Grand Opening of Crown Village (Selected Highlights)

In time for the Christmas season, Rita and Jon Taylor opened their enchanting Crown Village shopping center and Rita's Hallmark store in Calimesa, California on December 7, 1991. Their warm and sentimental grand opening featured the Edelweiss Combo band, a children's choir, and the special unveiling of an animated clock tower. King Franz Josef and Queen Helena, delightful animatronic characters created and manufactured by Garner Holt, emerged from the clock tower to announce the noon hour.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Crown
• Village
• Calimesa
• Rita
• Jon
• Taylor
• Hallmark
• Edelweiss
• children's
• choir
• animatronic
• clock
• Garner
• Holt
• Christmas

[Mateo808]

The Crown Village Rocks! The Royal has tasty grub, and YES the clock DOES INDEED WORK! Who'd a thought that a town called Calimesa would be the Deutschland capitol of California? Nice version of Edelweiss.

[BrettJeffries]

The clock certainly does work and I often hear it from the post office parking lot.

I wonder what Mrs. Church would have thought of Crown Village and George's Market. She was the lady who came up with the name "Calimesa" during a name contest in 1929. She won $10.

"Edelweiss" is Rita's special song. It was also the name of her first Hallmark store in Calimesa, opened in 1977.

[WwhiterabbitT]

It would be awesome if you could reshoot the clock going off! I thought for sure it was still broken, and have moved out of Yucaipa.

[EndingMoon]

i love the Royal, the restraunt there

[WwhiterabbitT]

I live in Yucaipa(next door to Calimesa.) I grew up loving this clock! I use to make my mom wait in the parking lot till it went off on visits to the hallmark store. Too bad it has stoped working and was never fixed :((( Has been broken for years now. :'(