Mike Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
October 1921
— Will Cain was called out early Monday morning to fix a telephone pole which had been run into and broken off. We understand that several machines were wrecked by running into this pole although some one was there to caution them, and the machines did not take heed.
— Lease—John Verrissimo and wife to William Haire—646 acres in Novato Township designated as Ranch E for a term of five years from October 1. 1921, the first two years at $2,000 and the next three years at $2,200 per year, payable in advance on October 1 and April 1 of each year.
— Bill of Sale—John Aguiar to William Haire—170 head of cattle 7 horses farming implements, dairy outfit complete, 259 sacks oil cake meal, 305 sacks alfalfa meal, 242 sacks ground barley, 317 sacks mill run, 49 1-2 tons alfalfa hay, 45 sacks beet pulp, all on the John Verrissimo Ranch.
— J.C. Green, a former resident of Novato, but now of Black Point, a suburb of Novato, has established a service station and commercial water landing, where wood and grain may be shipped and received.
75 Years Ago
October 1946
— Roland W. Tapp resigned as associate pastor of the Novato Presbyterian church owing to recurring symptoms of Meniere’s disease which first became evident when he was a dive bomber pilot in the Italian war zone in the recent war.
— Mrs. M. Willett has been appointed acting postmaster at Black Point with the resignation of Abe Zannelli who has acted in that capacity since the resignation of Mrs. Josephine Bobo.
— At the Novato Chamber of Commerce meeting, Frank Valim asked for the endorsement of the chamber on the zoning of W.Q. Wright lands on the Redwood Highway just north of Novato into a heavy industrial area to allow the entrance of heavy industrial business to make the old Wright canal into a deep-water shipping channel to permit a yacht harbor and other like projects to be installed. Development plans for an airport at Novato, also on the Wright lands, are already nearly completed.
50 Years Ago
October 1971
— A proposal to install a Little League ball diamond on the Olive School grounds got a favorable reaction from the school board last night. The plan worked out by a committee composed of Little League, parks and recreation department and school district representatives calls for constructing a turfed ball diamond on three acres in the southeast corner of the school grounds. Little League would install the sprinklers and the turf, and the city would be responsible for maintenance. A snack bar and perimeter fencing would be constructed. Little League would spend $7,000, the city $5,000 and the school district $5,000. Hopefully the field would be ready to use by next spring.
— A throng of 455 showed up at the 11th annual Columbus Festival held Monday night at Nero’s Restaurant in Nave lanes. It was the biggest crowd yet at the event – an Italian feast in honor of Columbus. Bill Nave Sr., who as head chef was in charge of the preparations of some 35 Italian dishes
— A special meeting scheduled by the council for last night to pick a city seal design was moved to October 19 instead. The council set the special meeting date about seven weeks ago, but the big event came up almost unnoticed and the decision at city hall was to postpone the council special for another couple of weeks so that all concerned citizens would have a better opportunity to assure attendance. Three designs have been submitted. The contenders are Mrs. Barbara Murphy, Carl Rangell, and Mrs. Betty Beebe.
— “All’s well that ends well” befittingly describes the final Renaissance Faire weekend in Black Point, where the past Faire pattern of the biggest crowds for the finale of the annual event was repeated once again Saturday and Sunday because of the combined good weather and attendance by those who always wait for the last weekend. According to Mrs. Karen Rosenblatt, the Faire’s assistant director, attendance was slightly over the 11,000 mark on Saturday and above 13,000 Sunday. The five-weekend attendance total was estimated at higher than 104,000. Whether the Faire will return to Black Point next year won’t be decided for a while. As reported, the Ron and Phyllis Patterson group is buying acreage in Lucas Valley, but it’s uncertain when the Faire might be held there.
25 Years Ago
October 1996
— Citibank, which recently opened at 1525 Grant Ave., will hold a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 23.
— The Novato Chamber of Commerce has announced its new officers for 1997. Officers are Famous Holt of Allstate Insurance, president; Nohemi Beissmann of Rodex of California Pest Control, president-elect; Michelle Law of the Copy Center, vice president; and Peter Pelham of Bank of Marin, treasurer. Leaving the board after extraordinary service will be Jim Walker of Walker & Co., who served as president in 1995, and Bill McDill of Novato Physical Therapy.
— Tuscany comes alive in Novato on Monday, Oct. 14 when the North Bay Children’s Center stages a lively night of fine Italian Cuisine, entertainment and a silent auction at Ristorante Orsi. The event, sponsored by Jordan Shields Insurance Agency, is a benefit for the North Bay Children’s Center, a nationally accredited child-care center providing quality, affordable childcare to families of Marin County. The center recently relocated to a new campus at Hamilton Field and will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year.
— Wilson Dep, a lifelong resident of Marin, died Sunday, Oct. 6,1996 of leukemia, he was 68. A native of Novato, he was born Oct. 11, 1927. His father, Chain Dep, supplied water to the old Black Point School, where Mr. Dep was a student.
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