Mike Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
May 1923
– Celebration Called Off – The proposed Fourth of July celebration and water carnival, to have been given at Novato, has been called off. This action was taken because of the inability of our people to give the matter the time required to make the celebration the success desired. The harvesting of crops and other business interests are very pressing just now and will be for two months to come. This, with the fact that towns all around us are preparing to celebrate encouraged the action taken.
– At the Chamber of Commerce last week, it was confidently predicted that in ten years hence the population of Novato and surrounding district would number six thousand people. There is ample room for all. Novato has the goods to deliver. Our dairying possibilities are unlimited. Fruit does splendidly; and the climatic condition for chicken raising is ideal. Business of every kind is good. With our feed mill, new school building and community house, lumber yard and other enterprises offer inducements to every class of people. Home builders are community makers, and with the spirit of co-operation and good fellowship the stranger who visits this section will be persuaded to remain. Every family who locates is an asset.
75 Years Ago
May 1948
– Ed Sheroni dies – Edward Sheroni, 50, was taken by death at Franklin Hospital in San Francisco, following an illness of 15 days. He learned the moulder’s trade in San Francisco where he became an official in the Moulder’s Union. Retiring from that occupation he established “Ed’s Place,” a tavern, at Novato and in recent years had been a partner in a tavern and café in San Francisco (Coo-Coo Club, 668 Haight (Now Danny Coyles Beer and Cocktails). He is survived by his widow, Shirley, and his father, Peter Sheroni, He was a native of California.
– The mass meeting in the Community House on the subject of “Who Owns the Community House?” was a typical American small-town meeting, old timers predominating. Rev. Laing Sibbet, pastor of Two Rock Presbyterian church, and a member of the house committee of the Presbytery of the Redwoods, outlined the church’s part in the controversy. Local Presbyterians are willing to sell the Community House to Novato people through their legal representative, Novato Community, Inc., for $4,560 which the Presbyterians had given toward the erection of the Community House with the proviso that when and if it changed ownership the sum should be returned to the Presbytery. A Community House council representative of the community was elected as follows: Virgil Hill, Edward Duffy, Walter Simonds Jr., Judge Georee C. Faulkner, Manuel Bettencourt, Jack Sparrow, George Roth, Robert Busher, Mrs. R. J. Weseman, Mrs. R.J. MacDonaJd, Ed Rose and Cyril Flugger.
50 Years Ago
May 1973
– Grand marshal of this year’s Western Weekend parade will be former New York Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez, who was elected last year to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gomez, who now lives in Fairfax, started in organized baseball in 1928 in Salt Lake City, moved to the San Francisco Seals the following year and was sold to the Yankees in 1930. He pitched for the Yankees for the next 12 years, piling up an outstanding record of wins.
– The third annual Novato Oldtown art festival will be held on June 16. This year 10 percent of the money collected from art sales will be given to the Novato Boys Club and the Novato Civic Foundation for its project to develop the picturesque East Grant Avenue area of Novato. Paintings and artwork will be displayed along three blocks of Grant Avenue from Machin to Scott Streets. Some 200 artists and craftsmen will display their work which will be for sale and also judged for $400 in prizes.
– Some 60 people attended the annual open house last Thursday and Friday evenings at the Novato police station, according to officers who served as hosts. It was the lowest attendance in memory for the two-day event. Many of those who did come were reportedly more interested in “finding out what was going on” (between the department and the city administration) than in looking at displays and movies. Police Chief Alien Klemme, who had resigned, was not present. The program included movies, exhibits and demonstration of new equipment.
25 Years Ago
May 1998
– Richard M. Sangster, a trial lawyer whose devotion to his family was matched only by his passion for the law, died at Marin General Hospital at the age of 68. A Kansas native, Mr. Sangster grew up in Junction City and enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating from St. Xavier’s High School in 1948. “Dick liked to practice law,” said Nancy Morse Sangster, his wife of more than 42 years.
– The I.D.E.S.I. of Novato will celebrate its annual Festa in honor of the Holy Spirit on Sunday, May 24. This is a cultural and religious tradition brought by the Portuguese people from the Azores Island. It has been celebrated in Novato since 1906.
– Shane Co. Direct Diamond Importers, known as “Your Friend in the Diamond Business,” has leased a 9,500-square-foot building at the Vintage Oaks shopping center. Shane Co. plans to open the new Marin store, its fourth in the Bay Area,” in the fall.
– COMING SOON! Will Be Open 7 Days a Week 6am-11 pm, Weekdays ’til Midnight- Star RESTAURANT – A Real Family Restaurant BREAKFAST • LUNCH • DINNER • DESSERTS – Daily Specials!
– Novato Toyota will officially celebrate its move to the Novato Oaks shopping center with a grand opening on May 27. The festivities will include refreshments and entertainment by the Novato High band and chorus.
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