Key Words: Garner Family
Vortex
Padua Hills
[Part 1] Irene Garner was born in Claremont in 1912 and grew up with five sisters. She remembers swimming in a reservoir with her sisters and playing on the playground at Sycamore School. One of her first experiences on stage as a young girl was when her class performed in some of the plays at Pomona College. When she attended Pomona College in 1929, she worked as a babysitter for several families, including the Garners. She also worked at the Claremont Inn and Griswold’s Factory. She began working at Vortox alongside her future husband, Herman Garner.
She started working closely with the Padua Hills Theater in the 1930s. She describes how her husband, Herman, and his first wife, Bess, worked together: “He was always behind it, but we gave the limelight to his first wife, Bess, to take the public. But he was the one behind it, with any problems to be solved from the very beginning . . . After we were married in 1950, I assumed more responsibility.” She described the dormitories that the players lived in, including the Garner house and the Johnson house. Most of the players were in their 20’s or 30’s.
Garner remembers some of the land that her husband, Herman, bought and developed in Claremont, especially the Via Padova neighborhood. She describes some of the art studios at Padua Hills. Some of the local artists included Ms. Litchfield, Bill Manger, and Harold Russ Glick.
[Tape 2] Garner discusses her work at Vortex over the years. She explains that Claremont has changed as it has grown throughout her lifetime. She describes the trips that she would take to Mexico to purchase fabrics for making the dresses for the players.