GREETINGS FROM CRESTLINE
This mural of a classic style color postcard is located on the front of Goodwin’s and Sons Market at 24089 Lake Gregory Drive at the corner of Lake Drive, directly across from Lake Gregory. It was created to celebrate the family-owned market’s 75th anniversary in 2021 by Wes Abarca. The friendly greeting has the word Crestline across the front of the card with dogwood flowers, welcomes customers as they approach the store.
KAYAKING
Two kayakers peacefully paddling across Lake Gregory is illustrated in a massive 54-foot-long by 18-foot tall mural on the retaining wall behind the parking lot for the 7-Eleven Market at the corner 24156 Lake Drive and Lake Gregory Drive, kitty-corner across the street from Lake Gregory. This mural by Genesis Murals was commissioned by the Crestline/Lake Gregory Chamber of Commerce to overlook the lake and illustrate one of the many fun activities for residents and visitors to enjoy while at the lake.
HIKING THROUGH THE WOODS
Hiking attracts many people to the Crestline area. The mural is approximately 25-by-40 feet in size and is painted in the vintage, classic National Park style, which is bold and colorful. In this mural, a man is seen walking through the forest from Silverwood Lake past Heart Rock and towards Lake Gregory, while enjoying the serenity of being alone with the trees. Painted on the west wall of Liberation Therapies, at 23794 Lake Drive, this was the first mural commissioned by the chamber of commerce from Genesis Murals. It faces the Higher Ground Coffee house and is a pretty inviting view for those entering the Lake Gregory Village section of Crestline.
MOUNTAIN BIKING
Continuing west at 23988 Lake Drive at street level on the north side of the street facing south is a multi-leveled textured cement wall, the spray-painting technique Genesis Murals used on that wall seems to give some extra action to the painting of a mountain bicyclist riding through the forest. Below the Lake Mud Pottery Shop, this mural was painted in the classical National Park poster style preferred by the Crestline/Lake Gregory Chamber of Commerce. The mural celebrates the fantastic views that can be seen and fun of mountain biking when out on the trails in the forest, capturing the euphoria of seeing some parts of the forest not otherwise accessible.
The Crestline-Lake Gregory Chamber of Commerce murals were created and paid for by using a portion of the Transient Occupancy Tax, (TOT) aka Bed Tax, paid by Airbnb and hotel visitors. The county gives some of the TOT money it receives to the chamber to promote tourism.
MORE MURALS
In addition to the four murals paid for by the Chamber, several local businesses and organizations have murals around town.
GREY WOLF
On Lake Drive, seen while approaching from top town on the left-hand side of the street, just past Old Mill Road and before reaching the shell gas station is a mural of a gray wolf’s head that appears to be breaking though a stained-glass window, painted on the side of The Treasure Box at 23621 Manzanita Drive. It was painted by Wes Abarca and Kaylee Larson, because the distinctive building has a small white turret. It’s now called Grey Wolf Castle.
- Proceeding westward away from the lake, a colorful fantasy mural of ‘The Four Goddesses of Hula” representing a tropical vacation paradise are decorating the Akasha Healing Center at 24060 Lake Drive, painted by muralist Molly Collins. The four goddesses are Pele the Goddess of Fire, representing the south, Lilnoe the north, Laka the east, and Hi`ika the west, plus it has a colorful rainbow flying into the night sky as a tribute to the Hawaiian culture. Many forms of Hula and healing lessons are given at Akasha.
- “Strike” The first mural on Lake Drive of this decade of mural creation is found on the front of the Rim Bowling and Entertainment Center, with a mural of a ball hitting the pins by Wes Abarca. This mural is slightly below street level on the south side of the street, at 23991 Lake Drive. This is representing one of the activities inside this classical 1960s bowling alley which has retained its thick wooden lanes, attracting bowlers from across the western states to come to bowl on them.
- “Strawberry Peak Lookout Tower” At the north-west corner of Thousand Pines Drive at 23878 Lake Drive on the western wall of Woody’s Mercantile on a perpendicular orange wall to Lake Drive, is an almost hidden treasure depicting the Strawberry Peak Fire Lookout Tower, which is a wonderful place to visit during a beautiful sunrise. It was painted by the Young Adult Group, that met on Zoom during the 2019-2021 COVID lockdown, who came together for the first time in the summer of 2021 to paint this mural. They were hopeful it illustrated a new beginning after the long shutdown just as they were beginning their adult lives. All the materials, paints and efforts were donated for this inspirational mural.
Lake Gregory Education and Community Center- 24740 San Moritz Way on the east shore of Lake Gregory
- The “Huskies and Eagles” in this mural at the Lake Gregory Education and Community Center (LGECC) that was painted by Debbie Mount when the building was The Lake Gregory Elementary School housing grades 4 though 6. This bluish mural reflects winter on the mountain with the animals outside enjoying it. It is painted on a retaining wall next to the parking lot at 24740 San Moritz Way.
- Smokey Bear” On the handball court walls at the LGECC are two murals, one on each side. On one side is Smokey Bear appearing to break through the wall to say, “Hello.” It was painted by High school students attending the teen center after school, under the supervision of Wes Abarca, who was the Teen Center director in 2019.
- On the other side of the hand ball court wall, the mural has the characters from the movie ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas” by Tim Burton. The design was chosen because the Rim Recreation and Park District which ran the Teen Center has for the last couple of years hosted an outdoor Halloween event for the community on the LGECC’s playground. These murals were painted by high school students who attended the Teen Center at the Community Center, under the supervision of Wes Abarca.