We were awed by what the new museum in Avalon looks like.   It is named the Ada Blance Wrigley Schneiner Building and is located at 217 Metropole avenue.    We were met by Media and Marketing Manager Gail Fornaisere who explained to us what the new  museum has to offer.     We went to the theater to see a film which showed some of Avalon's early history as well as the two fires  that threatened it, one in its early years the other less than a decade ago.
 Hollywood has had much to do with this fame including its celebrities and locations for many films. A film about the old west was photographed with imported America buffalo. These animals prospered on the Island and are still be seen in the Island's interior. The original Mutiny on the Bounty was filmed there.  And there is an exhibit concerning Errol Flynn films.
  Mr. Wrigley also owned the Chicago Cubs baseball club and started bringing it to Catalina for Spring Training. For this purpose he also built the Catalina Country Club, with its handsome clubhouse and dining facilities, and a nine hole golf course. And Ronald Reagan's film career was launched after taking a screen test while on the Island with the Chicago baseball team. 
One exhibit displays some one hundred photos of famous visitors including Winston Churchill and movie stars like Marilyn Monroe. In fact Marilyn's connection with Catalina is also one of the exhibits since she was a teenage Norma Jean when she first visited the Island with her first husband and long before fame found her.
 Another exhibit explains the Island's early history as a native American settlement that existed for hundreds of years before Spanish explorers sighted it in the 1500s.              
From where the cruise ship passengers disembark on the Island it is an easy walk through the town to the museum.
Give yourself plenty of time for a visit to the Catalina Island Museum . It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call 310 510-2414, on the web at www.catalinamuseum.org.