Ah! The lure of the sphinx.
On Friday evening, June 12, all roads led to Guadalupe’s Dunes Center, to which more than 200 people from up and down the Central Coast made a pilgrimage.
They came to view the unveiling of a new exhibit: recently excavated sphinx segments.
These pilgrams traveled to see a 92-year-old plaster prop from Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 silent epic, The Ten Commandments, part of which was filmed on Guadalupe’s dunes.
After the filming was complete, the set was left for the sands to buffet and bury. Various archeological digs indicated that there was enough left of at least one of the film’s 21 sphinxes to warrant a serious search.
Long story short, parts of a sphinx were excavated and, with some restoration, made presentable. The segments were lovingly laid in three separate cases.
A huge paw, part of the body, and a large chunk of the head are now on display. They made their debut at the Dunes Center’s Roaring ’20s Unveiling Gala.
The Center’s executive director, Doug Jenzen, and his crew put together one swell celebration that looked like it could have been a cocktail scene in The Great Gatsby.
The period costumes worn by many attendees were a lot of fun. Feathered hats, fedoras, and beaded dresses appeared in abundance.
Someone came dressed in a vintage Army Cavalry officer’s uniform. A Dunes board member dressed as Amelia Earhart. A 1920s photographer from the defunct Los Angeles Herald (sporting a faux press pass in his hatband) snapped many faux photos with his homemade faux flash camera.
Dr. David (who is a volunteer at the Dunes Center) and Twyla Olwin were also in period costume.
Not in costume were Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal, Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneidner, former Guadalupe Mayor Frances Romero, and former Lompoc mayor John Linn, who were among the elected officials in the crowd.
Nipomo’s Helen and Alan Daurio, former co-presidents of the Dana Adobe board, along with the current board president, Rudy Stowell, came to support the cause.
Dr. Joe and Chris Slaughter were on hand, as were Karen Cordary and Morgan Kao.
Susie Minetti Righetti (of Susie Q’s barbeque seasoning fame) and her sister Marie Minetti Will made the big splash of the evening. Susie, with Marie by her side, announced that the Minetti family is donating the old Far Western Tavern restaurant building, just down the street, to the Dunes Center.
This is a big deal. The gift will give the Center a much-enlarged venue for its exhibits and activities.
So what else happened besides the unveiling of “The Sphinx,” during which two ropes were tugged, pulling back a black curtain that shielded the exhibit until the appropriate dramatic moment?
Well, there was music by the Sammy Labastida Jazz Band. Also, a buffet with pork, pasta salad, and pineapple upside down cake, and a no-host bar with drinks like The Bee’s Knees, the Half-Sphinx, and the Guadalupe Royal.
The motto of the bartenders was: “Buy more drinks, get more sphinx.”
To explain: The purpose of the Gala was also to launch a new fundraising campaign to garner funds to rescue more sphinx segments from sandy oblivion.
Wherever he is, Cecil B. DeMille must be in his glory, knowing that after 92 years, a prop from his famed movie is generating tons of excitement.
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you may contact her at helenthom232@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 2, 2015.