Lane Parker has been researching Timbuctoo, California, since 2005. He is the co-author, along with Kathleen Smith, of the book “Smartsville and Timbuctoo.” Courtesy photo

SMARTSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Smartsville and Timbuctoo Pioneer Day festival is on Saturday, April 26. For the second year in a row, after an interruption of many years, the festival will take place. It will include tours of the Timbuctoo townsite, thanks to the efforts of E Clampus Vitus Nevada City Chapter 10 and to Clementine, a 1932 MacDonald DrayMaster truck.

I’ve been researching Timbuctoo, California, since 2005, and I’m the co-author, along with Kathleen Smith, of the book “Smartsville and Timbuctoo.” Since Pioneer Day’s first year in 2008, I’ve been there telling the story of Timbuctoo, located just about one mile west of downtown Smartsville.

The Smartsville and Timbuctoo Pioneer Day festival is on Saturday, April 26. For the second year in a row, after an interruption of many years, the festival will take place. Courtesy photo

During the festival’s first several years I led a “hayride” tour to the townsite. On the drive over I would provide a general history of how the area fit into the larger narrative of the California gold rush. At the townsite, everyone took a brief walk on Main Street, and I talked about what was still there and what used to be there “back in the day.”

Unfortunately, because of transportation issues, we had to discontinue those tours. So, I adapted by donning stereotypical “Forty-niner” garb and giving presentations at the festival’s Timbuctoo Theatre as “Timbuctoo Parker.”

Due to transportation issues, Lane Parker ended the “hayride” tour and adapted by a donning stereotypical “Forty-niner” garb and giving presentations at the festival’s Timbuctoo Theatre as “Timbuctoo Parker.”

These presentations were rewarding in their own way, but they weren’t the same as being able to take folks to the place itself.

Nick Martin has been a Clamper for 18 years. Last year, he and other Chapter 10 members donated their time, energy and Clementine, the tour vehicle, to help raise money for the restoration of the historic 1871 Church of the Immaculate Conception in Smartsville.

Three tours of Timbuctoo were scheduled last year, but Clementine had other plans, so the final tour of the day was cancelled because of mechanical issues, including a dead battery, overheating and a blown head gasket.

Nick Martin and other Chapter 10 members donated their time, energy and Clementine, the tour vehicle, to help raise money for the restoration of the historic 1871 Church of the Immaculate Conception in Smartsville.

Still, the two completed tours brought in much-appreciated donations. Martin says that Chapter 10 matched those donations, doubling the money raised for the church restoration.

Martin and the other Chapter 10 members feel it’s important to have a presence at Pioneer Day.

“We’ve always been involved with Smartsville and the restoration,” Martin told me. Although he isn’t sure yet if he’ll personally be driving Clementine this year, he said that she’ll be ready no matter who’s behind the wheel.

“That’s all fixed now,” said Martin. “She’s running really good.”

Lane Parker shares that the “Timbuctoo Parker” presentations are rewarding, but they are not the same as being able to take folks to the actual town of Timbuctoo, California.

This year the Timbuctoo tours are especially exciting for me because preliminary plans to restore the Wells Fargo/Stewart Brothers Store building continue to progress. It will be meaningful to link the narrative of the town’s past not only to its present, but also its future.

Like last year, I’ll be scheduling three tours, spaced throughout the day, starting at 10 a.m.

It’s amazing to think that this will be the Smartsville and Timbuctoo Pioneer Day festival’s 16th year. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in downtown Smartsville, and also in downtown Timbuctoo.