Whiskeytown celebrates anniversary of JFK's historic visit to dedicate dam

It’s been 60 years since the North State welcomed President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy came to Shasta County for the dedication of Whiskeytown Dam.

The momentous occasion drew an estimated 8,000 people — nearly the entire population of Redding at the time.

Kennedy’s visit came less than two months before he was assassinated during a campaign visit in Dallas.

Starting Thursday, 60 years ago to the day Kennedy dedicated the dam, Whiskeytown will celebrate the anniversary with public programs showcasing the event.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, the public is welcomed to visit the JFK memorial site at Whiskeytown. Park rangers will be there with interpretive displays and can also answer questions.

Later Thursday, Friends of Whiskeytown President Don Reynolds, who attended the 1963 dedication as a boy, will be among the panel members for a virtual round table. Joining him will be scholar Barbara Perry, who has authored biographies of the Kennedy family, and Shasta County resident Patrick Carr, the nephew of James Carr, who championed the establishment of Whiskeytown as a national recreation area. The roundtable starts at 7 p.m. and can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/yukkmah7.

Whiskeytown Dam was part of the Trinity River Project that was built in the early 1960s. The diversion project — which took part of the Trinity River and diverted it from its natural course, piping it under a mountain and into the Central Valley — created Whiskeytown Lake, today a major recreational draw in the North State.

Among the advocates for the project was James Carr, a Redding native, who was Kennedy’s under-secretary of the interior. The Carr Powerplant at Whiskeytown Lake is named after James Carr’s father, Judge Francis Carr.

To honor the late president and remember his visit to the area, locals got together and donated funds to build a memorial site where Kennedy spoke to the thousands of North State residents who came to see him. Visitors can listen to Kennedy’s dedication speech at the site.

On Oct. 11, 1964, the roadway leading to Whiskeytown Dam was dedicated as John F. Kennedy Memorial Drive.

Friends of Whiskeytown President Reynolds was nine years old at the time of Kennedy's visit and attending Rother Elementary School in Redding. He said his mother was a member of the American Association of University Women, an organization that helped put the September 1963 trip together.

He remembers Air Force One landing at the Redding airport, where Reynolds was able to shake Kennedy's hand after he got off the plane.

Reynolds said the two-day visit was awe-inspiring.

“It was the president of the United States. It was pretty amazing,” said Reynolds, today a certified public accountant in Redding.

But like many Americans who were alive at the time, Reynolds said Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas hit him hard.

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“I was at Rother Elementary at the time and I remember them rolling in the television into the classroom and telling us the president has been shot. School was dismissed shortly thereafter,” Reynolds said. “I thought at the time, ‘Wow, that was somebody who was here. We had met face to face and now he was gone.’“

The 60th anniversary celebration at Whiskeytown will be capped with a viewing of the film about JFK’s visit at 7 p.m. Friday. The film will be shown at the Oak Bottom Amphitheater.

Whiskeytown Superintendent Josh Hoines said the Kennedy visit was historic for the North State.

"Getting the attention of the White House is always a good thing. The impact it had in our local community and the fact we were able create a national park unit very shortly after, those are huge benefits to the community and it's definitely worth celebrating," Hoines said.

In addition, Whiskeytown will host patio boat tours on Thursday and Friday and moonlit kayak tours Wednesday and Saturday.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: JFK's historic visit to Shasta County to be commemorated