Memories of Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz, California

Growing up in Santa Cruz, California, we spent a lot of time at Harvey West Park. It was where the summer day camp was held, where we learned our swimming lessons, there was a steam train to climb on, junk food to eat at the snack shack, a kiddie railroad to ride on, an old cemetery to hide in, and little league baseball games to watch. As a child, you take it all in and don't really understand the history completely. The steam engine had always been there, and that was that. As I look back, I realize there was a lot more history, memories, and details standing right in front of me the entire time.

Harvey E. West, Sr (1894-1979)

To us kids, Harvey West Park was really Harveywestpark -- one word that meant fun, sun, and running around! The fact that it was actually a person's name -- a man named "Harvey West" -- didn't really connect with us.

Harvey West was born in 1894 near Santa Cruz, just down the road in Soquel, California. He was a lumberman by trade, starting the Placerville Lumber Company in 1936. Later in life, his fortune made, he became a wonderful philanthropist. Harvey donated 27 of the 50 acres that make up the park, which was dedicated on May 30, 1959. Harvey West passed away in 1979.

The Great Big Steam Locomotive

The Southern Pacific engine #1298 was built in September 1917 as one of the last of the S-10 class 0-6-0 engines by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. There were 27 S-10s built in total during the 1913 and 1917 production runs, and only six survive to this date: Engine #1215 is in San Jose, CA; 1221 is in Deming, NM; 1233 is in Woodland, CA; 1237 is in Salinas, CA; 1238 is in Fresno, CA; and 1298 is still in Santa Cruz, CA.

Back in the 1970s, you could run around and play on both the locomotive and the oil tender. The tender was sold around 1987 to Rick Hamman as a spare for the SP C-8 2706, which are all now owned by John Manley, so the SP S-10 1298 at Harvey West Park is much less imposing than it was at one time. Sadly, it kind of looks cute now -- not the super powerful monster of steam that it once was to a child's eyes. The tender looks like a C-9 style, and carried oil to power the locomotive.

In September and October of 1987, the Santa Cruz City Council voted to sell the entire train engine and tender at the recommendation of the Parks & Rec department. There were lots of letters to the editor, and eventually only the tender was sold, but the train is no longer a playground structure -- it now has signs that stay keep off.

The S-10 was a switcher engine, doing the hard work of shuffling short cuts of cars into their places, while making up trains in the yard. These switch engines moved from rail yard to rail yard, making up freight trains, or doing short shuttling jobs of moving customer cars directly to their on-rail drop-offs. Larger facilities, such as the San Jose passenger terminal, had their own depot switchers dressed up with chrome and a more glamorous livery paint job.

Arizona Eastern Railroad #39
According to HL Broadbelt Collection, as listed in the Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History, SP steam engine 1298 began its life as the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company's number 39, and was Baldwin number 46313 built in September, 1917. Arizona Eastern merged into the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. in 1924, and #39 was re-numbered as Southern Pacific 1298. It's unknown where locomotive 1298 did the bulk of its work -- it could have been nearby at San Jose or Watsonville, or even the small switch yard in Felton, as perhaps the yard downtown at the Santa Cruz depot. Since it was originally in the Arizona Eastern fleet, it was most probably used as terminal switcher in and around San Diego, including San Diego's Santa Fe Union Depot for passenger train switching -- there were a couple 0-6-0 switchers used by the Arizona Eastern in this capacity, including ones leased back from the Southern Pacific during WW II. As of 1956, the 1298 is listed as being assigned to "Southern Pacific W" as stated in a September 30, 1956 bulletin -- where "W" could just mean West.

The engine arrived in Santa Cruz in 1961, as reported by Railroad Magazine in 1961's Volume 73-74: "The Southern Pacific's final retired steam engine, a switcher, No. 1298, has just gone to a park in Santa Cruz, California."

Specifications

• Wheels: 0-6-0
  
• Builder: Baldwin Locomotive Works
  
• Build Date: 09/1917
  
• Construction No.: 46313
  
• Empty Weight: 154,600
  
• Weight on Drivers: 154,600
  
• Driver Diameter: 51
  
• Tractive Effort: 29,720
  
• Boiler Pressure: 190
  
• Cylinders: 19x26
  
• Fuel: Oil
  
• Gauge: Standard
  

The Swimming Pool

The swimming pool was built in 1959, and featured a high dive that scared every Santa Cruz child silly. The long climb up the stairs seemed to take forever, and at the top you could literally touch the clouds on a foggy day. Looking down from the high dive, you could barely make out a small blotch of blue where you assumed the pool should be. Jumping to your death was a daunting task, made all the worse by the stories that your friends told you about the kid who was split in half when his legs flew apart. It was a rite of passage to close your eyes, step off the board, and keep your legs pressed as tightly as possible together to avoid a horrible death. The water hurt your feet as you hit it, and if you managed to hold your breath through the impact, you ended up at the bottom of a 12' deep-end looking up at a surface impossibly far away. Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation held swimming lessons at the Harvey West Park swimming pool, and that's where we all learned to swim. There were two pools: an L-shaped one with the deep-end roped off, and a kiddie pool that was always very warm. Again the rumor was that it was warm because of all the little children doing unspeakable things, but I'm now pretty sure that it was the fact that the Sun can warm up a shallow of 2' of water pretty easily! 

The Snack Shack and Kiddie Train

After swimming lessons, you would run over to the snack shack and get a dixie cup of soda pop and some pink popcorn. They also had hot dogs and other classic candies from the 1970s. At the snack shack, you could buy tickets for the little kiddie train that ran down the side of the park and back. The snack shack also was the locomotive barn for this miniature train.

EST Children's Training

In the 1970s, Werner Erhard's est Training was the hip thing to do to find enlightenment and lead a better life. It was all about "getting it" and dealing with your own stuff without playing the victim. Instead of complaining about the traffic jam, or fighting the traffic jam, or being the victim of a traffic jam, the trick was to "make space" for the traffic jam and let it just be a traffic jam and avoid it. Then you could go a step further, and take responsibility for that traffic jam and fix it.

My parents took the est training, and then signed my sister and I up for the children's training, which was a special new est training for children. The multi-day training was held in a large hotel ballroom, which was in San Jose or Palo Alto. It must have been about 1977, and the sessions were all professionally video-taped as it was one of the first (I distinctly remember cameras on tripods).

We learned how to get rid of a headache by asking questions about the headache, alternated an occasional "do you still have a headache" in there. Questions like, "if it could hold water, how much water could it hold?", "what color is it?, "what shape is it?", "Is it getting smaller", "Is it moving?", and the kicker, "Do you still have a headache?"  which was repeated until you finally caved and said you didn't have a headache anymore -- this made for years of fun when anyone in our family complained about having a headache after that.

Vancouver Sun, 12 Jul 1980

There were some role-reversal songs, where the girls all sang a song about being a big tough cowboy, and the boys all sang a song about having pretty little fingers and ten little toes. 

Girls sang, 

Hey there broken nose, play me a tune on that there pian'y. 

My name isn't broken nose. 

Pow! Now it is! 

Boys sang, 

I've got ten little fingers, ten little toes, big brown eyes, and a turned up nose. Long wavy hair, and a cute little figure, but stay away boys 'til I get bigger!

I'm pretty sure none of the kids really wanted to be there, and the trainers definitely had to overcome that with a lighter version of the hard-core est of lore. I remember them asking if anyone wanted to leave, and at least one little boy raised his hand and was escorted out -- the rest of us shut up after that. 

I suppose the children's training was supposed to get us to take more responsibility for our own lives, and not play the victim. I don't remember anything in particular about that sort of messaging, and I'm pretty sure that I wasn't "Getting It" while doing the training. However! I am fairly enlightened, so perhaps some if it did sink in somehow in an unconscious manner? 

Anderson Herald, 16 Jan 1977

I am surprised to find that the est training has survived the 1970s, and is still alive and well renamed as Landmark Forum.

Warmth Band and Mural at The Cooper House in Santa Cruz

A Hub of Music and Memories: remembering the Cooper House Sidewalk Cafe and the Warmth Jazz Band

Jazz Band "Warmth" mural at the Cooper House, Santa Cruz, California

The Cooper House: A Downtown Landmark

Once a bustling hub of shops and restaurants, the Cooper House in downtown Santa Cruz holds cherished memories for many. One of its standout features was the Cooper House Sidewalk Cafe, where the house band, "Warmth," often serenaded visitors against the backdrop of a striking mural. Sadly, the mural, a creation by James McFarlin, met an unfortunate fate when later owners of the Cooper House tore it down and disposed of it.

Warmth Jazz Band: A Santa Cruz Icon

The heart and soul of the iconic Santa Cruz jazz scene, the Warmth Jazz Band, were led by the talented Don McCaslin, a constant presence at the keyboards. His son, the young saxophonist Donny McCaslin, occasionally joined the band. Donny has since forged his own path in the world of jazz, with several CD albums to his name.

The Earthquake and End of an Era

In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake dealt a severe blow to the Cooper House. As a result, the building was eventually torn down, marking the end of an era. The loss was deeply felt by all those who had fond memories of spending leisurely summer afternoons in and around the Cooper House.

The Warmth Band's Legacy

Warmth Band members, including Jim Baum, Wayne Goodwin, Franco, Wesley Braxton, and others who came and went, created an inviting and relaxed atmosphere with their music. 

Don McCaslin, a musical virtuoso, took center stage as the band's leading figure. In 1972, he began his daily performances at the Cooper House, enchanting audiences with his lively Latin-tinged jazz. With fingers dancing on the keys of the piano, Don's music reverberated through the Cooper House Sidewalk Cafe, drawing in visitors from all corners of Santa Cruz.

Warmth was the heartbeat of downtown Santa Cruz for nearly two decades.

The Music of Warmth

Warmth's music remains a cherished treasure, and one of their most famous songs, "A Song The Children Dance To," has transcended generations. To relive the magic of Warmth, you can find videos of this iconic track on YouTube. These videos capture the essence of the band's music, including versions from their CD releases and the original vinyl records that were once sold at their electrifying live shows.

Listening to these recordings is like stepping into a time machine, transporting you back to the heyday of Warmth when the vibrant melodies and rhythms of this legendary jazz band filled the airwaves and brought joy to the hearts of listeners.

 A Song The Children Dance To [CD] 

A Song The Children Dance To [vinyl] 

Fool On The Hill [CD]

Praise Poems [CD]

A Glimpse into the Past: "Gineronymous" Film

A charming film project, "Gineronymous," offers a glimpse into the world of Don McCaslin's Warmth Jazz Band in Santa Cruz. The film was a product of a film student's class project, filmed with a single camera but skillfully edited to create a multi-perspective effect. Warmth Band's enduring presence in Santa Cruz, which spanned over 25 years, began at the Cooper House and was immortalized in a mural.

A Photo Gallery of Nostalgia

To complete the journey down memory lane, we've included a selection of random photos that capture the essence of the Cooper House and the Warmth Jazz Band during their heyday.

These memories serve as a tribute to a bygone era, where music, community, and the Cooper House were intertwined in the fabric of Santa Cruz's cultural history.

Basking in the Warmth

In the annals of Santa Cruz's vibrant history, Warmth will forever hold a special place. For nearly two decades, they were more than just a band; they were the heartbeat of downtown Santa Cruz. The memories of those playful flower days in the 1970s, basking in the warmth of the sun, songs, and the wonderful people who came together, will remain etched in our hearts. Warmth, you may be gone, but you will never be forgotten, and your music will continue to resonate through the ages.

Hocus Pocus, The Santa Cruz Clown

Santa Cruz was home to the famous clown, Hocus Pocus, played by Denmark native Carl Hansen. Carl also played Santa Claus at Santa's Village park in Scotts Valley for five years before leaving for television to become the clown Hocus Pocus.

My memories of Hocus Pocus are from two separate events: the first was being in the studio audience of the Hocus Pocus show at the Group W building on Soquel Drive. Hocus Pocus asked people what they wanted to be when the grew up, and when he came to me, I said, "I want to be a captain" -- meaning a miltary officer (I guess), but he took it to mean the captain of a ship and I went along with it and nodded.

The second event was the annual Santa Cruz Halloween Parade from Branciforte Elementary school to Gault School. I was in the Branciforte Jr. High School marching band, and Hocus Pocus was one of the local Santa Cruz celebrities featured in the parade. He sat in a cool old car from the 1950s, and waved to the crowd as we marched in front of him.

Carl's wife, Florene Hansen, crafted all of his clown costumes that he used on the Hocus Pocus children's TV show, which aired on KNTV Channel 11 in Santa Cruz, from 1961 through 1971. Carl was a magician clown, with a number of magic tricks in his repertoire. He was born in 1904, and passed away in 1998 -- his obituary was published in The San Jose Mercury News.