Mike Read/Pages From The Past
(Editor’s Note: This feature chronicles news through the years from the Novato Advance archives. It is compiled by the Novato Historical Society.)
100 Years Ago
January 1922
– Rocca & Colletti have broken the ground for concrete work for Pini & Co.’s new feed mill. The contract for the structure is $25,000. There a building boom on at Novato, with the $30,000 schoolhouse now in course of construction and the plans for the erection of a $25,000 community house. New homes are being erected and, in the county districts, the ranchers are making improvements by erecting model poultry houses and other buildings.
– Wilhelm Rudolff, who is taking a course at the Davis Agriculture school, has finished the course and returned to Novato, where he is established with his father, Judge Herman Rudolff.
75 Years Ago
January 1947
– The cottage on the Medical Center property on Grant Avenue, occupied by Kenneth Hill, has been moved to the rear of the lot to make space for more office rooms in the medical building. Dr. Paul Johnson of Seattle, will shortly arrive to become associated with Dr. R.J. Weseman in his medical practice.
– The Novato Horsemen, Inc. had their annual Christmas supper at the Club House, Saturday evening, December 21 Approximately ninety members and their families were present. The supper was followed by the election of officers for the coming year. Voting results showed Ross Wright and Sid Loewenthal tied for the office of president. Fred Lear, vice president. Mrs. Vernon Gaston, secretary. Mrs. Alfred Wilcox, treasurer. The new board of directors will consist of the following: R. C. Briggs, Sr., Mrs. Roy Young, Mrs. Chas. Mayhew. Mr. George Ley. Since no provision is made in the Club’s by-laws for the election of a president in the event of a tie vote a special meeting was called by Mr. and Mrs. A.F. Page and Mrs. Chas. Mayhew for Tuesday evening, December 30. The purpose of the meeting was the discussion of the method of filling the office of president and other problems confronting the club.
– Mrs. James Jenkins, chairman of the Marin Unit of the Planned Parenthood Association, outlined the program at the recent meeting of the county’s branch at the home of Mrs. Harry L. Evans in San Rafael. Invited to attend were Marin County women of the press. A national drive to raise funds for the association is now in progress.
50 Years Ago
January 1972
– Although the official opening date hasn’t been firmed up by Charles (Chuck) I. Daniels Jr., president of the House of Daniels, Inc., it shouldn’t be long before the beer distribution division of Golden Gate Distributing Co. (which is the doing-business-as- name of Daniels, Inc.) will be operating out of a new office and warehouse adjacent to Service Lumber Co. in Black Point.
– Vacant, unsung and unsold for the past couple of years, ever since the doors were closed, the former Lee Bros, supermarket building and the site at Grant Avenue and Seventh Street, is going to be officially listed for sale within a matter of days – just as soon as the chosen Marin County broker is signed and sealed by Hoytt Enterprises and its co-owning associate from the Los Angeles area, the Advance has learned. Obviously, all previous obstacles, such as the need to obtain a clear title to the property, have been hurdled by the Hoytt group. The building measures about 15,000 square feet and the site offers 90,000 square feet. The asking price most likely will be in the zone of $410,000 despite rumors that Hoytt was going to ask a minimum of $600,000.
– Western Weekend Inc. board of directors Monday night set the dates for the 1972 Western Country Pair. The four-day fair will run from May 25-28, according to Max Maxwell, vice president of the sponsoring organization. It will no longer conflict with the closing days of school or Father’s Day. The new, earlier date will enable Novato’s two high school bands to participate and, because of this, the board of directors expect the festivities this year will again include a Saturday parade.
– Mass was offered Monday morning at Our Lady of Loretto Church for Joseph R. DeBorba, 83, of 815 Diablo Avenue, a lifetime Marin resident, and retired San Quentin guard, who died Thursday at Novato General Hospital after a short illness. Mr. DeBorba broke his shoulder in a fall at home last month and died as a result of bronchial complications that followed the accident. Raised on the dairy ranch operated by his parents and known as Deer Island Ranch, between Black Point Road and Olive Avenue, Mr. DeBorba operated a market and had a partnership in a butcher shop in the years before the depression thirties. He then took a job as a San Quentin guard and was employed there for 25 years. He retired in 1958.
25 Years Ago
January 1997
– Elwin James Millerick and Margaret “Peg” Bryant Millerick of Santa Rosa, the parents of Novato schools trustee Ross Millerick, have died. Mr. Millerick, who had been in declining health, died Friday, Jan. 3, 1997 in Santa Rosa at the age of 85. Mrs. Millerick died Monday, Jan. 6 at the age of 81. Her death was unexpected.
– Frank Leslie Tainter, a longtime resident of Marin County, died in his sleep at his home in Novato on Sunday, Jan. 5,1997. He started the Novato Trading Company in 1934, and was 98 years old. Mr. Tainter was born in London, England on Nov. 2, 1898. He came to California with his parents in 1905. The family’s first residence was in Alameda. The Tainters then came to Marin and settled in Corte Madera. Mr. Tainter graduated from Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, where he excelled in writing and music and also studied merchandising. In 1922, he went to work for Western Electric as a purchasing agent, a position he held for 12 years. In 1934, Mr. Tainter opened the Novato Trading Company. The building was the original Grant Avenue School; he had the main part of the building —minus its bell tower—moved to the corner of Highway 101 (now Redwood Boulevard) and Sweetser Avenue. He operated the second-hand furniture store until his retirement in 1993. The building was demolished last year. He leaves no family.
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