Mike Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
May 1923
– People from adjacent counties are frequent visitors to see the Community House, and all express wonder and admiration of Novato’s enterprise and ability to accomplish such an undertaking.
The contract for painting the Community House has been let to A. Quandt & Sons, of San Francisco. Six men started to work Monday morning and will carry the job through to completion in a short time. The lady members of the executive committee of the council are directing the choice of colors. It looks now as though the building will be completed soon. The stone for the fireplace in the lobby has been secured from the quarries on the Botkin ranch north of town.
75 Years Ago
May 1948
– Novato School Bonds Carry – Novato voters were approving a $161,000 issue for a new grammar school there. The vote was 601 yes, 91 no.
– C. R. Renard of San Francisco has purchased a building at Camp Barry which he is erecting into a home, for himself and family at Crescent Drive, Black Point.
– Novato Grove of Druids is holding its annual carnival and dance in Druids” hall, Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8, to raise funds for their charitable program. It is one of the oldest organizations in Novato. Members of Sylvan Circle, U.A.O.D., will serve refreshments from the kitchen Friday night, adding to the carnival attractions. Dancing will be enjoyed Saturday night to the music of Paul Laws’ well known orchestra. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the big attraction.
– Mary T. Nave, well known Novato resident, died Saturday in the San Rafael General hospital where she had been receiving treatment for a heart ailment. She was the wife of Pasquale (Pete) Nave and the mother of Louis, Fred and William Nave. Mrs. Frank Scott and Katherine Sheldon: sister of Ferdinand and Fred DeLucchi, Mrs. Sarah Rossi, Mrs. Virginia Valla, Mrs. Clorinda Solari, Mrs. Julia Tezzi and Mrs. Delia Giusti: She was the grandmother of Barbara Sheldon, William Nave Jr., Robert and Richard Nave.
A native of Italy, she was aged 75 years and a member of Novato Ladies’ Auxiliary of Volunteer Fire Department, Sylvan Circle, No. 115. Druids., Novato, and the Altar Society of Our Lady of Loretto church, Novato. A few years ago, the late Mrs. Nave and her husband held their golden wedding. It was in St. Peter and Paul’s church, San Francisco, that the former Mary DeLucchi became the bride of P. Nave. Mrs. Nave came here with her parents- from Italy in 1883.
50 Years Ago
May 1973
– Novato High’s Ray Stratford hurled the first perfect baseball game in Marin County Athletic League history last week as he retired 21 straight batters without allowing a base runner in a 3-0 win over Terra Linda.
– Some say it’s a scare tactic being used by the big oil companies seeking approval of the Alaska pipeline, renewed offshore oil drilling, and other projects opposed by conservationists. Some say basic oil stocks in the country are basically the same as they have been for several years. Others say the country faces a legitimate fuel shortage and a crisis is on its way. Whatever the story, most of Novato’s gasoline service station operators received word this past week that their supplies would be cut. Many estimated they would be running out of gas before the end of the month when their next allotments are due.
– The long-rumored move of an Alpha Beta market into the Nave Shopping Center became official with an announcement by Robert Nave. Under terms of the contract, Nave is to raze the buildings between the old Purity store and Spiro’s Red Vest restaurant to make room for a new 25,000 square foot market to house an outlet for Alpha Beta. With slightly more than a half-acre of floor space, the Novato branch will be one of Alpha Beta’s larger stores. The old 19,000 square foot building that formerly housed Purity Marke Wand later Mark-It, will be remodeled to accommodate a branch of Thrifty Drugs, although that agreement is not yet signed, all details have been negotiated, according to Nave.
25 Years Ago
May 1998
– The theme of the 1998 Novato Fourth of July Parade is “Novato’s Gold Rush—Then and Now” to tie in with the California Sesquicentennial and the 150th anniversary of the California Gold Rush. Although Novato and Marin County were not well connected to the Gold Rush itself, Novato’s beginnings as a town occurred in the 1850s and the Parade Committee invites parade entrants to represent the Gold Rush era as well as Novato’s many successive Gold Rushes as an apple-growing area, railroad hub, growth of Old Town, agriculture dominance, the development of Hamilton Field, the post-war housing boom, incorporation as a city and today’s boom as the heart of the CD-Rom industry.
– The Marin Council of the Boy Scouts of America have rewarded the longtime service of a Novato Scoutmaster and presented him with the Silver Beaver, Scouting’s highest award for volunteers. Troop 79 Assistant Scoutmaster George B. Estes received the Silver Beaver ribbon at an awards ceremony held March 10. Estes served as Scoutmaster of Troop 79 for 15 years. He has been involved in Scouting training for more than a decade and has attended two National Jamborees, serving once as the quartermaster and once as the Scoutmaster. He also received the Scouting Award of Merit in 1993. In addition to his Scouting activities, Estes has served the Novato community with more than a decade of membership in the Novato Rotary Club, of which he is the immediate past president. He is also a lifelong member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and for the past three years has served as president of the Stake’s Young Men’s Organization.
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