Holidays in Time

Holidays on the Homestead at William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park…

For those who feel the holidays have become too commercial, an antidote may be a step back to the 1850s at William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park. Holidays on the Homestead, the park’s annual celebration of 1850s-era holiday traditions, promises to be a fun event for all ages and a peek into the lives of homesteaders making their way during the California Gold Rush era.

A foot bridge leads from the park’s visitor center to the historic homestead, and the staff and volunteers refer to it as the bridge of time. On December 11, from 11am to 3pm, the bridge of time will lead visitors to a holiday wonderland where they can make citrus and tin-punch tree ornaments as well as candles and rag dolls, see wool spun into yarn and much more. In a nod to the modern age, a tree will be decorated to time-period specifications and will be perfect for selfies. A Christmas bag, similar to a piñata, will be opened at 2pm so kids can scramble for old fashioned candy.

The park works in tandem with the Ide Adobe Interpretive Association to create a living history experience that will engage upwards of 50 volunteers and 10 staff, all in period costumes, to demonstrate and tell the stories of people who moved into California during the early Gold Rush. The two-acre park boasts an adobe house, woodshop, blacksmith shop, smoke house, outhouse, school room and candle making shed. An 1850s-era garden has been planted with specialties such as Bidwell Cassava grown by John Bidwell and Jenny Lind Cabbage, as well as Victoria rhubarb.

Blacksmiths will demonstrate their craft and artisans will support guests in making knitting and crochet projects while three sets of musicians roam the property, including the Red Bluff High School Victorian Carolers. Warm wassail and treats will be served.

State Park Interpreter Heather Lee even locked down an extra-special visit from Mr. Saint Nicholas to hear holiday wishes from children. “I made a special phone call to the North Pole and thankfully he answered the phone,” she says.

Lee, who has been at the park for three years, loves Holidays on the Homestead because “it brings people together in a way that is warm and festive and celebratory.” The experiential aspect of the event allows people to celebrate history in a way that is visceral and real. The volunteers create back stories for their characters and understand why they are wearing the particular clothes they put on for the event, as well as why they are in California and how they arrived. “Interpretation is making history more interesting to people through common objects,” she adds.

The park’s Story Walk, a collaborative project with the Tehama County Library, will be set up with The Night Before Christmas. Stations of book pages are set up along the river from the Visitor Center to the bridge of time so people can read the classic story.

Holidays on the Homestead is a fundraiser for the park and interpretive association and will help keep volunteers in costumes and buildings kept up. Entrance fees are $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 3 and up. Toddlers under 3 enter for free. Families of up to five guests can enter for $15. A general store is available with educational toys and games available for sale.

In addition to this special holiday event, the park hosts immersive field trips for fourth graders throughout the school year, as well as an annual Pollinator Party that celebrates all things pollinator during State Park Week. The Story Walk is hosted with a different book for 10 months out of the year.

The William B. Ide Adobe State Park is one of those places that readers may recognize by name from its interstate sign, but haven’t yet visited. Lee laughs that it was true even for her. “Just like everyone else who comes into our visitor center, I had passed the sign on Interstate 5 a million times and never stopped in.” If that’s true for you, December 11 is the ideal time to make a first visit.

“We really enjoy helping the community celebrate their own history but also understand other people’s history, because there were so many different people here in the 1850s,” she adds. •

William B. Ide Adobe State Park
Holidays on the Homestead
21659 Adobe Road, Red Bluff
December 11, 11am-3pm