Museum & Gift Shop
 
MISSION MODEL EXHIBIT AND CONTEST ON MAY 11!
Thank you to Ramona Museum of California History in San Gabriel for co-sponsoring the contest and the many monetary prizes! Nativity Elementary School in El Monte had the most students enter the contest and earned $150 in books, videos and maps about missions in California! This was the school's third straight year they won the prizes for their classroom!
 
 
SAN GABRIEL MISSION FIRST ANNUAL EASTER MORNING RUN OF ST. JOHN
The 75 runners/walkers all completed the approximately four mile round trip to Lacy Park in San Marino and back.  There was free parking, free entry fee, a free big delicious breakfast after the run, and free gifts to participants! Thank you to San Gabriel Mission Boy Scouts for set up, decorations, cooking and serving,  and cleanup. Thank you to Mission San Gabriel Council Knights of Columbus for doing registration, helping cook and working with news media, and other parishioners who joined in the effort for a fun morning!
 There was news media coverage by KTLA TV 5 with some live broadcasts of the mission's Easter Sunrise service at 6:30 a.m., followed by the run at 7:30 a.m. Other coverage was by KNBC TV 4, KVEA TV 52, San Gabriel Sun newspaper and West Valley Journal newspaper. Thank you for participating in this first-time special event! Planning has started for next year's run on Easter morning! Mark your calendar for Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014!
 
 
WOOD GIFTS AVAILABLE IN MISSION GIFT SHOP FROM YOUTH WORKSHOP!
   Wood crosses, gift/jewelry boxes and pictures carved into wood are made by children near southwest side of Chicago behind the old stockyards at San Gabriel Mission's sister parish,
Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart  of Mary. The children hand make the items by drilling and carving them from wood on donated machines to teach them skills and to help raise money for a summer camping trip.
San Gabriel Mission Boy Scouts also are fundraising and plan to accompany some Holy Cross youth on the camping trip to teach them camping skills.
What a great project to help keep youth off the street  while helping their education
and  making a  dream come true! Thank you for your support and  participating in their dream!
 
HISTORIC ORANGE HARVEST
   San Gabriel Mission Pastor Rev. Fr. Bruce Wellems, CMF, and mission Business Manager Al Sanchez on Dec. 21, 2012, picked Aqua Tibia sweet Valencia oranges in the mission's gardens marking the first orange harvest on the mission grounds for an unknown number of decades since the previous harvest. Toots Bier of University of California Riverside Citrus Clonal Protection Program was informed of an old orange tree a few miles from the mission and after DNA testing it was determined it was an original orange tree in California like the ones planted by San Gabriel Mission to start orchards of oranges. Those original orange trees disappeared at the mission grounds for unknown reasons over the years. The current historic trees at the mission were started in 2004 by Bier, and were planted at the mission in 2006.  They can be seen on a self-guided tour of the old mission church, museum and gardens.                  
 
Museum and gardens are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
 359 days a year for a self-guided tour at a reasonable admission fee: 
age 0 to 5 is free, age 6-17 is $3, age 18-61 is $5, and age 62 and older is $4.
While there is NO EXTRA fee for special events, a regular admission fee still applies.
 
   Admission fee includes a self-guided tour brochure (in English or Espanol) with a map and historical information. It's best to start a self-guided tour no later than 3 p.m.   There is no charge to visit old Mission Church and Gift Shop.
   Entrance to old Mission church, museum and gardens is through San Gabriel Mission Gift Shop at   427 S. Junipero Serra Dr. (at Mission Road), San Gabriel, CA   91776.
   There is free parking in the church lot or on nearby streets.

   All of these areas are closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, July 4, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, and open 9 a.m. to Noon on Dec. 24. The old Mission Church is not available on Saturdays during Baptisms or Weddings or Funerals or during Sunday morning mass from 9:30 a.m. to about 10:40 a.m.

   Mission's Gift Shop, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. like the museum and gardens,  has many gifts for Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Wedding, anniversary, birthday, graduation, Christmas and more! Among some of the gifts are many Bibles and an expanded section of books, bookmarks, rosaries, chaplets, statues, crucifixes, medals, pictures, paintings, picture frames, prayer coins, greeting and prayer cards in English and Espanol, bracelets, post cards, music, movies and more!  Ask about special sale dates!
 
 
   Mission's Gift Shop also has a special section about mission history in California. 
   That section includes more than 30 books, bookmarks, mission foam kit and kit accessories, magnets, miniature models of missions, bells, puzzles, post cards, bracelets, souvenir spoons, cups, ceramic tile, pens and more!    
 
 
San Gabriel Mission History Day
  Mission History Day is usually on the first Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in mission's gardens or museum patio. Some topics are a History Fair, Re-enactors of History,  Museum Update, Mission Model Building Exhibit and Contest, History Challenge, History Forum, Native Plants and more!
 Look for flyers about each event listed below under Files.
 
 
Museum Saturday in San Gabriel, Montebello, Monterey Park, and San Marino
   Museum Saturday usually takes place on the first Saturday of the month. The following museums are open free to the public: Ramona Museum of California History in San Gabriel within one block of the mission is usually open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, San Gabriel Historical Museum/Hayes House in San Gabriel within two blocks of the mission is usually open the first Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe Museum in nearby Montebello is usually open Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monterey Park Historical Museum located at Garvey Ranch Park in Monterey Park is usually open Saturdays and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and El Molino Viejo Old Mill Museum in nearby San Marino is usually open Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Any donations are appreciated.
 
San Gabriel Mission 242nd Annual Fiesta
   San Gabriel Mission 242nd Annual Fiesta on Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 2013 will  feature religious, historical and cultural festivities, game and food booths, bingo in the air conditioned parish center, small and large rides and free entertainment in the evenings! There will be Tongva Indians and historical re-enactors in mission's gardens on Aug.31-Sept. 1, along with an art and photography show and more. Details  will be announced later this year. San Gabriel Mission Fiesta is a birthday celebration of the mission's founding on Sept. 8, 1771. San Gabriel Mission is the birthplace of the Los Angeles region. There will be an announcement soon about a special event that will be added to the fiesta the Saturday before the fiesta. Please check this web site for the information.
 
 
Please see files following for more information about San Gabriel Mission History Day
and other special events!
More events to be listed soon.