LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA — As the world moves faster and faster, it can be nice to take a step back in time. This Sunday in Livermore, a panel of experts will talk about what life was like in Livermore in the 1950s, particularly in the farming and ranching communities.
Panelists include:
- Carolyn Antonini Cardinalliwhose father ran the State Farm Insurance offices in Livermore and Pleasanton
- Maren Halla descendant of the Rasmussens, whose family bought warehouses from the Chabourne and Arendt families
- Tim Koopmanwhose pioneering family of climbers introduced conservation methods
- Anita Macias McCloudwhose family brought in the harvest
- Tom Orloffwho grew up on a local dairy farm and served as Alameda County District Attorney from 1994 to 2009
Donna Kamp McMillion, author of Cruising Down Memory Lane: Stories of Pleasanton in the 1950s, organizes and moderates panels throughout the Tri-Valley to celebrate and preserve local history. She has hosted seven panels in Pleasanton and plans to speak in Dublin and Danville.
Her book, “Cruising Down Memory Lane,” contains dozens of interviews conducted by 50 volunteers over three years with people who remember life in Pleasanton in the ’50s. It was Towne Center Books’ best-selling book of 2023, but McMillion and the Three Valleys Community Foundation donated all the proceeds to Amador Valley High School’s journalism program. She recently wrote the program a check for $10,000.
Sunday’s panel discussion will be held at 2 p.m. in the Storytime Room of the Civic Center Library, 1188 S. Livermore Avenue. Copies of the book will be on site, and a 1929 Ford Roadster owned by former Pleasanton Fire Chief George Withers will be on display outside the library.
The video will then be published on the Livermore Library YouTube channel.
