The following historical snippets are taken from the Novato Advance news stories. Complied by Mark Read of the Novato Historical Society.
100 Years Ago
May 1920
— At the bride’s home in San Rafael, Miss Esther Hamilton, assistant postmistress at Novato, became the bride of George Clark, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Clark.
— Sunday morning six autos loaded with gypsies passed thru town on their way south and did not stop in Petaluma but they did make a stop at Novato, later continuing their way. They had some good cars. The party reached Santa Rosa on Saturday and were locked up in jail for violations of city ordinances and on Sunday morning were allowed to go on promises to leave town. So they left.
75 Years Ago
May 1945
— The O.P.A. has given approval to Alfred J. Bowmen for reconstruction of the Pini building, destroyed by fire a few weeks ago. The repairs will be approximately $35,000.
— Novato Horsemen, Inc. will give a horse show on June 17 at their club house grounds exclusively for wounded and convalescent veterans now based in Hamilton Field.
— Organization of a Boy Scout Cub Pack under the sponsorship of the Novato Volunteer Fire department, was completed with 12 charter members. Terry Lish is cub master and Keith Thompson, assistant cub master. The pack will meet regularly in the Community house.
50 Years Ago
May 1970
— There has been only one entry so far in the contest for Western Weekend Rodeo Queen. The contestant is Karen Shuit, 16-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Padget. She is a student at San Marin High School. May 27 is the deadline for entering the contest. The contest is open to Novato girls in the 14 to 18 age brackets. They must be unmarried. Contestants will be judged on horsemanship, appearance, and neatness of horse, tack, and rider. The judging will take place May 30 at the Novato Horsemen’s grounds with Judy Gallyot of San Francisco as judge. The queen and her princesses will reign over Western Weekend and lead the Grand Entry at the rodeo June 21.
— After five years in the glass and upholstery business in Novato at two other locations, Winters Glass and Upholstery has established new quarters at 7515 Redwood Highway and will hold a grand opening Friday and Saturday. Leroy Winters, owner-operator, says coffee, doughnuts and soft drinks will be served and there will be grand opening door prizes. The firm’s office and workshop of approximately 2,500 square feet is in one portion of the Nave Dodge building and there are three employees. After opening in 1965 at 1900 Novato Boulevard, where he remained for three years. Winters moved to 906 Grant Avenue in early 1968 and later that year he merged his business with Golden West Glass and Upholstery. In vacating the Grant Avenue premises, Winters also has unmerged with Golden West and opened at the new location with his original business name. The Grant Avenue quarters were condemned by the city as unsafe for occupancy.
25 Years Ago
May 1995
— For 10 years, Jim Poulos of Novato drove Highway 37 almost every day, to and from his small-business consulting clients. Accidents were commonplace. Often, he said, the only way to get the injured to a hospital was by helicopter. But on Jan. 11, 1993 Poulos learned just how deadly a stretch of road it is. His 19-year-old son, Frankie, died before dawn that morning after the pickup truck in which he was riding hit a patch of invisible “black” ice just east of Skaggs Island. The truck spun around, went off the shoulder of the road and rolled into the slough. Frankie and a friend, Nick Somoff, were headed to the mountains to go skiing. Nick was driving well under the speed limit. But once his truck hit the ice, there was nothing to prevent it from veering into the westbound lanes.
Marin residents concerned about the dangers of Highway 37 will have the opportunity to voice their opinions at a public information meeting on Thursday, June 1. Representatives of Caltrans will present the agency’s plan to in- stall concrete “rumble strips” in what is now the center lane on the undivided stretch of the highway through Sonoma and Solano counties. Critics say that won’t be enough to prevent the head-on injuries that have taken 21 lives over the past five years. They want Caltrans to install concrete median barriers.
— CAROLE DILLON-KNUTSON was sworn in as an official candidate for the Novato City Council while proud family members Karen Dillon (daughter), Art Knutson (husband), Lorraine Kearney (mother) and Eric Knutson (son) looked on. The next time she is sworn in, she hopes it will be for the vacant seat to be filled by the June 6 special election.
GAIL MEYERS, AFTER a decade of attending city council and other public meetings, says she has the time and the experience to help make common-sense decision for Novato’s future.
Pat Eklund says she has already proven she can manage a major agency, already proven she can work with people representing a divergent range of interests, and already proven she can find solutions to complicated problems. Now she says she wants to use those skills to help the City of Novato as a member of its five-member city council.
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