Mike Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
May 1922
– The new Busher home is nearly completed, and the family will soon occupy their new quarters.
– Manuel Bettencourt is running a jitney service, with headquarters at the Novato Garage, opposite the Novato Utilities.
– C. Christensen has sold his prune ranch to T. P. Geary.
– J. E. Powell has started the construction of a large and first-class chicken house on his ranch.
– Mr. Warrington and Mrs. Lostus are building a large dairy barn on the Dr. Bodkin ranch south of Ignacio. The ranch is rented to Willie Nave.
– The construction camp on the Black Point Cut-off has started pouring “hot stuff.” The Black Point cut has been widened about 10 feet, and the men are also widening the road west of the bridge.
– The plasterers expect to complete the Grammar School job Saturday.
– William Hanen, former owner of the Point Arena record, has opened a job office in Novato.
– Harry Faireloug has accepted the contract from Judge Rudolff to build an addition to the dairy barn on the Rudolff ranch at Novato.
75 Years Ago
May 1947
– At the Chamber of Commerce meeting folks were told of the improvements on highway 101, mentioning in particular the installation of a stop and go signal at the Grant Avenue intersection here. Supervisor R H Trumbull spoke on the plan to place a police car in this area but said no action would be taken until the new budget was made. Judge Faulkner spoke on the plan to incorporate Novato and that a committee would get together in the near future to discuss the project.
– Enthusiasm is growing at the airport operated by Woody Binford, two miles north of Novato on Highway 101. Ralph E. McDonald of Black Point is proudly announcing that he soloed Woody’s Aerinca Champion recently, after only six hours dual instruction. The airport is open for business every Sunday and weekdays after 5:00 p.m. by appointment. Full time operation is expected in the very near future. The airport is undergoing negotiations for government approval to train World War II veterans to be private pilots free of charge.
– Hundreds of pleasure seekers attended the Druids Carnival and Dance last weekend here. It was declared by those attending, and the Carnival committee, to be one of the best events of its kind staged in recent years.
– Mrs. Erna Brazil and Leo Zunino were married in Reno, Nevada last Wednesday, May 14, by a justice of the peace. Attending them were Mr. and Mrs. Julius Zunino, and the ceremony was followed by wedding supper.
– Wm. Mayo was elected to Novato Union School District Board of trustees at last Friday’s election. Mayo, a San Francisco educator, was elected along with Charles Rowe of Black Point, for a three-year term. Elected for a two-year term were Mrs. Marie T. Stafford and William H. Hale. Jack Sparrow was elected for a one-year term. The five-member board will actually take office as a complete unit on July 1.
50 Years Ago
May 1972
– Sunday, May 7, has been selected as the date for the “Mortgage Burning Ceremonies” at the Presbyterian Church of Novato, located on Wilson Avenue.
The program to begin at 3 pm. will have as its theme, “Spirit of 76” as this is the 76th anniversary of the church’s founding.
The church was organized by the Presbytery of Benicia, and its three charter members were: Walter Harper, Ella Riddle and H. F. Bluher. The early meetings were held in Scott’s hall, upstairs, erected in I890, which stands at the southwest corner of Grant and Sherman Avenues. The building is still standing and is used as a furniture warehouse by Johnson’s Red Bam.
Three weeks after organization, plans for a sanctuary were underway. A lot on the corner of DeLong and Sherman Avenues was donated and before the summer’s end, a white frame sanctuary, topped by a steeple, was complete.
The building was dedicated July I9, 1896, and R. W. Reynolds, a student at nearby San Francisco Theological Seminary, served as acting minister.
The Rev. Charles Christensen was called as the first regular pastor in 1915. The manse, now the Novato Police Station, was built for the Christensen family.
In 1935, the Rev. Christensen retired, and the Rev. David Trevitt was called to the ministry. In 1942 he resigned to become a military chaplain and was killed in the war. Dr. Lynn White became interim preacher until the Rev. Seth Parker came in 1946. An addition to the whiteframed sanctuary, named Trevitt Hall, in honor of the Rev. David Trevitt, was completed and dedicated in 1950. The Rev. Joseph Easter was called as pastor. He resigned in 1955 and the Rev. Howard Swartz, student assistant under the Rev. Easter was called as pastor.
It was in 1959 that plans were ratified for new church buildings to be built on property purchased from Captain and Mrs. Charles Clarkson and from Mr. and Mrs. Ray Foster on Wilson Avenue. Gordon Phillips was the architect for the present structure. The Rev. Howard Swartz resigned the pastorate and the Rev. C. M. Croughan began his ministry to the church in July 1961.
The city of Novato purchased the church property in 1962 including the manse. This sale cleared the way for proceeding with erection of the first unit on the new property. It was voted to build the Christian Education unit first and use the fellowship room for worship until the sanctuary could be built at a later date. The Rev. John Jefferson Canoles became assistant pastor until his retirement in 1968. The first worship service in the new church was January 27, 1963.
25 Years Ago
May 1997
– It looked like (the ’60s, it felt like the ’60s, it sounded like the ’60s, but there were differences. Novato stepped back in time last weekend, roared back to a not-so-distance era not by a DeLorean, but by a wild array of ’55 Chevys and classic Fords. For three days, Novato celebrated “Nostalgia Days,” hosting more than 200 custom, vintage and just plain spectacular cars. The event was both a fund-raiser for, and a thank you from, the Novato Human Needs Center as it celebrates its 25th anniversary of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” It began with a Friday night cruise, continued with a Saturday night sock hop and concluded with a show of the prize vehicles Sunday afternoon. The Friday night cruise, once the formality of all the cars parading along Grant Avenue. a fun time. “For the first time, I think it went real well,” said event organizer Skip Tozzi. “There were some things we could have done better, but we learned. “I think it came out really well,” said Marv Giambastiani, who has been customizing cars and showing them all over the West Coast.
– Lee Grady ends ministry in Novato – For the last seven years, after slowing (but not stopping) his international service, he has been pastor of the Novato Seventh-day Adventist Church. Now after 38 years devoted to church and humane service throughout the world, Wendell Lee Grady is retiring. After traveling around the world, it is perhaps fitting that Grady officially end his ministry back in the Bay Area where he grew up. He was born in Oakland, but grew up in Santa Rosa, attending a Christian School before going on to Pacific Union College and earning an advanced degree from Anderson College, an Adventist divinity college.
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