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Orchard Discovery Walk

Eager to discover the many species that benefit from the green space protected as our Heritage Apricot Orchard, a dozen folks joined me on a Saturday in April for the last in a series of guided orchard walks. They helped put the orchard on the map in the worldwide City Nature Challenge hosted by iNaturalist on this weekend following Earth…
August 12, 2019
Blog

The Little Orchard That Could

Growing up in Los Altos, I heard from my parents many times that the apricot orchard surrounding City Hall was protected. The trees would serve to remind future generations of the millions of fruit trees that once filled this valley and fed untold millions of people around the world. During the years I worked as a television journalist in Washington,…
July 25, 2019
Blog

Margaret Thompson Essay Contest Enjoys Another Successful Year

The Museum teams with the City of Los Altos Historical Commission annually to offer the Margaret Thompson Essay Contest—open to students in grades 3-6 in the Los Altos School District. May 2009, marked the 25th anniversary of this event, and Margaret Thompson wanted to do something special to celebrate the milestone. She suggested a 25th Anniversary trophy to be engraved…
May 18, 2019
Blog

History Museum Joins Sunbeam Foundation in Raising Funds to Beat Ewing Sarcoma

We live in the Valley of Heart’s Delight, surrounding ourselves with technology, innovation, fertile soil and temperate climate, an open door to success. I've nurtured my own heart's delight here as a member of the Sunbeam Foundation, an organization aimed at finding a cure for Ewing Sarcoma, a dreadful children’s cancer. For the last eight years, the foundation's major fundraiser,…
May 7, 2019
Blog

Orchardist Phil Doetsch Shares Love of Tending Fruit Trees

Love of the orchard as well as concern for a healthy environment shone through the dialogue between orchardist Phil Doetsch and about 33 citizens who joined him for a walk in our heritage apricot orchard on Saturday, April 13, 2019. Drawing on personal experience working in his dad’s orchard, Phil helped us better understand the adjustments in agricultural practices needed…
April 26, 2019
Blog

Over 40 Gather on Orchard Walk for Local Orcharding History

Ever wonder why our heritage orchard and the J. Gilbert Smith house are on San Antonio Road? Author Robin Chapman answered this question and many more about the entrepreneurial spirit, during her guided tour that kicked off a month of Saturday walks in the orchard during April. Deftly mingling personal experiences with fun facts and stories from her book, California…
April 18, 2019
Blog

Youth Open Poetry Mic to Celebrate Juana Briones

High school students have been gathering to plan a first-ever Open Mic Poetry Night at Los Altos History Museum, in conjunction with the bilingual Juana Briones exhibit. The students used social media to reach out to peers at many area high schools from Mountain View to Los Altos, East Palo Alto to San Jose, to share poems or join the audience…
March 27, 2019
Blog

Grade-School Students Experience California History in Museum Tours

Los Altos History Museum offers lessons in California history through its annual educational tours for 3rd- and 4th-grade classrooms based in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Education Committee docents lead fun, interactive presentations, hands-on activities, play-acting, and tours of the Museum's exhibits throughout April and May. Over 900 students attend the program every spring. "Local teachers rave about the…
March 11, 2019
Blog

Behold the Western Tussock Caterpillar

What was going on in the Museum’s oak trees last spring? It was the yearly ritual between the Western Tussock moth, its caterpillar, its cocoon and the insects and birds that love to eat them! As occasionally happens, due to warm dry weather, last year there was a heavier than usual spring infestation. We had caterpillars dropping down on their…
January 23, 2019
Blog

Meet Our Mellon Scholars!

Four Foothill College students have started exciting internships at the museum this year through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Scholarship in the Humanities Grant. Designed by Foothill-DeAnza Community College District, the grant funds a pathway program partnering with University of San Francisco. Scholarship recipients will complete a humanities certification through Foothill and then transfer for a 4-year degree. Classes run…
January 17, 2019

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