The Peña Adobe Historical Society celebrated the Holidays on Saturday, December 7, 2019 with an Old Fashioned Victorian Christmas!  Led by costumed docents, visitors toured the historic Peña Adobe, built in 1842, and the Mowers-Goheen Museum.  The Peña Adobe, historical landmark #534, was home of the Peña family, who with the Vaca family, settled in Vacaville over one hundred seventy years ago!

Park visitors shopped for books by local authors including:  Fern Henry’s “My Checkered Life”, Brian Irwin’s “Vacaville Then & Now” and Jerry Bowen’s “Images of America - Vacaville”.  In addition to Solano County history books, antique soap dishes, candle holders, and baked goods were all available for holiday shoppers.

This year’s program included Sheena Beeson’s drama students from Armijo Theater Productions reading excerpts of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.  The Peña and Vaca families arrived in Vacaville and built their adobes in 1842, one year before Dickens published his popular novella.

Under the direction of David Rodgers Jr., Starbound Theatre, an award winning youth theatre program, provides quality theater training for students ages 5-22.  Rodgers and students from Starbound sang Christmas Carols and shared information about their programs.

Joining in the festivities was Dotty Schenk.  Dotty graduated from State University of New York with a degree in Commercial and Graphic Art.  She is an organist and harpist and played holiday selections on the oak reed organ that played hymns in the stone chapel in Rockville Cemetary in the 1860s.  Built by the Estey Organ Co. of Brattleboro, Vt., the organ has been in the Peña Adobe since 2008 when the Rockville Cemetery District’s general manager offered the century-old organ to the museum.