Joanne Winer
QUARTZSITE TIMES
January 11th, 2006
When Celia’s Rainbow Gardens was first started, many groups in town called and
asked if they could help in any way with the project. One of the first groups
that called was the Quartzsite Historical Society.
They had a set of wooden buildings that had been given to them by the man who
had built them, Babe Adams, from Parker.
They had asked us if we would like them for the Gardens but said they needed
some repairs first. There were 15 little buildings, including a schoolhouse,
church, sawmill, barn and stables, marshall’s office, stage depot, log cabin,
house, motel, saloon and house of ill repute, as well as a boot hill and more.
They were very lovingly made and full of detail, but had been sitting outside
for many years and needed fixing up.
We moved the buildings to storage until we had a place to put them in the
Gardens and started working on getting them restored, thanks to many volunteers.
After several moves, and much hard work, we had them mounted on plywood bases so
they could be secured to the ground without destroying the buildings.
By this time, the BLM and other volunteers had built the two huge raised beds
that would become their new home.
Members of the Historical Society then came out and placed the little village in
the beds and secured them. Fences were put up to keep people from getting too
close and landscaping was added.
Eventually, all the buildings had been restored and put into place. The center
bed of the pioneer village had an original wagon from early Quartzsite history
added, and the sign depicting Adamsville was erected.
In the years since it was installed in 2001, the intense weather here has caused
some additional damage to some of the buildings and they have needed to be
restored again.
This job was recently taken on by Colleen Gallus and her husband, docents at the
museum.
They are taking one or two buildings at a time and repairing, repainting and
refurbishing them so they will last for another several years before having to
be done again. They have just done three of the buildings so far, and they have
done a wonderful job — you will notice the difference when you see them next to
the ones that still have to be done.
This little village area is one of the most visited places in the Gardens and we
thank everyone at the Historical Society, and especially now Colleen for all the
hard work they have done to make this a special place for people to enjoy.