By Town Crier Staff Report

The public is invited to tour Hidden Villa’s new hostel at its opening celebration 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, Saturday. Hidden Villa is the oldest continuously operating hostel in America and home to the country’s first multiracial summer camp.

A brief ribbon-cutting ceremony will dedicate the hostel to continue the humanitarian and environmental legacy of Frank and Josephine Duveneck.

Architects David Arkin and Anni Tilt, builders Covey Cowan and Jeff Gentry, and site supervisor William Hardy will be on hand to answer questions.

First established by the Duvenecks in 1937, the hostel has a rich history. After World War II, Japanese Americans returning from internment camps found a welcome shelter at the invitation of the Duvenecks. Caesar Chavez spent the summer of 1952 at the hostel, organizing the fledgling movement for the rights of Central Valley farm workers.

Every summer since 1945, it has been home to a multicultural camp program, and this summer it will serve 920 children.

The new building features passive solar design with an interior rammed earth wall for thermal mass. A geothermal heat pump provides radiant heating and cooling through tubing in the concrete floors.