Thanks to the help of the Ceres Lions Club, the Carriage House at the Daniel Whitmore Home is nearly ready for historical displays.
Over a three-week period, members of the service club have invested approximately 400 manhours in converting the 18-foot by 36-foot garage structure at 2732 Fifth Street to a modern building that will house larger items. They hung the drywall, installed new energy-efficient windows, did the re-wiring, added insulation, painted the inside and outside and patched the concrete floor. The club invested approximately $5,000 in the project. Randy Ollar donated all the taping and texturing labor and Modesto Color Center donated the paint. Barton Overhead Door donated the $2,000 garage door.
One item that will be housed in the "annex" is the Hardy Fowler surrey. The surrey was gifted to the museum upon the February death of Caryl Fowler, the widow of Richard "Hardy" Fowler. The vehicle originally belonged to Hardy's father, Carroll Fowler, the namesake for the school on Fowler Road.
Hardy died Nov. 2, 2004. Carroll Fowler came to Ceres in 1901 to pursue farming. At the time of his birth, Hardy's parents owned the land on which Smyrna Park and Carroll Fowler Elementary School exists today.
The Ceres Historical Society opened a museum on the property in 2007 but learned quickly that it needed more space for larger items.
Over a three-week period, members of the service club have invested approximately 400 manhours in converting the 18-foot by 36-foot garage structure at 2732 Fifth Street to a modern building that will house larger items. They hung the drywall, installed new energy-efficient windows, did the re-wiring, added insulation, painted the inside and outside and patched the concrete floor. The club invested approximately $5,000 in the project. Randy Ollar donated all the taping and texturing labor and Modesto Color Center donated the paint. Barton Overhead Door donated the $2,000 garage door.
One item that will be housed in the "annex" is the Hardy Fowler surrey. The surrey was gifted to the museum upon the February death of Caryl Fowler, the widow of Richard "Hardy" Fowler. The vehicle originally belonged to Hardy's father, Carroll Fowler, the namesake for the school on Fowler Road.
Hardy died Nov. 2, 2004. Carroll Fowler came to Ceres in 1901 to pursue farming. At the time of his birth, Hardy's parents owned the land on which Smyrna Park and Carroll Fowler Elementary School exists today.
The Ceres Historical Society opened a museum on the property in 2007 but learned quickly that it needed more space for larger items.
