San Gabriel Mission

Once upon a time, Lucky Baldwin, a strapping young fellow with an ox as his companion, set out to work in his vineyard. The ox, hitched to a wooden cart, was minding its own business, and so was Lucky. Then a gust of wind blew. A really strong gust, so strong it blew the largest bell from the San Gabriel Mission tower right onto his oxcart. Some tale.

Once upon a time, Lucky Baldwin, a strapping young fellow with an ox as his companion, set out to work in his vineyard. The ox, hitched to a wooden cart, was minding its own business, and so was Lucky. Then a gust of wind blew. A really strong gust, so strong it blew the largest bell from the San Gabriel Mission tower right onto his oxcart. Some tale.

In September, six parishioners will pull on six ropes and officially ring the six heavy bells of the San Gabriel Mission for the first time in nearly a decade. On Tuesday, though, workers couldn't resist a quiet little test. "We got them up and tried them out," admitted Helen Nelson, the mission's restoration director. "I rang all six of them. I couldn't help it."

NEW HOME: The San Gabriel Unified School District is graduating to a new building. The district office is negotiating with the Borden Co. to buy the 79,500-square-foot building when the dairy company's subsidiary moves to Canada in May, Assistant Supt. Joseph Crawford said. The move will give the cramped district more space and allow the whole operation to work under one roof.

The six bells that used to ring out across miles of open land from the mission tower now sit silent. Earthquake-stricken adobe walls stand with the help of wooden supports. Renovation continues at the San Gabriel Mission, and if all goes as planned, the unsteady buildings will stand on their own and the bells will ring again in time for the mission's 225th anniversary next September.

As the rising sun lit the sky tangerine from behind distant mountains, about 30 people wearing red sashes gathered in front of Mission San Gabriel on Monday for a symbolic walk into the past. The sashes marked them as members of Los Pobladores 200, the descendants of settlers who journeyed the same nine miles to the Olvera Street plaza area 214 years ago and founded the city originally called El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de Porciuncula.

Re "Mission Possible," editorial, Jan. 6: I agree with your conclusion and attitude regarding the changes in the San Gabriel mission district. However, I believe that if you were to research it, you would find that Juan Bautista de Anza visited the mission at its original location, which was on the western bank of the Rio Hondo River where San Gabriel Boulevard crosses, near the city limits of Montebello. The mission was later moved north due to flooding conditions. JOE R. TOLOSA JR. Glendora

The San Gabriel Mission is older than the American Republic. In 1776, while the English colonies that would become the United States were fighting for their independence, the mission hosted Col. Juan Bautista de Anza and a Mexican delegation traveling from Sonora en route to establish San Francisco. This is one of the richest and most atmospheric of all the California missions.