[meteorite-list] The "Old Woman" Meteorite, updates III, IV, and V ;-)
From: Sharkkb8_at_aol.com <Sharkkb8_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:53 2004 Message-ID: <3e.3cbef9af.2d93821d_at_aol.com> -------------------------------1080174621 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A few times over the years I've posted bits and pieces regarding the saga of the "Old Woman", the wonderful large (2,750 kg!) IIAB iron meteorite from the mountains of San Bernardino County, which has had a colorful legal history, and which has mostly recently resided at the Desert Discovery Center in Barstow, CA. http://members.aol.com/sharkkb8/oldwoman.jpg Every time I would drive through the Mojave desert to-or-from Las Vegas or wherever, I would stop and check up on it, usually speaking with either a very sweet, older woman or her son, the two of whom seemed to be single-handedly (and on an essentially volunteer-basis) trying to keep the Center afloat. They both expressed unconcealed frustration at getting the cooperation, funding, and staffing necessary to keep the Center going. A few visits ago, the woman had died, and her son's frustration level had greatly increased, to the point where he was pacing and muttering and seemed really quite agitated at the subject of dealing with (according to him) the bureaucracy and noncooperation of the BLM. On my next trip some months later, the Center's doors were padlocked, no operating hours were posted, and the surrounding area had clearly not even been swept up recently. Looking through the glass, I could see that the meteorite was still within, but obviously no attention was being paid to the building. In a pleasantly-surprising reversal, when I just stopped by yesterday afternoon, the Center was not only open, but the displays had been updated and spruced up considerably. Schoolchildren's posters and drawings of the meteorite adorned the walls. I wandered around for a while and never did run into anyone who appeared to be in charge of the premises, perhaps it was a moment when they were "in the back" at lunch or something. So this is the view from an "outsider"....I'm wondering if anyone has any news from within, about the status of the building, the meteorite, or who's now running the show, regarding this California treasure. Bob V.? (You've been the Old Woman "Answer-Man" for these posts in the past....;-) Gregory J. Gregory Wilson 2118 Wilshire Blvd. #918 Santa Monica, CA 90403 -------------------------------1080174621 Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <HTML><HEAD> <META charset=3DUS-ASCII http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; cha= rset=3DUS-ASCII"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV>A few times over the years I've posted bits and pieces regarding the sa= ga of the "Old Woman", the wonderful large (2,750 kg!) IIAB iron meteorite f= rom the mountains of San Bernardino County, which has had a colorful le= gal history, and which has mostly recently resided at the <STRONG>Deser= t Discovery Center</STRONG> in Barstow, CA. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href=3D"http://members.aol.com/sharkkb8/oldwoman.jpg">http://members= .aol.com/sharkkb8/oldwoman.jpg</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Every time I would drive through the Mojave desert to-or-from Las Vegas= or wherever, I would stop and check up on it, usually speaking with either=20= a very sweet, older woman or her son, the two of whom seemed to be= single-handedly (and on an essentially volunteer-basis) trying to keep the=20= Center afloat. They both expressed unconcealed frustration at get= ting the cooperation, funding, and staffing necessary to keep the Cente= r going. A few visits ago, the woman had died, and her son's= frustration level had greatly increased, to the point where he was pacing a= nd muttering and seemed really quite agitated at the subject of dealing with= (according to him) the bureaucracy and noncooperation of the BLM. = ; </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On my next trip some months later, the Center's doors were pa= dlocked, no operating hours were posted, and the surrounding area had clearl= y not even been swept up recently. Looking through the glass, I could=20= see that the meteorite was still within, but obviously no attention was bein= g paid to the building.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a pleasantly-surprising reversal, when I just stopped by y= esterday afternoon, the Center was not only open, but the displays had been=20= updated and spruced up considerably. Schoolchildren's posters and= drawings of the meteorite adorned the walls. I wandered around for a=20= while and never did run into anyone who appeared to be in charge of&nbs= p;the premises, perhaps it was a moment when they were "in th= e back" at lunch or something.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So this is the view from an "outsider"....I'm wondering if anyone has a= ny news from within, about the status of the building, the meteorite, or who= 's now running the show, regarding this California treasure. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Bob V.? (You've been the Old Woman "Answer-Man" for t= hese posts in the past....;-)</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3D"Comic Sans MS" color=3D#ff0000 size=3D3></FONT> </DI= V> <DIV><FONT lang=3D0 face=3D"Comic Sans MS" color=3D#ff0000 size=3D3 PTSIZE= =3D"12" FAMILY=3D"SCRIPT">Gregory</FONT><FONT lang=3D0 face=3DArial color= =3D#000000 size=3D2 PTSIZE=3D"10" FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF"><BR><BR>J. Gregory Wi= lson<BR>2118 Wilshire Blvd. #918<BR>Santa Monica, CA 90403</FONT></DIV></BOD= Y></HTML> -------------------------------1080174621-- Received on Wed 24 Mar 2004 07:30:21 PM PST |
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