Felicity museum to debut new granite panels
FELICITY — In the tiny town of Felicity, Calif., only a few miles outside of Yuma, Jacques-Andre Istel, one of the town’s founders and its longtime mayor, has been quite busy.
On Saturday at 5:30 p.m., he will finally unveil a new, finished portion of his fantastical Museum of History in Granite dedicated solely to animals.
“To my knowledge, those are the first engravings of animals in stone, in granite, since the cave etchings of antiquity,” said Istel.
The new granite panels that Istel will unveil Saturday are filled with photo-realistic drawings, as well as interesting facts.
A range of creatures are covered, from those as mundane as a mouse, to animals that have gone extinct long ago, like the majestic Irish elk.
Even the flea has its own panel, which tells of how it can carry diseases, including the bubonic plague.
The largest animal in the world, the blue whale, also has its own panel, along with a surprisingly detailed picture.
Istel said that he eventually wants to carve a school bus next to the whale, to give visitors some perspective as to how large the sea animal truly is.
Istel’s focus with the new monuments, he said, was to explain “the relationship between man and animals.”
“We humans, of only one general shape, view with wonder and delight the amazing variety of the world of animals,” reads an etching, carved into the end of one of the giant triangular monuments. “With well over a million living species and a far greater number extinct, these granite monuments illustrate a limited yet comprehensive view of animals of the world.”
Another motivation for creating it, Istel said, was that he wanted to give children who visited more to explore.
That’s probably why, during the ceremony, the actual dedication of the monument will be done by small children from across Imperial and Yuma counties.
There will also be the big reveal of answers to a contest run by Visit Yuma, where children guessed three different animals.
“It’s a contest for children to guess three animals, which will come down in large flags by parachute,” said Istel. The first place prize is a large plush toy.
There will also be a short parade of children, led by the two women who etched the new monuments, and the introduction of “high powered guests,” according to Istel.
For visitors that are new to Felicity, there are also a host of other interesting attractions, such as the Center of the World, residing in a marble pyramid and designated as such by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors in 1985.
There’s also a section of the original Eiffel Tower’s staircase, standing near the entrance to Istel’s small desert town.
Taking place half an hour before the ceremony christening the new portion of the Museum of History in granite is the 21st anniversary of the United States Marine Corps Korean War Memorial, featuring the Marine Corps color guard and flags arriving by parachute.