Tag Archives: Leandro Serrano

Serrano tanning vats spruced up

Sixty-plus volunteers gather for a group photo at the start of the 7th Annual Temescal Valley Great American Cleanup.

It was a great day for a labor-intensive project — cool and overcast. The long-neglected Serrano tanning vats (a process used to turn animal hides into leather), were given a facelift as part of the Temescal Valley 7th Annual Great American Cleanup, held this year on April 25.

The historic landmark is located on Temescal Canyon Road, north of Tom’s Farms and across the street from the Shell Station.

Below, you’ll find a recap of the event by Bob Hafner, chairman of the We Are Temescal Valley Beautification Committe that, with Waste Management Inc., sponsored the cleanup.

Leandro Serrano was the founding father of Temescal Valley dating back almost 200 years. You can learn more about his life HERE (spoiler alert — it’s a sad story.)

Here are links to the photo galleries shot at the event:

PHOTOS 1 PHOTOS 2 PHOTOS 3

And, now a word from Bob Hafner…

I want to thank all the volunteers who showed up for the Temescal Valley Great American Cleanup on Saturday. This was one of the biggest turnouts I have seen in the seven-plus years we’ve been doing the cleanups. This really shows the community pride we have here in Temescal Valley.

I want to thank each and every one of you for all your hard work. We, as a team, cleaned up the Temescal Wash and filled a 40-yard roll off bin with illegally dumped junk and trash. The really cool part was “tricking out” the tanning vats and installing a beautiful Temescal Valley sign.

We placed several very large boulders around the tanning vats. The adults and children weeded the area, planted two palo verde trees and more than 60 succulents. Once this was completed, we spread over 25 tons of stone, courtesy of Werner Corporation. We also painted the remaining bollards.

I want to thank Don and Helen McGlaughlin (Hot Diggidy Dog), for providing beverages, doughnuts and a tasty barbecue. I really want to give a shout out to Miriam Cardenas and Waste Management Inc. for all their efforts in seeking the Keep America Beautiful grant to fund the project, providing the manpower and the huge boulders. 7Oaks Nursery did a great job of gathering the plants we wanted, as well as Master Stone in locating the specialty Arizona flagstone that was placed in front of the monuments.

I also want to thank Supervisor Kevin Jeffries for lending a hand. He commented how he loves to see all the involvement of businesses and residents coming together to give in any way they can for the overall improvement of our community. A thank you, too, to Al Lopez, Western Municipal Water District board member, who helped out all day.

A huge thank you to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Corona Stake. As it turned out, April 25th was the Mormon’s JustServe Day of Community Service. Many stake members live in Temescal Valley, and under the leadership of Justin Tucker, 40-plus church members worked on the project.

Bill Peck and his Boy Scout Troop 13, year in and year out, always help with the cleanups. The Girl Scouts, too.

If I’ve forgotten anyone, please forgive me. It isn’t intentional. What really shows the true impact of what we accomplished was, after the event was over, people lingered to take a second look at all the good work, photograph the vats and enjoy all their efforts of the day.

Again, thank you everyone, and be on the lookout. The Beautification Committee will have more projects in the future to keep Temescal Valley beautiful, and we’ll be needing volunteers. Please email if your interested in being involved in upcoming projects: bob.hafner@verizon.net.

PHOTOS: Serrano would be proud

This was the 7th Annual Temescal Valley Great American Cleanup.

Members of The Church of Jesus christ of Latter-Day Saints Corona Stake, turned out 40-plus strong to help with the cleanup as a project of the Mormon’s JustServe Day of Community Service. Justin Tucker (white shirt), Sycamore Creek resident, coordinated the volunteer effort.

Helen McGlaughlin of Hot Diggidy Dog hands out doughnuts and beverages ant the beginning of the event.

Early arriving volunteers register for the event. The boulders came from El Sobrante Landfill and were hauled and placed by Waste Mangement Inc. employees.

Bob Hafner (left, white cap and knee pads), speaks to volunteers about safety.

Showing up to lend a hand were Supervisor Kevin Jeffries and Al Lopez, Western Municipal Water District board member.

From left, Bill Peck, Boy Scout leader Troop 13; Lily Quiroa and Mariam Cardenas, Waste Management Inc., grab a photo op.

Two palo verde trees were planted.

PHOTOS 2: Serrano would be proud

We Are Temescal Valley Beautification Committee Chairman Bob Hafner is responsible for coordinating all the community signs popping up throughout Temescal Valley.

Holes for the plants could only be dug with a jackhammer.

Would you believe a cactus can be this pretty?

Spanish Hills resident Martin Lange and his front loader move a pile of gravel closer to the vats.

After the gravel is dumped, it’s then shoveled into wheelbarrows.

Wheelbarrows are moved from the gravel pile to the area around the vats where the rocks are placed a shovelful at a time.

The newly planted succulents needed water, which was furnished by Dawson Canyon resident Michelle Randall.

Plants were individually watered to give them a good start.

Melissa Deleo spent the morning painting the bollards in front of the vats. The concrete stanchions will prevent the heavy trucks that park nearby from running over the area. Reflectors will be added to the bollards.

PHOTOS 3: Serrano would be proud

Half the volunteers spent their time removing trash and illegally dumped discards from the Temescal Wash.

Troop 13 Scouts help clean the junk and trash from the Temescal Wash.

Ann Redding is often seen at Temescal Valley volunteer events. She is the Pay it Foward Club leader at Trilogy.

Helen and Don McGlaughlin grill the hamburgers and hot dogs.

The work finished, a few of the volunteers mug for a picture. Everyone was feeling pretty good over the outcome of the project.

Committee cleans up tanning vats

Helping out at the cleanup were, from left, John Watson, Karla Cortez, Tracy Davis, Bob Hafner, Martin Lange, Barbara Paul, Dave Davis, Ken Brooks and Rob Mucha. Not pictured are Melissa Deleo, Jannlee Watson and Adam Eventov.

Twelve people turned out early Saturday morning to assist the Beautification Committee in a mini-cleanup of the area surrounding the historic tanning vats, said to be the last visible remains of the Serrano legacy in Temescal Valley.

But first – a little history lesson.

: Bob Hafner and his committee begin work clearing the weeds.

Almost 200 years ago, a priest at the San Luis Rey Mission sent a soldier north to an area largely populated by Native Americans and grizzly bears. A first-generation Californian, Leandro Serrano was told to befriend the native tribesmen, who favored the area’s natural hot springs, and to eliminate the bears. He was given a “paper” – a permit or license to graze cattle on about five leagues of land – roughly 34 square miles.

Serrano found the area abundant with flowing water and lush vegetation that attracted bees which produced honey (that likely attracted the bears). He built an adobe in the early 1820s and called his home Temescal Rancho. That adobe was the first home built by a non-Native American in what would later become Riverside County.

A marker denotes the vats as being built in 1819 and as a restored site.

Through the years, Serrano raised livestock, planted orchards and vineyards, married twice and fathered 13 children. As the family grew, Serrano built other adobes, as did his sons and sons-in-law.

Serrano died in the early 1850s and more than a decade after his death and many legal attempts to prove ownership, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the family’s claim to the land. The court ruled that Leandro had been given permission to graze cattle, not a land grant. The family was given 160 acres surrounding the current adobe in which they lived. The court decision paved the way for others to claim mining and water rights in the valley.

This plaque notes the third adobe built by the Serrano family in about 1867 as being “nearby.” Leandro Serrano died in the 1850s. It says Leandro’s widow Josefa’s ownership of the land was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This story of the Serrano family is based on historians’ accounts of early Temescal Valley. They say Serrano’s second wife died penniless in the 1890s. The last of the Serrano family – two sisters, had to mortgage the family home to pay the burial costs, and the two left the valley in the 1898 to live in Los Angeles. Through the years, very little of the Serrano legacy has been preserved. What can be seen are the two tanning vats situated east of the I-15 and Temescal Canyon Road intersection, across the street from the Shell Station. This isn’t the original location of the vats, which were moved and reconstructed at this site years ago.

The vats and two historical markers have been neglected. Yellow cement stanchions surrounding the area keep truckers, who park there, from running over the vats. Weeds flourish; trash accumulates. A sand berm has been placed to deter the illegal dumping that occurs.

One of two Serrano tanning vats located east of the I-15 and Temescal Canyon Road intersection, across the street from the Shell Station.

Saturday’s work party cleared the weeds and used pick axes to remove roots. Trash was collected and the bags hauled away by Waste Management, which also lent tools for the cleanup. Adam Eventov, with Toscana, couldn’t work because of recent hip surgery but brought sunscreen, hand sanitizer, insect repellant and doughnuts! Wielding picks and rakes were Barbara Paul, Karla Cortez, Melissa Deleo, Tracy Davis, Rob Mucha, Martin Lange, Dave Davis, Ken Brooks, Bob Hafner, and John and Jannlee Watson.

According to Hafner, Beautification Committee chairman, the cleanup was the first phase of a project that will eventually spruce up the area with landscaping and appropriate signage. The next committee meeting is 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 7 at Senor Tom’s restaurant. Anyone who wants to get involved or would like notification of upcoming projects should contact Hafner: bob.hafner@verizon.net

Read a related story HERE

View more photos below.

: Work party displays bags they collected a cleanup.

: Although he couldn’t work because of hip surgery, Adam Eventov furinshed sunscreen, hand sanitizer, insect repellant and doughnuts for the work crew.