Mark Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
November 1921
— Mrs. May Dunlap Smith has moved in town and is now occupying the Boengel cottage. The “bride and groom” Mr. and Mrs. John Dunlap are now nicely settled in their home which was formerly occupied by Mrs. Smith.
— Geo. S Jones inaugurated his auto bus service between Petaluma and Sonoma Valley points October 30th. At present he is operating a large touring car capable of accommodating eight passengers. Later it is his intention to place a car similar to the Santa Rosa line on this run. He reports that the patronage of the first few days’ business has been very good. Frank Rooney, Jr., is engaged as driver of the bus.
— Joe DeBorba is now settled in his new store next to the bank. The store is large and light and shows the stock off well.
— R. M. Cantwell has moved into his new location next to Mr. Tainter’s and opposite the Novato Utilities. Mr. Tainter has built a well-lighted shop in the rear of the garage where all the machinery will be installed, and which will leave plenty of space in the front of the building for the storage and repair of cars. Mr. Cantwell expects to have his shop in running order the latter part of the week.
75 Years Ago
November 1946
— Novato had its most riotous Halloween since pre-war days with some minor pranks such as letting the air out of automobile tires and soaping windows. Older boys however, were caught blockading Grant Avenue and participating in more serious pranks. Marin County Sheriff Walter B. Sellmer with a squad of deputies caught pranksters at work and a number of them ordered to appear in court. The cars of Constable Fred Nave and the Marin County sheriff’s deputies patrolled the main street until early morning when the stillness was broken by the many worshippers attending the mass at 8 a.m.
— Voters of the Fifth Supervisorial District of Marin County gave Robert H. Trumbull a total of 946 votes to elect him Supervisor to succeed R. A. Thompson, who will retire from the post on January 1, 1947. Trumbull’s opponent, Reno L. Grandi of Pt. Reyes Station, received a total of 753 votes.
— Last Friday, voters of the Novato Sanitary District took a definite step forward in the development of Novato when they went to the polls and gave the green light to the sewer bond issue, by a count of 188 to 16. This means that as soon as formalities are dispersed with and the matching fund from the county of $80,000 is actually appropriated, work will begin on the contraction of the system. Re-elected on the Novato sanitary district board were W.T. Simmons and A.W. Bowman.
— LIONS CLUB CHARTER NIGHT NOV. 23 AT BLUE ROCK HOTEL – At the Wednesday night meeting of the Novato Lions Club, it was decided to hold the Charter Night ceremonies at the Blue Rock Hotel in Larkspur. John Hoffman, district governor, will be present at that time to present the charter to the Novato members.
50 Years Ago
November 1971
— A memorial glen established at Pioneer Memorial Park by the Novato Garden Club was dedicated Sunday in a ceremony attended by Garden Club members, city officials, and families of those to whom the glen was dedicated Garden Club members who have died. Mrs. George Whitten, a longtime member of the Garden Club, also spoke. Recalling the history of the club since its founding in 1934, she said early projects included landscaping the Grant Avenue School, which once stood at Redwood Highway and Grant Avenue. A towering pine tree next to the school was decorated with lights at Christmas time, she said, and “it was a sad day when it was cut down.” City beautification later became an official concern of the club. Projects have included a campaign to encourage planting of flowering plum trees in Novato, planting of Liquidambar trees along Grant Avenue, furnishing plants for the landscaping at the Community House and planting annuals there, donating funds for plants for Pioneer Park and trees at Stafford Lake, and donation of money for the city’s Nativity scene.
— City parks and recreation commissioners Monday night gave full support to City Manager Charles Brown and forwarded a recommendation to the city council for terminating the Lions Park lease with the water district. As reported, Brown asked the council to end city sponsorship of Lions Park because of the high cost of vandalism, the difficulty of preventing it in county police jurisdiction, and the coming duplication of facilities at Stafford Lake Park.
— Not long ago it cost the Novato Sanitary District $20 per week to have grease hauled away from the district’s two waste treatment plants, but now It’s costing $110 per week because of a state health department order.
25 Years Ago
November 1996
— Steve Kinsey who had the blessing of Supervisor Gary Giacomini, will be filling the seat Giacomini has held for 24 years. And Measure A, the sales tax proposal that would have raised money to purchase open space and improve and maintain parks throughout the county, went down to defeat. In the hotly contested race to lead Marin’s 4th District on the Board of Supervisors, Kinsey won 53.7 percent of the vote to Steve Kinsey to Dotty LeMieux’s 46.3 percent. Kinsey, a home builder, won 9,909 votes. LeMieux, an environmental attorney who lives in Bolinas, received 8,527 votes.
— A measure to increase Novato’s tax on hotel and motel rooms, despite having no vocal opposition, was defeated by Novato voters Tuesday. Measure D would have increased Novato’s transient occupancy tax from 8 percent to 10 percent. It had the blessing of city leaders and the Novato Chamber of Commerce—but not the voters. The measure failed, with 8,991 votes (49.4 percent), ‘mere were 9,200 votes (50.6 percent) against the measure.
— George Zimmer, president and CEO of the Men’s Wearhouse, Joined Novato Mayor Ernie Gray, members of the Novato Chamber of Commerce and store staff at the grand opening of the newest Men’s Wearhouse located in the Vintage Oaks shopping center.
— The Rugani family presented its annual haunted house on Ming Court. Visitors again lined the street waiting to get into what this year was a “Haunted Museum.” Inside they found “head” being served for dinner, among other ghoulish delights.
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