Mark Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
July 1922
– The Novato Bank building has been sold by F. J. Silva to A. W. Baker and Henry Reynaud of Petaluma. Silva’s splendid business property here, now occupied by the Bank of Novato and the J. DeBorba dry goods store. A.W. Baker also bought Mr. Silva’s stock in the Bank of Novato, so the deal was a very important one. It has been for sale for some time. It has been reported that the purchase was made as an investment. Looks as though the Petalumaites have come to believe there is better property in Novato than in Petaluma.
– A Boy Scout patrol was organized last night at Scott’s Hall. Every boy between the ages of 12 and 18 years is urged to join. The local council sponsoring the organization includes W. F. McDermott, J. J. Merriman and Charles Christensen. R. M. Cantwell, an ex-officer of the great war, will be scoutmaster. H. Lowrey will be his assistant. Splendid quarters for Boy Scouts will be furnished in the new Community House free of charge.
– The lack of wind saved the summer resort of Camp Meeker from being destroyed by fire on Thursday night of last week. The post office and Rusticano Hotel were burned, and the library building damaged. The loss is estimated at $20,000.
– J. H. Bond, who for many years published the Novato Banner, passed through town last week on his way to Oakland.
– Miss Lulu Sutton has been elected principal of the Novato grammar school to succeed Miss Doss. Miss Sutton has been connected with the school for some time. The following teachers have been engaged for the coming year: Mrs. Elliott, Miss Nissen, Miss Scott and Miss Jessie Scott. The school will open the second week in August.
– Miss Iva M. Doss, last year’s principal of our school, is to be married to Wm. J. Mellis, of San Rafael, at the home of her parents at Two Rock, on Sunday, July 16.
75 Years Ago
July 1947
– Miss Carmen Hallmyer and Mr. Steinburger, Novato folk dancers, with Lloyd Lieb Jr., who dances with another group, and his mother, Mrs. L.L. Lieb Sr., attended the annual Folk Dancers festival on the campus of Marin Junior College. Six hundred couples from the Bay Area put on their dances of all nations. The bleachers were crowded with spectators. After supper at the Travelers Inn, the folk dancers put on another exhibition in the Fairfax pavilion.
– The annual barbecue of Novato firemen at Armbrusters Grove on the Redwood Highway was enjoyed by some 250 firemen, their families, and invited guests. After the barbecue, sack, egg and wheelbarrow races, a watermelon eating contest followed by horseshoe pitching ended the day’s activities.
– Frank and Joe Valim recently opened their modern cabinet shop on Mervyn Street (Vallejo Ave.) for business.
– FOR SALE – Gravenstein apples $1 per box. Bring your own container. C. Paladini, Wilson Ave.
50 Years Ago
July 1972
– Sale of GTE Communications Inc., whose operations include cable television facilities at Novato, to Liberty Television. Inc., of Eugene, Ore., has been confirmed by both companies involved. The sale has been known for some time and was exclusively reported by the Advance last spring. Effective date of the transaction was June 23 when Liberty Television acquired all common stock of GTE Communications, a subsidiary of General Telephone & Electronics Corporation.
– A hearing on an application for a use permit to establish a permanent site for the Renaissance Pleasure Faire north of Novato is set before the county zoning administrator. Ron and Phylbas Patterson are proposing to move their annual fall attraction to the Veronda Ranch west of Highway 101 and immediately south of the Marin-Sonoma line. In addition to the yearly extravaganza which attracts thousands of faire-goers during September and the first week of October, the site is proposed for a permanent “Old English Village.”
Other items of Novato Interest at the hearing Include: Moose Lodge: To consider a use permit to allow an existing building, formerly on a portion of the Atherton Stables on “H” Lane to be used by the Novato Moose Lodge.
– Julia R. Thayer, lifelong Marin County resident and a granddaughter of Spanish land grant holder Ignacio Pacheco, died last Wednesday in a Mill Valley rest home after a long illness. She was 87. Mrs. Thayer was born in San Rafael and grew up in the family’s old adobe home at Ignacio which later burned in the 1920’s. It is now the site of Galli’s Restaurant. Foundations of the old adobe lie nearby. Her grandfather settled on the 6,659-acre Rancho San Jose in 1834 after serving as a soldier at the Presidio of San Francisco. He was given title to the vast property (part of which is now the site of Hamilton Air Force Base) by the Mexican government in 1840. He was San Rafael’s first alcalde, or judicial officer. Mrs. Thayer’s mother was Catalina Pacheco Valencia, daughter of Pacheco’s third wife, Maria Loretta Duarte. Mrs. Thayer was married in 1915 to the late Edwin H. Thayer, one time deputy county assessor, who died in 1942.
25 Years Ago
July 1997
– After eight years of meeting at the Student Center at San Marin High School, the Novato Christian Fellowship has a new home. The congregation, led by Pastor Randy Ferguson, now meets at the Seventh-day Adventist Church building, 495 San Marin Drive at Simmons Lane in Novato.
– Petco is changing its location in the Vintage Oaks shopping center, but only slightly. Petco is moving next door to its current location into spaces formerly occupied by Kid’s World and the Futon Shop. The move will almost double the size of the pet store to 14,000 square feet. The expansion will also allow the store to carry small animals for the first time and to provide dog and cat grooming services.
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