Ocie Taylor Songer

Ocie Taylor Songer was in town recently. She told The Corona Historic Preservation Society about her experiences in early Corona. She arrived is 1896, the very begining of this little hamlet. Her father was the offical founder. She lived here until her death in 1971, at age 94. Of course she had some tales to tell. She knew all the early residents as well as many that came later to make their mark on Corona.

Ocie was portrayed by...moi, me and myself. I enjoyed it so much. Ocie left all her scrapbooks, the family bible, family papers and documents to the public library. At the Heritage Room the documents are in a special collection that can be browse through. It was such a pleasure to be able to tell her story and know that everything was as she saw it, because the information all came from her own pen.

When I visit her grave Ialways tell her that I hope she is pleased with me for keeping her alive in Corona. She did so much in the way of writing Corona's history as it took place. I want to keep it going.

One thing she said in a letter (written in her hand) was that "the older ones are going and the young ones don't care about Corona's story."

I always think that whatever I say about Corona is also the story of every town in America. The faces and names are changed but the stories are alike.

The news of yesterday is the history of today.