The Feather staff had the honor of being invited to the “Christmas at Kearney” event by the Fresno Historical Society (FHS), Dec. 5. This event has taken place at the Kearney Mansion in previous years, however, for the past seven years the event was at a stand still. This year will mark the 50th reopening of this event.
Cindy Wathen, the director of public relation and events, gave information of Kearney’s earlier life. According to Wathen, Theodore Kearney grew up in Liverpool England and in poor circumstances, thus leading his parents to bringing him to America.
“When Theodore Kearney came to California he was seeking to create this agricultural empire,” Wathen said. “Interestingly enough, this area was being advirtised as the place of oppurtunity. Kearney came with a grand plan. He sought to build Chateau Fresno on thousands of acres. This project was really like a modern corporate community where businesses would come, families would live and schools started, of course when he died in 1906 that all changed.”
Kearney’s wealth was developed in his Fruit Vale Estate in Fresno County. When Kearney was 27 he was hired to help develop the first colony farm in Fresno County. The hope was to turn fertile land into settlements of 20 acres. Kearney was the manager and chief promoter of the Central California Colony.
With Kearney’s salesmen skills, he was able to create quick sales. Kearney had 192 lots to sell within six square miles of land in Fresno. The land cost $1000 and $12.50 per month. By the end of 1878 a majority of the lots were under development.
Kearney was considered the Raisin king. He purchased 6,800 acres of land which he built the Fruit Vale Estate and began growing raisins. In 1898, Kearney started the California Raisin Growers Association. The goal was to solidify the raisin market by the quality of the raisins and the price of them.
Wathen expanded on Kearney’s success with raisins. She stated the fundamentals that went in to the process of making his association so prosperous.
“What made Theodore Kearney so known was not only his start of agriculture but of raisins,” Wathen said. “Kearney was one of the original founders of the raisin board; he worked hard to keep the group of collective raisin growers together. After Kearney passed, the group came to be the Raisin Growers board which brought Sun Made Raisin, which you may know Sun Made Raisins is celebrating their 100th anniversary. This is ultimately an extension of what Theodore Kearney started here and essentialy the turn of the century.”
While this estate plays a huge roll in the community, there is more to it then just the agricultural side of the estate. The FHS takes time to hold events there at the mansion. This allows people to get the feel of the era that this mansion was built in. For example, Christmas at Kearney. This holiday event has not been done in seven years. Wathan explains the reason for the reopening and why it had ceased production for that period of time.
“For the first time in seven years we are bringing back Christmas at Kearney,” Wathen said. “We brought it back because we had so many ask us to please bring it back. So we decided to do it this year. The reason we haven’t done it in a while was simply because it is an enormous commitment on behalf of the society both financially and staff wise to do this. So we will see how this year goes. We really need the public to come out and support this otherwise its just such a massive of undertaking for us.”
To draw more people in for the spirit of Christmas, Kearney Mansion will be hosting events that you may attend to. These events consist of corporate parties where you can reserve a spot for your work to celebrate the season in the Mansion.
The mansion will aslo hold a Christmas open house Sun. Dec. 9 and Dec. 16 between the times of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Admission for adults cost $10, senior citizens $8 and students and children 12 years of age and under cost $6. Children under the age of 3 will be free. There is also an additional $5 fee for entering the park.
The last event will be the Victorian Christmas Teas. This will be an opportunity for you travel back in time and experience an afternoon of tea, sandwiches, entertainment, desserts and a period gift. Reservation dates include: Dec. 7, 8, 14, 15, 20 and 21. The 7th and 8th are sold out according to Wathen and the 14th and 15th have limited availability. Wathen says there is plenty of availability for the 20th and 21st. There is a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 30 at each sitting. Members of the FHS pay $25 and $35 for non members.
For more information about Kearney Mansion or reservations contact Cindy Wathen at 559.441.0862 or via email [email protected].
For more news, read the Dec. 3 article, Annual Constitution test gives way to nerves, excitement.
