The Fiddler

A publication of the Fiddletown Community Center and the
Fiddletown Preservation Society

Spring 2010 Edition - Delivered FREE to our Neighbors

Fiddletown Community
Center

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

At this moment in my day it is raining
again, and quite chilly......Spring in
California! I suspect that soon we will
see more dependable weather.

This last few months have been
productive for FCC, in spite of the wet
weather. These are some of what have
been accomplished; the library has
been spruced up, the big oak tree is
down (with no damage to the building),
we had a successful international
potluck, and we had roof repairs done
to the front of the hall and the library.
As with most buildings of this age and
size, the hall will always need to have
something done to keep it up.
Fortunately, we have a lot of local folks
who value the building and are willing
to help with the repairs.

The balance of the year promises to be
fun. Up-coming events are listed
elsewhere in this newsletter. Please,
mark your calendar and come join us.
We continue to look at ways to improve
the services we provide to our
community. Part of that process is our
effort to establish GED and a continuing
education programs. The hope is that
we will be able to offer some computer
training classes and the opportunity for
some to get their GED. The idea is to
help some get additional skills for
employment and for others, a better
comfort level with computer use at
home. While this is still a *work in
progress,* we do have GED training
material in the library at this time.

As a part of the education effort, we
are investigating making the library a
WiFi site. This will allow folks to bring
their laptops in and access the Internet.
If we can get the necessary grants, we
will install wireless computer equipment
to aid in the training we hope to offer.

As always, I look forward to seeing you
at our activities.

Dan Slater, President

Fiddletown Preservation
Society

I am honored to be named the next president of the Fiddletown Preservation Society, an organization that my mother and my grandparents helped to found in order to save the old Schoolhouse from ruin, many years ago. FPS has been in able hands ever since, and has many remarkable accomplishments, the most recent being the gaining and administration of a grant to save two more Chinese brick buildings on Main Street. I bring with me fifty-three years of commitment to Fiddletown as my home, and administrative experience in several volunteer organizations, including the Amador Arts Council and Mother Lode Harvest. My two businesses, a market garden and a bed and breakfast, are right over the ridge from Main Street, on American Flat Road.

Once again our focus must be on the old Schoolhouse, which requires some structural work in order to be usable. We will need an engineer and a building contractor to help with plans and work on the foundation, which will also require fundraising and possibly grant writing. Water, septic and electrical issues are being resolved, and a new porch was built recently. Our goal is to have the Schoolhouse available and used as a venue for public and private meetings, gatherings and parties. The remaining work on the Chinese buildings is to design and build a wall with the dedicated bricks of the many donors who contributed to the project, which we hope to complete soon. We would also like to see the popular Fiddletown Heritage Day revived, and we need new participants to bring in fresh energy and ideas to make that happen. Thanks to a committed group of volunteers we are able to open the Chew Kee Store museum to the public every Saturday, April through October. All in all, we look forward to a challenging and productive year of preserving and improving our community.

Alice Kaiser, President
www.fiddletown.info