Carmel Magazine

CM Winter 2015 Final

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Librar y Series Brings Local Histor y Into Focus SHORTCUTS LIT 56 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 I n the early 1900s, Carmel's police department consisted of one man who patrolled the streets on horseback. When conditions got rowdy in the village, Chief Gus Englund occasionally called in extra help. "On Halloween, for instance, when things would get a little out of con- trol with the town kids, he would deputize three or four guys in town to help with the hooligans," says Ashlee Wright, local history librarian at Carmel's Harrison Memorial Library. Current Carmel Police Chief Mike Calhoun will share this and other tales from the department's early days during the Feb. 17 installment of the Henry Meade Williams Local History Lecture Series. The annual series, sponsored by the Carmel Public Library Foundation, is held in Carpenter Hall at the Sunset Center. The library has hosted approximately four lec- tures a year since the mid 1990s, when a $250,000 grant from the Frank H. and Eva Buck Foundation and Robert and Lacy Buck provided funding for such presentations. Since then, lecturers have ranged from residents who grew up in the area to researchers studying artists, local filmmaking and other topics related to Carmel and Monterey County history. This spring's schedule includes a presentation by author JoAnn Semones, who will speak about shipwrecks and the Central Coast's maritime past (April 28). Historian Meg Clovis comes to town with a sequel to a previ- ous presentation on the lost towns of Monterey County (May 12). The lecture series draws attendees from as far away as Big Sur and Santa Cruz, and serves as a reminder of the historical richness that sur- rounds area residents. Too often, Wright explains, people pass by local landmarks without reflecting on their true significance. "The local history lectures serve as that kind of reminder—to look at your community with fresh eyes and with some respect toward the past," she says. Henry Meade Williams Local History Lecture Series events are free, and donations are welcome at the door. For schedules and information, visit www.hm-lib.org/histor y or www.carmelpubliclibrar yfoundation.org. —Renee Brincks Police Marshall Gus Englund (left) observes a gathering at the water trough on Ocean Avenue and San Carlos. Masks were worn by the crowd to protect against the 1918 influenza epidemic. Photo: Courtesy of Henry Meade Williams Local History Department, Harrison Memorial Library

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