“To beautify the landscape by restoring the native flora; to revive the customs and to recall some of the romance and glamour of the old California; to make known the charm of San Fernando Valley and to increase joy in living for ourselves and for our visitors”
Mrs. W.W. Orcutt
Did you know Canoga Park had a Wild Flower Festival? I recently stumbled upon a few articles in Newspapers.com highlighting the San Fernando Valley community planting wild flowers and having a “Rose Parade” and Fiesta de las Floras Primavera.
I recently joined the West Hills Neighborhood Council’s Beautification Committee and have started to seek ways to tie in some local history into what we are doing. Since West Hills is a new community in Los Angeles, breaking off from Canoga Park in 1987. If you’re like me, and haven’t lived here in this part of the West SFV very long, you wouldn’t be aware of much of the local history.
I’m an avid family genealogist and have found some old newspaper clippings of interest. This is my first of many posts delving into parts of our local West San Fernando Valley area history.
The article mentions, “California poppy, lupine, marigold, verbena…”
Times were similar then and mention of the Olympics was interesting. Here’s an old article about a clean-up I found with Mrs. W.W. Orcutt as the author who was instrumental in making this happen. Mrs. Orcutt, nee Mary Logan, was the wife of William Warren Orcutt, who “was a petroleum geologist who is considered a pioneer in the development of oil production in California, and the use of geology in the oil industry.[1] He is also known for his contributions to paleontology, which brought the fossils of the La Brea Tar Pits to the attention of the scientific community. (Wikipedia)
If you haven’t been, you should visit Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center, formerly known as Rancho Sombra del Roble which was the Orcutt residence, located 23600 Roscoe Blvd., West Hills, CA 93104.
”An Encore” which is pictured below was an article found in The Los Angeles Times, in March of 1933 mentioning the quote at the start of this post. What Mrs. Orcutt said then is relevant now. It is withstood the test of time. When we are faced with our modern times and more concrete and asphalt then dirt, how can we continue to ensure we take pride in the area we live. Despite the feeling that most don’t seem to care, hence litter, graffiti, and vacant properties.
Mrs. Orcutt was the originator of the idea of planting wild flowers. In the article below, it mentions, “It will be a welcome sight to all of us to see the fields, roadsides and hills once more aglow with poppies and lupin, tidy-tips and gilia and a host of other wildlings.”
Below is a picture of the float for the Wild Flower Festival that the town of Winnetka submitted. Definitely not the advanced floats you see now in the Rose Parade, but still beautiful. These were horse-drawn back then on bumpy roads. I’m sure that was not easy. What a great idea to plant wildflowers for beautification purposes and then harvest them for a festival for the local community. What inspires me most is the community pride.
Update: I was just sent a link from a friend for the Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival. Coachella Valley has really become a force with festivals. Granted they have a lot of space, however, whatever they seem to do draws people from the community as well as other parts of California and the world.
West SFV Lifestyle 
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