HSUMD General Meeting at the Historic USO Building

April’s Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert’s meeting will feature Society member, film maker and local historian, Mark Pahuta, presenting a video about drag racing and car folklore in Old Ridgecrest and the Indian Wells Valley. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15 at the Historic USO Building, 230 West Ridgecrest Blvd.

Pahuta’s video, “The Hot Rod Years”, is a 2-hour documentary telling the story of the Hot rod culture in Ridgecrest in the 1950s and 1960. From interviews with twenty hot rodders of the past, including Don Waldron, J.D. Williams, Tex Whitson, Bob Cram, Billie Raglin, and Dave Leighton, meeting guests will learn several facts about this racing culture. The Inyokern Drag Strip, was, for instance, the longest continuously running drag strip in the country, and that racing on Trona Hill and cruising China Lake Boulevard between A&W, and Foster’s Freeze was the stuff of local racing legend.

Meeting guests will also learn about the hot rod relationship with local law enforcement, dealing with the young Navy recruits from the base, and racing the Beach Boys, beating their “fastest Corvette in Southern California.” They will learn about the most popular cars of the era. Drag racing footage from the Inyokern Drag Strip during that same time period will also be presented.

The video is produced, written and directed by local historian and film maker, Mark Pahuta, a long time Ridgecrest resident, Historical Society contributor, and one of the last remaining members of the old Film Projects Branch. Now in retirement, he spends much of his free time producing and presenting videos that document the history of the local area.

The HSUMD meets on the third Tuesday of most months. Each meeting features a presentation on some topic of local interest.  Meetings are free, and all are welcome to attend. For more information on this or future meetings, call 760-375-8456 during Book Store hours: Wednesday through Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm.