News From Jamul Haven

Guests Susi and Bob Harp sent us this photo and assured us that they are now refreshed and relaxed!

We hosted the Rancho San Diego Chamber of Commerce breakfast, and the event was a huge success. William was especially impressed when the guest speaker for the event turned out to be a fellow poet!

Pool lights! We've got pool lights! I'd given up on getting the pool lights working correctly, but thanks to electrician Walt and automation controller Russ everything is working and everything looks beautiful at night.

We're going green, turning in the Mercedes for a Prius. Unfortunately, there's a waiting list and they're telling us that the car won't be delivered until September. William has been renting a Prius when he's been traveling and he feels that it's comparable to the Mercedes in acceleration, handling, turning radius, stopping distance, and pretty much every aspect of driving that mattered to him. The major difference is 45-50 MPG vice 20-25 MPG.

One of our recent guests is the grandson of the foreman who ran one of Charles Gifford's Olive Ranches. We've received lots of great information and photos for the history column.

Jamul Haven History, The End of the Olive Empire

Independent recognition of the Gifford’s contributions are easy to find. The San Diego Historical Society produced “San Diego County Pioneer Families, A Collection of Family Histories Compiled by Members and Friends of the San Diego Historical Society,” that included Charles M. Gifford as one of the important founding members.

Samuel Black’s 1913 history of San Diego County called out Gifford as proprietor of the Gifford Olive Works and noted, “he stands prominent among the successful men who are utilizing the natural resources of the state in the cultivation of crops, which are adding materially to the wealth of southern California (Black 1913: page 287). He added that Gifford had long been associated with building up the olive business into extensive proportions:

He has been actuated by a spirit of enterprise and determination that has enabled him to push steadily forward to the goal of success. The Gifford Olive Works are today regarded as one of the leading productive industries here. In preparing and packing he has placed upon the market five brands which are well known. Among them are Gifford’s Special, which are the largest olives grown in California, and Gifford’s Select, extra fancy, medium, and standard grades. The packing plant is most modern in its construction and equipment and the olives are all packed in the extra coated sanitary cans, no solder being used. Today, the shipment from this plant carries the best methods for preparing the crop for the market and the excellence of his product, combined with his own business reliability, has brought him a gratifying measure of success (Black 1913:288).

The C.M. Gifford & Company operated until 1961. At that time, the family sold to C. Arnholt Smith. He transferred the facilities to the Westgate Breast of Chicken plant at the foot of Crosby Street. They then produced olives and pickled cauliflower (San Diego Union February 3, 1961). At the time, C.M. Gifford operated four olive packing plants in San Diego and provided significant employment for both the City and County of San Diego.

Correction: In our first newsletter we listed the owners of the property, and in that list we indicated that Bert and Ann Aby (who owned the house from the late 1940s until their death shortly before we bought it), sometimes spelled their last name Abby and went by Eldora and Eugene. We have since learned that there were two families who owned parts of the land at various times, one with the last name Aby and one with the last name Abby.

Romantic Getaway #7: Hire a Pedicab

Hire a Pedicab, not for 15 minutes but for an evening. Spend the night riding along Harbor Drive, the Embarcadero, and throught he Gaslamp district. Enjoy fine dining at one of the restaurants downtown (maybe Monsoon for Indian cusine), then have your "driver" take you somewhere else for drinks. End the evening with a trip to Extraordinary Desserts at 1430 Union St.

Artist-Patron Dinners

There has always been a mutual dependency between artists and art patrons. Aspiring artists depend on patrons for their early developmental feedback, and for support. Art patrons seek out new and promising artists who merit their
assistance. Throughout 2009 the Jamul Haven will be sponsoring an artist-art patron dinner series to commence at 7:00 PM on the first Sunday of each month.

During the art dinners patrons and artists will dine together on a five course gourmet feast complete with appetizers, soup, salad, main course, and desert. Dinner is served with wine and followed by espresso, cappacino, or an after dinner drink.

Each evening we will attempt to have one visual artist, one musician, and one literary artist. The visual artist's work will be on display throughout the evening and they will introduce themselves and their work following appetizers. The musician(s) will play during the meal and will introduce themselves at the conclusion of the main course. The literary artist will read from their work during
and after desert.

There is no fee for artists or art patrons to participate. Artists "pay" for their meal through the work of their art. Art patrons "pay" for their meal by making a commitment that if they like one of the artists they will support that artist in some way. Examples of support include financial support; promotional support (writing a review, displaying artwork in a public venue, and so on); or networking support (introducing the artist to someone who will benefit their artistic career).

If you are interested in participating, email william@jamulhaven.com

In This Issue:

Upcoming Local Events

Selected fun San Diego events that are worth a trip.

6/14-7/6 San Diego County Fair is Open

7/3 - Fireworks at Jamul Haven

7/12-7/20 San Diego Over The Line Tournament

7/19-7/20 Gay Pride parade and festival http://sandiegopride.org/

For information about any of these events, email us!

Jamul Haven Specials

We are continuing to offer our introductory rate special of $199 per night, holidays excluded, which includes a gourmet breakfast for two cooked to order.

Innkeeper Update

William's play "Dickinson" is a finalist for Best Stageplay at the Moondance International Film Festival. We'll find out the results at the end of August. William has a new personal website at www.roetzheim.com.

Regina is over in Europe and calling home much too infrequently.

We have four new baby chicks, named Pepper (Peppy), Saffron (Saffy), Sunflower (Sunny), and Mustard (Mussy). Mussy has feathers on her feet!

In The News

For links to articles and reviews, visit http://www.jamulhaven.com/links.html.

Hints from Yesteryear

Hints from "The Everyday Cook-Book," (c) 1889 and found in the Jamul Haven Angel House.

Cleaning Lace: Cream-colored Spanish lace can be cleaned and made to look like new by rubbing it in dry flour; rub as if you were washing in water. Then take it outdoors and shake all the flour out; if not perfectly clean, repeat the rubbing in a little more clean flour. The flour must be very thoroughly shaken from the lace, or the result will be far from satisfactory.

Recipies from Yesteryear

Recipies from "The Everyday Cook-Book," (c) 1889 and found in the Jamul Haven Angel House.

Oysters stewed with milk: take a pint of fine oysters, put them with their own liquor and a gill of milk into a stew pan, and if liked, a blade of mace, set it over the fire, take off any scum which may rise; when they are plump and white, turn them into a deep plate; add a bit of butter, and pepper to taste. Serve crackers and dressed celery with them.