myBurbank Talks
myBurbank Talks
Remote Podcast: Inside the Burbank Historical Society's Member Appreciation Day
Step through the unassuming doorway of the Burbank Historical Society and prepare to be transported through time. What looks modest from the outside—marked by the iconic Little Blue House and freshly-restored F-104 Starfighter on Olive Avenue—opens into a sprawling 20,000-square-foot wonderland of history that ranks as the second-largest museum per capita nationwide.
During a special Member Appreciation Day, Craig Durling and Ross Benson set up their podcast equipment among displays of Burbank's rich heritage while the sounds of live music, the smell of tri-tip barbecue, and the laughter of families experiencing Bob Baker's marionettes created a festive atmosphere throughout the museum grounds.
Through conversations with museum leaders and local dignitaries including Council Member Constantine Anthony, we discover the remarkable story of this all-volunteer organization celebrating its 50th anniversary of preserving Burbank's transformation from agricultural beginnings through its aerospace golden age to its current status as the Media Capital of the World. The passion of these keepers of history—Carrie Briggs, Don and Sue Baldessaroni, Gary Sutliff and others—shines through as they share stories of rescuing treasures from garages and estate sales that might otherwise have been lost forever.
The museum constantly evolves, recently adding Amelia Earhart memorabilia, a meticulously restored miniature fire engine, and soon, a half-scale model of the legendary F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. We even meet a descendant of the family who donated Burbank's first park after growing lemons and oranges for Union soldiers during the Civil War.
For just $20 annual membership, visitors gain unlimited access to this cavernous treasury where Johnny Carson's Tonight Show suit, rare boxing memorabilia, and countless other artifacts tell the story of a city that continues to reinvent itself while honoring its past. Come explore what one guest calls "Burbank's best-kept secret" and discover why you'll want to return again and again.
Welcome to my Burbank Talks. This is Craig Durling and today I'm joining Ross Benson on location at a true Burbank treasure, the Burbank Historical Society. Today is Saturday, june 28, 2025, and we are here to celebrate all the members who helped support this wonderful local museum. Ross, there's a live band playing a barbeque-a-barbecuing and a very special museum welcoming the public with open arms.
Speaker 2:You know, Craig, this is amazing, the crowd of people that are here today. You smell that barbecue.
Speaker 1:I hear the band and I smell the barbecue and I can't get to either of them right now.
Speaker 2:Tri-tip chicken, coleslaw, cotton candy it oh man, it's in the museum, let's talk. They just finished the f-104 fighter.
Speaker 1:It's been totally restored front, it's out front, not in the, not in the museum right, it's out on olive.
Speaker 2:That's where most people think you know that's part of the museum. And then you have the house that we're in, where we're setting up to do the podcast from. What's so cool? They got a brand new burbank fire engine the size of an eight foot table. That was a real engine many years ago it's new to the museum, right right I shot it when the gentleman who owned it donated it to the museum. They have some some new Amelia Earhart memorabilia.
Speaker 1:There's always stuff coming in which is great. So every time, if you've been here before, come back, because there's always something new to see here, new to the museum, new to you, new Burbank history because history is happening all the time in Burbank and they're always adding to this museum. But we are ensconced in museum here. We have our table and our little mini studio set up and we're among displays. We are in the middle of the museum and we're just going to grab people as they walk by. We'll try to stop the flow here, but everybody's enjoying the barbecue, the band. Hopefully we'll get to enjoy a little of that after a while. But I've said it, we were here a year ago, a year or two, maybe two years ago in the same spot. But I will tell you I've said it before and I'll say it again this is the best kept secret in Burbank.
Speaker 2:And, would you believe, to be a member, $20.
Speaker 1:$20.
Speaker 2:$20.
Speaker 1:And the price of admission pays for membership Yep. The price of admission pays for membership Yep. How can you beat that?
Speaker 2:And today, you get a barbecue to go along with that. And that's what that membership appreciation means, that you're a dues-paying member. $20 a year, you tell me anybody. You buy magazines now and they're $14.95. I know what's a magazine, true, but you think about. You know you go to TikTok or whatever and you buy off of there 20 bucks.
Speaker 1:It is a bargain and I know I'm not alone. For years I drove right past this place, the park, and didn't know that tucked right in behind the tree was this huge museum. It's like Dr who's phone booth right. It's small on the outside but you walk inside and it goes on and on and on. And there's history from the filming history, the movie history of Burbank, the media capital of the world. There's Johnny Carson history and memorabilia in here. There's the history of Burbank, how it started, dr Burbank, the airport, and it goes on and on, and even upstairs they hold public events. So this is, it's really a great value for the $20. But you're not just paying for admission, you're helping support local treasure.
Speaker 2:And what's kind of they're looking to grow. They want to add to it. They're running out of room Exactly, and I remember. You know I go back many years in this city.
Speaker 1:I think you've perceived most of the displays in this museum.
Speaker 2:Well, the house that's out on Olive. I remember watching it get moved through the Burbank streets to where it was. Right at 2.30 in the morning they moved that house right from. I'm trying to think we had a couple movers at that time, but I remember it being put in place. They talk about. You know, watch a house being moved that was built from here.
Speaker 1:Now, that's how you know. You're here Driving down Olive the park. Out here you see the F-104 Starfighter Starfighter. I believe the jet and the little blue house. You know you're here, but what's behind it? It's great. I sound like Huell Hauser today, but it's great. Wow, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:Now Huell, he would be in here.
Speaker 1:Oh, he'd be a kid in a candy store here, exactly. Nobody would see anything because he'd be talking to everybody. But we've got a whole podcast planned for you today. We have a lot of Burbank VIPs walking around here and we're going to try and grab them as they walk by through the museum here and I can't wait to see who's first. Yeah Well, I think I'll go out and find somebody, find somebody to interview. It's like fishing in a barrel here.
Speaker 6:Oh, today it is.
Speaker 1:What a great day, and if you missed this one, hopefully you'll keep an eye out for the next one.
Speaker 2:Well, somebody walking by just reminded us that we've got to clear our throats before we move on.
Speaker 1:And get some barbecue before it's all gone too. So we'll be right back with our first guest Sounds good, Craig.
Speaker 2:We are honored to have the first guest today. Join us, maybe with still some barbecue sauce on your upper lip.
Speaker 1:Save that for later.
Speaker 2:But we're not doing video. We have Constantine Anthony, burbank Council member. He has been here. He's been working the crowds, he's been talking to people. He's dressed in a three-piece we're not video, so I can say a three-piece suit with a brand new tie. He's wearing new glasses.
Speaker 4:He cut the beard off and a bib and a bib still from the barbecue outside my tie got a little bit of barbecue sauce on it, so I'm a little upset, but I'm worse for the wear. Is this place?
Speaker 4:amazing dude I come. I try to come every at least a couple weeks, if not every couple of months. I was just here last month by my son, um, he loves all the new exhibits. Every time I come around people who haven't been here, or if you even feel they've been here, uh, one or two times. There's so many spaces, nooks and crannies, little things in a glass case that is just so rich with history. It's an item or it's an article, or it's a piece of clothing from Burbank's past, and I don't know how they do it, but they get some amazing artifacts.
Speaker 2:And think about it. You were mayor of this city. You will be an artifact in this history.
Speaker 4:I'm going to show up one day.
Speaker 1:They're still working on the statue of Ross.
Speaker 4:Right, right Me. It's going to be my polished skull in the corner. That's what they will do. The actual one.
Speaker 1:Right? No, we were mentioning it earlier. There's always something new to see. There's always a reason to come back here.
Speaker 2:And some people argue well, who cares? It's just burbank history. No, burbank history is american history. Yeah, you think of what's going on in our town, from the airport during the army days to now. We're in the media. You know, media, capital of the world and creative, or however how that's going to be worded. But, and they have it here. There's so much you can learn. I guess they just moved in there. I don't know if it's set up yet. The, uh, the um, amelia erhart. Yeah, they got from the airport.
Speaker 4:They donated statue is that cool.
Speaker 2:plus, as I said in the intro, the city just had the f-104 fighter totally refurbished, cost quite a bit. It had been out there in the sun for many years. I wish I'd drive by at night and I wish in the beginning, when it was brand new, the lights would work on it and make it flash, but I don't know. They might not have done that for a reason. Remember when they put that in, there's so many things here.
Speaker 4:For those of you who haven't been, it's right along, olive. It's behind the old house right, the old, classic, 100-year-old house, little blue house. Little blue house it's been moved. It wasn't here originally in that spot, but they found it, they refurbished it and then, yeah, right out front of that park, the F-104 Starfighter. It was looking kind of shabby recently, 104 Starfighter. It was looking kind of shabby recently. But, yeah, we got a grant to paint it up and make it look nice. It's looking spiffy.
Speaker 2:Isn't it that new paint job?
Speaker 1:It's like it's ready to fly again.
Speaker 2:Well, you drive by it every day and you watch them put one coat on it and another coat, and then you know the protective coat. That was a real.
Speaker 4:They used it for testing. That's a real plane, yep, like if you put the pieces back together in it it could fly. So it's a legit piece of history here. Sounds like a dare to me.
Speaker 2:And the other thing that I don't think of a lot of people who don't follow council. All of rec is going to be redone. It has gone through many of the stages. I've seen what is coming here. This city is on the move, dude. I mean new library, new olive wreck.
Speaker 4:Well, to your point, what you said earlier about urban history is American history. The historical society is such a key part of that. You can go back to pre-incorporation and when we talk about American Western expansion and all of the Manifest Destiny, and stuff this area up here, all this farmland and ranchland before there was chicken coops anywhere, you know this was native Tongva land and all of the tribes that are in the area were here, far beyond some of the other places in the country, and so you can see the changes that happened to the native tribes, to the ranchers who came, to one genius of a dentist who decided to make his own city and then, like you said, we go into the aerospace industry and that just encapsulated the whole city. I think it was at some point like 40 or 50 percent of the workforce was either working directly for aerospace or in some tangential field, and we've transitioned then to media, which is a completely different field, but that has now encapsulated the city and so we've gone through so many of these changes.
Speaker 1:It mirrors so many other cities and so many other places in this country, every single one of those changes you just outlined is recorded here and memorialized here at the museum, from Dr Burbank to Johnny Carson.
Speaker 2:I think some people don't like change, but if we have witnessed other cities, you don't change. The city dies and we are a very vibrant city. This is shows our history. It's funny where we're set up. I just look over greg's shoulder and it shows the mayors from 20 1923.
Speaker 4:Just think someday you're going to be yeah, on one of those walls one of those old black and white photos. When, when black and white comes back into fashion, they're going to get a new frame.
Speaker 2:But if you think about it, the changes you need to change. And now we're moving the media capital of the world with everything else that is going on. The major studios I always say why do they choose Burbank, one of our newest Nickelodeon? Um the? Uh the dome on hollywood way? Um, what's the? Uh the company?
Speaker 4:msg dome, ms yeah yeah, they chose burbank.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's reasons these companies are coming to burbank and if you look you know our crime rates down and everything else it's a full. You know, I honestly don't go to Glendale too much. I know you're banned from it.
Speaker 4:They're doing okay, but I think to your point. We have not just an active council but an active citizenry. You don't get a historical society like this if the people aren't passionate enough to preserve their city, to take care of their city and learn from the past. That's why these institutions are so important. If you don't look back at where you come from, you don't know where you're going. Right In mathematics, when you're looking at a line, you got to have a starting point before you get the ending point.
Speaker 2:You got to know where you're going because of where you came well, you got to give a ton of credit to the members, the people that you know carrie briggs, don baldessaronis, you know the gary sutliff's, the all volunteer, by the way, all volunteer, but they do a fantastic job of maintaining this and and giving tours. Tours are free and, as I said to somebody else, would you believe, membership is only 20. Pretty good, is that fantastic? I mean every burbank resident. If you have kids or you don't come down here some can't top off your gas tank for 20 oh, you can't.
Speaker 4:That's the best membership in town, right it is you know.
Speaker 2:so we're gonna have carrie and we're gonna have don on here and talk a bit about the museum and so forth, and as our first guest, I thank you for stopping by.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Good way to start off, the bar has been set high.
Speaker 4:Well, I'm going to set it a little higher. I've been told I'm allowed to give you an exclusive here.
Speaker 1:I don't have like a news ticker tape, sound effect or anything there you go.
Speaker 4:We haven't gotten the permits through City Plan Check yet, but I hear that we have a I believe it's a one-half scale F-117 Nighthawk. That is the triangular stealth bomber. It was Lockheed. It was built and designed in Burbank Down the road. We've got a scale model in someone's backyard that we're working on. I believe Gary is the one who's putting this together.
Speaker 1:We have some heads nodding nearby. Here it's looking good.
Speaker 4:We've got to clean it up and that is going to be an amazing addition. As soon as that comes down here, I know my son is going to want to see it. That's going to be special.
Speaker 2:And if you think about that, that fighter, you know, we've seen what it does, you know, and it was all built here in Burbank. I remember when, back in the days when I had a friend working at Lockheed, and when they would fly them, put them, load them into a C-5A one of the biggest planes and go down the runway, they'd turn all the runway lights off. We'd be at the end of the runway where the fence is, and I'm not exaggerating, maybe 10 feet Touch the tires Between, yeah, the fence and all, and the roar, those Pratt-Whitney engines. Yeah, you know, and it just. But that's Burbank history, folks.
Speaker 1:When that fighter, when that model arrives here, you're going to have to put a real obvious sign in front of it. No one will be able to find it Right.
Speaker 4:It's invisible, it's stealth, it's stealth and all. But yeah, when we talk about again going back to what you said about American history, one of the reasons why the United States as a whole is such a um military powerhouse around the world, a lot of those designs, a lot of those planes, a lot of that air superiority right, lockheed skunkworks I when we did our burbank in pictures.
Speaker 2:I had a gentleman come up to me who was a photographer at lockheed at the time. He to this day cannot talk about some of the things that he photographed as an employee of Lockheed. He is sworn to secrecy and things that he saw and he said everybody that worked on that team the same thing and it's just amazing.
Speaker 4:We're hearing from the audience that there's even more secrets, that we can't tell.
Speaker 1:It's like Area 51.
Speaker 2:You know I'm glad we have a crowd here because Cary Briggs is going to be our next on-air. He's in the queue.
Speaker 1:He's in the green room right now. Hang out in the green room.
Speaker 2:Talk about this place. There's certain people that make this place go, and Cary Briggs is at the top of that list. He is just. He is a historian of all historians. So, Constantine, we're going to let you get back to the pork and beans.
Speaker 4:Thanks for getting the ball rolling for us. A lot of barbecue. Thank you for being here on site on location today.
Speaker 2:I really appreciate that it's the place to be have a great day, great weekend. We happen to have, as you can tell from our last interview, we have an audience standing here and we have Carrie Briggs. Now, carrie and I have been friends for years. You have been, I think, president of the Historical Society, the chief bottle washer. You have built displays. You know this place, I'd say say almost like the back of your hand. You probably have spent more time here than some weekends with you, than your wife.
Speaker 6:I was mentored well, mary jane and gary sutliff and a lot of the older members of the society uh, made sure before they passed on that somebody knew what was going on and I was fortunate enough to walk around behind Mary Jane and listen and absorb and get hit on the back of the head many times for not getting it right when it became today.
Speaker 2:Well, as I was saying to Craig, I remember when they brought the house here at 2 o'clock in the morning. I remember watching it being moved into place and everything and then watching this whole facility come alive over how many years now.
Speaker 6:Well, we just celebrated our 50th year. Last year Mary Jane started with a vacant lot that was donated by the Howards for us to start the facility. The bus was our first big attraction that made the money, but it was all. This was all dirt and just a little motorhome or mobile home that was out on the corner where she used to bring clippings from newspapers that the library didn't want and nobody wanted and she would. You know about the police? Nobody had a history of the police.
Speaker 2:Talking about Mary Jane Strickland. She was our first city PIO. I worked for Mary Jane Strickland. She had a tiny office on the second floor at City Hall. She would call me, you know, whenever things were happening in pictures. And her husband was one of the first policemen, harry Strickland, you know, in town, harry Strickland. This was their love of their life. I mean they.
Speaker 6:Thank you to the two of them for Starting the fire, making the infection happen. I mean it's, it's gone, like you said, 50 years now it's, it hasn't gotten any worse. You know, you come here. Every time you come here, hopefully you find something new, something different, something's been moved.
Speaker 1:And we've already mentioned that, that's been mentioned a couple times the ultimate reason to come back is there. Always is going to be something new, something you haven't seen, something you missed.
Speaker 2:last time we had a gentleman walk up to us and said I didn't know there was a second floor.
Speaker 6:Oh yeah, Happens all the time.
Speaker 2:Happens all the time. Happens all the time. What, kerry, of all the rooms and I know you have been in every room do you have a favorite of anything here?
Speaker 6:I have a favorite piece. I was just talking to a gentleman that was in the film industry and it's a backdrop overhead projector. And what it is is it's built on overhead projector and what it is is it's built on a Singer sewing machine cabinet with a car scissor jack underneath it. They facilitated the mirrors and all the wood slides for it. You would have no idea what it was and some guy says, oh, it's just one of these. The thing was laying right next to it on the floor. You'd have no idea what it was.
Speaker 6:But things like that I like to see what we did as a society to make things better. You know, I always say about Lockheed Lockheed made great airplanes but great people made Lockheed and that spread over into Burbank because you know you used to have to live here, to work here, right, and things in Burbank were a lot tighter then, and so some of the stuff you see in the museum has flourished from that culture and it's really neat to try to tell that we just had a group of YMCA campers come through this weekend this week, from kindergarten to fifth, and to watch their eyes and to see you know things that they can relate to. You know the dolls and the museums, or the cars or the music box, something they can feel and get you know you just said a group of YMCA campers come through here.
Speaker 2:People don't realize. Through the year you have tons of tours.
Speaker 6:You have tons of tours, Strickland or I mean the Howard Foundation pays for the school buses for every third grader in Burbank to come.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic.
Speaker 2:Isn't that that? They thought of that. You know, and they're still doing that, you know that. And on the weekends you guys are here, you guys, you keep this place up.
Speaker 1:I mean it's pristine and that's really to speak to the value of this museum for the entire nation, maybe even the world, if I can reach that far. But to your point about that projector is how many things that are used worldwide were invented for the use here in Burbank, whether it's aviation with Lockheed, stuff for the film industry, like the projector that's your favorite piece here how many things, that ingenuity, that creativity, that resourcefulness that started right here.
Speaker 6:A lot of that came from Lockheed and the surrounding manufacturers, because you were working six to seven days a week, ten hours a day, and when you got off work you needed to do something with your hands. It'd be quilting, maybe model airplanes, maybe model railroads, maybe dress patterns, whatever they were. You had to have something to do with your hands when you got off work. So a lot of this stuff all started from that and manifested from that.
Speaker 2:Well, I know you also also, besides, have the museum here. You and I have been out at events, you uh, mckinley elementary. Every year I see you out there with a ton of history showing the kids inviting them here.
Speaker 6:You don't just do it here, it's in your blood I'm from being from burbank and my you you know, my great-grandparents, you know, settled the sanitarium at Burbank and Foothill back in the late 1800s. So all my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, we've all lived here. I know the stories I've been told. So I'm very fortunate that I get told a lot of stories, you know, just because of where I am, I get to pass them on to the youth and to the people that really want to know.
Speaker 2:Well, you know that brings up. You know, knowing Burbank so well, you know you've been around and it's just I love you know where we've been, where we're going. Can you believe how this community went from aerospace media capital of the world now is, you know, have all the seven to nine of the major studios located here in burbank?
Speaker 6:things, things change, things morph. You know, manufacturing died away, but manufacturing also switched over into the movie industry, right, and all those things and and having to make things and and do things. That all started with the movies and the production here with warner brothers and all the different studios. We're working right now.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to get some more of those studios to buy in to the museum and expose themselves to to the public through the museum yeah, because when you work on a show craig and I both have a studio background when a show show is done it usually gets trashed, thrown in a dumpster. They move on that or they're going to put it in storage if they know there's going to be a sequel. But again, once a show is done and moves on, and if that show is not successful, but you have a whole wing here, I say a wing or a whole area, an area that is, you got original seats from the Johnny.
Speaker 1:Carson Captured some of that history that can so easily be lost, right? And if anybody's hearing the noise in the background for the last 10 minutes here, it's just one of the many events going on today at the Appreciation Barbecue. I believe it's Bob Barker's marionettes, correct, not the Price. It's Bob Barker's Marionettes Correct, not the Price. Is Right, bob Barker Baker. Oh, baker Baker. I ran by the sign with my barbecue too fast.
Speaker 6:They're all having fun out there.
Speaker 2:And this is a membership Appreciation Barbecue, correct, you did one a couple years ago. I recall we were here. We did a podcast. But did one a couple years ago. I recall we were here. We did a podcast. But it's open to the public, but it's also your members and so forth. And I keep saying to everybody that comes up $20 to join, be a member.
Speaker 6:It's a bargain. We have a lot of events that happen all throughout the year. This is just one of them and we're very, very fortunate that we have a strong docent team that helps with the tours, that helps with the cleanup, that helps with all the different things that need to be around here, because this is all run. Nobody gets any salary here. This is all volunteers. Everything here was donated. Everything here is just to show people what Burbank is. You were talking about nationally and globally, and everything Because the city of Burbank is only 100,000, 110,000 people and we have over a 20,000-square-foot museum. We're the second largest museum per capita in the United States there's only one museum that's larger and that's in New York.
Speaker 6:Wow, Because you only have 100,000 people, right? Right, that's true. So we have a big expanse for a little bunch of people.
Speaker 1:You're counting nighttime population, not daytime population. Yeah, how it moves in Burbank.
Speaker 6:Yeah, that's crazy, yeah. So there's a lot of dynamic things that are going on right now. We just had that doll show two weeks ago. That was off the hook. We had the Tri-City Doll Club come in here, that was upstairs the hook.
Speaker 6:We had the tri-city doll club come in. That was upstairs, that was upstairs, yeah, and some very, very expensive tens of thousands of dollars, uh of dolls were came through here and and they were able to see what they were. They were identified if you needed them fixed. There was a lady that did that. That repaired dolls and stuff. So it's it's we, which we try to reach out to different parts of the community to bring them in here.
Speaker 1:A number of interests. There is something different in here for everybody. Gary not to put you on the spot, but where can people go online and find a list of the events going on here?
Speaker 6:Yeah, we have a website. We've got a like. This is going on. Next, the next thing I think we have is a. I believe it's a video show. I think that's coming up.
Speaker 2:Thinking about that. We said second story you have an auditorium upstairs or a meeting room that we I put on a show there just a couple weeks ago, right, and we've done it a couple of times there and I've been here for hundreds of events. It seats what? 100?.
Speaker 6:It seats, seating capacity.
Speaker 2:We can get about 250 in there, wow, and it's got professional AV equipment, got professional.
Speaker 6:AV equipment. We pimp it out for weddings and funerals and celebrations of life club members, all sorts of things, because we try to get people to come in here like we said, different groups, different entities to try to enlighten them that this place is here and hopefully they can enlighten everybody else to come you can get fans from fans of old movies.
Speaker 1:Old television history, television aviation fans.
Speaker 6:I tour people in here that all have different interests.
Speaker 1:Now here's the website. It's BurbankWWW I can't believe we still have to say that these days but BurbankHistoricalSOCorg. The society is abbreviated, but it's BurbankHistoricalSOCorg and that'll get you to the website for the Historical Society. All the upcoming events.
Speaker 6:I'm sure there's ways to donate, submit things, Submit things, tours, anything that we can do to try to make the community come in here and be a viable part of that community. That's what we're trying to do.
Speaker 1:We're getting drive-by thumbs-ups. Here we are, Kerry. Does this event go on every year?
Speaker 6:We're trying to make it. Every year from our nice benefactors we have a lot of commentary going.
Speaker 1:The boss just walked up. She did so. We still.
Speaker 2:We work for people and again the person that just walked up happened, her husband donated. I mean some real history of burbank fire department, history. That, um, she's a benef, a benefactor of the museum and outside people. You have some stuff here that people have found in their garages that are history within Burbank.
Speaker 6:One of the most moving exhibits we have here was from some people that were moving out of a garage and said we have a box up in the attic you might like to come get. So we went out and looked at it and yeah, and it's the footlocker from a gentleman that was shot down in Japan, was a prisoner of war. He kept a diary of everything that happened to him and how he was beaten and how everything and those type of things were just going to be thrown away. This came to us and we went through it and refurbished it. All the tools for the Moreland that are out there, all those hand tools, those priceless hand tools same thing. We got this big white box in the garage.
Speaker 1:You may want to come look at it and that's all history that is so easily lost, easily, but just by luck, by happenstance is now Gary.
Speaker 6:Sutliff and Suvalda Cerrone are our acquisition team, even the airport stuff. We go look at all sorts of different venues, estate sales and you know people getting rid of stuff. Come look Pickwick. Hey, if you're not here in an hour this Pickwick sign is gone. All the bowling pins and the pins you know what?
Speaker 2:I want to reel that back for one quick second because I know you took the trip to Orange County. You know people talk about boxing. Where did it start? Right here. It started right here and you went to.
Speaker 6:I represented the family and the historical society when they inducted the um jeffries barn into the national boxing hall of fame and it was really cool and and I before there, I got to meet his niece and learn about jeffries and and through the days. Burbank back in the early days wasn't like it was here. Buena Vista was actually a good view and you could look across the valley because there were no homes there and it was flat chaparral and supposedly from Buena Vista up on the top there you could see Jeffries Barn, because Jeffries Barn was like a mecca. It had pepper trees all around it and this big barn and people would come from Kernville, san Bernardino, santa Paula, ventura, wherever, to come to the barn on Thursday night to watch him you know his youth fight and then on on Saturdays to watch him wrestle and that's what he did.
Speaker 2:He took in wayward youth and that's how things started and didn't you come back, or I know there was a picture I think I saw a picture of you holding one of his belts.
Speaker 6:Yeah, don Baldessaron and I were fortunate enough to hold the belts. I've got pictures of the belts and everything. But Jim Jeffries was a very interesting man. He was the first international star of Burbank. Twice he did it once when he retired as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in 1900. Later, after his wife was the first female auto fatality in Burbank. That's when he started taking in the wayward youth. She was killed going across between the farm and the barn on Buena Vista and he started raising cows. And cows didn't work out real well for him so he got into bulls. He started raising prize-winning bulls so people from Portugal and Spain and Mexico City could come up here and look at these prize-winning bulls and because we're a railroad town we could get the bull out to port in less than two days. So you might even see that bull the next week in Mexico City fighting.
Speaker 1:I was going to say there was never a bullfighting arena in Burbank, was there Not that?
Speaker 6:I know of, but he would bring people from all over to see these prize-winning bulls well for people like myself.
Speaker 2:I've been here 69 years point of vista in victory, where currently cvs is and there's some other shopping center. You know houses there. But we remember when the lockheed machinists oh yeah had their union office there and there were. It was a weekly occurrence. They would rent it out, and there were, and it was a weekly occurrence that the burbank pd would show up.
Speaker 6:Yeah, it was a weekly occurrence. I lived right down the street from that and it was a. It was quite a quite an entertaining place. That's where I actually learned to drive. Stick shift was in the parking lot of the machine.
Speaker 2:Assault yeah, how burbank has changed and and you, a lot of people don't like change. But you know, as I've said with our prior guests, if we don't change, our city will die.
Speaker 6:We have to change and I try to preserve the past and I try to perpetuate the past, but I do it in a way where the kids can see it through their eyes and their future, and that's where it has to come from. It has to come from them.
Speaker 1:Well said.
Speaker 2:Well, we're going to let you go back and enjoy. I don't think they're serving beer, but you can have a cold soda out there.
Speaker 6:My goal today is to make sure everybody's happy and informed and they leave here with a smile. So far, so good.
Speaker 1:And I'll tell you anybody listening right now that has not been here or plans to be here again. Try to be at the museum here when Carrie is here, Because I'm telling you, half of a museum is the people that are working and volunteering, the docents and all that. That's where you really get kind of a living history, a verbal history, and can put yourself in that area.
Speaker 6:We're always looking for volunteers, we're always looking for docents. Like I said, we're a completely nonprofit. Nobody gets anything out of this. We're open Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4, to the public and we give private guided tours to all sorts of different groups, and one entry fee gets you a year of membership.
Speaker 1:How bad. Then you can come to the barbecue.
Speaker 2:Like Kerry said, his history of things. He knows the city so well and why you aren't a docent here, ross.
Speaker 1:I'll never understand.
Speaker 6:Busy fighting crime that's right, he's out. He's making that history Making parades and stuff.
Speaker 2:Gary, thank you for everything you do for the museum. You know you and I work on other projects in the city. I've turned to you.
Speaker 1:You've driven that Moreland bus many times you can't get rid of each other.
Speaker 2:We're tied at the hip. But you know it's people like Carrie and Don and Gary and you know, sue, that keep things like this going, and I appreciate it so much.
Speaker 6:We appreciate you guys. Thanks for the publicity.
Speaker 1:Ross. Every time we're with this gentleman, blessed by his presence, I have to wonder where we are. Are we at a car show? Are we at a parade? What city event are we at? Because this guy is everywhere.
Speaker 2:You know we have the honor of having sit with Don Baldessaroni Now, if you've listened to our other podcasts, Don has been on several, but Don is a lifelong Burbank resident, a graduate of Burbank High School. He is an affectionato of many things and I will tell you not only a couple weeks ago we did the car show at Johnny Carson Park. Here we are at the museum where you are, president of the historical museum, and you and your wife, Sue.
Speaker 1:Who's working the front table? That's right, the family affair. I was just going to say.
Speaker 2:We appreciate this museum. Every time you see people they walk around, their eyes are like soda cans or silver dollars because they're so amazed of new things. And you guys, this is considered, as we've mentioned, an appreciation lunch for your membership. Isn't it great to have the marinettes out here? You know your food. You guys are serving Handymart tri-tip.
Speaker 1:Oh you can't get better than handymart tri-tip If you drive down.
Speaker 2:If you're a Burbank person, you drive down Magnolia at Buena Vista on any Saturday.
Speaker 1:Look for the smoke. You can smell it before you see it.
Speaker 2:That's right, I mean you have your whole crew out here today. I mean you have, you know, all your members in our New Year board who are all volunteers you put in. You know, Don and I, as I will say, we're part of the chamber, we do every opening. We saw each other three times this week, In fact, I think at our last event.
Speaker 1:I think it's getting unhealthy.
Speaker 2:Well, it's funny because we said the other day where are you going to be tomorrow? But the thing is I call Don. I have him in my cell phone on speed dial. If I have a Road Kings question, call Don. If I have a road king's question, call Don If I have a Burbank. As we have said before, don owned three gas stations in this town on three prominent corners. That people.
Speaker 1:She was yelling something about an elevator. We are here to help. We're part of the crew today. We are. It's all hands on deck at the Historical Society Without a question, but history-wise, don had three gas stations in town.
Speaker 2:You're a lifelong resident.
Speaker 1:Here's my question, to lead it off when is your wing of this museum? Where's my wing? It sounds to me like you're quite a fixture and part of the history of this town.
Speaker 7:Well, that's a good question. However, I love every part of the museum. I mean, I was thinking from last year. You said what's your favorite thing in the museum and of course I went to the Road King display. We have all this stuff.
Speaker 1:It's cars and everything A little biased, but Very much so, but worthy Very worthy of a.
Speaker 7:Now we have the new fire truck, we have Amelia Earhart from the airport. We got the airport supporting us. We got the city as you saw, the big.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sealed, there's a brand new.
Speaker 7:I mean, we have so much new things here at the museum. It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1:Oh, the seal, the giant seal.
Speaker 7:It's huge.
Speaker 1:It's like four feet across. Oh see, that's what gets me.
Speaker 2:You know, I know you always tell me you have invited me to go with you guys, when you guys find items and when you bring stuff new to the museum and it just blows me away. You have room after room of Burbank history which is just so amazing.
Speaker 7:And you know what's funny? 90% of the people you ask have you been to the museum? No, where's that at? Well, you know the jet airplane that they just painted by the way that they drive by every day, every day, yeah. And the little house. Oh yeah, yeah, we have a 20,000 square foot building back here full of everything.
Speaker 1:Guilty, guilty, as charged for years.
Speaker 7:Until you walk through it and see A real quick story. I had a business, a lot of business, and it's basically Glendale, but it's. I was going to say Chilean, but it's not Chilean. What is that called? You know, we went over there and it was closed up. I put my business card on all the buildings around it and everything. I got a call from the guy that owned it and he says well, yeah, I could do something like that. Let me bring it over to the museum. Where is the museum at? So I told him and came over. I opened the door, walked in two steps, looked around and he says wait a second. He went out to his car and saw the scale backboard, everything from 75 years worth of stuff and I just couldn't believe what we have here. Oh, it's a hidden gem.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 1:It is cavernous. I describe it as cavernous because there will be a room and I'll come back next time and realize there was a whole other room that I missed. It took me a couple trips here to realize there was stuff upstairs too. Well, I'm a newbie.
Speaker 7:I've only been here 25 years.
Speaker 1:And you're still fine. You still get lost.
Speaker 7:I still walk around and read oh shoot. I don't remember that, of course, in my defense at my age, I don't remember what I had for lunch yesterday.
Speaker 1:But you know what? It's fair to say that between trips, more history has happened in Burbank. Oh yeah, without a question. So there's always going to be something new.
Speaker 7:But you know, look at what we did today, but it's not just our board, and I guess you're going to be talking to Gary pretty soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's one of our— he's in the green room right now.
Speaker 7:He's in the green room. That's great Because he's the chair of this particular committee, of doing what we've done, and it's just. It's a feeling that you have to experience giving back everybody we have in the community, because we want them to see everything we have here don, as you mentioned, everybody that works here is a volunteer.
Speaker 1:How many people did it take to put this event together today? Oh geez, everybody.
Speaker 7:Well, actually there's only 16 of us 17 of us on the board, but then we have Gary, and his family came. We have the Disney volunteers. We have four of them. The Chamber of Commerce came over to help serve food. The Road Kings obviously came in. In fact, we had too many people all of a sudden.
Speaker 1:It's crowded, they love it.
Speaker 7:It's a built-in crowd, though, because there's a band, there's the barbecue line and all that and the band was fantastic and, like I said, I renamed them Not the Valley Boys anymore, it's the Burbank Boys, because they're in Burbank and they play. And they said, oh yeah, that's a good idea, that's a good idea and they are good, we're going hyper local. That's right, Right, right, right right.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, as we've asked other people that have sat in where you've interviewed, is there one display that you were in love with?
Speaker 7:Well, like I said, I'm going to discount the road kings. You can do road pick one road kings and one non-road kings. Well, I love our Kong's garage. I really do, because I walk in there and I remember half the pictures that were taken there. So that's my favorite. And then we have the Lockheed stuff that we got in Unbelievable 17A that Gary is restoring. Now that we can hang on the side of the building, you'll love it. The F-117?
Speaker 1:F-117. Felfighter yeah, I mentioned that.
Speaker 7:You'll just, you know. I mean, that's why people have to come every couple of months, because we do change things out, you know.
Speaker 1:Well as any good museum worth its weight, it's going to be always updated. There's always something new.
Speaker 7:Now that brings me back to one other point. We need docents here at the museum. Three hours a month is all it takes In a row, yes, in a row. The thing is, you could learn about everything we have here.
Speaker 1:It's interesting you say that because I recommend to many people, if they're looking for something to do, become a docent somewhere, somewhere where you're interested in the topic. You don't have to go in as an expert, you'll become an expert.
Speaker 7:You don't have to. You will learn it when you're in the middle of it. We train what you see, you know. So it's really like the girl that just passes by. The new docent here only been here about a month.
Speaker 1:You haven't seen her in two weeks. She's been lost wandering around.
Speaker 7:There she is, we found her, she put together with another docent and my wife. We have turnouts from the fire department and a helmet.
Speaker 1:We have it right around the corner here.
Speaker 7:They were here on the floor putting it all together. I have pictures too, by the way, if you want to see that. But it was funny, it was great, they were having a great time.
Speaker 1:And one of the great benefits and things that I would enjoy as being a docent is not just being among the stuff but sharing it and seeing the people come through who might be seeing it for the first time Kids, the school groups, Well, how do you I know you can answer the question, or maybe Gary will in our next interview how do you preserve some of this stuff so well?
Speaker 2:I mean, it looks like it's never been touched. It's on display. These pictures are saved in pristine condition. Well, we are near.
Speaker 1:Hollywood and if you've seen some of the stars, the celebrities in Hollywood, many of the same techniques of preservation are used.
Speaker 7:I'm a good example of being preserved. Heckled Tequila does it again.
Speaker 2:Well, we're going to let you get back to supervising, because I know you're president in charge.
Speaker 7:No problem, it's easy when you have a group of people that we have here at the museum.
Speaker 2:Believe me Again, we appreciate it. Thank you for having an appreciation day for my Burbank to come to Right and a museum that you guys are preserving for a long, long time.
Speaker 1:Go make sure the Burbank boys aren't taking an extra long break out there. You got it All right, Thanks guys.
Speaker 7:Take care, appreciate it.
Speaker 2:We happen to have another director of the Historical Society, but there's somebody that I've known. I think every person that I have had sit down here I've known for years, gary Sutliff. Gary has been around Burbank for a couple of weeks. How many years now, gary?
Speaker 1:83 years, all of them, all of the years.
Speaker 2:Well, all but two, and Gary's family is here today helping, and Gary and I go back to the days when he was a firefighter for the city of Burbank, as they say when typewriters typed in pencil.
Speaker 5:Yeah, we did that.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of things that Gary and I got to see, that techniques have changed and so forth, and we have been together on many, many many fires, many fires. You know, and you've been involved with the museum here as a director and also one of the early founders of it. You know, you knew Mary Jane probably as good, if not better, than anybody.
Speaker 5:Mary Jane was one of my favorites. We go back to my high school days and Mary Jane was a founder. I was not. And Mary Jane was a founder, I was not. Mary Jane sucked me into the board of directors and I've been here I don't know 35 years or more I think that's how it happens is you get recruited, you get volunteered for stuff like that that's it. It's kind of a railroad job.
Speaker 1:But in the history of it and now looking back at it, no regrets right, no regrets.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, when he was a firefighter he moved through all the ranks from you know captain to finally the battalion chief. And people don't realize. When Burbank rebuilt the police and fire headquarters as one Gary and we had, he was a fireside and Joe Latta was the police side and you guys were the committee. Joe actually worked for me.
Speaker 5:I was in charge of building, designing and supervising construction of all the fire stations in Burbank, and they didn't have money to do with police. Originally, the concept was to bring a police and fire together on one piece of property and the bond failed to build it, and so they directed me to build a stand-alone fire headquarters, and I went to the city manager and the chief.
Speaker 2:Was that Joe Baker back then? Well, actually it was Andy Lazzarone.
Speaker 5:And I said you know, in all seriousness, cops needed a new facility more than we did, and so, anyway, I was a captain at the time in charge, and so they assigned Joe Latta and Steve Berger to work with me. But I couldn't supervise somebody with a higher pay grade. So I got promoted to battalion chief oh you're kidding which was a step above a lieutenant. That's one way to do it. Well, there's a civil service code that says you can't supervise somebody that makes more money than you. Oh, and so as a battalion chief and I was number one on the list anyway- Well, as you just said, said you were in charge of rebuilding.
Speaker 2:I remember some of the stations you couldn't put rigs in oh no, because the newer rigs were bigger than the stations were built. Um, you know, and for a good example was station 12, you know, they could not put hook and ladder truck out there because it was too tall. And then station 16 up there. Plus, you were in charge of the training center, which I remember spending nightless, many nights, out there. It was a part of Department of Water and Power property.
Speaker 5:And they always wondered how I was able to build on their property. Well, here's a bit of trivia too. They always wondered how I was able to build on their property.
Speaker 1:Well, here's a bit of trivia too, from my days as a reserve for the police department in the new police and fire headquarters, the only room that I was ever aware of that was shared by the two departments, other than the lobby and the museum, the gym, the gym Downstairs. It was a huge gym and it was shared. There was a door on either end of it, one that came down from the fire of it, one that came down from the fire department when they came down from the police department and we shared a gym.
Speaker 2:I really and it's funny because I've had guys tell me they'll be in the gym and they'll always know when they're when the fire department's going- all the lights go off, the strobes go off.
Speaker 1:You there's no. Uh, there's no.
Speaker 2:Missing it down there, yeah there is history at every fire station. You you kept quite a bit. One of the ones is what we call the big house. It's the main fire station. It's a part of the police station.
Speaker 1:You guys took out, was it 13? It was almost as big as that. Well, 13. Task Force Station.
Speaker 2:That was called the Taj Mahal at the time because they thought the airport and Burbank were going to put in.
Speaker 1:Well, it was built as a task force station, right.
Speaker 2:But the station headquarters. They took the floor out of the old fire station 11 and they made a table out of it and all the stuff that goes with the rebuilding. But let's get back to the museum. Here you have done a fabulous job on.
Speaker 5:It's been a team effort.
Speaker 2:Well, that I know we've had don, we've had carrie. I know you're many years retired, but you, you, this isn't 31 years. But there's a lot of other things that gary sutliff have done. A lot of people don't really know you're into race cars yeah you know bonneville flats better than a lot of residents been there, had records there you broke records yeah, didn't you have.
Speaker 5:I still have a record at el mirage I've gone.
Speaker 2:How fast 139 miles an hour in a model a wow, a 35 model a engine well, but you know, and it's stuff like that, it's if people come here and look at a lot of people don't know there's two floors, but you look at the alcoves and you look at all the rooms that where the cars are stored, your fingerprint on everything it's on on everything.
Speaker 5:The one thing that I would like to know more about is that medallion right behind you the big seal.
Speaker 5:Where it came from. It's got Dan Remy, mary Lou Howard, leland Ayers, jim Richmond and Bob Olney's name on it and it was a dedication of a reconstruction of a building in 1980. That date is on that plaque and we haven't been able to find out where it came from. There's a story behind it that it was stolen and scrapped for scrap metal and it weighs 350 pounds. That's why it's sitting on the floor and I've got it mounted to the wall For anybody listening.
Speaker 1:we're doing an audio-only version of the podcast today, so if you want to see what we're talking about, you've got to come to the museum in person.
Speaker 2:And again, that is a brand new item. I know you guys have been working on it, but somebody, if they were here two years ago. That is like some of the other things you have.
Speaker 5:Supposedly it was used in a court trial and somebody had scrapped it in the police department. I don't know that it was Burbank, necessarily. The rumor I heard was that they found it in a scrap middle yard and said no, no, no, this isn't right and we have no knowledge of it. We've been able to find out other than go to Mary Lou Howard, I guess.
Speaker 1:But the important part is you've saved it, oh yeah.
Speaker 5:It's now safe. I cleaned it up and it's safe now.
Speaker 2:Now I'm curious because you also, when business is closed, I know you love to go get signs. You're one to collect signs and neon.
Speaker 5:Yeah, we've got the Don's.
Speaker 2:Don's restaurant up on Glen Oaks.
Speaker 5:Don's restaurant on Glen Oaks. That sign's in the other room. That sign was the hardest sign I've ever mounted in this museum. We broke the neon the top neon tube. We broke that three times getting it up there. It's patina.
Speaker 1:Just call that patina.
Speaker 5:Yeah, well, if you look at it, it's a lot shinier than the rest of it. Not taking up room in your house, we just got the sign for the Addison Hotel and it's a rather big sign, wow. And I sat back thinking where can I put it?
Speaker 1:We got no room and then I realized it sticks out from the wall, and that's in the room right over here right, it's in the room right over there right across from the Don's Me pointing doesn't do any good for the podcast, but picture it.
Speaker 5:It's in the south wall. There you go In what we call the farmyard, and another sign guy helped us restore the neon and it's all working now.
Speaker 2:Do you have a favorite room or a favorite item in here?
Speaker 5:My favorite item isn't up yet. Oh, it'll be the newest item that we're bringing in Stealth, stealth.
Speaker 2:Before we talk about that, you have a new fire engine here. Oh yeah, Monty Osborne Monty that I was there the day that he brought it into town Totally restored this, and now it's. People need to realize it's only eight feet long.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's a. It's a 1950 in American La France, monty and I were partners in a fire protection business that was an aside to the fire department in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1:Now, that engine would have fit in the old fire stations. That's what they were built for, right.
Speaker 5:Actually I've got a picture of it. It was used on the cover of the annual budget at headquarters. It was in front of headquarters.
Speaker 2:Really the old headquarters, station 11, the old station.
Speaker 5:Station 11 of a new fire engine, and then that old one, oh, very cool. That engine was put together by Monty Osborne in the 70s for the fireman's muster. Oh yeah, the historical portion of the—.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, he did that, verdugo had a muster that we were at years ago, there were several musters.
Speaker 2:Well, I went to many musters with Gary Sutcliffe. You camped out at many and I remember our, our fire brigade team and we had a whole team and guys.
Speaker 5:That's what it was built for. And then money sold it and here just recently he went back into business. After I bought him out and he moved up north, he decided he wanted to buy that fire engine back. He traced it back through three people that had bought and sold it, found it in Ohio and bought it back, had it shipped out here, restored it again and donated it.
Speaker 1:A fire engine with a lineage.
Speaker 2:Again, it is gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous. I remember the day Monty rolled it out of the trailer. Yeah, he brought it. We looked at this little engine Again. It's another reason for people to come to the museum. You know, this engine is now on display and it is just amazing, amazing. Plus, you have the old sea grave over here yep, you have 49 sea grave that was a burbank fire engine. I drove it there you go now. That was after they had cranks I pumped that.
Speaker 5:I pumped that fire engine at the big boy barbecue fire oh, up on First Street yeah, yeah, on First Street.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, I remember that fire. Yeah, you and I have been on many fires and that's back in the day when the guys used to jump on the back. You know, nowadays you can't do any of that. Well, I remember hearing a story One of the engineers and I won't say his name, I know things have moved on One of the engineers and I won't say his name, I know things have moved on, but he would love to go down all of to Lake Street and over the railroad tracks at about 70 miles an hour. And whoever was on the tailboard, you end up in the hose bed.
Speaker 1:You'd end up in the front seat.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, gary, we're going to let you go back and there's probably some tri-tip left over, you know. Again, thank you for what you do for the museum.
Speaker 5:The museum is Burbank's best-kept secret and it's a jewel, and it is.
Speaker 2:We appreciate your work and thanks for all the little things that you fix and correct and make look good.
Speaker 5:History is in the details, if you just take my fingerprints off of them.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, we ask you to stop touching everything. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, we ask you to stop touching everything. Yeah, thanks, gary.
Speaker 5:Okay.
Speaker 1:Ross, we are back with a surprise guest. We have somebody in the crowd here introduce themselves and they've got quite a tie-in to Burbank history through their family. This is Dixie Harned. We're going to find out what that tie-in is right now. Welcome, dixie.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:You mentioned the Civil War.
Speaker 3:Right right.
Speaker 1:Now we're talking history. We're going way back.
Speaker 3:Well, relatives of mine during the Civil War grew for the North, grew lemons and oranges to feed the Army. And after the Civil War he took his expertise and he came out this way he bought a bunch of land and he started raising the lemons and oranges in a lemon farm. I think is exactly what it was. But he eventually sold it off. But he donated a portion of it to Burbank because it was mostly in North Hollywood but a section of Burbank also, and so when he left he donated that land and it's Vickroy Park right here in Burbank.
Speaker 2:Well, that, vickroy, that's your stamp on the city Yep. And if I recall right I have heard that was the first- park. Yes, yes, that's kind of you know, that's history, yeah, and I'm so glad you stopped by to. You know, not only enjoy the day, but you are part of.
Speaker 1:Burbank Ross, did you cover the opening of that park, the dedication of that?
Speaker 2:park. I've been in Burbank shooting pictures for a long time.
Speaker 3:Well, every time a relative comes out this way, we always have to take them to Vickrey Park and have their Vickery picture. Oh, there's a sign there.
Speaker 2:There's a. It's a, there's a arch Yep. It says Vickery Park. The city uses it every year. There's a.
Speaker 3:It's the very end of his property. But he wanted to give you know, he wanted to give something to Burbank.
Speaker 1:That's fair and the bank is grateful for it. What a legacy.
Speaker 2:How that intersection most people probably don't know where it is. It's like five intersections that comes together.
Speaker 3:Yes, right Points, they all come together. It's a small park, but it's a beautiful little park. Oh, it is.
Speaker 1:And it's your favorite.
Speaker 3:It's my favorite park.
Speaker 2:As it should be. Well, I know you said you were short on time, but we are so glad you stopped by and shared that I'm glad.
Speaker 3:I did too.
Speaker 2:I mean, that is what today is about Burbank's history, and you're part of it. Thanks for sharing your history with us we happen to have another director of the Burbank historical museum with us. Royalty, royalty, literally. We have Sue Baldessaroni. Now we've interviewed her husband, don, but one of the people that does most of the work around here she's been working, the front table, the reception table, all day From the before.
Speaker 2:people were here. You were here, you, you sent out the mailer. Yes, tons of people I got that. I mean you do a lot too for the historical society. I hope you uh know, love every minute of it and you know what the burbank people that know about the museum do too. They love what you do you. It's a love labor of love for you, definitely, you know. I know don is involved in a lot of things and you aren't far behind and it's all very much appreciated.
Speaker 2:Thank you yeah it, uh, and we were talking um we had gary setliff on earlier, one of your directors, and you and him are the people that go out.
Speaker 8:Do acquisitions?
Speaker 2:And that is an art in itself.
Speaker 1:I mean literally a discerning eye and it's difficult when you turn somebody down.
Speaker 8:Oh I bet, yeah, it really is.
Speaker 1:Do you feel bad for turning them down or do you feel bad for letting something go?
Speaker 8:Actually both, but I don't like to see the look on their faces when I tell them you know I apologize, but we just can't use it.
Speaker 1:Because they're attached to it. They really are.
Speaker 8:They really are, and you know it takes a lot sometimes for somebody to give their donation that's been in their family for 50, 80 years donation that's been in their family for 50 80 years.
Speaker 2:But over the years and you've done this for many years is there any one piece that you think that is here in the museum that you just were wowed over?
Speaker 8:there's so much there's, there is, but you know, we just recently received the donation from the airport and Amelia Earhart is, I mean, I've loved that woman for years and to be able to receive that from the airport.
Speaker 1:And I put it together, I think that right now, that's come up a few times today already, so that's clearly a must-see.
Speaker 2:Well, we keep sharing every time. You know we were here the last time. We did an appreciation day two years ago, I believe For the 50th, and we looked around and Craig and I have been here several other times, but every time you come in here there's something new. And if you come back now we have this what is that called? Consider it. Is it a seal A?
Speaker 8:medallion. You know, nobody knows the whole story behind it. I don't know if they told you the story about where it came from Right, yeah, yeah, Don told me.
Speaker 1:Now, since we're just doing audio, we keep referring to this.
Speaker 8:It's the city seal.
Speaker 1:So circular city seal about four or five feet across in brass.
Speaker 8:More than likely it's either brass or it looks heavy oh it looks heavy.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't want that to fall on my toe. It's almost 500 pounds. Unbelievable and we're still learning about that.
Speaker 8:Yeah, nobody knows where it came from. We're assuming it was from a building that may have been torn down, but we're looking into it Even the police department didn't know and we mentioned already an appreciation for the fact that you have it.
Speaker 1:That's the important part. Yeah, it's here now. Now you can learn about it and figure out the history, but it's been saved well, it's there's.
Speaker 2:There's so many, there's so much to look at and find. Here you are doing a marvelous job, literally. People that haven't come here, you know we'd love to see new members, you know, you guys, and for $20 a year.
Speaker 8:I know, and they get all this Right you get an appreciation barbecue.
Speaker 2:That's right. But you know, I know you and Gary go out and, like you said to some people, when you look at something you can't take everything, that's right. It's funny because I've been shooting pictures now 50 years and everybody asks me what are you going to do with all your old pictures? And I go well, I hope the historical museum. You know, because I have pictures of Burbank 50 years ago.
Speaker 1:You have a timeline, I do Timeline of the last 50 years of Burbank. Well, as I was telling people.
Speaker 2:I remember when they moved the house and originally the Little Blue House. I remember doing it at 2 in the morning.
Speaker 1:That's right, it was Somebody's going to correct me if it's not blue.
Speaker 8:It is blue, it is blue.
Speaker 1:We call it the Little Blue House.
Speaker 2:I don't want to have been wrong were out and I remember like it was yesterday. It feels like, but it's just for people to show up and come here and there's something new. Come back.
Speaker 1:A museum I wouldn't think would be able to survive if it didn't give people a reason to come back, which is not only events like this to appreciate them, but something new, something new to find, something new to come back, which is not only events like this to appreciate them, but something new, something new to find, something new to come see.
Speaker 8:And you always have that progression going on, giving people a reason to come back. Well, that's like Gary and Carrie yell at me for taking in too much. So when we finished the last three displays, they said now I understand why you take everything, Because I have an idea of what I want and I collect it.
Speaker 1:Some would say a method to your madness. You got it, but you do have limits here. You do have walls that you're not currently going out of.
Speaker 8:Maybe there will be expansion at some point, but you have a limited amount of space, so what we're starting to do is rotate some of the displays. That's how we get around it.
Speaker 1:But Johnny Carson is always there, always Right.
Speaker 8:Always. That room stays pretty much the same, okay.
Speaker 1:I walked by that earlier and he was taller than I remember him being. If the suit is proportionally, because it's one of his suits that he actually wore on the show the Tonight Show it's taller than I remembered him being, if the suit is.
Speaker 8:I only saw him sitting behind his desk. That's it just from the third button up right.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, Sue, you work with a team. I know there's several you. You know you could become a member, but you are a on the board and a lot of people don't realize there's a lot of things to make this museum keep functioning that certainly takes a village exactly. You know we talked to carrie about tours. Uh, to arrange that and to make sure you have docents here and to be here when the kids are running around.
Speaker 8:It takes three of us to schedule the tours for him and then he brings in the people, the docents and all like that to help him with the tours.
Speaker 2:It's such a team effort.
Speaker 1:So remember that the entire team are all volunteers. You do it for the love of doing it, giving back for the history of Burbank teaching and passing it on to the younger generations, for whatever myriad of reasons somebody might have for doing it.
Speaker 8:We all love it.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, as a Burbank resident, a lifelong Burbank resident, I appreciate it. I'm not here as much as I would like to be.
Speaker 1:This is where he'd like you to when his day comes. We're going to stuff him and put him right here.
Speaker 8:There'll be a Ross Benson display you got it with his name and some of his photos.
Speaker 2:Well, your husband has requested, if my son doesn't want my fire helmet the second one is going to you guys.
Speaker 8:Thank you.
Speaker 2:And you know I have 50 years of this city changing and I'm all for change. You have to, if not we would. You know we'd be in trouble financially and everything else.
Speaker 1:But how much has the spirit of the city changed? Not that much, exactly, not that much.
Speaker 2:Well, see, and that's the thing, you know that it's changing. And yes, the older people, but yes, young people. So I've seen a couple of kids here now that have gone through today and they're in awe. Well, you've got to take that awe because they'll go back and they'll think about that and things that they've seen and realize it happened right here.
Speaker 1:Your team and the docents here really provide that human touch and puts it to context, brings it to life, because without the context, people don't always know what they're looking at, especially a younger person.
Speaker 8:Exactly. Some of the things are from the late 1800s. How did they associate with that?
Speaker 1:They're not teaching a lot of that stuff anymore either.
Speaker 8:No.
Speaker 1:You're teaching it here, you got it. You're teaching it here. You got it. You're teaching it here.
Speaker 8:And we have when we work, our weekends and like that. You wouldn't believe the families with four and five-year-olds and they're amazing what they see in here. They'll come up to the desk and they'll just chit-chat with what they've seen. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:And it's real. It's actually in front of them. It's not on a screen.
Speaker 8:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's right, right there.
Speaker 8:What I've noticed with school tours. They're used to looking at their phone or listening to music on their phone, and we turn the phonograph on upstairs and they just can't get over it. It's now in here in their phone.
Speaker 1:Well, I just where's that avocado green wall phone with the 30-foot cord? And that was on the kitchen wall. Where's that hanging in here?
Speaker 2:and I remember our phone number, popular one. No, I won't go in hornwall.
Speaker 2:That's right, everybody remembers their phone number from my mom's birthday was j 4th, she always told me, and her phone number was 849-1776. She told me that she got the phone number because it was her birthday. She also tried to tell me that the fireworks that fly off every July 4th were for her, and then I finally caught on that. No, it didn't work that way. You were lucky to have all three of those. You were lucky to have all three of those. But you know, looking around your whole team yes, thank them From my Burbank and also as a resident, definitely. And you guys get together and so forth these days, these appreciation days that you put on.
Speaker 8:Thank you, you know, this is a member.
Speaker 1:it's officially a member appreciation day, but if you're a member. This is a great day to come and show your appreciation for the volunteers and the docents. They're probably all here today, yep, or a good chunk of them, so this is a great chance to come thank them too.
Speaker 8:Thank you. Thank you Appreciate it and join for only $20.
Speaker 1:You got it.
Speaker 8:Yeah. You get so much for $20.
Speaker 1:Get some tri-tip today. Very fortunate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, today you couldn't beat the lunch, for you know any restaurant From Handy Market. Yeah, exactly, exactly. But Sue, Sue, we'll let you get back to you. I would have over. You know you have a couple other volunteers, but I know a couple of them don't like pictures. I know they won't like a headset on.
Speaker 1:You've got to go check up on Gary and Don.
Speaker 8:Okay, thank you guys. Thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Ross. Time has flown. We've been here since this started today and it's been hours. We've spoken to some great people, great guests, who some we've seen before, some we've just met today.
Speaker 2:But another great event here at the Appreciation Barbecue at the Historical Society I am blown away by again having some of our guests that we did not know were going to join us to share the history of Burbank, like Vic Roy Park. Wow, I'm just, I'm in awe.
Speaker 1:Well, that's why I love being kind of out in the middle of these events that we go to and do these podcasts, because any kind of buddy can walk by, and this is somebody that walked by and said hey, I don't know if you're interested in my family.
Speaker 2:You know that in that other piece that they have here, we learned some secrets about their new project what's coming. What's coming, I mean that is.
Speaker 1:And we've already let everybody know about some of the new stuff that's here. If you were here a couple months ago, there's already some new stuff to see and maybe if we have anybody out there that might have some answers about this giant metal city seal it is gorgeous and huge they're they're doing. They're currently researching that, that item.
Speaker 2:So if you can help out there, just just reach out to them, and on the outside edge of that, have you noticed it, has several city council members. No offense, the majority of them are gone. I think there's only one or two left.
Speaker 1:I think that's what Gary was reading off some of those names. But part of the research is they're trying to figure out where this thing started its life. It's huge, like I said. I jokingly said it would make a great coffee table. Put a piece of glass on top of that, but you need to come in person to see it. That's right. You need to come here to see it.
Speaker 2:Well, you know again Appreciation Day, the food was great, the band what about the marionettes that we heard?
Speaker 1:We heard it. It was right around the corner. It sounded like a great show and they do have. The room around the corner is full of chairs and not one of them was empty during that marionette show. It sounded like a great show and a lot of people enjoy that part. But again, just one of the many things to come and enjoy at an event at the Historical Society.
Speaker 2:Well, craig, you and I have done many podcasts together. Always great to be on air with you. I mean you lighten up the podcast Today. We're our engineer.
Speaker 1:Multitasking today.
Speaker 2:You were hitting those buttons like so well and keeping track. I appreciate it and thank you and until next time, always a pleasure. And until next time, we're not sure where we're going to be.
Speaker 1:We never know. It's always as much of a surprise to us as it is you.
Speaker 2:That is true.
Speaker 1:To find out more about the Burbank Historical Society, their website, burbankhistoricalsocorg. All the events, everything's up there.
Speaker 2:And myburbankcom oh, there's that too. You can find what's happening in Burbank. There, with all of our social media.
Speaker 1:And the audio version of this podcast will be available on anything you download your podcasts on, and there'll be an audio version on the my Burbank YouTube channel, I imagine probably within a week, but if you're hearing me say that it's already happened. There you go. Good to see you, Ross. Always fun to spend a day with you.
Speaker 2:Until next time, toodle-oo, have a great day.