2014 October PASO Magazine

Pioneer Day Belle Abigail Marie Venturini
and Debbie Vandergon
The Belle of Pioneer Day 2014,
ABIGAIL MARIE VENTURINI,
is the sixth generation descendent
of her great, great, great grandparents
Charles DuVal Morehouse II and
Hulda Mariah Lowe, who traveled to
California in 1853 and homesteaded
in the Willow Creek Area in 1870.
Her parents are David and Michele
Padilla Venturini and she has
an older sister, Alison. Abigail’s
grandparents are David Venturini
and Wanda Harrison Venturini and
Valentine and Julia Smith Padilla.
The two brothers of her great,
great, great grandfather Charles also
homesteaded in the area and all their
children attended the Summit School
together. Her great, great grandfather,
Bert, was born on the family farm in
1877. The area soon became known
as the “Morehouse Community.”
The Morehouse clan were jack-ofall-trades:
ranching, carpentry, etc.
Brothers John Ed, Franz and Bert
were also harness makers. they had
a saddle shop called “Morehouse
Harness & Saddlery” on Pine Street
between 12th and 13th Streets (there
is a photo of their shop in the book
Images of Amercia-Paso Robles). Bert
married May Heaton is 1906. They
lived and farmed on their place in
Willow Creek for a number of years
and their children all attended Oak
Flat School. May was the niece of
R.C. Heaton. Bert and May had 9
children. Bert was the Pioneer Day
Marshal in 1952 and son Elmer was
the Chief of Police at one time and
the Pioneer Day Marshal in 1991.
Bert and May’s daughter, Doris (Abigail’s
great grandmother), married
O.B. Smith in 1938. O.B. was the
Chief of Police during the 1960’s.
Abigail’s great, great grandparents,
Vincenzo and Marie Luzi, on her
father’s side, emigrated to America
in the early 1900’s and settled in the
Templeton area. Her great grandmother,
Doro, attended Ascension
School on York Mountain with her
three sisters. She married Midio Venturini
in 1935. He came to America
from Italy in 1910 and lived in
Templeton. They had 6 children.
Abigail has been involved in
both 4-H and FAA showing market
lambs. She has been involved in
Drama and Art through her high
school years. She plans on attending
college to study Graphic Design and
pursue a career in animation.
Related families: Morehouse, Luzi,
Heaton, Venturini, Smith, Padilla
and Harrison.
Belle Attendants
Dana Christine Alpert represents
the Bethel Road Area of
Templeton. Her parents are Steve and
Lori Lewin Alpert. Dana’s grandparents
are Barbara Bethel Lewin and
the late Robert Lewin as well as the
late Carl and Evelyn Alpert.
Her Pioneer Heritage starts with
her great, great, great grandparents
Jacob and Elizabeth Hege settling
in the Estrella area in 1886. Their
daughter, Lena, married Ed Leisy
and their daughter, Edith Leisy
Bethel (Dana’s great grandmother),
was the first Mid-State Fair Queen.
Her great, great Aunt Edith Leisy
Hege, was our Pioneer Day Queen
in 1988. Dana’s grandmother Barbara
Bethel Lewin was our 2011 Pioneer
Day Queen and continues to live in
Paso Robles today running her women’s
boutique, The Blenders, for 40
years strong. Her mother, Lori, coowns
the store.
Dana is a senior at Templeton
High School and will be serving as
the Senior Class President and was
nominated to attend the Girls State
leadership program over the summer.
She plans on attending college and
hopes to pursue a career as an attorney
or speech pathologist.
Related families: Hege, Leisy,
Bethel, and Lewin.
Alicia Marie Avila represents the
Lockwood/Jolon/Bradley area. Her
parents are Jeff and DeeDee Roth
Avila. Alicia’s grandparents are Margaret
Labarere-Craspay Avila and the
late Sam Avila as well as Lila Libby
Roth and the late Henry G. Roth.
Alicia’s great, great, great grandfather,
Viciente Avida came to the
area in 1864 and purchased land at
the head of the San Antone River.
Her great grandfather on her mother’s
side, Gottlob Roth, immigrated
through Ellis Island on his way to
Lockwood in the late 1800’s.
Alicia’s great grandfather, Joseph
Labarere, came to the United States in
1902 and worked as a sheepherder the
Sierra Nevadas. He trailed his sheep
to Los Angeles and then up the coast
looking for feed and ended in Bradley.
He purchased his first 160 acres
around 1911 and in 1923 bought the
Avarado Ranch. Their working ranch
of 1000 head of sheep grew into cattle
livestock, dry land grain, alfalfa and the
grape growing family business of today.
her roots to 16th century England.
Katie plans to become an Au Pair
for a family in Germany before going
to college.
Related families: Kuhnle, Denney,
Weir, Murray, Kinney, Foster and
Kleck.
Belles, from left, Letty Rae Stockdale (Cholame Gillis Canyon), 2014 Belle Abigail
Marie Venturini (Willow Creek), Dana Christine Alpert (Bethel area/Templeton),
Katie Anne Kuhnle (Estrella) and Alicia Marie Avila (Lockwood)
Alicia is a senior at Paso Robles
High School. She has participated in
4-H and has been an FFA member
and will serve as her chapter’s president
this year. Alicia plans to attend
Junior College and go on to study Ag
Business.
Related families: Labarere, Avida,
Avila, Roth, Craspay, Weferling and
Libby.
Katie Ann Kuhnle represents the
Estrella area. Her parents are Jeff and
Kelly Kinne Kuhnle. Katie’s grandparents
are Frances Murray Kuhnle
and the late Russell Kuhnle as well as
Billie Foster Kinne and the late Paul
Kinne.
In 1881 Katie’s great, great grandfather,
Emanuel Kuhnle, immigrated
to the United States from Swandorf,
Germany and eventually settled in
the Estrella area. Her great granfather,
Frank Kuhnle, purchased the
family ranch in the Shandon area in
1921 where Katie’s family still live
and run the ranching operation today.
Frank donated many items to
the Pioneer Day Committee. Her
great grandmother, Vera Wiers
family, were among the founders of
the Estrella Adobe Church and the
first Pioneer Day Parade. Katie’s late
grandfather, Paul Kinne, was a volunteer
at the Pioneer Museum and
assisted with construction of Barney
Schwartz Park.
Katie is a senior at Shandon High
School, serving as the ASB vice
president. She is interested in genealogy,
which led her to discover
Letty Rae Stockdale represents the
Gillis Canyon area of the Shandon/
Bitterwater area. Her parents are
Rachel Wicks Stockdale and Alan
Stockdale. Her grandparents are
the late Betty Engelke Wicks and
Frank Wicks, as well as Gale and
Ina Stockdale.
Letty’s great, great grandparents,
Robert and Augusta Hillbrick,
immigrated from Germany
in 1887 and homesteaded in the
Choice Valley area of Bitterwater,
Chalome. Their daughter, Clara,
married John Engelke who had
immigrated to the area from Germany
in 1915. They settled in Gillis
Canyon where they farmed and
ran a chicken ranch. They had four
daughters known as “the Engelke
Girls.” One, Betty Engelke Wicks,
Letty’s maternal grandmother,
married Frank Wicks in 1952 and
settled in Gillis Canyon in 1957.
Frank was known as the “Windmill
Man’ for keeping them running
for the ranching operations in the
area.
Letty is a senior at Shandon High
School and was elected 2014-15
Shandon FFA Chapter President.
Her favorite pastimes are horseback
riding, ranch work and calf brandings.
Letty pans to attend junior
college and then Brooks Institute
in Santa Barbara to study photography
and hope to one day have her
own studio.
Related families: Hillbrick, Engelke,
Nelson, Schroeder, Scovel,
Wicks, and Root.
26 Paso Robles Magazine, October 2014