UNVEILING: From left, Tracy Davis, We Are Temescal Valley Identity Committee chairman;  Jannlee Watson, Temescal Heritage Foundation board member, and Cathie Smith, Temescal Valley Community Faire Committee,  unveil the new logo at the April Bicentennial Committee meeting.

Thank you, Cathie Smith, for the beautiful artwork!

This spring, and as May’s Temescal Valley Community Faire was quickly approaching where the community’s 200th Birthday would be launched, the Bicentennial Committee still was in a quandry over the logo. Needed was artwork easily identifiable as Temescal Valley, but unique enough to say, “Hey look — something special is happening!”

With only a week to get the Faire flier to the printer, someone said, “Why re-create the wheel — let’s use the current Temescal Valley logo, just age it 200 years ago.”

The original logo was introduced in 2007 as part of the Temescal Valley Design Guidelines created by Riverside County for the Temescal Valley Municipal Advisory Council. The logo can be seen on community signs throughout Temescal Valley, the I-15 freeway monument signs at the entrances to the community, on local businesses and published material.

It was Sycamore Creek resident Cathie Smith whose graphic design know-how brought the vision to life, redesigning the current logo to better reflect Temescal Valley in the time of Leandro Serrano.

Gone are the palm trees, modern homes and orange groves, which have been replaced with adobes, grazing cattle, beehives, orchards and grapevines, a marauding bear and, yes, flowing water. The Bicentennial logo has three adobes, depicting the three built by Serrano, and places one of the structures on a hill. The exact location of the second adobe is unknown, only that Serrano built it on a hill to get a better view of approaching strangers, and that it was built in close proximity to where the first adobe was located near Lawson and Temescal Canyon roads.

The new logo has been imprinted on T-shirts, mugs and aprons that can be purchased at all Bicentennial events and at the monthly Temescal Valley Municipal Advisory Council and We Are Temescal Valley meetings. T-shirts are $20 and the aprons and mugs are $15. Orders are being placed now for hats and license plate frames.