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By Chris De
Benedetti, STAFF WRITER
Fremont Argus
April 4, 2006
FREMONT - As the Celebrate Fremont Heritage
Team seeks to honor the city during its 50th
anniversary, it has turned to an unlikely
group to act as town historians: ordinary
citizens.
The results
will be on display April 19 with an event
titled "Fremont Stories: The Oral History
Project." Led by Celebrate Fremont Heritage
Team members Patricia Schaffarczyk and Nydia
Estrada, the presentation will feature video
interviews of Fremont residents sharing
their memories and stories of the city they
call home.
A handful
of the more than 30 interviews will be
shown, highlighting the different eras and
cultures that have comprised Fremont's
history, Estrada said.
"Just by
listening to these stories, you learn how
Fremont came to be and what it means to (its
citizens)," she said.
Attendees
also are encouraged to share their memories
at the program, which will be held at the
Fremont Main Library as part of its monthly
speaker series in celebration of the city's
50th anniversary.
"You don't have
to be in the headlines or be a city official
to have a story," Schaffarczyk said.
"Everybody has a story."
A team of
volunteers from Ohlone College, the Fremont
Adult School and area high schools have
helped videotape the interviews, said
Schaffarczyk, coordinator of the project.
"Everybody
sees and remembers their youth and the times
in which they lived with their own
perspective," Schaffarczyk said, explaining
her passion for the oral history project.
"Talking to people makes that history seem
more alive."
Staff
writer Chris De Benedetti covers Fremont
issues. He can be reached at (510) 353-7002
or
cdebenedetti@angnewspapers.com. |
