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~ St. Ives Historical Society ~
A California Not-for-profit Corporation |
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he St. Ives Historical Society is an
outgrowth of the Guild of St. Ives, a theatrical group which has
been an integral part of the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure
Faire since the early 1980's. Ives was a theatrical powerhouse whose
members created elaborate and often humorous street theater as well
as performing both classic and new theatrical works. Selected scenes
from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? We had two groups performing it,
one of adults and one of children. A trial conducted according to
English common law? The way we did it, the judges sometimes paid
higher fines than the guilty parties. An elaborate theatrical banquet,
with many courses of entertainment and a fistfight between the servants?
We did it every week. Elizabethan songs in four-part harmony? Would
you like those in English, Italian, French, or Latin? With or without
our Elizabethan band? Before or after our dance set? |
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The members of this group met
during the course of the year for Guild meetings, potluck
barbecues, and even (occasionally) rehearsals. At a party
following one of our meetings various members started discussing
the large historical libraries and the breadth of knowledge
that existed among various members of the Guild. We felt
that such a resource of knowledge, documentation, and skills
should be shared, and resolved to create an organization
to encourage the study and re-enactment of history, with
an emphasis on theater, music, and crafts. Though our principal
experience was in the era of Elizabethan England, it was
decided to expand our scope to allow for study and re-enactment
of other periods and cultures. |
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n 1996 we formed a Board of
Directors and filed papers for non-profit status in the
State of California for the Saint Ives Historical Society.
We still do all the things the Guild used to do, but we
do them even better. At Southern California Renaissance
Faire in 1998, we created an elaborately detailed town square
which included a 35 foot high bell tower with carillon,
and we filled that area with craftsmen, artists, a rowdy
troop of town constables, a traveling medicine show, and
other historically accurate characters. Since then, the
organization has begun several new programs, including a
donation program for school libraries and crafts apprenticeships
in blacksmithing and historical painting techniques. We
are attracting new people with ancient skills, and helping
to keep ancient arts alive. |
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