2024 Royalty
Grand Marshal & Queen
Marshal Dick Woodland and
Queen Bonnie Cary Thorndyke
Belle
Reese Jaureguy
Past Royalty
Belle Attendants
Adelaida Coelho - Adelaida
Ava Friedling - Estrella
Cassidy Heer - Estrella
Kiana Martinez - LaPanza
Khylah McKee - Hog Canyon
Lindsay Moffatt - Adelaida
Queens Attendants
Dana Thorndyke Thiel
Kathy Green Burrows
Grand Marshal Dick Woodland
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Richard “Dick” James Woodland was born February 16th 1943 in Paso Robles to Imogene & Fred Woodland.
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Dick’s mother, Imogene Orton, moved to Paso Robles with her mother in 1922 as a 5 year old. She worked at various jobs throughout her school years and continued to do so locally after high school graduation. She was working as a waitress at the HiWay Hotel on 13th and Park St. His father, Fred Woodland's, family migrated from England to the US when he was 5, 1910, and settled in Connecticut. He was working as a marine mechanic but during the 1930's, when the country was dealing with the Great Depression. Jobs were scarce but he heard they were plentiful in Alaska working on the fishing fleets. On his way to Alaska, he was running low on cash but heard there was a job opening at Basil Tunison's Buick Dealership in Paso Robles. He applied for the job and booked a room at the HiWay Hotel. (No, he never made it to Alaska. He met the fisty waitress and never left town.)
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Dick’s grandfather on his father's side, Albert Woodland, moved to Paso Robles during the 1950's and worked for the City of Paso Robles as caretaker for the City Park. That was back when they had the mini zoo and the gold fish ponds not to mention the "Dangerous" merry-go-round.
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Dick’s older brother, Fred Jr., was born in 1939, and Dick was born in 1943 during the middle of WW II. Dick’s father was considered too old for the draft but became the Civilian in Charge of the Motor Pool at Camp Roberts. His mother also worked at Camp Roberts doing clerical work.
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Dick considers his generation as benefiting the most from the Great Generation. “Growing up in the 1950's was an amazing time in our history. This was especially true when growing up in small towns like Paso Robles where we were raised in a period of innocence. Most families had one bread winner and everyone strived to get ahead and improve their situations. Doors were left unlocked and keys were often left in automobile ignitions” says Woodland. During most of his growing up years, he lived on Vine St just south of what is now the Junior High School.
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From the late 1940's through the early 1960's, his parents managed Norwalk Service Station for JB Dewar at 9th and Spring. Naturally, with the Polar Freeze on one side and the City Plunge across the street, this was a happening area. Over time, both his brother and Dick as well as many friends, worked there.
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Prior to being old enough to work at the service station, Dick found other jobs in town such as working for Royal Photo Service out of San Jose, (A much better deal than delivering papers) to doing weekly heavy cleanup at the Hudson's and Daniel's Drugstores lunch counters.
Dick Woodland graduated from High School in 1960 and after a year of saving money, he left Paso Robles and headed off to college where he attended Fresno State. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as I was more interested in automobile racing than college so I dropped out of school to pursue my dream. In the mid 1960's, the Vietnam war was heating up and he received his draft notice. He was sent to Germany where he spent most of his time helping to guard the Fulda Pass. While he was in Germany, his fiancé Patricia Beckman, finished college, Fresno State, and came over to Germany where they were married and lived for the following year.
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They then moved to Southern California where Patricia’s mother and stepfather had a poultry business, ducks, and Dick was somewhat bribed to give the family business a try by promising him, of all things, a race car. “That was an easy decision although I knew nothing about commercially raising ducks” says Woodland.
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Dick and Pat managed to expand the business as well as their family, with one daughter and 3 sons. Although Pat was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, she had visited Paso Robles numerous times and fell in love with the area. They soon made a pact that we would move the family to the Paso Robles area so the children would get a taste of growing up in a small town atmosphere. Dick was able to get the family moved but it meant that he had to commute weekly to the LA area for numerous years. Patricia Woodland passed away unexpectantly in 2003 and Dick eventually married Claudia in 2010.
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In the 1980’s Dick was one of the founders of Citizen’s Bank of Paso Robles and chaired the Loan committee for over 5 years. Dick is the original partner in Eberle winery and broke ground in 1985. Dick donated land to the City of Paso Robles to help enable the City to build the original Niblick Bridge. In the later 1990’s Dick developed the Woodland Plaza shopping center (the Albertsons shopping center) which was soon followed with Woodland Plaza II, the Wal-Mart shopping center. Dick has also developed 4 vineyards, the first was Patricia Diane Vineyards.
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Dick has worked hand in hand with the Paso Robles Housing Authority for several years in order to obtain the approvals for the 79 unit Senior Affordable Housing apartment project, River Walk Terrace, currently under construction near the former J.C. Penney’s building.
Dick has received the Beautification Award for each of the shopping centers as well as for the rehab of Busi’s Tavern (now Pappy McGregors).
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Dick and his wife Claudia developed the Woodland Auto Display which is affiliated with the Estrella Warbird Museum at the Paso Robles Airport. What started in 2009 has grown to approximately 20,000 sq ft with over 100 vehicles on display. It draws many thousands of visitors annually, mostly from out of the area with an increasing number from out of state and out of the country. All proceeds of the automobile collection go to benefit the Estrella Warbird Museum which helps to expand and improve the facility.
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Of Dick’s 4 children, youngest, Patrick, resides with his family in Concord, North Carolina. His oldest son, Robert, lives in Paso Robles as does his daughter, Jeanette Mayfield and her husband, Tracy and his son Richard Jr, his wife Kelly and their daughters, Jak, Edi, Ryn and Riley. The 4 granddaughters will be in the Pioneer Day Parade as the 5th generation Woodlands in Paso Robles.
All Royalty Photos by Derek Luffs/Paso Robles Magazine
Queen Bonnie Cary Thorndyke
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Bonnie was born November 7, 1940 in Fresno California. Bonnie attended elementary school in Fresno until the family moved to Paso Robles in 1947. Her first teacher in Paso Robles was Miss Georgia Brown. Bonnie attended Paso Robles schools and graduated from Paso Robles High School in 1958. She then attended 4-C’s Business College in Fresno and College of the Sequoias (COS) in Visalia, where big brother Bob and friend Bill Baxter were attending as well.
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During high school years, Bonnie worked part time at Tots and Teens Children’s Clothing store and J.C. Penney’s. After 4-C’s and COS, she worked for Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America and retire from Paso Robles School District office. Having always been friendly, fun and very social, Bonnie was a cherished employee at each job.
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Throughout her school days, Bonnie was very active socially and made many positive contributions to all of her many clubs and activities. She was a majorette all through school, including Head Majorette in high school. She was May Day Queen in 1958, Worthy Advisor of Paso Robles Chapter of Rainbow Girls, and a member of St. James Episcopal Church. She loved anything to do with horses from grooming to pleasure rides to horse shows. She also has loved all of her many dogs and cats over the years.
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Most of all, she is a person who care about others. In 1962, she married Mike Thorndyke, a local jolly and gregarious businessman. He had worked art her aunt and uncle’s grocery store, Liles Market. Then the Thorndyke family started Wayside Liquor. It was perfect for Mike since he was friendly to all and a hard working guy. Over the years they owned the Talk Shop and the Gold Coast Ice Co. After selling all, Mike went to work for Paso Robles Ford. Sadly, Mike passed away at the young age of 67, being married for 47 years.
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Together, Bonnie and Mike had two wonderful children, Dana Thorndyke Thiel (Tom) and Brian Thorndyke (Stephanie Muir), three grandchildren and on new great-granddaughter.
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Bonnie has always been close to her siblings, big brother Bob, now deceased, Skip and Sheila. She cherishes the many great times with the siblings as well as with the cousins, Patsy and Kathy Allen and Jim and Virginia Allen.
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Pioneer Day has always been a big event for the entire extended family, especially in 2003 when Bonnie’s mother Audrey Cary was Queen. Bonnie’s family has always enjoyed Pioneer Day and the wonderful memories gathering in the park after the parade for a huge and delicious meal and many desserts, another of Bonnie’s favorite things!
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Bonnie is related to a long line of Pioneer families which included the Allen, Forbes, Cox, Frazier, Beck and Smith families. She is proud of her heritage and loves the wonderful town she calls home, El Paso de Robles – Paso Robles. She is very honored to be the 2024 Pioneer Day Queen.
Belle - Reese Jaureguy
Reese’s great-great-grandmother Dora Isaak was born in Templeton in 1880. Dora married Jesse Grove in Shandon in 1906. They welcomed a son, Earl Grove who was born in Shandon in 1916. Earl and his wife, Mary are Reese’s great-grandparents.
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Reese’s great-great grandmother, La Violette Lynn, moved here from Nebraska in 1914. She graduated from Templeton High School in 1920. Reese’s great great grandfather A.D. Moss moved from Kansas to Paso Robles in 1918.
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A.D. and La Violette Moss had a daughter, Margaret, who was Reese’s great grandmother. Margaret Moss married Lynn Methena and they had two children, Allan and Sharon. Sharon Methena is Reese’s grandmother. Margaret remarried Bill Pemberton and they had a son, Billy Pemberton. Bill’s grandparents Charles and Mary Guilford moved to Creston in 1903 and welcomed their daughter Clara who was born in Creston in 1915.
Her maternal grandfather, Donald Grove, was born and raised in Shandon. Her grandmother Sharon Grove is a life-long resident of Paso Robles.
Her paternal grandparents are JB & Virginia Jaureguy who were married in late 1971. JB was born in France and immigrated to the US in 1962. Virginia was born in Bakersfield and moved to Paso Robles in 1970. They had three children, one of which is Reese’s father, Robert. Her parents, Robert Jaureguy & Kirsten (Grove) Jaureguy were both born and raised in Paso Robles.
Reese is a senior at Paso Robles High School and shows livestock competitively all over the state.
Reese’s related Pioneer Families: Grove, Pemberton, Moss, and Guilford
Belle Attendant - Adelaida Coelho
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Addey is a second cousin to Lindsay Moffat, so we will try to highlight different parts of their family tree. Addey’s maternal great-great-great Grandfather Otto Wyss settled in Adelaida in 1876 to work as an engineer, machinist and map maker at the Klau Mine quicksilver mines. Her maternal great-great Grandmother Pauline Johanna Wyss was born in 1892 in Adelaida and was the first female president of the county fair board. The Home Economics Building on the grounds of the Paso Robles Events Center was dedicated to her in 1955.
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In the early 1860’s maternal great-great-great Grandfather, James Wesley Dodd came by wagon train from Kentucky to California and settled in Pleyto-Hesperia near where San Antonio Lake Damn is today. Maternal great great Grandfather, John Edward “Ed” Dodd was born in Pleyto in 1885.
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John Edward “Ed” Dodd married Pauline “Polly” Johanna Wyss in 1912. After their marriage Ed operated the Wyss Ranch in Adelaida. Ed and Polly had five children. Maternal great Grandfather Raymond “Bunch” Edward Dodd, Sr. was born in 1917 to Ed and Polly in Adelaida.
Maternal great Grandfather Raymond “Bunch” Edward Dodd, Sr. married Evelyn Kissella in 1941 and raised three children on the Wyss-Dodd ranch in Adelaida. Maternal Grandfather Raymond “Skip” Edward Dodd, Jr. was born to Bunch and Evelyn in 1949.
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Maternal great-great-great Uncle Rev. John Wesley White of Dallas, Texas arrived in Templeton, CA in the early 1940’s. He remodeled and refurbished the Templeton Presbyterian Church where he was Pastor during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Maternal great Grandparents Billy and Dolores White and their children arrived in Paso Robles on September 3, 1956 from Ennis, Texas. The White Family along with five other families came to Paso Robles to start up and operate Ennis Business Forms Company. Addey’s Grandmother Nancy White was born in Ft. Hood, Texas in 1952, she moved to Paso Robles at the age of four.
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Maternal Grandfather Raymond “Skip” Edward Dodd, Jr. married Nancy Gelene White in 1972. They also raised three children on the original Adelaida homestead. Mother Gelene Rae Dodd was born to Skip and Nancy Dodd in 1973 . Gelene Rae Dodd married Christopher “Chris” Paul Coelho on April 27, 1996. Chris and Gelene have three daughters, Chassey, Riley and Adelaida. Addey has family that still lives on the original Wyss-Dodd Ranch in Adelaida where they now dry farm grapes and raise cattle.
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Father Christopher “Chris” Coelho was born in Hanford, CA in 1974 to Stanley Coelho and Darlene Lawrence. Chris has two brothers Jeffery Coelho and Mathew Coelho. Addey’s father’s family moved to Paso Robles in January 1983.
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Maternal great-great Grandfather John Edward “Ed” Dodd was Pioneer Day Marshal in 1956, maternal great-great Grandmother Pauline “Polly” Johanna (Wyss) Dodd was Pioneer Day Queen in 1960, Maternal great Grandfather Raymond “Bunch” Edward Dodd Sr. was Pioneer Day Marshal in 1994. My sister Riley Coelho served as Belle in 2017. My great Aunt Sheila Dodd, Mother Gelene (Dodd) Coelho, Aunt Pauline “Polly” Dodd, Aunt Audrey (Rhyne) Dodd and sister Chassey Coelho all served as Belle attendants for Pioneer Day.
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Related families: Wyss, Dodd, White, Van Horn, Witcosky, Sonntagg, Smalling and Coelho
Belle Attendant - Ava Friedling
William Henry Tuley was the first of my family, and first ever, to settle on the Estrella Plains. Son of Nathaniel Tuley and Eliza Towels, William migrated from his home in Randolph County, Missouri to the Estrella Plains in 1870. He moved with his wife after serving in the Civil War, and quickly became involved in farming, cattle ranching, and overall improvements to the Estrella region. From 160 acres to 640, William Tuley greatly succeeded in his grain farming, and he would even haul the grain over the mountains to what is now Port San Luis. During this time, his wife, Nancy Tuley, would take care of the cows & chickens and sold butter and eggs. William Tuley was one of the first incorporators of the Farmers’ Alliance Business Association and the number one stock holder. William Tuley was also a trustee of the Estrella school district. Mr. and Mrs. Tuley had nine children.
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Jacob Thomas Tuley was one of those nine children, was born in 1872, and was Ava’s great great great grandfather. After growing up in the Estrella Plains, Jacob attended Chestnutwood Business College in Santa Cruz as well as Washington College at Irvington. Upon returning the Estrella, Jacob and his brother, Joseph, attempted to expand by farming in Bradley, however a dry year in Bakersfield drove the two brothers to disappointment and back to San Luis Obispo where they did find success. Following in his father’s footsteps, Jacob also spent time breeding and raising Hereford cattle. He and his wife, Jessie Crowfoot, had attended the same school in the Estrella plains in their youth, and went on to marry and have three children. Jacob Tuley was an active member in the Methodist Episocal Church, and additionally was a large advocate for the temperance movement. Not only did he also help with Pioneer Day as General Committeeman, he was the Marshal in 1940, and his wife, Jessie, was Queen in 1951.
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Ray Tuley, Ava’s great great grandfather was the head of Paso Robles Streets Department and his uncle, Merle, was the head of the Paso Robles City Water Department. Ray Tuley worked for Pacific Bell for 33 years and was a volunteer fireman in Paso Robles for over 38 years.
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Bruce Tuley, Ava’s great grandfather was a major athlete at Paso Robles High School, setting the record for the mile in Slo County, being the first player ever in Paso Robles to be a part of the Helm’s California State Basketball Team, was on the CIF all star team in SOCAL, and also was a varsity athlete for track, basketball, and baseball. Bruce was the Pioneer Day Parade Marshal in 2012. He and Marjorie Brown had four children, Gail, Christie, Joanna, and Kim. Gail Tuley Wolffis Ava’s Maternal Grandmother.
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Ava’s parents are Joe Friedling and Corinne Wolff Friedling. Corinne was a Pioneer Day Belle attendant in 1992.
Belle Attendant - Cassidy Heer
Cassidy’s great-great-great grandfather, Henry Heer, brought his family from Germany to the US in 1905. They settled in the Estrella area in 1910. Though there is no record of the death of Henry’s wife Maria, it is believed she passed before settling in the North County. They were active members of the First Mennonite Church. Henry had two children, Christian (Cassidy’s great great grandfather) & Lena. Christian married Alvena Quenzer, from Indiana, in 1917. Alvena and Chris settled in the Estrella area on the family land and had three children, Alfred, Elsie and Irven.
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Chris died in 1935. His oldest, Al Heer, was only a senior in high school and had to harvest the grain without his father but received help from the Mennonite church. Al met Edna Langenwalter and they married in the early 1940s. They had 4 children: Walter, Christian, Henry and Martha. The youngest child, Martha Heer took up her own hobby of gardening. While in grade school Martha would work in the garden at her home and as it grew, she began loading up a wagon and strolling from house to house selling gourds, pumpkins and other produce. This afterschool hobby later turned into a business which was established in 1955 and was known as The Heer Pumpkin Farm.
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The oldest son, Walter, married his high school sweetheart, Donna Alexander, in 1967. They had a son, Tobias in 1979, and he was raised on the land and helped out on the pumpkin farm. Tobias, Cassidy’s dad, attended Pleasant Valley School and went on to Paso High, similar to all generations of Heers, he spent time after school working on the farm. Tobias married Shannon Dowd, and they had two children, Lane and Cassidy. The Heer family currently lives on the original Estrella homestead, handed down for 5 generations, and when pumpkin farming stopped the farm was used for cattle and other livestock.
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Cassidy says, “Although I grew up on the land my whole life, and attended the same schools as my dad, the history behind my existence has never stuck with me as much as now. I now feel honored to have lived on the land as a sixth generation Heer. Looking out from my back porch I can see all the land that the Heer’s have worked, where they lived, and where they have been buried. My family has provided me with a rich history of the land, faith and love. I can only hope that generations from now more Heers can say the same.”
Belle Attendant - Kiana Martinez
Kiana’s great great great grandfather, Dario Matinez, was born in San Luis Obispo in 1876. He married Della Virginia Crawford in 1909 and they had 3 Children. William, Fred, and Mary. They Homesteaded in the Pozo area. Dario was a well known cowboy in the area, he assisted many Cattle Ranchers with moving cattle and competed in rodeos as a Bronc Rider. Dario was appointed as one of the first Forest Rangers of the Santa Lucia Forest and Fire Warden for the town of Pozo. Martinez Canyon, in the Pozo Area is named after him.
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Kiana’s Great Great Grandfather William J. Martinez was born June 19 1906 in the Machesna Canyon area of Pozo. He married Mary Moraga in 1929. They had three children. Richard, Lawrence, and Gloria Martinez. He spent his life working with cattle and later in the construction business. He was one of the Founders of the local labor union #1464. He was also a founding member and Viejo of the Atascadero Trail Riders. William and his wife Mary were Atascadero Colony Days Marshal and Queen in 1984.
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Kiana’s grandfather Larry Martinez was born in 1933 in Cholame. Larry served in the Korean war. In the mid 1960s he owned a bar in Atascadero called the Rogues Den where he met his wife, Carol Guerin. They married in 1963 and raised four children Larry Martinez junior, Jennifer, Brandy and Kiana’s dad, Sean Martinez.
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Kiana’s great great great grandparents Domingo and Mercedes Arebalo emigrated from Chile in the early 1800s.They settled in Rancho San Jose which is now known as Pozo.They had seven children. Her great great great grandparents Felipe & Jesusa Moraga immigrated to California from Mexico and also settled in Pozo. Felipe and Jesusa also had seven children. Both families farmed the land in Pozo and helped the local ranchers. Kiana is a senior at Paso Robles High School.
Her related Pioneer families are: Arebalo, Moraga, and Martinez
Belle Attendant - Khylah McKee
Khylah is a sixth generation Paso Robles native with family heritage in the Von Dollen and Henning’s Family. The Von Dollen’s arrival and homesteading in Hog Canyon and Indian Valley areas began in 1865 when Fred Henning and Cathrina, known as Kate, arrived in North County. Fred died at a young age and Kate carried on. The family motto was “When a job is once begun, don’t leave until it’s done”. They had three children, Wilhelm, Martha, and Khylah’s great grandmother, Bertha.
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Johann (John) H Von Dollen settled in 1888 between Mason and Keys Canyon to homestead 160 acres on the Monterey / San Luis Obispo County line. Johann and Caroline Martensen Von Dollen had eight children including Max Von Dollen, Khylah’s great-great grandfather.
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In 1920, Max married Bertha Henning, and they had four daughters and one son that died at birth. Doris, Amelia, Ella and Ruth all went to school through the eighth grade at Ellis School and all graduated from Paso Robles High School.
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Max had grain, cattle and almond trees on the ranch. He harvested the grain with a horse pulling harvester. All his daughters knew a hard day's work as there were no sons to help with the farming and chores. They planted corn and Sudan grass with a two-row planter and horses. They also milked cows, ran the separator and sold cream to the Paso Robles Creamery on 13th and Riverside. They sold eggs to Thralls Grocery Store in San Miguel. Their almonds were knocked and sold to the California Almond Exchange in Paso Robles.
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Max passed away in 1945, leaving Bertha to care for the homestead.
Max & Bertha’s daughter, Amelia married Harry McKee in April of 1945 and had two son’s Melvin, who died at birth, and Khylah’s grandfather, Robert McKee. In 1968, Robert married Jennifer Gustafson. They had three children Shelley (McKee) Batrum, Khylah’s father Robert McKee, and Mathew McKee who passed away in 1989 after a car accident. Khylah’s cousins. Madeline and Mollie, were both Belle Attendants in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
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Khylah’s parents, Angela (Coppoletti) McKee, and Robert McKee are both Paso Robles natives born at War Memorial Hospital.
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They met on a blind date and were married on November 12, 2005, at Plymouth Congregational Church in Paso Robles. Angie is the daughter of Thomas and Janice Coppoletti.
In 2013, after Lee Davis’s passing, Khylah’s father Robert inherited the family homestead with the adjacent parcels. And after Ruth’s passing in 2020 he inherited additional land. The family was able to re-register the old family brand and begin to brand their own cattle with the Von Dollen family brand in 2022.
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Khylah’s related families are: Martinsen, Brunson, Braffet, Hodel, Davis, Atkins, Patterson, Gustafson, Jones, and Coppoletti.
Belle Attendant - Lindsay Moffatt
Lindsay’s great great great grandfather traveled to Adelaida as an immigrant from Switzerland in 1873.
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Otto Wyss traveled from Switzerland to the Adelaida area. His journey to America started in Switzerland. He arrived in Paris, France in 1867 to continue his education but left shortly after due to the rebellion that was occurring. After leaving Paris, he traveled to England. Because of worker strikes, he departed from England and boarded the steamship “City of Paris” to make the transatlantic journey to New York. He had no luck finding a job in New York, so he journeyed to San Francisco and eventually south to Adelaida in 1873 where he homesteaded and lived for the rest of his life.
Lindsay is also a descendant of the Dodd family. They moved from Kentucky to the Pleyto-Hesperia area in the late 1870s by wagon train. John Edward Dodd married Pauline Wyss on September 25, 1912. They ran the Wyss ranch in the Adelaida area. Additionally, Pauline Dodd was on the original San Luis Obispo County fairboard. John and Pauline had five children. Their second son, Raymond (Lindsay’s great grandfather) married Evelyn Kisella in 1941. Eventually, Raymond, known as “Bunch'', purchased the family ranch, and he and Evelyn raised their three children, Sheila, Vicki, and Skip, on the ranch. Lindsay’s grandmother, Vicki married Russell Silva (deceased) on November 26, 1966. They had two children, Jennifer and Brian. Jennifer married Jim Moffatt and had three daughters (Megan, Katie, and Lindsay). They all enjoy spending time at their family ranch in Adelaida.
Pauline Wyss Dodd (Lindsay’s great great grandmother) was a Pioneer Day Queen in 1961. Ed Dodd (Lindsay’s great great grandfather) was the Marshal in 1956 and Raymond Dodd (Lindsay’s great grandfather) was the Marshal in 1994. Lindsay’s grandmother, Vickie Silva was also the Pioneer Day chairman in 1994 & 1995.
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When Lindsay was researching family history, she learned of a story about her great great great grandfather. Otto Wyss and his two friends were coming back late from Paso Robles with a wagon, and while they were trying to find the road, the ground gave way and they slid into a creek. That part of the road is now known as “The Dutchman's Slide.”
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Lindsay’s related pioneer family names are Wyss, Dodd, Van Horn, Witcosky, Sonntagg, Smalling, and Silva.
All Royalty Photos by Derek Luffs/Paso Robles Magazine