To celebrate more than a century of history, the Santa Barbara County Chapter of the Red Cross is showing off its colors with “Red Cross Threads of History,” an exhibit of vintage and classic Red Cross memorabilia.
“We knew we had some vintage items, but we didn’t know exactly how much we had,” said Stephanie Boumediene, the event’s coordinator. Turns out, 116 years is a lot of time to collect Red Cross items, and the exhibit, at the Covarrubias Adobe of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, will show everything from vintage uniforms (modeled by the program’s docents), to pins, hats, photos, and quite a but more.
Videos of people who have had memorable Red Cross experiences will be playing at the exhibit.
“We have one of a man talking about his experience after he got bayoneted,” said Boumediene. “The first thing he saw when waking up was a Red Cross volunteer who asked him what he wanted. He said he wanted to write a letter to his mom telling her he was okay.” Another video will show Santa Barbara local resident Lee Robertson, a Red Cross volunteer during World War II, talking about her experiences with the organization.
The one-day retrospective will go from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, March 17 at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Visitors who show up at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. will also get the opportunity to have a docent-led tour of the museum, which is not typically open on Mondays. Admission is free.