Saturday, December 1, 2018

Did you know this relative of ours was at the Alamo?




Great News for the Casa Navarro!

This is wonderful news.

Huge Sucess!



We couldn't of had a more beautiful night for the Concert under the Stars at the Casa Navarro last Thursday night.
The San Antonio Symphonic Band played a melody of Xmas songs that were just spectacular.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  I know I sure did.  Hope you like the photos I've attached.

Symphonic





Saturday, November 17, 2018

Friends Org. Site with photos


https://www.friendsofcasanavarro.org/about/

Friends of Casa Navarro, contact info




This is the current contact information on our family organization. friendsofcasanavarro.org

Formed on June 1, 1988 is a 501 (c) (3) 
Educational organization. The address is
Friends of Casa Navarro
P.O. Box 790187
San Antonio Texas 78279
Our President is Sandy Salinas.  Her contact info
is ssalinas@hts-tx.com and her phone is 210-365-5536. Our Co-President is Belinda Gavallos. Her
contact info is belgav@me.com and her phone is 210-887-5712.
Other contacts are: Myself, Carol Cieszinski
210-415-1912 carolcce@yahoo.com and
Sandy Westbrook 972-679-4653

We are all available to answer any questions you
may have about Jose Antonio Navarro and our efforts to promote him.  We'd love to have you join us.

New Longoria Genealogy Book




Are you a Longoria or do you have connections to
this fine family name.  I have in my possession this book.  If you would like to view it please contact me.

Sunday, September 30, 2018

A Night Under the Stars Your invited




Only a 100 seats available.  Call me to reserve yours today. 210-415-1912  See you there.




Annual Meeting of Friends




Letting you know how the meeting went.  Although not many
people in attendance, we accomplished a lot.  The minutes of
the last meeting were read, a treasury report was given, and a committee report of future fund raising events for Casa Navarro.

I will be posting one of those events that is scheduled for November.  Hope some of you will want to attend.  It will be
an exciting night of music, food and drinks.  The Symphonic Band of San Antonio will perform for a concert under the Stars at Casa
Navarro.  Watch for my invitation to you all.

At our meeting we learned of exciting things that are happening
in and around the Casa Navarro.  Most of you know that the San Pedro Creek development is coming along very well and will be a big asset to the Casa.  Across the street on Nueva St. will be the new Federal Courthouse.  What some of you might not know is that the University of Texas at San Antonio will be building at least three new buildings.  One will be where the parking lot is now, the other will be where the white jail is and the third will be on the other side of the San Pedro Creek, behind the Casa Navarro.  The Casa Navarro grounds will be extended all the way to the Creek now, making it acquired land for us to use for a building of our own, plus parking, and access for busses to drop of tours.  These are all great news for our organization as it will keep us in the lime light of what is happening in San Antonio.   The new Federal Building has not been named yet.  We are diligently working
to get it named after our ancestor Jose Antonio Navarro.

Anyone, who is familiar with this process and is willing to help us 
get this done.  It would be greatly appreciated.

I hope that these new future happenings will encourage you to
join us and be a part of all that is happening.

Membership Benefits to Friends of Casa Navarro


This is a good time to show you what the benefits of membership to
Friends of Casa Navarro are for those who are not familiar with them.



".. Invitations for special events and exhibits sponsored by Friends of Casa Navarro.
.. The Friends of Casa Navarro Electronic Newsletter and email updates.
.. 10% Off Museum Store purchases and facility rental.
.. Dollar Off Admission for Guest."

  Right now, we have 2 Membership Categories:

"Individual Membership $25 (Basic Membership Package, plus)
.. Unlimited site admission for one year for member and

Family Membership $40 (Basic Membership Package, plus)
.. Unlimited site admission for one year for two adults and all children 18 and younger living in the same household."

Friday, September 14, 2018

Next Saturday. Be There!




Please let me know if you will be attending.  You may have gotten
the e-mail and haven't responded yet.  I can let our President know
that you will be coming.

Come join us in spreading our family history to all who are interested.  You can have a lot of fun participating in our organization.  We are always looking for talented people who want to offer their services to us.  We need the following:

Photographers
Web Developers
Officers for the Board of Directors
Philanthropist/Donations
Event Planner
Historian/ or Writer 
Phone help
Membership help
Grants writer
Programs Developer
Marketing person
Genealogy researcher
Media Contact
Video/Recorder
Story Teller
Speaker
Printer
Movie Producer
Language interpreter
Archielogy specialist
Educator
Constant Contact operator
Call me: Carol 210-415-1912

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Annual Meeting just a little over 2 weeks away!



If your reading my blog right now you must
be thinking why is she letting me know again
about the annual meeting?

It's because it is a very important meeting.  We will
be discussing things that will impact the site for
the next few years.  What, with the San Pedro Creek
Liniar Park on our back door and the new Federal
Building to be build across the street from Casa
Navarro on Nueva St. there is a lot to talk about.
We will be presenting nominees for officers of the
Board of Friends and discussing the possibility of
moving the dues date for membership to Mr. Navarro's
Birthday February 27th.  We will need your input.
I personally anticipate everyone wanting to participate in
our family heritage historical site.  Did you know
that the Francisco Ruiz's home, was the first school
house in San Antonio?  Mr. Ruiz was a school teacher
for our city.  His home is presently at the Witte Museum
on Broadway St. in San Antonio and is used as the
gift shop for the museum.  We are on a mission to
get it moved back to where it originally stood and that
is on Dolorasa St. which was bounded by the San Pedro Creek. 
The San Pedro Creek not only goes behind the Spanish
Governor's Palace, and the Casa Navarro, it should also
pass the Ruiz home which is a part of Texas history that
needs to be preserved and put in its proper place.  
We are going to petition the City of San Antonio to get it moved
back to where it belongs.  We are also petitioning the
City to name the new Federal Building after our esteemed ancestor Jose Antonio Navarro.

You can see how valuable you working with us can be.
I know that many of you have talents that could be
utilized by the Friends Organiztion and what a better cause
for you to participate in but this.  Please join me.  I need
your help.  
Call me:  210-415-1912

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Summer Time is here. Just taking it easy.


Not too much going on right now.  I'm doing some research here
in San Antonio and in Somerset on Ruiz and Navarro projects.
Meeting with Mary Ann Oliver next week to work of a photo
project.  Some of you might know of.  It's about the photo in 1960
of the people who attended the saving of the Casa Navarro by
the San Antonio Conservation Society. I am in that photo and I am
only 14 years old going on 15.  The schematic that tells you who
the people are in the photo is what we are working on.  We have learned of a few of the missing names, so we are going to update
the schematic.

Another point of interest for some of you who don't already know
is that Jose Antonio Navarro and one of his quoted sayings in on
one of the pages of the insert for the United States Passport.  This
fact was pointed out to me by my son-in-law Terry Endress who
travels the world extensively.  This goes to show just how important Jose's work and accomplishments are to the world.
You can look it up on the internet.
   
Hope everyone is keeping cool and enjoying this summer.

Monday, March 26, 2018

Birthday Celebration a Success!


Everything went just as planned.  The rain held off and we had
a marvelous time.  Our program included the Welcoming of everyone and introduced dignitaries that were present.  Then the
President of Friends of Casa Navarro spoke also welcoming 
everyone present.  She acknowledged the descendants that 
were there and mentioned all the things they would be seeing
when they went on to the Casa Navarro grounds.  A proclamation was read by a city official and then a Jose Antonio Navarro costumed man spoke also welcoming everyone to this Birthday party.  He said I am 223 years old.  "Not bad for an old man." 
Next our guest speaker from Bastia, Corscia, Dr. Charles Balesi, was introduced he made a small speech.  Later the youth choir
sang Happy Birthday to Jose Antonio Navarro and the cake was
served.  

There were interactive exhibits for people to enjoy.  Some of
them were.  Wood carving of tools used in the early 1800's,
We had costumed Buffalo soldier there as well as a costumed Mexican Army soldier.  A 5 year old girl royalty all decked out in her beautiful dress,  with a sash around her chest and a lovely sparkling crown on her head dropped by and dazzled everyone who saw her.  We had a photographer taking old photos of people and there was demonstrations of weaving in one of the rooms at the Casa.  In what is known as the timeline room was were our speaker,
Dr. charles Balesi spoke about Angel Navarro's travel from Corsica to America.  The museum had a special display of this route on display along with artifacts of the time period in a room in the Casa.

Our membership table did real well.  We signed up many
new members.  Manning the table were Sandy Westbrook 
and Dolores Tamez.  They had our 300th medal for Jose Antonio Navarro available for sale and sales were good.
We also have T-shirts available if anyone is interested you can
contact me or anyone in the Friends organization.

We had over 200 people in attendance.  I manned the geneology table, which was a big hit with the attendees.  I met many new descendants.  At least 6 Tobin's, 1 Muldoone cousin and I talked
to many other descendants from Angel Navarro and Josefa
Ruiz.  The helpers at my table where Herlinda Ramos, and
Joan Tapia all descendants in our lines.  We were able to field
and answer questions throughout the event about Navarro, Ruiz, 
Flores and other lines.  

From one of the Tobin men I learned who the unknown lady standing next to me in the photo, which is on the fireplace in the time line room of the museum.  That photo was taken the day the Navarro house, now Casa Navarro Historic National Landmark, was saved for posterity. He told me he was also in the photo and
pointed to himself and then he pointed to the unknown lady and
said that the lady in question was his mother Lilly Tobin-Guerra.  At last a name to the faces that we had no identity on as of that date.

I saw so many cousins that I have been corresponding with for years, and so many that support the Casa and are there every chance they can. 

We thank all of you for attending and hope you had a wonderful time.

I hope you saw some of the photos that were posted on Facebook
under my name Carol Cieszinski.  Perhaps you can find them.
I will see if I can get one or two to post here soon. 

If I missed you there you can always contact me through this
website.  There is a subscribe area at the bottom of the page or
you can just email me at carolcce@yahoo.com


Sunday, March 11, 2018

Event was great! Hope you were there.


I tried to visit with as many people as I could.  My table was
busy with on lookers many of them were descendants which made
me very happy.  I had plenty of material handouts for them to
take home.  I hope I will hear from some of them soon.

There were request like, "Where can I get a copy of the
Proclamation that was read that day?"  I am still looking into
that, as I have been away in Tuscan, AZ with family for 10days.
I know that many photos of the event were posted on Facebook.
Those of you that are on my friends should have seen some of
them.

I have photos of the saving of the Casa Navarro back in 1960.
If anyone is interested in receiving one just write to me.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Want to help at the event?



We need volunteers to help with various areas for that day.  Please contact me if you are interested in doing this.

JAN Fiesta Medal now available.



Getting closer to the big celebration.  Our fiesta medal for
Jose Antonio Navarro is beautiful don't you think.  If you'd like
to purchase one you can do so through me.  Otherwise we will have them available at the membership table, which will be next to where I will be at the genealogy table.  Look forward to seeing you all.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Fiesta Medal for Jose Antonio Navarro


Hello everyone!  The Tricentennial 2018 medal for the Friends for Casa Navarro are here.  You can purchase one from me or at our
upcoming event at Casa Navarro for $15.00 each.



Here is a link to our Friends organization for you to view.

friendsofcasanavarro.org

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Helpful Information for Navarro Celebration February 24th

Some of you are inquiring about how to navigate the sanantonio300.org websitesite.


Here are the instructions once you are in
Events
Event Partners
Date (Type February)
24th
↳The Journey Continues…The Corsican Connection

Additional information for the day of the event.
  • Surface parking lots will cost approx. $5.00
  • Handi-cap parking will be free in surface lots and on the street at parking meters
  • You are encouraged to dress in period costume

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Get ready for an exciting year 2018



I can't believe it has been a year since I began my Navarro/Ruiz family blog.  I am happy to have this platform to share my passion with you.  I hope you have enjoyed my past post and look forward to more news about these two families as the year progresses.  I will let you know when I am planning a meeting at the library to you can come and be part of this learning experience.

I am so looking forward to all the celebrations that our city is planning for 2018!  The website is sanantonio300.org.  It has a calendar which will help you see all that is going on that day.  The
celebration for this year started off with a big bang, with our New Years Eve celebration at Hemisphere Plaza in downtown San Antonio, Texas.  There was live entertainment and festivities, which started at 4 pm that day, and culminated with an amazing fireworks display.

The next celebration is February 24th, which will be our day to shine.  We begin the birthday celebration for Jose Antonio Navarro at 10 am at the Casa Navarro at 228 S. Laredo St.  The Corsican delegation will be part of these doings. I will be there at a table marked genealogy, right next door will be a membership table for our organization, the Friends of Casa Navarro.  Please come over and visit with me.  I will have some fabulous things to share with you.  This is the first year that a genealogical table will be at these festivities.  Here is your opportunity to ask those nagging questions or get some information you have always wondered about.

Your participation is welcomed, bring the family and a friend or two.