Music in the Meadow schedule announced

The Coarsegold Historic Museum will host Music in the Meadow on Saturday, June 6 from noon to 4 p.m. at the property located in the historic Willow Glen area below Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino.

This is the 21st year for the annual fundraising event which benefits the Coarsegold Historical Society. Music in the Meadow takes place on the lawn in the shade under a large canopy.

The Executive Rockers will play oldies, classic rock, 80s and country music and Intertribal Tacos will make sure great food is available for purchase. Ice cold beer and assorted wines and soft drinks will be at the no-host bar.

And it’s still only $10 to attend.

Music in the Meadow invites the community to help support vital local history.

The yearly celebration provides funding for about 80 percent of the historical society and museum’s budget. The balance comes in piecemeal from membership, school field trips, occasional grants and a voluntary donation box.

The fundraiser began two decades ago with humble roots including a bluegrass band and chicken cooked by historic society members.

The Executive Rockers have been the band of choice over the last many years with Don Davis on bass, Lamar Leathers on guitar and Jeff Bryon on drums.

Sponsors include Kenli Inc., Veater Financial Group, Sullivan’s Tire Pros and Advanced Auto Center. Somewhere between 250 to 300 people are expected to attend.

Tickets for Music in the Meadow are available at the museum or you can purchase them from members.

Much has changed in the last 20 years but one thing hasn’t and that’s the group’s commitment to preserving history and bringing it to life.

Since the first Music in the Meadow museum members have cared for the place and improved it by adding buildings to the collection and addressing deferred maintenance, most recently with a new saloon and a new roof.

The Native American Village continues to grow with its native plants, authentic bedrock mortars or “grinding holes,” cedar bark dwelling, acorn leaching bed, granary and pollinator garden.

The Coarsegold venue is a complement of historic buildings including a barn, an adobe, the school house and the blacksmith shop, sitting together on just over an acre. They reopened for the season in April.

The museum’s directors collect and display items from what is now considered Eastern Madera County, from ca. 1850 to 1950. The collection includes Native American, mining, and ranching artifacts and memorabilia important to the area.

Central to the location is a now-restored adobe way station built on site in 1897, in the historic Willow Glen area south of what became the town of Coarsegold.

It’s one of the only adobes remaining in the region and is a designated historical landmark sitting above a grassy meadow, which is the long-ago site of a dirt road leading from the valley to the foothills. Before that it was a Native American trail.

For more information about the Coarsegold Historical Society and Museum and the 21st annual Music in the Meadow set for Saturday, June 6, visit www.coarsegoldhistoricalsociety.com.

And don’t forget to BYOC – bring your own chair!

The Museum is located at 31899 Highway 41, just south of Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. Phone (559) 642-4448 for more information. 31899 Highway 41 just south of Lucky Lane in Coarsegold.