Lena Sekine Artwork at Carbon Canyon Coffee Company in Olinda Village!

For those thinking of going to tomorrow's official grand opening, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., of the Carbon Canyon Coffee Company in the Olinda Village shopping center or will drop in on another day after that, please take a moment to enjoy and appreciate the artistry of my neighbor Lena Sekine.

Lena, who does design work for Japanese restaurants as her main job, has graced our Sleepy Hollow neighborhood in several locations with amazing murals and other works, including her own house and that of some of our residents.

She has been spending a good deal of time creating beautiful works at the CCCC, but has included her customized cushions for seating, in addition to murals and other decorative touches.  Obviously, these have to be seen in person and up close to truly be appreciated, but the photos here given at least some idea and, hopefully, spur some interest in checking them out personally.

As to the CCCC, let's hope there's a good turnout for tomorrow's grand opening and that it will gain more regular patrons and customers.  The friendly staff, excellent coffee and other offerings, Lena's artistic touches and a relaxing location in the Canyon bode well!

Carbon Canyon Coffee Company Official Grand Opening on the 25th

Though I'm not a coffee drinker, my wife, who is, and I paid our first visit to the recently opened Carbon Canyon Coffee Company in Olinda Village on Saturday and she enjoyed an iced coffee while I had a strawberry smoothee.  

After talking for a few minutes with the owner, who is really excited about the area and the potential for his busines, and taking in the cool motocycle theme of the interior (the space housed Mexican and Italian restaurants, along with a briefly operating roadhouse, for many years), we sat out in front, enjoying the cool evening, and talking to Lena Sekine, a neighbor and an amazing artist who is finishing decorative work the shop (more on that in an upcoming post.)

While there, we learned that next Saturday, the 25th, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the official grand opening for the business and there'll be local vendors, live music and other elements, with part of the parking lot set aside for the event.  

Attached to this post is the promotional card for the opening, so, if you like coffee and want to check out this new local business, that might be a good time to go.  Otherwise, Carbon Canyon Coffee Company is open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. weekdays, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #62: A Real Photo Postcard of Tidwell Oaks, Sleepy Hollow, ca. 1940

It's humbling when information put out on this blog is wrong, but at least catching the mistake and correcting it can always be done in this format, which is the case with today's featured artifact from Carbon Canyon history.  Unfortunately, articles in the Chino Valley Champion from March and October 2019 relied on the false info from this source.  Hopefully, anyone reading those will come across this post and see this plea for historical redemption!

In this case, there were a number of posts that stated that Tidwell Oaks, the store, tavern and service station operated in the early years of Sleepy Hollow by David and Velma Tidwell, was situated at the east end of the community, south of Carbon Canyon Road, where some apartments, shuttered now for a couple of years, are located now.

Actually, the couple purchased their two large lots at the center of the neighborhood where Carbon Canyon Road and Rosemary Lane meet not long after the community was developed in the 1920s and built their compound.  This was recently verified by finding reference to their ownership of lots 2 and 3 in Block 5 of the tract and then noting that on copies of the original subdivision map obtained years ago from the county archives.

The last entry in this "Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact" series, from June 2020, featured a real photo postcard of folks sitting in a large patio, bordered with brick and rock walls, with large oak trees for shade—this presumably in the back or side of the structures, as well as some of the history of the Tidwell family.  Today's post takes us out to Carbon Canyon Road and a view of the main building, a log cabin-like structure, with a gas pump out front and other buildings off to the west, or right.

Rosemary Lane is at the lower left between the caption of "Tidwell Oaks / Carbon Canyon" and the light-colored car parked next to the "cabin."  A couple of other vehicles are off to the far right and some of the houses on the hillside in view—the one at the top center with the three windows at the lower portion and the span of windows going from one side to the other is still standing.

As for dating this unused card, the cars definitely look to be from the late 30s or early 40s, but the AGFA/ANSCO stamp box also was used in the Thirties and Forties, so we're just going to go with circa 1940 on this one.  Today, there are a few little remnants, including remains of concrete steps, from Tidwell Oaks and there is a parking area for the Sleepy Hollow Community Center and the bus stop that mark the location, as well.