When Cosette Henritze
retired as publisher of The Chronicle-News two years ago, she was asked if she
would write a weekly history page for the newspaper. “I was very interested
because I love history, and I wanted to continue making a contribution to the
paper. I thought the idea of a history page was a great one. My only concern was
whether or not I would be able to find enough things to write about week after
week.” That didn’t turn out to be any problem. “There is so much wonderful
history in Trinidad, and as I discovered when I began doing research, there are
people and events I’ve never even known about, so my list of stories I want to
write just keeps growing and growing.”
| The Timeline page was an immediate hit with newspaper readers,
who began to offer more suggestions about potential stories and to provide
information and photographs. Before long, many people were also asking if
Cosette planned to compile the Timeline stories into a book. “I had many
requests for extra copies of different stories, and after awhile I realized that
maybe it might be fun to pull the stories together and put them in a book.”
This summer, Trinidad Timelines: Volume I was printed. It contains 44 of
Cosette’s historical articles about Trinidad, including ones on important
early pioneers such as Felipe Baca, Casimiro Barela and Sister Blandina, and the
histories of many Trinidad businesses, churches, and buildings. There are
stories about the legends surrounding Simpson’s Rest, the Ave Maria Shrine,
and ‘Uncle Dick’ Wootton, and more recent history such as the Drop City
commune in El Moro during the 1960s and the state champion Holy Trinity football
team of 1952. |
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The book also includes a selection of Cosette’s most popular weekly columns
from the newspaper in which she writes about her personal experiences and her
family, which has roots in the Trinidad area dating back to the early 1900s.
“I’ve been so pleased by the response to my book,” she said. “Many
people who buy it tell me how much they enjoy reading the Timeline page in The
Chronicle-News, and they usually also begin talking about their own family’s
history, which it great. That’s my favorite experience because the way a
historian gets leads in doing research is through personal contacts. I enjoy
talking with people and learning more about Trinidad through their histories.
I’ve gotten more than one idea for a story from someone I meet when they come
up to me and ask about my Timelines.” Trinidad Timelines: Volume I
has been selling briskly, and Cosette has placed it for sale locally in The
Great Escape Bookstore and the Trinidad History Museum bookstore. It’s also
available at The Chronicle-News office. She receives many requests for the book
from out of town, too.
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“You know how it is with Trinidad. Once you’ve lived here,
part of your heart always stays behind. I’ve sold a lot of books to former
residents, and to people who are buying them as gifts for friends and relatives
who used to live here. It’s a wonderful feeling to know I’m helping to
preserve Trinidad memories and connections through my history stories.” There
have been enough Timeline articles printed in the newspaper over the past two
years that Cosette could easily compile a second book. “I guess that’s the
implication of putting Volume I in the title of this book,” she said, “ but
I’m not planning a new one any time soon. With sales going so well on this
one, I may first be looking at a second printing of it. I’m just very pleased
right now that people are enjoying this book.” |
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