed them to bits, and rebuilt them. A California scientist unpuzzled it, the little cells were a fraction of a degree off from being perfect. When built perfectly they accepted them.”

Lucky Oak View resident, Mitch Mashburn, owns this old jar of “Biggers Honey”. (Photo by Mitch Mashburn)

Biggers says that insecticides are wiping out whole colonies of bees, which is creating a danger to American agriculture, as bee pollination is used to increase crops. He moves hives all over California and the western part of the United States. He recently moved 1200 hives to Crowley County, Colorado.

 

BIGGERS MADE NAME WITH BEE BEARDS: George S. Biggers, famous for wearing a beard of bees that reached from his ears down to his waist, kept a bee farm of more than 1,000 colonies on South Padre Juan in Meiners Oaks in the 1960s and ’70s. He was featured on the television show “Ripley’s Believe it or Not,” three times for his famous bee beard. “He wanted to show people that they don’t need to be afraid of bees,” said his daughter, Esther Livesay, a Mira Monte resident. A photograph of Biggers wearing his famous beard, was used on the label for Biggers Bee Farm honey.

ENJOY THE RURAL SCENE: What’s Doin’ in Meiners

The following article first appeared in the Wednesday, July 3, 1968 edition of “The Ojai Valley News and Oaks Gazette” on Page D-1. That newspaper is now the “Ojai Valley News”. The “Ojai Valley News” graciously allowed us to reprint the article here. The author was Effie Skelton.

ENJOY THE RURAL SCENE
What’s Doin’ in Meiners
by
Effie Skelton

Meiners is where one may awaken mornings to the sounds of the woodpeckers rat-rat-tat on the oaks, inhale the sweet country air and be happy in being an integral part of the pastoral scene. The mind recalls the residents of the past who also experienced this pleasure, the Oak Grove and Chumash Indians, the early pioneers, and those that lived in time of stagecoach. For $1 a stagecoach could be taken from Ventura to Matilija Hot Springs, where the vacationists and fishermen could get to the mountains quickly and easily. In this age of speed with cars, trailers and campers arriving by the hundreds on holidays and weekends we realize there are many who also wish to become an integral part, even for a short time, of this peaceful scene.

Many of the village street and avenue names are Spanish, pertaining to that certain section. Others are in honor of famous men of the early 1800’s, such as, Arnaz Avenue in honor of Don Jose Arnaz. He is credited with the first attempt in subdividing in Ventura, by a try at townsite—laying near the Mission in 1846. He advertised the advantages of his subdivision in eastern American papers, but without response. Arnaz lived in Ventura. He was a merchant, trader, rancher and a native of Spain.

Poli Avenue was named for Dr. M. A. R. de Poli, a native of Spain, who in the 1850’s was the first practicing physician of the Ventura area. He combined medicine with cattle raising and visited patients on horseback.

Padre Juan (Father John) Avenue is named for Father John Comopla, who was a priest at the Ventura Mission from 1861 to 1877.

**

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clifford recently moved from South La Luna Road into 242 Carrizo Avenue, purchasing the property from W. W. Haley,  Carrizo is a short street, formerly consisting of families with children, who are now adolescent, in service or married, leaving the residents on the street missing the laughter and sounds of youth. However, this friendly couple has seven lovely, mannerly and considerate children. Clifford is employed by the Postoffice Department in Ventura. Mrs. Clifford’s hobby is being a good homemaker and working with flowers.

**

A lovely lavender Crepe Myrtle shrub is now in full bloom on the neat lawn of Mr. and Mrs. Archie Horrell, 600 Mesa Drive. They also have many other flowers on their well-kept grounds. Mr. and Mrs. Horrell purchased their ten acre orange grove with its two bedroom home in 1952. He was employed by the Shell Oil for 32 years, retiring in 1956. Mrs. Horrell’s hobby is flowers and Mr. Horrell is supervising his ranch, fishing and spending part of his time in his well-equipped workshop.

**

If there is a watch or clock problem, or a desire to purchase jewelry, why not try the Verkuil Jewelers, 136 El Roblar Drive. Verkuil has many years of experience repairing watches and clocks, beginning at the age of eighteen. He worked for the Bulova Watch Company for thirteen years and downtown Ventura Jeweler for ten years. He maintained his own store in Meiners Oaks from 1947 until 1951. He returned to the village in 1961 to again open a jewelry store. When there are capable people near at hand to serve, there is little need to travel to Timbuctoo to have the same service. Mr. and Mrs. Verkuil have a neat home at 131 South Padre Juan Ave.

**

From the memory store room of Lennie Soper: The Soper family, consisting of the parents, two boys and two girls lived in the original Meiners Ranch house. Soper bought a new piano for the girls. One week after the purchase the ranch house burned, together with all furnishings and the new piano. The Soper’s moved from Meiner’s ranch to the Rice Ranch across the river where Lennie operated a milk and egg route to Matilija Hot Springs. He drove a buckboard pulled by one mule.

Contributions needed — Museum set for expansion

The following article first appeared in the December 20, 1967 edition of the Ojai Valley News on its front page.  It is reprinted here with their permission.

Contributions needed
Museum set for expansion
by
Mel Remsburg

The Ojai Valley Museum brings to a close, at the end of this month, its first year of service to the valley. The future looks even brighter, with expansion as the goal for the 1968 year.

This week, officers and directors launched the museum’s contribution membership drive, which is expected to finance the operation in the coming year. The proposed budget for the next 12 months is $2,638. Last year’s expenses were about $200 less.

Fund chairman A. C. Dahlgren announced that membership applications may be obtained by writing to the Ojai Valley Museum, 841 E. Ojai ave., Ojai. Many of the applications have already been sent to prospective members and to those who participated in its founding.

Also sent to charter members and now available to interested persons is the museum’s 1967 yearbook, telling of the expansion ahead and the services offered the public by the museum.

The expansion program provides for the removal of the existing wall at the museum, to open up the rear room for additional displays. The project, including construction of new partitions, painting, and tile floor, is expected to cost $375, with voluntary labor.

New display cases are also planned, including those of subdued lighting for the expanded area. Cost is estimated at $725.

In addition to these plans for improvement of display facilities, the museum is interested in two other phases of development. The first is the broadening of its function to include an historical association, with the museum acting as a display facility and storehouse for records, artifacts, and other material. The museum officers are also planning for the organization of a Junior Museum for the benefit of the youth in the Ojai and Cuyama valleys.

OJAI VALLEY MUSEUM --- The museum has completed its first year of operation and is now seeking contribution-memberships to help finance its proposed growth and expansion. Connie Davis, the new assistant to Chamber secretary-manage Betty Fielder, examines an antique stove, one of the many historical items that have been donated to the museum.
OJAI VALLEY MUSEUM — The museum has completed its first year of operation and is now seeking contribution-memberships to help finance its proposed growth and expansion. Connie Davis, the new assistant to Chamber secretary-manager Betty Fielder, examines an antique stove, one of the many historical items that have been donated to the museum.

This proposal was made at the time of formation but the directors have been without the guidance and assistance of individuals who could successfully plan and conclude such a function. Directors invite the assistance of individuals who would pursue either of these plans.

Robert O. Browne, museum president, said, “Generous contribution – memberships have made this a successful year. We solicit your membership or renewal in order to continue the operation of the museum in the years ahead.”

“Your museum is sustained only by the financial and physical help of civic minded individuals in the community. With your support the museum will grow and continue to provide the only existing local depository for items of historical significance in our community and for the documentation of history of this area. The Ojai Valley Museum, Inc. is organized as and educational, charitable institution. Contributions made are deductible by donors; bequests, legacies, transfers or gifts are deductible for federal estate and gift tax purposes,” the president revealed.

On Nov. 14, 1966 the Ojai Valley Museum was born. John Shea chaired the first meeting on that date. Committees were appointed to formulate by-laws and articles of incorporation.

Its purpose was fourfold;
1) To establish a museum in the valley.
2) To encourage study and research in the field of California’s history with special emphasis on the Ojai and Cuyama valley, to collect historical material including manuscripts, documents, books, pictures and artifacts and make them available for study.
3) To restore and preserve landmarks and sites of historical value in the valley.
4) To cooperate with the other organizations doing work of a related nature.

Two open meetings were then scheduled and the public was invited. The flame began to burn brighter and in March, 1967, the first annual meeting was held, Officers and directors were elected and plans for the displays were formulated.

On April 18, the official opening exercises were held. Assemblyman Ken MacDonald and Supervisor Ralph “Hoot” Bennett were among the 200 visitors.

The directors are indebted to the many individuals who provided the funds for this first year of operation and to the many craftsmen who supplied the labor and materials without cost.

The museum is in a sublease agreement with the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce. The chamber not only provides for keeping the museum open during the week, but also shared in the expense of the operation. A review of the budget discloses that the financial help which the museum can seek for 1968 amounts to $2,638 or approximately $7.25 per day.

Officers of the museum are R. O. Browne, president; B. A. Lawrence, secretary; A. C. Dahlgren, treasurer. Directors include Effie Skelton, Tyrus Kahman, Lois Powers, William Magill and Elizabeth Thacher.

Effie Skelton

This story was written by Cricket Twichell.  It is based on a piece she wrote for the Ojai Valley News in the 1980’s.  

Effie Skelton

effiemayskeltonThis lady knew about small beginnings. Born in Oklahoma around the turn of the century, Effie Skelton weighed in at 1 1/2 pounds. Told there was no way this child could survive, the Cherokee Indian auntie assisting at Effie’s birth ignored the doctor’s grim prognosis, wrapped Effie in soft cotton, tucked her into a shoe box which she placed in the warming oven of the wood stove and then every hour fed her a drop or two of blackberry brandy. Effie kicked into high gear and eventually became a driving force in the Ojai.

After graduating from business college, Effie saved her hard-earned money and in 1927 bought a brand new Pontiac. She had an agenda— to immediately head out west—by herself— to California. “I didn’t know how to drive backwards” said Effie” but that didn’t matter. I was only going forward.”

Ending up in Ventura, Effie married a young man who worked for Shell Oil Company. They moved to Ojai where she raised 3 children and became a realtor, specializing in Meiners Oaks properties. Her weekly column in the Ojai Valley News— “What’s Doin’ in Meiners Oaks”—- had a devoted , down-home following.

Over the years Effie became concerned because so many artifacts connected with the pioneer days of the Ojai were leaving the valley. If only we had a museum which would house these papers, tools, and etc of a bygone era! The more she thought about this, the more zealous she became in her determination to stop the hemorrhaging of the Ojai’s historical items.

Other community leaders jumped on Effie’s band wagon. Bob Browne, a local anthropologist, history buff and handyman, shared her enthusiasm for creating a museum and historical society in the Ojai. He had bought a house in the highlands above Miramonte and to his delight discovered it had been the site of a Chumash Indian village. After UCLA conducted a full-blown archaeological dig on his property, Bob wanted to house the relics which had surfaced in a place where they could be enjoyed and appreciated by.the community at large. He and Effie joined forces; and soon Lynn Rains, Arthur Waite, Bill Bowie, Lois Powers and Elizabeth Thacher hopped on board.

The founding members of the museum began working the room, asking members of Ojai pioneer families to donate articles to their worthy cause. The Forest Service offered space to store the memorabilia which came pouring in. When they needed more room, Walter Gamulski offered storage space where the American Legion Hall is today if the museum group would pay the taxes and the insurance. You betcha’!

Effie and her friends put donation cans in banks, stores, motels and public buildings. She wrote articles in the Ojai Valley News to keep the community appraised of the progress of her venture and to remind readers to donate antiques etc to add to the ever-growing collections.

In 1966, 50 years ago, the Museum opened up for business in the Arcade where the realtors office is today. At the opening reception punch was served in attractive bowls the early Chinese settlers had used for washing their hair. That day Effie got to raise two flags over the new Museum, one which had flown over the capitol in Sacramento and one which had flown over the White House in Washington. Ojai had itself a bona fide Museum!

As the collections continued to grow, in 1979 a new home was found for the fledgling Museum— on Montgomery Street at the former firehouse which had been built in 1937 with WPA funds. Bud Bower donated the services of Ojai Van Lines to transport the possessions to the new location; Bob Browne and his crew built dioramas depicting animals in the Sespe back country; eye-catching displays were concocted. People came. In one year Effie, who manned the guest book every day for over 20 years, counted 7,000 visitors from 31 countries.

What started as an idea in Effie’s noggin, grew into an institution which is thriving today. Like her old Pontiac, the Museum only goes forward!