|
It started when I turned the key in the dead bolt lock on the handmade oak front door. That overwhelming
feeling that the spirit of Terry Waite would be waiting for me in the inner sanctum of the old adobe. I inhaled deeply, pushed open the heavy door, and switched on the light. Walking across the Mexican tile
floor, I boldly announced: “Hi, honey, I’m home.”
Yes, I have returned to the Mining Town, to that tiny adobe building in the corner, across from the
Chamber of Commerce office and visitor center, that once housed Desert Iron Gallery and The Sun Runner. Several years have passed since I’ve set foot on this ground.
Actually, very little has changed in the mining “ghost town” on Mesquite Avenue in 29
Palms. It still has that charming, rustic ambiance—old wood beams, tin roofs, boardwalk, historic mining equipment strewn around the property. The half block of buildings, originally named the “Joshua Park
Mining Town & Art Community,” represents an ecclectic vision of revitalization that won design artist Terry Waite and owner/developer Bill Garvin a City Business Beautification Award in 1998. A team of
friends had helped with the long remodeling project, and the opening party on Dec. 6, 1996, hosted 500, in spite of rain. (We’d never seen so many umbrellas in 29 Palms!)
The old adobe gallery on the property was Terry’s personal pride and joy.
Now I’m back. I’ve moved The Sun Runner editorial office out of my house and back to—well, my second home.
Terry died in the summer of 2000, but his spirit is everywhere in this place, including his
signature etched in the glass on the front window, his iron/brass lizard embedded in the floor. Even the curtains I made for him in 1997 were still hanging on the windows.
The bookcase he made from old wood salvaged from Campbell Ranch was still standing in one of the rooms. The Aaron Scott tile floor and fireplace ... the Kim Beardshear doors ... the Brian Hoffman cooling system vented through the roof ... the John Masterson upgraded electrical circuits ... the Hank Garvin ceiling ... the list goes on. All his friends had a hand in restoring this place.
When my kids helped me move my office, they were excited to revisit the mining town. After
checking out the gallery, they disappeared down the boardwalk and were gone for about 15 minutes. Finally I went out to the front porch and called for them. They had made a complete circuit and were heading
around the corner by the gold mining mural—created by Terry and artist John Whytock in ‘98.
“You kids out exploring?” I yelled across the parking lot. “No, mom,” replied Sarah (13). “I’m
revisiting my childhood.”
Ha! I’d forgotten how many afternoons she and Tolly (now 15) spent playing in the sand, under the trees, on the boardwalk, on the mining equipment ... while their dad ran the gallery and I worked on the magazine. This was “coming home” for them, too.
Now we’ll all breathe new life into the space. My friend Perry Hoffman has created the main
room into a gallery again —“Wayward Way Gallery”—featuring his photographs and works by local artists. We have a few paintings by Mark Spicak, too, and signed prints of marble paintings by John Whytock hang in
the kitchen gallery. My desk is back where it was before, in the “office room.”
Stop by and visit the gallery/office, Mon.–Fri. 12-5, Sat. 12-3 (desert hours).
If we go out for coffee, we’ll leave a note on the door—like Terry used to do.
Vickie Waite, Editor, The Sun Runner Magazine, 29 Palms, CA
|
