Mike Read/Pages From The Past
(Editor’s note: This feature takes a stroll down memory through the pages of the Novato Advance. To get the current news of the day, please subscribe. Details on page 3A.)
100 Years Ago
March 1921
— The teachers at the Novato school are planning a “two bit” dance for the children on St. Patrick’s day, March 17th. The proceeds will be used to buy records for the school Victrola.
— Mrs. Nave, wife of J. Nave owner of “The Cabbage Patch,” near Novato, and mother of Mr. Nave, owner of the highway garage, was taken to the Mt. Zion hospital, San Francisco, this week where she will submit to an operation.
75 Years Ago
March 1946
— Funeral services for Mariano G. Almeida, Marin dairyman, were held last Tuesday from Keaton’s Mortuary in San Rafael. Burial was In Mt Olivet Cemetery. Mr. Almeida passed away last Friday at Black Point.
— Have you noticed the fine new telephone booth installed at the pay station at the Black Point post office? It is equipped with directories for Novato, for Marin, Sonoma and Lake counties, and for San Francisco. It’s electric lighted so that one can consult the directory and telephone at night.
— Work on the projected yacht harbor on the Rodoni ranch is proceeding apace. Actual construction of a pier has started. A large derrick barge has been brought in and is engaged in setting piles. The pier will enable vessels to reach the site and bring in building materials, etc. It is planned to place a temporary shop building on the pier. The pier now being constructed is not the permanent pier which the project calls for, but largely to serve during the era of construction.
— Tomorrow night members of the Novato Volunteer Fire Department are sponsoring their Fourteenth Annual St. Patrick’s Dance in the Druid’s Hall. Proceeds from this affair are used to replenish their sick benefit and insurance funds for the coming year.
— The fill for the Novato Garage and the Village Inn on 101 Highway, where the above-mentioned concerns will be placed when the new highway goes through, was completed this week, according to “Bud” Bobo, who has done the work on the projects.
— A.W. BOWMAN GIVEN CITATION FOR WORK ON ATOMIC BOMB – A. W. Bowman, Novato resident and owner of the new store building now being constructed on Grant Avenue, was signally honored this week when he received a citation from Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson congratulating him on his work on the atomic bomb. Mr. Bowman worked in the University of California Radiation Laboratories and was in charge of the mechanical construction of the bomb so secret was the work that none of his fellow workers knew what they were working on or how their part fit into the completed bomb.
— Reno Grandi, Pt. Reyes merchant, has filed his intentions with County Clerk, George S. Jones, as a candidate for the Supervisorship of this district. The race for this office is now three-way, Col. Henry Sanborn and Jack Dias having previously filed.
50 Years Ago
March 1971
— Members of the All Saints congregation will observe the fifth year of dedication this Sunday at morning services and a fellowship supper in the evening. The church dedication took place on March 6, 1966. This was a new mission development of the American Lutheran Church and the present pastor, the Rev. Arthur W. Sorensen, was the founding pastor. The congregation has grown from a charter membership of 99 members to 414. The first unit of the building program includes an educational unit and a worship sanctuary and plans call for expanded education facilities as well as a permanent worship edifice.
— The North Marin unit of the Marin Conservation League and the Novato Hiking Club plan a hike around Stafford Lake to view first-hand where park facilities are being planned. Conservation League members saw plans for the park outlined for them at-their last meeting and are anxious to hike the area to get a better understanding of what is proposed for immediate and future development.
— About 50 members and guests of the Novato General Hospital Volunteers gathered at the Alvarado Inn last week for a dual purpose. In addition to the annual election and installation of officers, the affair celebrated the organization’s 10th anniversary. All charter members of the volunteers were contacted and a number of them were in attendance, including several from out of town.
— Over 150 Cubs and members of their families attended the recent Blue and Gold dinner held by Cub Scout Pack 85, which is sponsored by Pleasant Valley School. Dessert was a cake baked by Mrs. Glenn Jackson, den mother coach. It had 41 candles to designate the occasion the dinner celebrated—the 41st birthday of Cub Scouting.
25 Years Ago
March 1996
— Novato will play host to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars for the next few months. Actor Eddie Murphy has rented Chateau du Vallon, a 22,000 square foot mansion, while shooting a movie in San Francisco. The mansion overlooking Novato and the Marin Country Club will cost Murphy $40,000 a month to rent, he plans to stay in the home — situated on about 20 acres — until June, when the filming of the Walt Disney movie “Metro” is wrapped up. Chateau du Vallon was the 1994 Marin Designer Showcase home. Charles Stephens bought the hilltop house that same year from former Santa Rosa developer Michael Shipsey, who constructed it in 1989 and was later forced to file for bankruptcy. Stephens has reportedly put several million into improvements and hopes to sell the home for about $9 million.
— The owner of the downtown Taco Bell says he is planning to reopen the popular Mexican fast-food restaurant, despite claims he was making a run for the border. The Taco Bell on the corner of Grant and Machin Avenues has been “temporarily closed for repairs” for about three weeks, states a sign posted on the locked door of the darkened building. According to the manager of Novato’s other Taco Bell at Vintage Oaks, the downtown restaurant is closed for good.
— Joseph Baker Crumpler, a retired radio technician who went on to work at Indian Valley Golf Club in Novato, died Thursday, Feb. 29,1996 at the age of 82. He was born in Omen, Texas on June 22, 1913. He came to Marin County while in the Army. As a member of the Field Artillery he served in the mounted patrol at Point Reyes, watching for any enemy activity along the coast. His Army career ended when his horse took a fall and he seriously injured his back. He was a member of the Disabled American Veterans.
Mr. Crumpler went to work as a civilian radio technician for the Air Force at Hamilton Field in 1945 and continued to work on aircraft radio systems until his retirement in 1971. His wife, Edith Crumpler, died in 1991. They had been married 49 years.
Mr. Crumpler is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, law, Jimmy Ray Crumpler and Patricia Lynn Alushin of Novato.
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