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Remember When Week of September 16

61 YEARS AGO
(From the Index-Tribune files of Sept. 15, 1950)
Peter Firpo announced this week that his new tavern at the Four Corners is nearly completed and that he would hold his grand opening on Friday, Sept. 22. The well-known Sonoma property owner, formerly owned a tavern in the city as well as a liquor store. At the new spot he will serve draught and bottled beer and wines. … Newest staff members at the Sonoma Valley Union High School are Miss Helen M. Smith and Patrick J. Ryan Jr. Miss Smith, public health nurase, comes to the Valley with the background of public health nursing based on experience as an employee of the Sonoma County Health Department. Mr. Ryan has been employed on a per diem basis to handle courses in public speaking, dramatics and journalism. … Two attractive Sonoma Valley girls have thus far entered the contest which will decide who will reign as “Wine Goddess” over the fourth annual Vintage Festival to be held here Sept. 23 to 24. They are Elaine Bianchini, 18, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Bianchini of Sonoma, sponsored by the Valley of the Moon Lodge Sons of Italy; and Jean Gustin, also 18, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morris H. Gustin of Sonoma, entry of the Sonoma Valley Business and Professional Women’s Club. … At the regular monthly meeting of the Sonoma Valley Union High School District board of trustees Wednesday evening, four possible sites for the proposed new junior high school were submitted by members of the specially appointed site survey committee. First choice of the survey group, as presented to the trustees, was the Polidori property between Railroad Avenue and Sonoma Creek in El Verano, with the drawback being that no sewage system was available. … Principal Maxwell Cunninghame of the Dunbar School and Mrs. Cunninghame enjoyed three days in the Carmel area last week.

59 YEARS AGO
(From the Index-Tribune files of Sept. 12, 1952)
Civic leaders, organization heads and just “plain citizens” of the Boyes Hot Springs area are expected to forcefully protest any proposed change in the status of the Boyes Hot Springs Post Office at a public hearing set for next Thursday, Sept. 18. According to Attorney Wm. Andrews of Four Corners, hired by the Valley of the Moon Booster Club as legal counsel in the post office matter, postal inspector J. Leslie Padgett of Santa Rosa will be present to hear all protests. … James Healy, athletic director at Hanna Center for Boys, will be among members of the Dolphin Club of San Francisco competing in the 35th annual Golden Gate Swim on Sunday. It will mark the fifth time the local man has competed in the Gate swim. … Because of the generosity of Sonoma Mission Inn owner George T. Thompson, 15 foreign students from the University of California’s International House will be well care for during a planned tour of Sonoma for the Vintage Festival weekend. …  Dr. Ted P. Pierce this week began his dental practice in the Dr. C. B. Andrews building at the corner of Napa and Third Street West, Sonoma. A native of Palo Alto, Dr. Pierce took his pre-dental training at San Jose State College and graduated from the University of California Dental School last June. … H. Castagnasso and Sons of Sonoma won third place in the Draft Horses, Teams of Six event on Wednesday night, Sept. 3 at the California State Fair. … All of Sonoma Valley’s public schools, with the exception of Dunbar, re-open on Monday, Sept. 15 for the fall term, with advance registrations indicating increased enrollment in practically all schools. Students and faculty at Sonoma Valley Union High School will be introduced to the new district superintendent and principal John Glaese at an assembly Monday morning. Five new teachers will also be on the high school faculty.

56 YEARS AGO
(From the Index-Tribune files of Sept. 15, 1955)
Approval of an election on a proposed $100,000 bond issue for Sonoma street work was voted by the city council Monday night. The vote was four to one, with Councilman Jack Sims opposing setting the election. The $100,000 issue would pay for repair of 31 streets listed in a previous survey by City Engineer Marin Carlson at an estimated cost of $81,000. The remaining $19,000 would be used for building a bridge to replace one which collapsed on Austin Way and as a “cushion” to pay for any unforeseen needs. … The traditional “Blessing of the Grapes” ceremony by Padre Alfredo Boeddeker, OFM, will officially open the 1955 Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival in front of Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma on Saturday morning, Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. This will mark Padre Boeddker’s fourth consecutive appearance here for the impressive opening ceremony. … Sonoma gets new telephone numbers at one minute after midnight this Sunday morning, Sept. 18. The new numbers, requiring seven twists of the dial, will begin with the prefix Webster 8. The numbers will be listed in the regular Sonoma County telephone directory book issued this month. … Sonoma councilmen will interview applicants for the post of chief of police early in October, it was decided at a council meeting Monday night. City Clerk James Baker said he had received “about 12” applicants for the post, including two from Los Angeles and one from Alaska. Several retired chiefs of police departments are among the applicants, Baker said. … Five hundred and ninety-four students began the school year Monday at Sonoma Valley Union high school, with the attendance up 52 from the closing date enrollment of 542 last June, according to John Glaese, district superintendent and principal. More students are expected early in the term. 

39 YEARS AGO
(From the Index-Tribune files of Sept. 14, 1972)
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved the plan of Mape Industries, Palo Alto, for adding 110 more homes at Temelec. The proposal was previously approved by the county planning commission. With the recommendation from the Supervisors, Mape was granted a use permit to lower the density of its project from 135 to 110 units. The townhouse development, similar to a condominium, will be located on  33-acre parcel at Temelec. … Sonoma Planning Commission Thursday night studied plans for two proposed shopping centers in the immediate area, with the shadow of a third proposal looming in the near future. Commissioners first discussed a rezoning application by California Properties to rezone nine acres behind 755-810 W. Napa St., for a shopping center which would total 12 acres including the Franciscan restaurant and the Napa Street frontage to the east side of Sonoma Paint Center. The second shopping center proposal, which was a county referral, is under the direction of Garrison developers and is similar to the one proposed within the city. This center would be located on approximately 10 acres of land between Robinson, Lomita and Verano avenues near Highway 12, almost adjacent to the bowling alley and behind Sonoma Motors. … Sonoma’s 1951 ordinance establishing a truck route through the city – apparently not much honored during the past 21 years – will be strictly enforced during the next two weeks by the police. The decision came after a lengthy discussion at Monday night’s City Council meeting. The truck route stipulated for through trucks in the 1951 ordinance is West Napa Street and Broadway, all part of state highway route 12. The only exceptions are for trucks making deliveries in the city.

38 YEARS AGO
(From the Index-Tribune files of Sept. 20, 1973)
In an encouraging display of mutual cooperation, representatives of the City of Sonoma and the Sonoma Valley Unification Study Committee have joined in requesting the Sonoma County Local Agency Formation Commission to help them make up their minds about an expanded, incorporated “new city” envisioned for the Valley. A letter of Sept. 13, addressed to Schuyler L. Jeffries, chairman of the commission and signed by Mayor Henry Riboni of Sonoma and Dr. William Dempsey, unification study committee head, asked the county agency to make a study of the Valley unification proposals already offered by Supervisor Ignazio A. Vella and the City of Sonoma, and to hopefully resolve questions relating to “the desirability and the feasibility of unification as well as the method of choice to accomplish that objective.” … Circulations asking the Supervisors to reject the controversial Oak Knolls housing development proposed for El Verano are now being circulated in Sonoma Valley. Taking the initiative in circulating the petitions is a group of Valley residents known as Concerned Citizens and the Sonoma Valley Environmental Council. Oak Knolls, a 236-unit housing development to be locate don a 40-acre site at Arnold Drive and Craig Avenue, was recently approved by the county planning commission. … Bigger and better than last year. This seems to be the forecast among Sonoma Valley’s winemakers and vineyardists as the 173 grape harvest gets under way. This year’s grape crop is excellent, both in yield and quality. It’s been a fine growing season and th continuing good weather is bringing the grapes along to just the right point in their sugar-acid ratio so that they will produce a fine vintage.

37 YEARS AGO
(From the Index-Tribune files of Sept. 19, 1974)
A hassle between the county and the Valley of the Moon County Water District seems to be shaping up over the question of water service for the big Oak Knoll subdivision in El Verano. Last month, the Supervisors passed resolution approving the tentative map for Oak Knoll. Among the conditions of this resolution is one to the effect that water and sewer facilities shall be constructed to county water and sewer standards. … Final preparations are all that is left to firm-up next weekend’ s annual Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival held in the Plaza. This year, more than two dozen activity and food booths are slated for the event, with the two-day schedule packed full of musical and historically oriented activities. Festivities for the weekend begin Friday night with the gala wine tasting for the Festival Patron at the Vallejo home, Lachryma Montis. … The grape harvest is now in progress in Sonoma Valley. It will continue through October. The grapes are ripening slowly, vineyardists and winemakers explain, but are of exceptional quality when they finally get the desired sugar ratio. The crop is also abundant, partly due to new vineyards brining in their first yields.