Catalina Contrasts

To a 'rube' from Carolina (by way of Chicago), Catalina was a big surprise.  I was blind to any number of things about Catalina Island.   That it was last owned by the Wrigley's of Chicago's Wrigley Field, and its Cubs.  The Wrigley's donated 42,000 of the island's 48,000 acres to a conservancy which is charged with protecting the island and its animal and plant inhabitants.  Nonetheless, it remains a tourist attraction, not only for its natural beauty, but its history.  Me?  All I knew was that it was a beautiful island, and probably, not unlike most tourist traps, a place with lots of souvenir shops and restaurants.  Instead I found an island that served as spring training headquarters for the Cubs for thirty years before I was born.  I also found a place with a history as a landing spot for the stars.  The Cubs may not be a team with a track record as "stars," at least not in my lifetime.  So that makes two contrasts--tourist trap vs. wildlife refuge, and stars vs. Cubs.

Here's another--in the island's museum, I found an old photo of two stars of their day enjoying a game of golf--Johnny Weismuller and Mickey Rooney.  Weismuller, the star of so many Tarzan movies playing against baby-faced Rooney, looking about twelve years old, and a couple of feet shorter than his opponent.  Stars dropped into Mr. Wrigley's playground to enjoy golf, tennis, sailing and--most of all--fishing.

Charlie Chaplin is shown with Paulette Goddard, the hot young starlet he hung around with (Catch A), and with a huge swordfish he had just reeled in --did it say 200 lbs.? (Catch B).  I wasn't looking at the numbers, I was just looking at the size of that fish.  The biggest fish I caught (by myself) in all my efforts to learn how to fish so I could teach my grandkids how to fish was probably not more than eight inches long, and weighed less than half a pound.  Yes--I am trying to teach them how to fish, after failing miserably at teaching them how to play putt-putt golf.  They seem a lot more motivated this time, really...  But, back to contrasts.  What a contrast between the catches, eh?

There's more--consider Norma Jean Baker and Marilyn Monroe.  Norma Jean and her first husband lived on Catalina while he was in the military during WW II.  In a rare interview, Mr. Baker says:"I never knew Marilyn Monroe.  I was married to Norma Jean.  I don't know who Marilyn Monroe was>'  Another contrast.  But among the mysteries of Catalina Island, consider this: Many of you have probably heard the old saw about that curse laid on Mr. Wrigley and the Cubs by restaurateur
George Siania, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, when the Cubs 'DISSED' his goat and made him leave the stadium.  But consider this, the Cubs haven't won since leaving Catalina Island behind as their spring training ground.. Maaybe the curse can be traced to the wild creatures of the island who will never forget being deserted by the Cubs.  Think about it--it's no stranger than the one about the Billy Goat Tavern.