Shoppers and diners in Old Town Orcutt will soon be able to tell perfect time from a 17-foot-tall, 1,000-plus pound Orcutt community clock.
On Feb. 24, at 5 p.m., locals and Santa Barbara County supervisors Joni Gray and Joe Centeno will watch the clock start to tick. The dedication and tree-planting celebration is at 120 E. Clark Ave.
The clock is a gift from the Old Town Orcutt Revitalization Association (OTORA), a nonprofit focused on revitalizing the cultural and historical center of Orcutt. Massachusetts-based Electric Time Co. built the clock, which features the town’s name and founding date—1904—in gold-plated letters. Local artist Glenda Stevens created an image of “Old Maude,” the largest of Orcutt’s old oil wells, for the face.
In an interview with the Sun, OTORA board member Berto van Veen said the idea for the Orcutt Community Clock first came to him while he was vacationing in Pennsylvania, where he saw a lot of towns with large clocks. The abundance of timepieces, he said, inspired him to bring the East Coast tradition to the Central Coast.
“I think it’ll put some history back in Old Orcutt,” van Veen explained.
OTORA members raised some of the funds for the clock at annual club events. At the dedication ceremony, the group will also collect money through plaque and tree dedications.
Community members can buy plaques to be put on the clock base for $250 each. Tree plaques cost $100, or trees can be planted for $2,200. The trees will line Clark Avenue and Broadway in Old Town Orcutt.
For more information about OTORA and the Old Town Orcutt clock dedication and tree planting celebration, visit orcuttonline.org and click on the OTORA link. m
Staff Writer Amy Asman wrote this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 19-26, 2009.