Tucked away in the
middle of meandering PLACERITA’s GOLD
EVELYN
Tucked away in the
middle of meandering
The Beginnings
Originally from
In the early years, they lived in a house trailer and traveled throughout
Eventually the trailer ended up on the lot next to her current home in
1950. When the little red house came up
for sale in 1957, they made an offer and moved next door where they have
remained ever since.
Life on the Farm
Autry bought the baseball team
(the Angels), all the land came up for sale, eventually including Melody
Ranch. The cattle were then moved to a
hill pasture behind
Life in the Canyon
Evelyn says that life used to be “neat” when they first moved in. She called the canyon “vacant” and could
always see deer and coyote walk up and down the road. As building increased, these sightings
started to disappear. Interestingly, she
also remembers a wild animal compound which raised lions, tigers, and other
different creatures of the wild, housed in a red barn the other side of the
wash (Placerita Creek). However because
people were afraid of the animals, the compound eventually moved to
She remembers that behind her house was the “Happy Jack” camp which brought
children over from the city for the weekends to play in the country. A little teardrop trailer was up the hill for
the caretaker. She never did meet this
generous fella named Happy Jack but knew he
existed. This camp extended over to
where
When she moved in, there was no Master’s College, only an old building, but
then of course it started to build out.
Before Master’s Gymnasium was built, she remembers Mr. Pettinger (as did previous Placerita Gold’s Shirlemae Beverly) and his interest in wanting to build a
senior housing facility. However the
canyon residents resisted this proposal due to potential for too much traffic,
not unusual behavior for our neck of the woods.
Directly across the road from her place is the
She has fond memories of
Lastly, she admired Dorothy Reilly very much, a local canyon pioneer dedicated
to preserving
The Traffic on Placerita
Until it was eventually closed as a public road,
Though she says life in Placerita is good, she feels that people don’t
realize that though it might not look as country as it used to, it still is
country. She used to be able to stop and
talk while driving by, but today people are in such a hurry
to something, and always going to fast.
In addition, she sees the kids crowded in golf carts, hanging out the
sides, as well as the kids standing up on their motorcycles “jumping the
bumps”. She’s just worried that they are
going to get hurt out there.
The World of Green Thumb
Evelyn has always loved to work.
When she told me she used to work for Tips, I did a double take and we
laughed. But seriously, she did work at
Tips Restaurant over in Castaic Junction, and then when it was closed, the
staff was moved over to the Tips on Lyons for a couple of years. She then worked two jobs for a while, at
This year she will be celebrating her 22 years with Green Thumb, primarily
as a Cashier, but she as well as the other devoted employees do whatever is
needed of them. Green Thumb is a “fun
place” for Evelyn, with many very special customers. She truly enjoys her days spent there and
thinks of Green Thumb as part of her family, sharing their lives together.
Her Family
She and James had three children.
Sadly her youngest son David passed away from a heart attack at the age
of 28 in 1992 She
remembers him hanging out with Shirlemae Beverly’s
sons as they went to school together.
She happily shares her home with her two other children, Kevin and Adria,
Kevin’s son (her
grandson) Jimmy, Adria’s
daughter (her granddaughter) Wendy and Wendy’s two young children Nicholas and
Colin. In other words, Evelyn is a great
grandmother and speaks with such pride of her two young great grandchildren
which she actively cares for.
Evelyn says “the house isn’t big enough but everyone lives here
cozily”. Note that this little three
bedroom house has virtually remained the same over the years only now is filled
with toys for the little boys.
Her Baby
Parked out front under the carport is a faded green 1968 Ford Galaxy that
she fondly remembers driving off the showroom floor in downtown Newhall with
three miles on it in 1968. At 500.000 miles,
she changed motors on it due to blowing smoke, but the engine is again losing
compression, so it’s time to get it fixed.
In the meantime, she is driving a new blue Ford Taurus
Parting thoughts
Having almost two acres of land, Evelyn loves the space and doesn’t want to
live anywhere else. Her very deep family
roots are embedded here. She’s seen the
changes, and feels the canyon has changed enough. However, she wants to be sure that the Fire
Department always continues to have its ability to use the land at the front of
the canyon for water pickup which is very important, and she hopes any
development includes baseball diamonds!!
So the next time you drive down Placerita Canyon Road, take a second look
at the little red house, and journey back in time to a simpler life, when
cattle freely grazed in the hills behind with farm animals wandering
around. And if you’re ever over at
Green Thumb, do say hello to Evelyn!
She’ll be the lady with the permanent smile at the cash register, just
waiting to say hello and wish you to have a wonderful day. But don’t visit her on Wednesday and
Thursday as those are her days off, and she loves to cook for her family!! She’s not much for television…....
Evelyn is truly
our Placerita Gold! Thank you for
enriching our lives and reminiscing about life in