Sunday Gazette: June 7, 2026

Hello Riverside, and Happy Sunday! Welcome to Snapshot Sundays, our weekly series featuring vintage photos of Riverside shared by the people who live here. This week, Christal Pennington takes us back to Easter brunch at the Mission Inn.

Do you have old photos of a Riverside spot from long ago? We'd love to see them. Send them our way.

See you tomorrow!

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HISTORY

Riverside's Oldest Church Building Still Stands on Magnolia Avenue

Founded in 1879, the church that became Magnolia Presbyterian holds the distinction of housing Riverside's oldest existing church building.

Traveling back in time along Old Magnolia Avenue, those traversing the avenue admired the showcase houses built by some of the wealthy citrus growers and businessmen of the city. They stopped, often after riding the Riverside and Arlington Electric Railway streetcar, at Chemawa Park to enjoy the zoo and other attractions or maybe watch a polo match. They might visit Sherman Institute Indian School.

What might have been overlooked is one of Riverside's oldest churches, Arlington Presbyterian Church. In 1879, ten families gathered at the home of Samuel Evans, Sr., and Mary Evans, to discuss establishing a Presbyterian Church in the Arlington area, where many of them had settled.

On Sunday, November 9, 1879, those desiring a church met at the Sunnyside Schoolhouse on Central Avenue and organized the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington. Chester Crosby, one of those early organizers, recorded his recollections: "Mr. and Mrs. Evans drove us with their team and top surrey through a two-inch rainstorm and a foot of adobe mud to the Sunnyside Schoolhouse where we met the other charter members." Not even a torrential rainstorm could keep these enthusiastic people from attending this important meeting. According to Elmer W. Holmes, this group was the fourth church to organize in Riverside. The first was the First Church of Christ in 1872 (later the First Congregational Church). The next was the First Methodist Episcopal Church, also in 1872. The third was the First Baptist Church in 1874. These three were all located in the Mile-Square area of Riverside. A Church Directory in various 1881 issues of the Press and Horticulturist lists the four churches, their pastors, and the times of their services. No addresses were given; the assumption was that everyone knew the locations of these congregations.

Read and share the complete story...

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CREATIVE PROMPTS

Post Modern

A prompt to encourage your practice of creativity this week from Riversider and local author Larry Burns.

This week, we’re moving from the marks left by our hands to the lines that hold things together. Our creative nudge is a thread.

Not a whole spool necessarily. No need to have access to an embroidery collection arranged by color, though we welcome overachievers in this column. You really just need one small thread. The kind that peeks from a shirt collar or cuff, a frayed hem, or the one left naked and alone when the button makes a break for it.

Pull the wrong one and something comes apart. Follow the right one and a pattern emerges.

We use threads to stitch, mend, attach, and decorate. They are metaphorically fertile and abundant: thread of conversation, narrative thread, common thread, loose thread, threadbare excuse. Online, we follow threads to see where a story goes or lose ourselves in one until suddenly it’s past our bedtime and we know too much about sandwich toppings.

Read and share the complete prompt...

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This Week in Riverside

Saturday, June 6

• Bubble Bash at Riverside Plaza at Riverside Plaza
• Low-Cost Vaccination Clinic at Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center's Spay-Neuter Clinic ($10- $28)
• Mt. Rubidoux Walking Tour at Mt. Rubidoux Trailhead, a short walk from Ryan Bonaminio Park. ($21.20)
• Concerts: Co-Creativity in Music, Sound, and AI: Improvisation, Interaction, Composition at Culver Center of the Arts
• Goeske Bingo at Janet Goeske Center ($20- $100)
• Juneteenth-Voices of Freedom at Riverside Community Players ($10- $12)
• Mind's Eye and Lovers Peak at The Barn at The Barn
• Punchis! Punchis! Banda Rave (18+) at Riverside Municipal Auditorium
• Three Bad Jacks 30th Year Anniversary w/ Special Guests! at The Concert Lounge - Romano's Mission Grove ($20.23)

Sunday, June 7

• FREE ASHTANGA VINYASA YOGA at Riverside
• Gardening for Butterflies at Botanic Gardens
• Learn Origami at UCR Botanic Gardens
• Riverside Historical Society June Meeting at Riverside Medical Clinic - Basement Conference Room
• Architectural Walking Tour of Downtown Riverside at Mission Inn Foundation & Visitor Center ($21.20)
• Friends of the Library Annual Meeting: Guest Speaker: Carlos E. Cortés at Ssgt Salvador J. Lara Casa Blanca Library Garden
• Free Summer Sundays at Riverside Art Museum
• Prayers and Public Information Meeting at Riverside Baha'i Center
• Storytime in the Gardens at UCR Botanic Gardens
• Vinyl & Rides at Riverside Art Museum

Monday, June 8

• Volunteer Interest Hour at Riverside Meals on Wheels
• Interfaith Prayer Meeting at Riverside Baha'i Center
• Academic Boot Camp at My Learning Studio ($357)
• Animal Kids Camp - Summer Sessions at Mary S. Roberts pet Adoption Center ($240)
• Mat Pilates at Student Recreation Center (SRC), MPR E
• Vacation Bible School: Snowball Mountain Challenge at First United Methodist Church ($15- $25)
• Wild about Animals Camp at Ameal Moore Nature Center
• Board of Public Utilities at Riverside City Hall

Tuesday, June 9

• City Council at Riverside City Hall
• Seed to Scale: Explore Controlled Environment Agriculture at UCR at University of California, Riverside
• Earl Sweatshirt & MIKE: Home on the Range Tour 2026 at Riverside Municipal Auditorium
• Karaoke Tuesday Competition at the Hideaway at The Hideaway

Wednesday, June 10

• Riverside East Rotary Club at Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern
• Stretch & Dance Class at Janet Goeske Senior Center
• One Big Day for Little Lives - Evening Open House & Adoption Event at Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center
• Evergreen Cemetery Tour at Evergreen Cemetery ($21.20)
• Finance Committee at Riverside City Hall
• History on the Rocks - Round Two! Presented by The Mission Inn Foundation at Mission Inn Foundation ($71.21)

Thursday, June 11

• Airport Commission at Riverside City Hall
• Mobility and Infrastructure Committee at Riverside City Hall
• History on the Rocks! Presented by The Mission Inn Foundation at Mission Inn Foundation ($71.21)
• TFDP Culmination Celebration at University Theatre

Friday, June 12

• Riverside Sunrise Rotary Club Meeting at Zacatecas Café
• Eastside Library at Bordwell Park | Aztec Culture and Dance at SPC Jesus S. Duran Eastside Library at Bordwell Park
• Doc Talk at SSgt. Salvador J. Lara Casa Blanca Library
• "The Miscast Show" at The Box Riverside ($20 - $25)
• Drive In Cruise Night at Tuxie's Drive In

Saturday, Jun 13

• Moth Madness at LandUse Learning Center
• Permaculture Design Training and Certificate at Land Use Learning Center
• Community in Conversation: "Banished Citizens" at Cellar Door Book Store
• The Altons: Show You Love Tour at Riverside Municipal Auditorium
• The Beatles Tribute by 4 Lads from Liverpool at The Concert Lounge - Romano's Mission Grove ($20.23)
• Olivewood Cemetery Tour at Olivewood Cemetery ($21.20)
• Painting with PRIDE, a Comedy Paint and Sip at BACK TO THE GRIND
• Ripperside Cinema Galore Presents: Eraserhead at Back to the Grind ($12.51)
• ULTRA MODE a Depeche Mode Tribute 06/13 at The Hideaway Cafe & Lounge ($12.51 - $200)

Save the Date

• June 14: FREE ASHTANGA VINYASA YOGA at Riverside
• June 15: Wildlife Encounters- IE Kids Outdoors summer camp at California State Citrus Historic Park ($175) 
• June 19: Riverside Sunrise Rotary Club Meeting at Zacatecas Café 
• July 13: River Camp with IE Kids Outdoors at Martha McLean Park ($235) 
• July 20: Camp Riverside with IE Kids Outdoorsat California State Citrus Heritage Park ($200)

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