The cards will have to wait.
Pasadena Heritage has postponed Poker Night at the Blinn, the 1920s-themed fundraiser that was to fill the organization’s landmarked headquarters with Texas Hold’em, live jazz and craft cocktails this Saturday evening. The nonprofit did not state a reason for the postponement or announce a new date.
The second event of the planned Roaring 20s Weekend is unaffected. A newly researched Playhouse Village Walking Tour will step off at 10 a.m. Sunday from 160 N. Oakland Ave., the address of the Historic Blinn House, which serves as Pasadena Heritage’s headquarters and meeting space.
Poker Night had been scheduled for May 30 at the Blinn House, the 1906 residence designed by Chicago architect George Washington Maher that is the only known Maher residential structure west of the Mississippi. The evening was to run from 5 to 10 p.m. and feature a poker tournament, live jazz by Art Deco Entertainment, a roaming magician and an outdoor cigar lounge. Poker tournament tickets were priced at $250 with VIP access beginning at 4 p.m.; general admission was $100. Both included food and drinks. Period attire was encouraged, and all proceeds were to support the organization’s preservation work.
The event listing has been removed from Pasadena Heritage’s website. Those with questions about tickets may contact the organization at (626) 441-6333 or info@pasadenaheritage.org.
Sunday’s walking tour, which remains listed on the organization’s events page, explores the Pasadena Playhouse Historic District — approximately 34 buildings that trace the city’s eastward growth during the 1920s and 1930s, when Pasadena shifted from its agricultural roots into a center of tourism, culture and design. The 90-minute, one-mile tour stops at landmarks including the Scottish Rite Cathedral, the United Artists Theatre and the Warner Building, spanning Art Deco, Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean Revival styles.
The tour was developed with new research and timed to the 30th anniversary of the Playhouse Village Association, which was formed in 1996 as the Playhouse District Association and manages a 32-block business improvement district in the heart of Pasadena.
“We are excited to relaunch our Playhouse Village Walking Tour with substantial new research, created in support of our friends at the Playhouse Village Association as they celebrate their 30th anniversary,” said Nick Giovanazzi, Pasadena Heritage programs director. “Do not mistake this for the return of an existing tour, it is really an entirely new experience centered on 1920s/1930s design, development, and the transformation of the district that Pasadena Heritage calls home.”
Pasadena Heritage is a nonprofit organization founded in 1977 and dedicated to historic preservation in Pasadena. The organization holds more than 80 historic preservation easements, the largest such program west of the Mississippi, according to its website and is best known for its role in the preservation of Old Pasadena. In 2021, the Women’s City Club of Pasadena dissolved and transferred ownership of the Blinn House to Pasadena Heritage.
Dogs are not permitted on Pasadena Heritage walking tours. For tickets and information, visit pasadenaheritage.org/events-tours.
The Blinn House will still be there Sunday morning, doors open, no poker face required.
