SMARTSVILLE CHURCH
RESTORATION FUND, INC.
PO Box 374
Smartsville, CA 95977
Tax Exempt I.D. No.
68-0412321
YUBAROOTS WEBSITE
ARTICLE
Revised 9-3-08
There is a lot of exciting
news from Smartsville these days and it all started with preparations for
Kathleen Smith and Lane Parker’s new book on Smartsville and Timbuctoo -
required reading for all local history buffs and YubaRooters. When Kathy and
Lane came to Smartsville last summer to collect digital images of our precious
photographs we didn’t have any idea how that process would change our little
town.
We met collectively a
couple of times at the fire station where Kathy and Lane scanned our photos and
we met other residents and ancestors of local pioneers. Kathy and Lane learned
about our church restoration group and we talked a lot about Smartsville.
Later, as the book neared publication we started talking about having a
celebration that would allow people to buy copies of the book, talk to the
authors, see the former Catholic church project, and in general, have a good
time honoring the pioneers of Smartsville. That was the origin of Pioneer Day
2008.
At about that time Kathy
became curious about why the “S” that had been taken from our name had not been
returned, so she contacted the U.S. Board of Geographic Names in Virginia. It
seems that all of us who Kathy and Lane talked to were very enthusiastic about
retaining the original spelling of Smartsville. When she asked the board to
consider reinstating Smartsville’s original spelling, they readily agreed, to
our astonishment, to talk about it. Kathy, excited about the possibilities,
contacted us to generate letters of support. Unknown to Kathy, Kit Burton had
recently written an article about the Smartsville S in his column in the Penn
Valley Courier. Kathy and Kit then went to work and asked all the local
organizations they knew for letters of support.
A big stack of letters,
topped by a resolution from the Yuba County Supervisors, was subsequently sent
to the California Committee on Geographic Names and to the federal Board of
Geographic Names. The California Committee voted unanimously in favor of the
restoration on July 16 and then, with California’s endorsement, the US Board
voted unanimously to restore our name on August 14, 2008, nearly 100 years after
it was first changed. We received national as well as local news coverage for
this historic event.
This spring, prior to
publication of Kathy and Lane’s book, Yuba County announced an upcoming General
Plan Amendment. John Waskiewicz a local rancher and commercial airline pilot,
concerned that Smartsville area residents might not have their opinions fully
heard by the county, organized a committee to bring the community together to
discuss this important issue. Several town meetings were held and, although
there were diverse points of view, neighbors met neighbors and discussions were
lively and sincere. Many of the people attending the General Plan meetings were
also contributors to Kathy and Lane’s book and helped plan the Pioneer Day
festival.

Presentation of the special USA flag to
high bidders Bill and Bev Brandon. From left to right: Bob Ray, Janet Burton,
Sandy Ray, Kit Burton, Quinn Swift, Bill Brandon, Terry Nester, John Waskiewicz,
Leanne Beem, Kathy Smith.
Pioneer Day was a big
success. It occurred prior to the US Board of Geographic Names’ decision, so
there were no celebrations about the “S” on that day. However, there were
mining tours, crafts, food, entertainment by the Rough and Ready Fruit Jar
Pickers, raffles, tours of the church, pony rides, gold panning, blacksmith
demonstrations, self-guided tours of town, and opportunities to talk with Kathy
and Lane about their new book. Proceeds from Pioneer Day went to the
Smartsville Church Restoration Fund (SCRFI). Many people attending this
festival remarked about how nice it was to meet neighbors for the first time and
to talk with old acquaintances.
Planning for Pioneer Day
began in earnest in May. Kathy Smith agreed to direct the planning and called a
meeting of Smartsville residents and landowners. Kit Burton and Stacey Ward,
the only two remaining active SCRFI board members were there with about 18 other
interested neighbors and friends. The meetings were held every week until
Pioneer Day and virtually everyone in the planning group worked hard to make the
festival a success.
After the festival was
over the planning committee was still fully charged and ready for more so the
energy was switched to SCRFI. In August SCRFI met to elect five new board
members (Kathy Smith, Quinn Swift, Terry Nester, Debbie Nester and Brian Bisnett)
and started planning for their next church restoration project. A new SCRFI
website is in the works, plans are being discussed for a party to celebrate
Smartsville’s original name restoration, and for Pioneer Day 2009.
Everyone interested in our
church restoration project is invited and encouraged to attend our monthly SCRF
meetings held on the second Tuesday at 6:00 pm at the Smartsville fire station.
Our next restoration project will be to straighten the bell tower and replace
its foundation. We need funding - the amount is yet to be determined - and
volunteers experienced in engineering, building construction, grant application,
and publicity. When our bell tower project becomes better defined we will need
donations of materials and specific kinds of construction assistance. We look
forward to seeing new faces at our next meeting.
© Photos courtesy of Kit Burton and
used here with his permission.
CONTACT
Please call Kit Burton
at (530) 743-0413 if you would like more information or have questions.