Mike Reed/Pages From The Past
(Editor’s note: This feature takes a stroll down memory lane through the pages of the historic Novato Advance newspaper. To subscribe to the Advance today, see details on page 3A.)
100 Years Ago
May 1921
— N.M. Jensen of Petaluma, a chicken buyer, has located in at the corner of Grant Avenue and the highway. He will buy all kinds of poultry at Petaluma prices on Thursdays.
— The celebration of the Festival of the Holy Ghost, given by Novato’s Portuguese Society will take place on May 14th and 15th. The parade from their hall to the church and return will take place on Sunday and will be headed by a band of 25 musicians from San Francisco. The celebration will be continued on the 21st and 22nd at I.D.E.S. hall where refreshments of all kinds will be dispensed.
75 Years Ago
May 1946
— Further residential development of Novato was revealed today with the filing of maps of the 21-home-site Tuckett Tract with the county planning commission by Mrs. Anna Tuckett, owner of the property. The subdivision lies between Olive and Plum Streets and is two blocks east of the Northwestern Pacific right-of-way. Twelve of the lots face on Peach Street, with two fronting on Olive Street and seven on Plum. Proposed sanitary facilities will be individual septic tanks for each home.
— Novato Horsemen, Inc., at its regular meeting Friday evening, held in the club house, was informed by their Horse Show chairman, Sid Loewenthal, that all plans for the show Sunday, June 2, were about complete. A more abundant supply of metal has made it possible this year to obtain unusually fine trophies and those which will be awarded at the show on June 2 are outstanding for size and beauty.
— At a committee meeting of the Novato Druids Carnival committee Wednesday evening, co-chairmen C. D. Reece and Manuel “Babe” Silva told committeemen that plans were nearly completed for the Second Annual affair tonight and Saturday night. The Carnival is being given this year as a tribute to the veterans from the Druids who have returned to their home. There were 44 members who temporarily left the ranks of the lodge to serve their country, and they richly deserve any- program or affair, such as the Carnival, that is given in their behalf.
50 Years Ago
May 1971
— Precise development plans for 215 townhouse units on the former Oliva Ranch were approved by the city planning commission Monday night after a 2 1/2-hour hearing. The land is being developed by Boise Cascade Building Company and is located on the north side of Novato Boulevard between Trumbull Estates unit 2 and Regalia Drive. Mrs. Sil Oliva was in the audience observing the proceedings. The project is now known as Parkhaven. Of the 59 acres, 22 acres will be developed, while the remainder will be dedicated for public and private open space. The units are to sell in the $20,000-$25,000 range.
— Black Point Inn, stopping off point for the famous and infamous for almost a century, is not about to be sold to Juanita, Jess Fisher, the proprietor, declares. He’d sell for $175,000 cash, he says, but ‘Juanita would never pay that much for anything in a million years,” he emphasized.
— There won’t be a parade during the Western Country Fair this year, it was decided by members of Western Weekend, Inc. The reversal of an earlier decision to have a parade came about because they were unable to obtain a band for the parade and they decided a parade isn’t a parade without a band. The local high school bands were unavailable because school gets out before the date of the parade (June 19), and the Hamilton Air Force Base band, promised earlier, has been disbanded.
25 Years Ago
May 1996
— Pulitzer Publishing Company of St. Louis, Mo. has announced an agreement to purchase the stock of Scripps League Newspapers, parent company of the Novato Advance. The sale is scheduled to be completed on July 1. The agreement gives Scripps League the option of excluding three smaller daily newspapers and two weekly publications, including the Novato Advance, from the sale. The sale also includes the twice-weekly Petaluma Argus-Courier. Jack Morgan, Scripps League vice president, said the plan is to include the Advance in the final sales agreement.
— The IDES1 of Novato will celebrate its 90th annual Holy Spirit Festival on Sunday, May 19. The celebration, or “festa,” will begin at the IDESI Hall at Machin and Sweetser Avenues at 9:30 a.m. It begins with a parade down Grant Avenue to Our Lady of Loretto Church, where festivalgoers will attend the 10:30 a.m. Mass, which will be celebrated in Portuguese. After Mass, the group will return to the hall where a meal of “sopas e carne” (bread in gravy served with roasted meat) will be served. There will be dancing to the music of the Azas do Atlantico band. Dinner will also be served. The Holy Spirit Festa was brought to California by Portuguese immigrants from the Azore Islands. Having great faith, they prayed to the Holy Spirit in times of trouble and in thanksgiving for good fortune.
— Earth-movers rolled this week as site preparation for the Buck Center proceeded on the slopes of Mount Burdell. If the project continues on schedule, the first phase, one lab building and one administrative/educational building, will be completed in about two years. But Buck opponents say they will appeal the court decision that gave the green light to the $40 million.
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