Barb Grice’s family is engrained in the history of Encinitas. Her dad, Bob Grice, was a descendent of Encinitas pioneers. When his great-grandparents arrived with their family in 1883, they doubled the population of Encinitas from 11 to 22! He was born years later, in 1920, in the same ranch house as his mother, on a hilltop property that now is part of the Encinitas Ranch Golf Course.
Barb’s dad was the first president of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce. Her mom and dad were founders of the San Dieguito Heritage Museum, which has been part of the Chamber since its inception in 1988. Barb has been the Executive Director of the Museum for the last seven years, and a member of the Chamber for over fifteen.
“I started helping my mom with school tours at the Museum in 2002,” Barb said. “I was never really interested in history until I started volunteering. Then I became fascinated with my own history. And now here I am as Executive Director!”
The San Dieguito Heritage Museum was founded to collect, preserve and interpret the history of the San Dieguito River area, including the cities of Leucadia, Encinitas, Olivenhain, Cardiff, Solana Beach, Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe. The museum is housed at the Heritage Ranch, a unique and rustic property in Encinitas.
“The Chamber allows us to let the community know about our museum and is helping promote our inaugural Haunted Ghost Town, a new otherworldly theatrical production and tour of the San Dieguito Heritage Museum grounds. We are partnering with Ovation Theatre to kick-off the joint event at Heritage Ranch the last two weekends in October. The original interactive play will turn, what during the day, is an innocent stroll through the artifacts and exhibits of the ancestors, into a 25-minute spine-chilling tour of the pranks and secrets of the departed at night.”
Student actors will tell the story of a bride, an evil son, and murderous mother-in-law, and guide those brave enough through the Heritage Ranch property with tours every thirty minutes: Family-friendly less spine-tingling tours from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and horrifyingly frightening tours for all from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
“This property lends itself to being a haunted ghost town, with the old houses and the old buildings. We are so excited to bring this event to the community!” www.sdheritage.org for tickets and more information. Advance ticket reservations are required.
