Peter Sonne stepped down this week after being president of the San Benito Historical Society for at least 10 years. Sonne, who got involved with the organization in the late 1990s, said he doesn’t remember the exact year he took on the leadership position. But even though he is stepping down from the society’s board, he will stay on in an advisory role for the next year.
“We have a really good board right now,” he said. “I have agreed to stay on at least one more year as past president. The duties will be quite a bit different … it will be fun but it won’t be as involved in putting in all the long hours.”
Sonne has been a dedicated leader through the years. Delbert Doty, who got involved with the group around 2003, said Sonne had a lot of contacts in San Juan, San Benito and Monterey counties that helped to get projects moving.
They both cite a permanent bridge from Hwy. 25 to the San Benito County Historical Park in Tres Pinos as the most important accomplishment of the last 10 years.
“The biggest thing probably was the bridge to the Historical Park, where it can be viewed year round rather than six months out of the year,” Doty said.
Sonne has long been interested in West Coast history and especially the history of the local counties. Sonne grew up in Southern California, but he moved to the Gilroy area as a teen. He graduated from Gilroy High School, Gavilan College and then attended the University of California, at Berkeley. He moved away from the area for a while, but had roots in California where his family had a homestead down around the San Luis Obispo area. He lived on the Monterey Peninsula before he and his wife Leslie settled in San Benito about 20 years ago.
“My wife and I love San Benito County, and the people in it,” he said. “We’ve always lived pretty close by. My dad, who is 97, used to be in the agricultural business so he knew and worked with a lot of the older families in South County.”
Sonne didn’t know anyone who was involved with the historical society when he first looked up a number for a contact. He recalls calling Sharlene Van Rooy, a board member, who invited him to a meeting. Shortly after the first meeting he attended, he visited the Historical Park.
“There was no bridge or anything there at that time,” he said. “It was in the very early spring and the whole area was completely covered in weeds. It didn’t look like much. But you could see what buildings were there and what had been done, what the possibilities were. It could be such a phenomenal place.”
Sonne said that the bridge across the culvert that runs along Hwy. 25 came about when he and the board members began working to get federal funding for the project. He said that there was some federal disaster funding related to storms in the late 1990s, when the Tres Pinos River overflowed and washed out the culvert. The funding deadline was about to pass when the group put together a bridge committee in 2003.
“We got Congressman Sam Farr involved,” he said. “We worked with county heads, public works. We started in January 2003, and I think the bridge was finally done – with all the paperwork and hoops and everything everyone had to jump through – it was completed in late fall 2004.”
The project cost $1.2 million, but it did not cost the county any money.
“Once that bridge was put in, folks from the community could go out in the winter and rent a picnic space,” Sonne said. “There were areas for family functions and we could work on the projects themselves.”
Sonne said the bridge allowed the board access to maintain the park year round and also helped them to connect with other community groups, such as Boy Scout troops that tackled community service projects there, 4-H groups that helped to install irrigation and other youth organizations.
“They come out and take a look at what’s going on and see something being accomplished,” Sonne said. “If you get 10 kids and you create a little spark in one, you’ve accomplished something really phenomenal. In another 15 to 20 years maybe they will be motivated to get involved as an adult.”
Doty said that Sonne also worked to open the park up to new activities, such as an antique engine and tractor show.
“He was very good for president and kept things going pretty well, balancing museum activities along with the park activities,” Doty said. “I think the next president will have to stay continually working with the public and other volunteer groups to keep things rolling along as best they can.”
As he steps aside, Sonne said that the one project he would like to see the remaining board members continue with is the rebuilding of the Dunneville Dance Hall.
“It’s going to be a while,” he said. “Money is tight all around … but we have some people, Don Pidd for one, who are really passionate about it.”
The society has been raising money to rebuild the dance hall in phases. It held a “Raise the Roof” fundraiser a few months ago to install the roof on the dance hall. Sonne said that the local historical society is especially fortunate to have not just the museum downtown on Fifth Street, but also the park.
“It’s a location which can house larger objects in a collection that is historically significant,” he said. “There are many organizations that would give anything to have what we have here.”
While he stays on in an advisory role with the historical society board, Sonne said that he will continue to be involved with the Plaza History Association in San Juan. He volunteers as an interpreter during the Living History Days on the first Saturday of the month in San Juan, as an early 20th century carpenter.
“It’s meant a lot to me,” Sonne said, of his years with the society. “I wanted to get involved with it and I’m glad I did. I met just a whole bucket load of great people and developed some good friendships and had a lot of fun times. I’ve definitely grown and learned a lot. It’s been a real pleasure working with the folks and watching the projects come about and being completed.”
