FHSAM is a 501C3 Nonprofit Organization
The Friends of Historic San Antonio Mission (FHSAM) is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to fostering the preservation, maintenance, and interpretation of Mission San Antonio de Padua, built and inhabited by the Salinan Tribe. In addition, the FHSAM is also interested in preserving and providing interpretation for other adjacent historic cultural sites and their environment in Jolon, CA., as well as Mission San Miguel, which was also built and inhabited by the Salinan people.
The Board of Directors of FHSAM meets quarterly at Mission San Antonio. At these meetings we discuss issues related to the preservation, conservation and historical significance of the Mission. Our Board also provides advice to the Mission on matters related to historical interpretation, public outreach and education, artifact conservatorship, and museum displays.
In 2018 the FHSAM built and donated a full size replica of a horno oven to Mission San Antonio. In 2020 the FHSAM is building an authentic full size replica of a carretta (ox cart) to be donated as an exhibit on the Mission grounds.
When needed, the FHSAM also provides monetary contributions to specific educational and artifact conservation projects at Mission San Antonio. For example, the FHSAM in 2019 we made a donation of badly needed funds to Mission San Antonio for the purpose of properly storing its archaeological artifacts. Also in 2019 we provided financial support for a guest lecture by Edie Littlefield Sundby, author of The Mission Walker. Her lecture was presented at the Mission San Antonio Fiesta and was well attended. Ms. Littlefield Sundby presented a lecture on her walks to all missions in California and Baja California, following the trail of Junipero Serra and the other missionaries. Her presentation provided an excellent explanation of the historical connections between all the missions in Alta and Baja California, including Mission San Antonio de Padua.
Dominic Gregorio, President
Dominic Gregorio is a retired environmental scientist and educator. In 2013 he retired from the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Water Quality in Sacramento, where he was a senior environmental scientist and statewide manager for watershed, ocean, wetland and CEQA programs. Prior to working for the State of California, Dominic was a college instructor and marine science researcher. Dominic holds an MS in Environmental Biology, a BA in Geography and Earth and Marine Science, and an AA in History. He has taught at California State University, Cypress College, and Hartnell College. Dominic was a docent at Mission San Antonio and in 2015 he authored a book entitled Mission San Antonio and the Valley of the Oaks. He currently resides in north Idaho.
John Grafton
John is a docent at San Juan Bautista State Historic Park where he has a special interest in blacksmithing and in the history of California horse culture. John was born to a cattle ranching family and worked on ranches in Oregon and British Columbia. He was also in the Peace Corps in Ecuador where he worked in livestock production for four years. Later, John had a career in law enforcement in Sacramento, where he was also a docent at Sutter’s Fort State Park.
Bob Hoover
Robert L. Hoover received his A. B., M. A., and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, with a specialty in the archaeology of California. He has taught at
Stanford Univerity and was a professor at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo from 1970 until his retirement in 1998. Since 1976, he has specialized in Spanish colonial
archaeology, serving continuously as director of the Archaeological Field School at Mission San Antonio de Padua for over 30 years and training some 500 students. Dr. Hoover has also excavated at
Missions Santa Ines, La Purisima, Santa Barbara, and at the Presidio of Santa Barbara. He is the recipient of the Award of Distinction from the California Council for the Promotion of History and the
Norman Neuerburg Award of the California Mission Studies Association.
Dr. Hoover was a member of the State Historical Resources Commission for 18 years, from 1984 to 2002, serving three administrations. During this time he was instrumental in implementing the
California Register of Historic Resources through the Office of Administrative Law and in establishing an additonal Archaeological Information Center in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties operated by
the Yurok Tribe. He is past president of the California Mission Studies Association and has published numerous times on the topics of prehistoric and historic archaeology of California in English,
German, Spanish. and Portuguese. Hoover has completed some 300 environmental projects for Federal, State, and local governments and for private entities. He is a member of numerous local, state,
regional, national, and international organizations, including being an elected Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland He currently serves on the boards of the
Santa Barbara Mission Archive/Library, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, and the California Missions Foundation.
Linda Hylkema
As an archaeologist specializing in the Late Holocene and Spanish Colonial eras in Central California, Linda Hylkema has been worked for the past 30 years as an archaeologist for various agencies including the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Cal-Fire (CDF), California State Parks and numerous Cultural Resources Management (CRM) firms. She has published articles in the Society of California Archaeology Annual Proceedings, American Indian Rock Art, Santa Clara County Connections, Historical Archaeology, California Department of Forestry Archaeological Reports, the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, and co-authored Uncovering and Interpreting History and Archaeology at Mission Santa Clara. She is Santa Clara University's Archaeologist and Cultural Resources Program Director. During her twenty-five year tenure at SCU, Linda’s main priority has been overseeing the mitigation of archaeological resources on the university campus resulting from construction projects. She received BA's in both Psychology and Anthropology from San Jose State University, and her MA from California State University, Hayward in 2005. She also serves as a founding board member of the California Rock Art Foundation and is the editor of the quarterly newsletter La Pintura for the American Rock Art Research Association.
Debbie Jewell
Debbie Jewell received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1999) and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Debbie grew up in Minnesota and moved to California in 1986 to study drawing and painting at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. She transferred to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo in 1995 and did her Senior Project on the water system at Mission San Antonio. In 1998 Debbie traveledwith her Landscape Architecture class to study the history, culture, and urban design of multiple cities in Mexico and Central America. Debbie has been working at RRM Design Group in San Luis Obispo as Landscape Architect and Urban Designer since 1999. Debbie has been a member of FHSAM since 2007, and served as secretary since 2012. She feels Mission San Antonio is a very special place and enjoys helping to preserve and protect this valuable link to the past for future generations to treasure.
Carol Kenyon
Carol Kenyon, is a noted art conservator, and the former director of the South Coast Fine Arts Conservation Center. In that capacity she was responsible for restoring pieces in numerous missions and other historic landmarks. She is currently a board member of the San Antonio Valley Historical Association and was a previous board member of the the California Missions Foundation.
Karen Jernigan
Karen has lived in the Salinas Valley since 1977 when she moved to King City to work as a reporter for the King City Rustler newspaper. She spent 40 years as a businesswoman working at her family business, King City Glass, along with her husband John. The jernigans own a cabin in the Los Padres National Forest at the area known as the Indians, 17 miles north of Mission San Antonio de Padua. They have spent many years hiking and exploring the area. For four years Karen served as a city councilwoman in King City. During that time she promoted the good things about the Salinas Valley and southern Monterey County.More recently she worked with John and their writing partner, Howard Strohn, to author a history book produced by Arcadia Publishing called King City Images of America. It features an historic photo of the mission in the chapter on "What Came Before." She also serves as an ambassador to Mission San Antonio de Padua for the California Mission Walkers, a group that promotes walking between California's 21 missions.
E-mail: webmaster@fhsam.org
Friends of Historic San Antonio Mission
Board Members
Dominic Gregorio, President
Ann Beckett
Joe Claus
John Grafton
Bob Hoover
Linda Hylkema
Debbie Jewell
Carol Kenyon
Karen Jernigan
Jim Larson
Joan Steele
Howard Strohn
Advisors
Tim Baldwin
Brent Green
Sarah Peelo
Richard Wilkerson
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Our team is made up entirely of volunteers. Would you like to support us with a tax deductible donation? Don't hesitate to contact us; a helping hand is always greatly appreciated! If you would like to donate, please click here.