Pages From The Past/Mark Read
100 Years Ago
August 1922
– A.D. Scott has. sold his property on the county road opposite the Freitas ranch to Charles F. Hebber, who will build a home in the near future. Mr. Scott has also sold to 0.W. Hall his two lots on the corner of Grant and Machin avenues. It is Mr. Hall’s intention to improve the property.
– The settlement in the little arm of the valley back of the cemetery should adopt a name by which the twenty or more homes-can be identified. The use of the cemetery as a means of locating themselves is not relished by many of them. As three or four vineyards are planted or under way, it has been suggested that “Vineyard Valley” be adopted but better titles are easily to be thought of.
– The old DeLong home and surroundings are being modernized by R. H. Trumbull, its present owner. Some of the massive buildings have been torn down and the space utilized for livestock, with which Mr. Trumbull is setting a good example.
75 Years Ago
August 1947
– Novato sanitary board approved the annexation of the following additional territory whose owners have completed legal formalities: the Myers-Schilling tract (former Sweetser estate); the Thum tract known as Las Alondras on the Novato Boulevard; and the H.E. Claused tract south of town on the Redwood Highway. This increases the sanitary district by upwards of 100 acres and many new homes either completed or under construction.
– A get-together party of Black Point district residents of all ages was held in the old Black Point schoolhouse with the retiring trustees as hostesses. Card games and dances were followed by a mid-night supper enjoyed by the 50 present. The party was held to get opinions of the Black Point district residents on the need of obtaining the school building for a community center where all the social activities may be held.
50 Years Ago
August 1972
– Pinckney’s Lemonade Established in 1972, the lemonade business Michael Pinckney began with his sister is already in its second week of operation. His clientele is exclusive—the men who work at the freeway construction site. Being located in the path of a freeway construction route may be bad but being located next to one is usually worse. This is the conclusion of three roadside businesses located just north of Novato. Jack’s 66 gas station, the Sportsman Lodge and Shipwreck Pete’s restaurant have all claimed the freeway construction project has been destroying their businesses, and the situation has worsened in the past week with the blocking of the north entrance to the area. Jack Lepinski, hardest hit by the north entrance closing, says his gasoline sales are off 95%, with only a few cars coming in each day.
25 Years Ago
August 1997
– Leadership Novato founder Ed Stark marries local businesswoman Susie Bowers – He is past president of the Novato Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Novato Leadership Program. A former chairman of the board for Northbay Ecumenical Homes, Ed also served on the boards of the Novato Youth Center and the Novato Human Needs Center. He is currently on the board of directors for Northbay Ecumenical Homes. He met Susie in the second Leadership Novato Program. She was a participant of the program, and he was chair of the leadership committee. She is currently a business development and certified senior escrow officer at Old Republic Title in Novato.
– It wasn’t granola they served last week at the reception celebrating Birkenstock’s new store on Union Square, but brie, champagne, arid shrimp. Tuxedoed waiters wore the orthopedic “hippy shoes” that have become instantly recognizable as Birkenstocks. The crowd had reason to celebrate. The Novato-based company’s new flagship store spans 12,000 square feet on two levels and houses the largest selection of Birkenstocks in the United States. For Margot Fraser, Birkenstock Footprint Sandals president and company founder, the store is a dream come true. “It’s fantastic. We’ve been talking about it for years…someday. Suddenly, this,” she said. Fraser—a native of Germany who moved to the U.S. after marrying an American man— tried on a new German sandal while visiting a Bavarian health spa in 1966 at the urging of a fitness trainer. Fraser, who suffered chronic foot pain, was immediately impressed by the comfort of the contoured cork footbeds. She began buying small quantities of the shoes from the German manufacturer and selling them from her home in Santa Cruz. Initially, success eluded her. The first time she proposed a deal with a shoe retailer, she was bluntly rejected. “When I walked into the first store I said, ‘I have something that will interest you,'” Fraser recalled. The retailer was not impressed. “He said, ‘Never. No one will ever buy that shoe.'” In the summer of 1967, Fraser took her sandals to a health food store convention in San Francisco. She found loyal customers among the health food crowd, who put function over fashion.
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