Mike Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
May 1922
– Petition of W. E. Cole and others for the acceptance of a certain road known as Grant Avenue in the village of Novato in Road District No. 5 as a public highway was received and filed. The board proceeded to the examination of claims against the road funds; those approved and allowed duly appear of this date in the allowance book.
Resolution accepting Grant Avenue in Novato in Road District No. 5 as a public highway:
Be it resolved by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Mann, that the following named avenue or road, to-wit, all that certain road known as Grant Avenue, as said road a laid down and designated on that certain map entitled “Sweetser Subdivision Number One”, which map is recorded in the office of the County Recorder of the County of Marin on the 15th day of July, 1913, in map book Number 4 at page 49, being all hat portion of said road from the Slate Highway to the County Road from Novato Hicks Valley, be and the same is hereby accepted find declared by the Board of Supervisors of the county of Marin as a public highway of the said County of Marin.
– Dr. and Mrs. T. P. Bodkins of San. Francisco spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at their ranch here.
– A large water tank and a silo were received this week and will be added to the many improvements on the T. P. Bodkin’s ranch.
75 Years Ago
May 1947
– A.J. Cain announced this week that he had sold the Novato water system to A. H. Tresch of San Francisco, who will assume management ship immediately. Mr. Cain has owned the system since 1912 and has brought the business to where it is serving 500 consumers with a total of 5,000,000 gallons per month. The new owner is the brother of Laurence Tresch of Novato. He plans to call his new enterprise the Novato Water Company.
– Funeral services were held for Fred A. Lund, 64, a popular resident of Black Point, who passed away at his home. Mr. Lund was a native of Denmark and had made his home at Black Point for the past 15 years. He was very active in the community life of the Point. He was one of the founders of the Black Point Boat and Bass Club. The deceased was a retired superintendent of stevdores in San Francisco.
– It has been reported that a non-profit corporation is being formed representing the recognized clubs and organizations of Novato, under the name of Novato Community, Incorporated, for the purpose of taking over the title of the Community House.
Plans call for a director from each of the Clubs and Organizations representative of the community. Any organization or individual who has not already been contacted, will be welcome at a meeting to be held within the next two weeks at the Community House to receive reports of progress of committees, and adopt a further course of procedure.
50 Years Ago
May 1972
– The new Novato little League diamond at Olive School was named Hamann Field in memory of Ed Hamann during a dedication ceremony Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Nancy Hamann, Ed’s wife, spoke briefly, saying, “I get emotional at a flag raising. You can imagine how I feel about this.” With her are her son Mark and Al Narcissi, Ed’s long-time friend. Hamann, who died in February 1971, coached Little League and Babe Ruth teams in Novato for many years and was always one of the first persons to volunteer when the leagues called for work parties.
– San Rafael realtor Ben Ostlind has a problem, the city planning commission agreed Monday night, and nobody knows what to do about it. Ostlind and Marvin Bonine of the Calny Food services, want to build a Taco Bell next to the Pizza Hut in Novato Square which also features two other fast-food enterprises (Denny’s and McDonalds). That, says the planning department, is a no-no because it duplicates services and would generate more cars in an area where traffic is already near intolerable volume. “Just what kind of business wouldn’t generate more cars?” asked Oslind, with a trace of despair.
25 Years Ago
May 1997
– For the second consecutive year the CA-011 Air Force Jr. ROTC program at Novato High School has received Honor Unit designation. The designation is the highest honor that can be bestowed on an Air Force Jr. ROTC unit. Only nine of 48 schools in the United States achieve the designation. Novato is one of only two squadrons in Northern California to receive the honor. “It was great to receive the designation last year and it was just as great this year,” said Lt. Col. William Cope (USAF, Ret.), director of Aerospace Science at Novato High School and squadron advisor.
– Pat Willat, who thrives on Novato history, got a look at some of man’s earliest civilized history in celebration of her 50th year of marriage to Forest Willat. Both Pat and Forest are San Rafael High School graduates, who have always loved Marin County. Forest, who worked in the family business until his retirement, comes from a family that has lived in Marin since 1915. Pat, who worked many years in the Greenbrae shopping center before retiring, is one of the community’s most active volunteers. Both Pat and Forest are active members of the Novato Historical Guild. They have one son, Dr. David Willat, who lives in Benicia.
– More than 135 San Jose Middle School seventh graders learned last week what many adults already know—the worst day of fishing beats the best day of work (or, in the case of the students, school). And, for the seventh graders it was a bad day for actually catching fish. In more than two hours of fishing, spread between two waves of students, only two fish were caught and this after 500 pounds of bright trout had been planted in the pond the day before. Not that it really mattered to the young anglers. They were quickly into the fishing mindset—focused strongly on pole, pond and the business at hand.
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