Redlands Daily Facts from Redlands, California • Page 3

OLD GROVE of Redlands' oldtst navel orange trees wtrt being beaten into tht ground above Franklin avenue today by the heavy equipment shown here. It was a selective process in which James S. Leonard (right) was removing the weakest trees in the grove between Campbell and Franklin avenues, east of Summit B. Leonard has lived on the property for 30 years, caring for this and numerous other orchards as a profession. Another grove contractor, Frank Jacinto, furnished the crew and the beater to demolish the trees.

About 100 trees will be left untouched, preserving the rural atmosphere. HOME WILL the midst of today's grove thinning at 121 Franklin avenue stood the inviting residence of James and Clara Mae Leonard, which Frank Weber built in Earlier the Weber family, including Mrs. Leonard, had their home on the hilltop now occupied by the Mausoleum in Hillside But some trees to remain Memorial Park. But once they lived in downtown Redlands, where Weber ran the town's first bakery. The "Redlands Bakery" sign on Sliger's music store marks the spot.

Weber, aged 98, lived until 1960. (Facts photos by Kenison) One of oldest citrus groves being toppled It's a quirk of history, perhaps, that Frank Weber's 75-year-old soap and bakery sign in downtown Redlands, and his old Franklin avenue orange miles both endangered at the same time. And that both of sign and the getting tender care from their present owners, and they'll be removed gradually, with due respect for their years. That's the way Frank Weber might have done it. An authority on these subjects is Mrs.

James S. Leonard, the former Clara Mae Weber, who's spent her life in the midst of such Redlands happenings. Chest annual meeting to be tomorrow More than 150 directors and board members of local social service agencies are expected to attend tomorrow night's annual meeting of the Community Chest of Redlands Area that begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Casa Loma Room of the University of Redlands. Individual allocations for 1976 for the 12 member agencies will be announced and new officers and one-third of the Chest board are scheduled to be elected.

The 1976 United Way campaign chairman is also expected to be announced. Member agencies will collectively receive $190,000 this year, an increase of $4,520 over last year's allocation of $185,450. Dr. Larry Burgess, archivist and head of special collections for Smiley Library, will be the guest speaker. The Redlands Ugh school girls' ensemble will perform under the direction of Roger Duffer.

Her father ran the Redlands 5-cent loaves of bread all over this before 1900. He also built the present Leonard home at 121 Franklin avenue. Chain saws and heavy equipment were grinding down 300 trees around the gracious old Leonard home today, but only the oldest and the infirm were coming out. About 100 will remain in the better rows. This is one of the few remaining citrus groves in the Franklin avenue neighborhood, and by far the oldest, which makes it a bit of history when the trees start coming down.

Another noteworthy fact is that this was Frank Weber's property 'way back beyond 1909, when he built the two- story, eight-room house. James and Clara Leonard, who have lived In the house 30 years, are parting with the trees reluctantly. And they hasten to assure the neighborhood that it doesn't mean a sudden, radical change. "We're just taking out the worst ones that have been hurt the most by smog and the advancing years," said Leonard, an oldtime protector of citrus groves. "If the place gets subdivided, that will be up to the next generation." Leonard's specialty for years has been the cultivation of citrus groves.

But he is retired, and it's become a chore to keep unproductive navel oranges looking green and thrifty. Mrs. Leonard, bom when the Frank Weber family lived in downtown Redlands, recalled how the Sliger Music building, at Fifth and State streets, got its soap sign. "Father owned the building and the bakery there, and we had a rooming house upstairs," she remembered. "The soap people came along with an offer to paint the wall if they could advertise their products, adding 'Redlands Bakery' at the top," she said.

'The sign was painted, of course, before the Chandler Building was built, and that was 75 years ago. It could have been several years earlier, because Father came to Redlands in 1888, and lived on State street when I was born," she stated. The Chandler Building having been torn down in 1972, when the City condemned it as a 70-year-old hazard, the aging soap sign has become an annoyance to Beth Sliger, owner of the music establishment that occupies the onetime bakery. But there was a public outcry when Mrs. Sliger hired a crew to remove the sign, and the work was halted.

Today the matter hangs in limbo, with nothing really decided. Mrs. Sliger has referred the sign issue to the beautification committee of the City's new Business Improvement District, and that's where it rests. So, the wall of Sliger's Music Store may read "Redlands Bakery" for some time to come, and a lot of Frank Weber's old orange trees are also to be spared. Comet West still visible in mornings Although the weather created poor visibility this morning, Comet West was still a faint, naked-eye object.

Whether it would have been fairly satisfactory under good seeing conditions could not be judged. At 4:35 the comet was well above the eastern skyline suggesting that the object came up at, perhaps, 4:20 and possibly 10 minutes earlier than that. County to buy 24 vehicles to purchase 24 general and special-purpose vehicles amounting to $130,050 for the county's motor pool fleet as already budgeted equipment was granted by the Board of Supervisors Monday. Included in the equipment purchase are 17 three-quarter ton pickups ranging in price from $4,600 to $6,650 for three four-wheel drive units; two half-ton pickups at $4,650 each; a one-ton pickup, universal Jeep, utility vehicle, three-quarter ton carryall, $6,900, and a 12- passenger van-wagon at $5,300. DAILY FACTS, Redlands, Calif Tuesday, March 3 Pilot dies after crash on San G.

A Dana Point pilot lived long enough to trudge three-fourths of a mile through four feet of powdery snow before he died after his single-engine plane crashed on the southern slopes of San Gorgonio Mountain early yesterday evening. Two sheriff's deputies were airlifted to the crash site at the level near the Mill Creek Jumpoff shortly after 10:30 p.m. and followed the pilot's tracks over rugged terrain on snowshoes in the dark in sub-freezing temperatures. They found the body of the 43- year-old pilot about 1:20 a.m. today, about three-quarters of a mile west of the wreckage, said Dep.

Paul Herzig of the sheriff's aviation division. The coroner has withheld the name of the victim pending notification of next of kin. Herzig said the plane, which was registered to a Redondo Beach man, was apparently en route from Orange County Airport to Apple Valley when it may have struck the top of a ridge and slipped over the top about two miles south of San Gorgonio Peak. The plane was not heavily damaged and crashed in an area Herzig said was not heavily forested. The Beechcraft Bonanza's emergency locator beacon apparently had been operating at least since 7 p.m., when Norton Air Force Base controllers first monitored the signal.

The time of the crash had not beren determined this morning, however. Sheriff's helicopter pilot Dep. Vic Brimmer and his pilot- observer, Dep. Al Nolan, spotted the wreckage about 10:30 yesterday. They reported finding blood in the cockpit and on one of the wings and found tracks leading away from the aircraft.

Sgt. Ron Telles and an unidentified deputy were airlifted to the crash site shortly after the wreckage was discovered and followed the tracks west until they located the body. Federal Aviation Administration investigators were waiting for heavy winds in the mountain area to subside this morning before continuing their investigation at the scene, Herzig said. $360,000 permit issued for UCB With a $360,000 building permit issued, construction of the new United California Bank was proceeding today at 175-95 Orange Btreet, which is actually the first work on the Redlands Mall project. R-J Investments and Ernest W.

Hahn, received the permit as joint developers of the Mall properties. Jim Elsee, of Long Beach, is on the job supervising the construction. Holdup men still at large Bandits abandon car two blocks from bank A blue Mustang found about two blocks away from the scene of a bank robbery here yesterday is the only piece of evidence police have found since two masked gunmen escaped with just under $27,000 within minutes after the bank opened, according to Capt. Edward F. Olmos of the Redlands police department.

The automobile matches the description of a car parked just outside the Bank of California when the robbery occurred at 10:16 a.m., police said. It is believed to have been stolen from Rialto earlier yesterday, according to police. The car was found on Sun avenue approximately two blocks from the bank at Colton avenue and Orange streets, according to Olmos. Olmos said no information was received yesterday placing the gunmen in another automobile after abandoning the car on Sun avenue. Two men answering their description were last seen running down Ohio street, about three blocks west of Orange street, witnesses told police.

"But they were seen only briefly running down the street," said Olmos. "I don't think anybody paid much attention to them. I would say they were seen about two minutes after the Chairmen appointed robbery occurred." Witnesses told police and FBI agents that both men were in their early 20s, and were of medium height and thin build. Both wore ski masks, according to witness descriptions. They apparently cut their robbery attempt short after one bank customer, R.

J. Jones, fled the bank and telephoned police from a nearby drug store. The $27,000 was collected by one gunman who scurried from teller to teller while another, armed with a shotgun, kept watch over about 12 customers and other bank employees, according to police. The robbers initially demanded that the bank's vault be opened, but nothing was taken from the vault after Jones ran outside, police said. Jones later said that one of the robbers yelled at him as he fled the bank, but he just continued running.

"I also heard someone else say that I had a lot of guts to run like that," said Jones. "But I figured I had been dead once for 27 days when I was hospitalized for surgery." "If it was my time to go today, I would have gone. But I didn't. I figured if I could get the cops here we could catch these guys." July 4th committee holds first meeting An organizational meeting of the 4th of July Committee was held this morning and various members, representing service clubs, were assigned to committees for the different activities. General Chairman Tom Ditchfield presided over the meeting and introduced his officers for 1976.

William McCalmon is acting as co- chuirman. Esther Mcrtens is the secretary and Dorothy DcMirjyn Is treasurer again this year. Appointed as Parade chairmen are Normnn Martinez and Charlie Berlingeri of the American Legion. They will receive applications from those wishing to be in the parade and will also be in charge of the formation and placement of units in the parade. William Upston, of the Jaycees, will be In charge of Two bikes stolen, one bike found A reddish-orange 10-spced Senator bicycle was reported stolen Monday from the apartment of Linda Allec, 304 Eureka street, according to police report.

The bicycle is valued at $75, police said. Someone yesterday told police that he found an orange bicycle in his back yard, but it could not be confirmed that the bicycle belonged to Miss Allec. The bike was retrieved at the home of Ben Stringer, 253 S. Eureka street, and held at the police department, officers said. A 10-speed Azuki bicycle was also reported stolen Monday from Jim Hogg, according to police.

Hogg told officers that he parked the bike in the 200 block of Cajon street at about 10 p.m. Sunday and found it missing about one hour later. The bicycle is valued at $50, police said. acceptance, assignment and location of the various booths which are an adjunct to the evening Klwanis Bar-B-Q. There will also be activities arranged by the Redlands Recreational Department.

The program in the University Stadium, which will Include a soccer game, prc- flrcworks entertainment and a colossal fireworks display, will be managed by Bill McCalmon. Fred Ford, the representative from Rotary, will handle the sale of tickets prior to the 4th und at the gate. The Committee agreed to use the same theme the Bicentennial Committee has adopted, "Redlands Commemorates the Spirit of Other organizations will be unsigned detailed functions prior to or during the program. Schools lose expensive IBM typewriters Two school buildings were the targets of burglars who escaped with office equipment in both instances last weekend, according to police reports. Officers said thieves forced their way through a louvered window at the administrative offices of the Redlands Unified School District, 33 W.

Lugonia avenue, and escaped with a dictation machine valued at $229 and an IBM typewriter valued at $694.30. Burglars also forced their way through a window at Lugonia school, 202 E. Pennsylvania avenue, and escaped with an IBM typewriter valued at $364, according to police reports. Planetarium show The "Mystery of Stonehenge" planetarium show at the Griffith Park observatory will continue through May 2. Light rain didn't come, still might The light rainfall that was forecast for all parts of Southern California did not arrive on schedule this morning, but National Weather Service calls for a slight chance for some sprinkles here this afternoon and tonight.

Redlantiers spent the morning under variable high clouds the result of the weak front off the California coast and forecasters say that front could produce light showers here as it moves east late today. But skies should return to normal Wednesday with temperatures in the mid 60s, according to the National Weather Service. A continued chance of light showers is culled for in all valley areas and along mountain slopes tonight. Desert areas will be under variable high clouds today and tonight but no rainfall is expected there, the Weather Service predicts. Lows tonight in the Redlands Frost District should range between 36 und 41 degrees, National Weather Service spokesman said.

He said temperatures could fall to just above freezing in lower areas. The extended forecast calls for generally fair skies und warmer temperatures Thursday through Saturday, the spokesman said. West Redlands zoning to be before Council Zoning of a west Redlands annexation, which has stirred a minor controversy, will be the subject of a public hearing at tonight's Bession of the City Council. An industrial designation is proposed for the 4.85 acres comprising annexation No. 51, on the east side of Alabama street, opposite the K-Mart discount center project.

Neighboring property owners have clamored for a commercial zone. Final action on the proposal is scheduled to follow the hearing. COMMUNITY CENTER SITE-Louise Linton (right), chairman of the Citizens' Participation Advisory Committee (CPAC), Is pictured at Lugonia Park, which will be recommended to the City Council tonight as the preferred site for the Community Center, long promised to Norfhside citizens. Anita Dimery will present tonight's report for the committee, which also includes Manuel Villages, Joe Gonzales, Leonora Jimenez and David Johnstone, Salvation Army captain. The committee favors an L-shaped building on the near comer, Lugonia avenue and Washington street, adjacent to the present tennis courts, which are near Clay street, the church corner.

Building would stand in the area of the pepper trees and picnic tables (left). Some 1300,000 in Federal funds have been set aside for the project. (Facts photo by Kenison) i.