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Remember When Week of March 15

65 YEARS AGO

(From the I-T of March 12, 1948)

With the cooperation of Valley merchants, the Sonoma Valley Junior Chamber of Commerce has very ably seen to it that the San Francisco Seals ball players get plenty of extra-curricular activity after the spring practice sessions are over each day. … With the opening of Bay Meadows tomorrow, the Macy’s Inaugural $10,000 Handicap will be the big feature of the day’s program. General Manager Wm. P. Kyne predicts a record attendance for the meet despite smaller crowds at Santa Anita recently. … The accent was on youth at Sebastiani Hall here Monday night when the Sonoma Valley Athletic Club hosted close to 200 men and boys at a “Father-Son Night” when several members of the San Francisco Seals baseball team were introduced. … Vernon (Lefty) Gomez, former major league pitcher, will open a season as baseball instructor by teaching at the New York Yankees’ training camp at Byes Hot Springs, Eddie Leishman, West Coast director of the Yanks’ farm system, said Tuesday.

 

64 YEARS AGO

(From the I-T of March 18, 1949)

John Dowdall and “Bud” Clouse will open their new El Verano Lumber and Hardware Co. to the public on the weekend of March 25-26. Mr. Clouse has operated the lumber yard for the past few years, while Mr. Dowdall, a prominent El Verano resident for many years, was for some time associated with the Valley Hardware store in Boyes Springs. … Acting on the advice of county and state officials, the trustees of the Sonoma Grammar School will recommend that an election be called immediately to alleviate the present school dislocation which fids Grammar School students attending classes in seven different buildings throughout the city. … The week was a notable one in the history of Sonoma Valley wine when the first wine from the old Haraszthy cellars at Buena Vista in 50 years was bottled under the name “Vine Brook.” It is a Rhine wine from Riesling grapes grown on the famous old vineyard property east of Sonoma. Two other white wines and one red will be ready for bottling soon announces vintner Bartholomew. … Young George Frederickon of the U.S. Navy, returned to San Diego last Tuesday after spending a leave visiting with his parents in Sonoma. The Sonoma High School graduate has applied for Submarine School at New London, Conn. … Howard Moser, chairman of the Industrial Committee of the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce, announced today that Researchers Universal, Inc., manufacturers of laminated (fibre and resin) sports equipment, is establishing an entirely new and modern plant in Sonoma. The plant will be located in a building of basalt construction, which was erected by Peter Firpo on Broadway at Four Corners.

 

63 YEARS AGO

(From the I-T of March 17, 1950)

One more Sonoma Valley man yesterday announced his candidacy for the office of Constable of Sonoma Township, bringing the total to six seeking the post vacated by Jack Poulson. The new candidate is Vernon O. Campbell of Glen Ellen. … Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen, nationally-known philosopher and lecturer of the Catholic University, New York, has accepted an invitation to be principal speaker at the dedication ceremonies for the Archbishop Hanna Center for Boys here on Sunday, May 21. This outstanding Catholic personage thrilled thousands at the ground breaking ceremonies here last year. … The Sonoma Fire Department has this week installed a new coded air horn atop the firehouse on Patten Street, and when experimental trails are complete, it will replace the old electric siren which has moaned out the fire alarm down through the years. A product of the Federal Electric Co. of Chicago, the horn has a rather raucous sound, as local residents who have heard samples, can attest. … Howard Moser, Sonoma PG&E manager, was elected president of the Sonoma Valley Athletic Club at a meeting held last Thursday night at the City Hall. Other new officers are Louis Pellandini, vice president; Ralph Downey, secretary; and David King, treasurer. Art Wilson, H. A. Whitehead, Fritz Davis and Gene Domenichelli were named to the board of directors. … A farewell party for Col. E. A. Little, former Boyes Springs editor, will be given by the Valley of the Moon Lions Club Tuesday night at Rozario’s Palms Inn.

 

58 YEARS AGO

(From the I-T of March 17, 1955)

On the Vineburg area site where a large industrial manufacturing plant had only last year been contemplated, construction of a huge warehouse for the storing of government machinery was to begin this week. According to a local spokesman, the warehouse, in which government machinery of an undisclosed nature will be stored, is the project of Albert Wright, head of the Screw Machinery Products of Emeryville, and owner of the large acreage on the east side of Eighth Street East, between Vineburg and Schellville. … A plan for lighting the Sonoma Plaza, proposed by the Vintage Festival Association which will share the costs with the city, was approved Monday night by the Sonoma council. The program calls for the eventual installation of 10 lights on poles in the Plaza. The city share in the installation will be approximately $900 and the Vintage Festival group will pay a like amount for the place of cables and wiring for the 10 light standards. … A Sonoma father as been elected president of the Sonoma Valley Union High School Parent-Teacher’s Association – the first male to hold that post. He is Maurius Nelson, Moll Court, a deputy county assessor, who has a son attending high school.

 

57 YEARS AGO

(From the I-T of March 15, 1956)

A first class supper club and a 20-unit motel with a heated swimming pool are to be constructed in Glen Ellen, with the restaurant opening scheduled for about May 1, builders announced this week. “The Glen Ellen Inn,” with the supper club on the site of the former Buck’s Place, at the edge of Sonoma Creek, and the motel on the curve of Arnold Drive in the center of Glen Ellen, is being built by Mr. and Mrs. Carl Amante. … A local bus line, which lacked the support of Sonoma Valley riders will close down after nearly years of operation on Good Friday, Mach 30. Irwin McLeod and Arthur Mann, owners and operators of the Valley of the Moon Stage Lines, announced yesterday with regret that they will terminate the Sonoma to Glen Ellen bus service which they inaugurated here on June 8, 1953. … A master street lighting plan for Sonoma, prepared by the Pacific Gas and Electric company, was adopted Monday night by the city council. The plan, to coordinate installation of proper lighting in the city and to fit it into an integrated scheme, was presented by representatives of PG&E and will enable the city to order lights as needed according to the master plan. … Moondale products, which have carried Sonoma’s name throughout the country for seven years, will reach hundreds more outlets in the future, as the firm was sold by its founder, Louis Miglioretti this week to a famous San Francisco company. Miglioretti has been named vice president of Julliard Fancy Foods Company, which purchased Moondale from him. He will maintain an office in Sonoma Valley and will continue to make Grandmother Nina’s Italian Sauce for distribution by Julliard.

 

54 YEARS AGO

(From the I-T of March 13, 1958)

Excessive storm water flow emanating from the Sonoma State Hospital, Eldridge, and the City of Sonoma – plus heavy storm water infiltrations through house-connected lateral lines – are the major causes of Sonoma Valley’s $2 million sanitation district sewerage system present inadequacy, according to a report prepared last month from the engineering office of Clyde C. Kennedy, designers of the sprawling system. The report, directed to Richard M. Ramsey, Sonoma County Council, in answer to charges made by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors that the engineering firm should be held responsible for the failings of the Valley sewer system, completed in 1953. … Sonoma Engravers, which has operated for years on First Street West, will move soon to a new location near Vineburg, following the granting of a use permit for the installation there Tuesday by the county board of supervisors. The county planning commission first declined to grant the permit, because the area is zoned agricultural. The plant does engraving for processional men and firms in 11 western states. … A public hearing to explain proposed unification of Sonoma Valley school districts will be held Monday, March 24, in the Sonoma Valley Union High School. The county committee on school district reorganization has recommended that an election be held on the plan.