DOCENT OF THE MONTH
August 2006

Merry Lynn McLaren

  I am a third-generation Californian.  In the 1800s my great-grandfather homesteaded in the mountains about forty miles east of San Diego.  The old homestead is still in the family.  My grandparents lived there until I was almost out of high school, and I spent every summer and most weekends with them.  Because the power poles didn’t reach that far, I learned to cook on a wood stove.  Water was from our well, and there was no indoor bathroom.  We played board games and read by kerosene lamps in the evenings.  The kitchen in the Colony House here at the Strathearn Historical Park brings back fond memories.

  I taught elementary school in Simi Valley for thirty-four years.  I especially loved teaching Social Studies through Period music and folk songs.  Now that I have retired I enjoy time with my family, church, music, and training new docents for the Historical Society.