Ed Bauer, the former editor/publisher of the Half Moon Bay Review arrived on the Coastside in 1960. Twenty years later he appeared in my documentary, âThe Mystery of Half Moon Bayâ?.
Here are two sets of Ed Bauerâs observatons that remain true about this special place we all call home.
Ed Bauer describes the Coatside when he arrived in 1960.
âWhen I came here there was no dental office except one man who was over 87- years-oldâand he came over on Saturday afternoon from 2 to 4.
âAn excellent man, Dr. Sissom, who had an office in San Mateo, and he liked to come to Half Moon Bay on Saturday afternoons and he would attend to your teeth.
ââ¦When I came here in 1960, there was one lawyer who came over here from Redwood Cityâthe late Richard Bellâand he came over on Thursday.
âThat was the lawyers dayâand now [1981] I would say we have at least six lawyers in the area who are active, very active.â?
He didn’t comment on how many dentists there were in 1980, but I suspect there were fewer than there were lawyers!
Ed Bauer gives an example of the type of person arriving on the Coastside circa 1980.
â..We had a man who had an excellent [law] practice in a larger city in New England. And he just wanted to leave the metropolitan area and live in a small community.
ââ¦and the surroundings of Half Moon Bay are somewhat, along the coast itself, resemble New England to a slight extentâ¦
âHe likes to have a rural setting. He likes the outdoors. He doesnât care to work in a downtown corporate suite.
Mrs. Caroline Dias, just the sweetest lady who lived in Pescadero (she passed away some time ago), grew up in the village, married and lived across the street from the library where she worked. Like many Pebble Beach-goers before her, she found a favorite pebble, had it polished and turned into a pretty pendant that hung from this gold chain.
The aunt of Ron Duarte, Mrs. Dias became one of the sources for my book, “The Coburn Mystery”. She was familiar with the characters in the 20 th century part of the book.
Oops–almost forgot, you can’t pick the pebbles anymore.
“Down the Ocean Shore”, an a tour by automobile from the pamphlet, “The Chapter in Your Life Entitled San Francisco”, published in 1946 after WWIIHalfby Californians, Inc. The trip began near Pacifica, and the mileage figures begin there; see Part I back a few posts.
Half Moon Bay, 20.6 m is farm village at northern end of the blue bay bordered by a long white beach. Back from bay are small farms with whitewashed barns, weather-beaten farmhouses, sheltered from wind by lines of dark cypress trees. The Portola expedition pitched camp near mouth of Pilarcitos Creek, northern edge of town, on rainy night Oct. 28, spent wet, miserable weekend.
Purisima, 24. 8 m., once lively town on Rancho Canada de Verde y Arroyo de la Purisima, is deserted and ghostly now. From Viewpoint, 28.9m, tawny bluffs bordeered by surf stretch S.
Next comes San Gregorio Valley, 32.4m, with hidden farm hamlet reminiscent of early Spanish rancho days, where suave hills sweep up to Sierra Morena crest.
Pescadero (fishing place), 39.8m, small settlement, its prim white buildings having look of New England village, got its name from Pescadero Creek. This trout stream and its lagoon are still good fishing places.
At 40.8m is junction with dirt road; R. here 2m to Pebble Beach, famous for polished stones–small agates, jaspers, opals, moonstones, waterdrops (pebbles with drops of water in their centers).
Next comes Pigeon Point Lighthouse, 46.1m, overlooking rocky coast on which Boston clipper “Carrier Pigeon” was wrecked in 1853.
Punta del Ano Nuevo (New Year’s Point), 53.8m, forms southwestern tip of Peninsula. Was first important headland sighted Jan. 3, 1602 by Sebastian Vizcaino’s crew when they sailed up coast from Monterey. Here pine-forested mountainsides slop steeply to the sea, crowding highway to edge of narrow beach. (Note: experienced Peninsula travelers say that views are even more spectacular if the route is taken driving N. from Punta del Ano Nuevo toward San Francisco).
Dining & Dancing
Princeton-by-the-Sea
Nerli’s Place
Moss Beach
Frank Torres
Half Moon Bay
Dominic’s Place
Red’s Place
Pescadero
Duartes, San Gregorio St.
Photos: Beginning at top: Main Street, HMB, at left, location of Dominics; Peterson & Alsford Store, San Gregorio; Pebble Beach w/hotel on bluffs, south of Pescadero; Pigeon Point lighthouse; Frank’s, Moss Beach; Bar inside Duartes, Pescadero.
credits: San Mateo County History Museum, R.I. Guy Smith
Note: The photos didn’t appear in the original pamphlet.
Looking almost like an oil painting, from a hill in El Granada, enjoy this breathtaking view of Miramar, with the Miramar Beach Inn, (you’ve got to pick it out) standing almost by itself, overlooking the ocean. 30 years ago.
The Farm Bureau has named Ron Bongard “Farmer of the Year”
Ron’s nursery is located on Hwy 92, north side, a mile or so from the historic town of Half Moon Bay. Bongard’s Treescape Nursery is a fun place to visit–be sure to see the giant palms and other really big plants in the greenhouse.
I know youâre from the âold schoolâ? and your tv sales pitch is directed to computer illiteratesâbut I am sick and tired of you, the lady and the three- year- old daughter who knows more about computers than all of you.
BTW: If the kid exists at all, sheâs probably in juvenile hall by now awaiting sentencing.
Isn’t it time for a new commercial with real computer geeks and nerds? Iâll probably learn to hate that one as much but at least itâll be a change.
Many years ago I produced/wrote a 60-minute documentary called âThe Mystery of Half Moon Bayâ?.
The way I pitched the project and sold it made me feel like a waitress at Schwabs discovered by a famous Hollywood producer.
Okay, maybe thatâs way too romantic.
I was passionate about my idea of putting the colorful Coastside** on the small screenâand I appeared at the offices of KCSM-TV in San Mateo, landed an appointment with Stewart Cheifet, the general managerâand I can still visualize myself seated on the opposite side of Cheifetâs desk, a very serious look on his face as he took an egg timer and turned it upside down.
(Photo: Stewart Cheifet)
âYouâve got three minutes,â? he told me, sternly. I noted he had one of those fine broadcast voices, honey-coated.
Maybe it was really one minute and maybe it wasnât an egg timer but one of those little glass âthingiesâ? with sand inside that tells how much time has passed by dripping grains of sand.
Iâd never produced or written a script for a documentaryâI was just a noviceâbut I had a brave, bold soul and I was in love with Half Moon Bay. Apparently that feeling got across to Stewart Cheifet because, to my total surprise, I got the âgoâ? signal. *
To make the hour show, I was paid a tiny sum but I happily spent nearly a year of my life absorbed with it. I was assigned to work with longtime director Rick Zanardi, and cameraman Jim Threlkeld– and we went out in the field to shoot this doc. They were experienced and great to work with.
What I most regret now is that I didnât have the financial means to keep the raw footageâthere were some oldtimers, now gone, interviewed on those precious tapes, gone forever.
Before âMystery of Half Moon Bayâ? aired on KCSM, there was a premiere at the Pete Douglas Beach House in Miramar Beach. I was so nervous I didnât go into the concert room where âMysteryâ? was being shown on a huge tv screen, donated via the contacts of Coastsider John Essa.
I loved the show and its theme– that Half Moon Bayâs historical failures were actually the reason for its success. KCSMâs publicist took ads out in TV Guide and there were newspaper interviews. Before vanishing from the screen, âThe Mystery of Half Moon Bayâ? was aired several times.
For a long time my copy of âMysteryâ? sat with my books on a dusty shelf.
One day I was invited to a meeting organized by the folks who founded MCTV, the local access station. To me the words âlocal accessâ? seem painfully bureaucratic words that donât convey anything meaningfulâcertainly not what the founders intended: a tv station where local talent could produce shows and have the creative result seen by Coastsiders.
The small group met at the Half Moon Bay library. Thatâs where I encountered Connie Malach and her husband Mike. Theyâd recently moved from San Francisco to El Granada.
MCTV was just being born and Connie and Mike didnât own a vast video library; they didnât have a lot of shows to air. When I told them I had a tape of âThe Mystery of Half Moon Bayâ?, they were excited. Yes, they wanted to air it. Almost immediately âMysteryâ? (with permission from KCSM) hit the local airwaves.
And Coastsiders loved it.
When MCTV hosted their first âSeals of Approvalâ? award ceremonies at the glamorous golf course south of Half Moon Bay, âThe Mystery of Half Moon Bayâ? won a âsealâ? for the most popular show!
A most thrilling moment in my life.
My MCTV trophy sits proudly on my bookcase, a symbol of the mutual affection between the Coastside and me.
The “Seal of Approval” for most popular show. The photo doesn’t do justice to the beautiful slick mammal.:
*Stewart Cheifet injected a tremendous dose of optimism and much-needed change into KCSM-TV.Whoever hired him should receive an award. As the new GM, Cheifet had the staff going out into the real world for the first time. They were following politicians running for office and suggesting ideas that would have been nixed before. Stewart Cheifet was innovator and everyone at the station came to life–I know because I was a witness to it.
**I had written a book about HMB, had lots of photos, developed an outline for the show, submitted letters of recommendation & etc.)
At San Gregorio Farms, in the 1970s, the main crops weren’t artichokes or chocolate milk cows.
What do you think it was?
I’ll give you one guess…..Nope.
How about a super-agricultural earthworm, a hybrid called “the small miracle”?
The 300-acre ranch at San Gregorio had its quota of conventional farm animals: chickens, ducks, horses, cows, pigs and ponies but the 1970s was the decade of “everything to do with gardening”–organic compost, crocheted potted plant hangers, ferns, ferns, ferns–and so the earthworm, long neglected as a soil enchancing creature, slithered to its very brief moment of glory.
I knew the owners, Channing and Corri Pollock, because my Ex, a talented contractor, turned their woodworking concepts into reality. The Pollocks visited their ranch often, spending days and evenings there–but actually lived in a unusual home overlooking the sea in Moss Beach.
They were an extraordinary couple. He had been a tuxedo-ed magician whose magical spells made his white doves vanish on the wildly popular Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s and she was a beautiful, artistic and wealthy woman. Now retired, they were drawn to the soil.
“We want you to meet a small miracle,” the San Gregorio Farms pamphlet explained.
“Our most fascinating work is with our domesticated earthworms…and related soil improvement research. We cultivate on a large commercial basis a rugged hybrid species of earthworm uniquely suited to gardening, orchard and farming methnods….”
These hearty creatures were not like fleas performing tricks at the circus; they were hard workers.
In order to get the word out as to how valuable these critters were, the Pollocks signed up for a large display booth at the legendary rock impressario Bill Graham’s “World of Plants” exhibition held at the Cow Palace.
Channing recognized the theatrical possibilities.
The entire event had to be choreographed. Corri designed the brown costumes, even the shoes (see photo of Roland Reese pointing to a custom-made container.) for the booth attendants who answered the public’s questions with the hope of selling worms. The Pollocks intended to spend full time at the trade show and to be comfortable they brought exquisite furniture from their Moss Beach living room. Oriental rug. Coffee table. Couch.
Constructing the display booth turned into a monumental task because the Pollocks required the booth to be hand-carved, using only the earthworm as the motif. Throughout the space, the earthworm was the dominant theme.
Even the redwood containers, home to the earthworms, were custom-made, including one in the photo that looks like a pyramid. The budget buyer carried his or her earthworms home in a clever simulation of a Chinese take-out box.
During the final inspection of the booth, the Pollocks, to their horror, noted the main wall of the booth was blank. Emergency! It needed something quick. A mural?
How about a life-size photo of a pair of beautiful young people holding the reins of super earthworms a they till the soil.
Mark and Flower looked just great–they were a gorgeous couple often asked to model. Michael Powers, the Miramar Beach photographer, took pictures of them in the flower fields of Half Moon Bay or riding on the white sandy beaches. But they’d never shared the camera with earthworms before. (See photo of Mark and Flower below).
San Gregorio Farms was the talk of the Bill Graham “World of Plants” exhibition but the hybrid earthworms never were launched as a business. Everything the Pollocks did they did with style and grace–and the earthworm caper was no exception.
Note: Channing Pollock passed away at age 79 in Las Vegas on Sunday, March 19. His wife, Corri died a few years ago in Moss Beach.
