Mike Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
April 1922
– The Novato Farm Centre met last Friday night and took up a number of different matters concerning the community. There is considerable interest in consolidating the Black Point district in particular with the Novato school district.
– The Presbyterian Church of Novato gave an Easter egg hunt for the children last Saturday afternoon. The hunt is held at the Mueller ranch.
– The Geo. S. Jones Co. is making extensive improvements in the form of an addition to their garage and an up-to-date service station.
75 Years Ago
April 1947
– Black Point – The old clubhouse up on Manzanita Avenue is no more. Workman was busy for the last week or more razing the building which had been pretty badly wrecked by destructive youngsters. It had become an eyesore and the whole neighborhood is grateful for the removal. The lumber was salvaged, and according to report, is being transported to Glen Ellen, where it will be used again.
– Manuel Silva, son of the late John and Marie Silva, a retired dairyman, unmarried and a resident of Novato for the past 38 years, passed away at his home on DeLong Avenue. The deceased was 76 years of age and was a native of the Azores. He was a member of the Novato Council JPEC, and the I.D.E.S. of Novato. He is survived by five brothers and sisters, Mrs. Maria A. Bello, Mrs. Elvira S. Lacerda, Silvania E., John and Joe Silva.
– Novato firemen responded to an alarm from the Louie Wing duck farm on Oliva Avenue where the gas brooder stove had set fire to one end of the big brooder house and the 1000 baby ducks huddled near it. The firemen saved the remaining two thirds of the brooder house and the thousands of baby ducks in it.
– Judge George C. Faulkner is closing his San Francisco law office to enable him to devote all of his time as justice of peace in Novato. The justice court is located on Grant Avenue. He has rented rooms in the new Pini building for his law office, the only one in Novato. He is also a notary public.
– The first election of five trustees for the joint unionized Novato and Black Point school districts on May 6 will have eight candidates who are Mrs. Marie Stafford, Jack Sparrow and Harry Hale, incumbents of the Novato school board, and Charles Rowe, incumbent of the Black Point board and Eugene R lang of Canton Road, and Mrs. Grace Faulkner and L.C. Norton of Black Point.
50 Years Ago
April 1972
– The political pendulum swung yesterday, and Novato voters put two new faces, Fred F. Ruegg and Dorothy P. Young, on the city council and reinstalled an incumbent, David Price Jones. In an apparent backlash against cluster housing, taxes, innovative planning, and a growing negative city image, Novato voters picked two candidates, Ruegg and Mrs. Young who in their campaigns stressed a firm attempt to bold taxes, seek a balanced community, and protect property rights against further encroachment in the name of environmental protection. All returns from the 16 city precincts were in by 10:50 o’clock last night and the unofficial tally showed Ruegg leading the pack with 2349 votes, followed closely by Jones with 2340. Mrs. Young was third with 2100. Vote Totals The other vote totals were: Daniel P. Donovan, 2062; Edward T. Ryken, 1679; Geoffrey J. Bywater, 1422; John C. Schoonover, 1383; John M Morrison, 707; Anthony Gulllotta, 563; Carlos M Newton, 338; and Donald Richards, 182.
– The Novato Senior Citizens declared Monday “Pat Dutton Day” and honored their departing program coordinator at a luncheon in the Community House. Pat Dutton is leaving the city recreation department at the end of the week because her husband is being transferred back to the east coast. In attendance at the luncheon were Gary Howell, who recently left the Novato department to become San Anselmo recreation director; Larry Dito, who’s taking over the recreation supervisor position vacated by Howell. Dito, who had been employed by the San Mateo recreation department, reported for work this week. He’s still living in South San Francisco.
– Funeral for Thelma E. Zunino, 61, will be held tomorrow at Redwood Chapel at 3 p.m. She died yesterday following a long illness. She was born in Ridgewood, Mo., and moved to Novato in 1942. She resided with her husband at 1020 Seventh Street and ran a coffee shop on Grant Avenue for many years. Mrs. Zunino was a member of the Sylvan Circle, U.A.O.D., and the Nova-Marin Grandmothers. She is survived by her husband, Leo P. Zunino; a daughter, Mrs. Dolores Williams of Santa Rosa; three sons, Richard and Ernest of Novato, and William Turner of Chetopa, Missouri.
25 Years Ago
April 1997
– The Novato Historical Guild will receive $10,000 from the estate of Elsie Andersen to be used to benefit the Novato History Museum. According to John Trumbull, guild president, Andersen was a charter member of the guild and played an active roll in the development of Novato. Her husband, Gordon, opened the first auto agency in Novato, and later opened Andersen Motor Co., a Chevrolet dealership. Andersen was employed for 20 years by the Marin County Library and worked as a librarian when the Novato branch of the library was upstairs in the Community House. Andersen died shortly after opening the new dealership facilities on Redwood Boulevard. Mrs. Andersen later sold the business and opened a real estate office on grant Avenue. In 1964, she worked with a group headed by Al Bowman which urged the City of Novato to purchase the old Postmaster’s House for use as a museum, the project fell through, and the property was sold to Favian Bobo. Eight years later, Bobo agreed to give the building to the city if they would move it to allow construction of new apartments. It was done and the building now serves as the Novato History Museum at 815 DeLong Ave.
– Plans to construct a long-awaited Novato dog park are inching forward. Today, City staff will meet with members of Dog Owners Group Bettering Our Novato Environment (DOGBONE) to select one of two sites at the undeveloped O’Hair Park for a temporary dog park DOGBONE, a group of Novato dog owners pushing for a place where dogs can run and play off-leash, has been working with the city since 1993. Currently, there are two possible sites at O’Hair Park: A 2.3-acre area in the northwest section of the park, east of a pedestrian bridge running across Novato Creek. This area has been zoned for an open lawn area in the O’Hair Master Plan. An adjacent spot west of the pedestrian bridge, close in size to the other site being considered, but identified for overflow parking in the O’Hair Master Plan.
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