Fairfield Elementary School Art Walk

I was reading the newest edition of the Davis Visitors' Guide published by The Davis Enterprise during the last week and I noted its promotion of "Art walks/Public art" in Davis:

“One way Davis likes to liven up its landscapes and neighborhoods is through public art. Playful sculptures, functional pieces like a wall or a clock, and much more adorn the downtown area, shopping centers, parks, greenbelts and buildings throughout Davis.”
— Davis Visitors' Guide from The Davis Enterprise, June 8, 2016, page 10.

Missing from their opening paragraph above is a call out of art adorning Davis schools. Fairfield Elementary School is a great example. So, following in the footsteps of the Davis Transmedia Art Walk referenced in the Davis Visitors' Guide, I bring you the Fairfield Elementary School Art Walk below. 

More on Ernie's Reopening Drive

Ernie Pfanner's effort to reopen Fairfield School following its closing in 1978 is described in this article from California Farmer shared by Carolyn Pfanner at the Fairfield 150 celebrations (see below). 

Photo of article highlighting Ernie Pfanner's effort to reopen Fairfield, leading "Ernie's Army" of supporters. Ernie is seen as a Fairfield student in the class photo at the bottom (he is in the back row on the right). 

The articles depicts the unique rural school element to Fairfield that has been a source of diversity and connection to the agricultural heritage of Davis. 

It also highlights the rural "can-do" spirit that has often guided Fairfield's parent participation and efforts to get things done to improve the school for its students. For example, Pfanner was able to cut the cost of a reopening the school by doing things like bringing in his own pump repairman to look at a broken water pump that was budgeted at $2,200 to replace: it turned out it only needed a new $10 valve.   

“Pfanner says that if rural people are left alone they can work things out for themselves. There are still rural people in California who can get the job done within the system. ‘We faced a solid wall of opposition to the school when we started, but through dedication the job was accomplished,’ Pfanner says. ”
— California Farmer, January 17, 1981

Having grown up in a small rural town in the Sierras, the rural element and its can-do spirit were also a big part of what my mother loved about Fairfield.

Fairfield School Song on Its 150th Birthday

Linda Book sings the Fairfield School song she wrote in 1993 on the occasion of Fairfield's 150th Birthday last Saturday.

Most future recipients of the Barbara Neu Memorial Scholarship should know this song (and its signs) by heart. 

As Linda explained in introducing the song, Mrs Neu (it was written during her tenure at Fairfield) was not in favor of a ballad at first and wanted her to do something more upbeat. However, Linda convinced her in the end to go with it. As the song has endured, I think my mother would agree it was the right call. Click here for the full song. Thanks Linda!

For more Linda Book songs visit LindaBook.com

Memories of How Ernie Pfanner Reopened Fairfield

Memories shared at the Fairfield 150 celebration May 7 at the school in Davis, CA included this one about how Ernie Pfanner, who had attended the school as a young boy, helped reopen Fairfield in 1982. Carolyn Pfanner, who did the sharing (with support from Eileen O'Farrell), is a Fairfield icon and repository of stories and historical facts about the school.

She was also a school bus driver and drove on a field trip to Dillon Beach that my father organized for Emerson students when I was a young boy. It included a bit of a roller-coaster ride in a large bus on some windy roads and around cliff-turns that is still etched in my boyhood memory.