Above: Gordon’s Chute at Tunitas Creek. What made landowner and Assemblyman Alexander Gordon go to such extreme lengths (circa 1870) to build this homemade engineering wonder?
Gordon’s Chute is not there anymore–it blew away in a wild, windy storm not long after it appeared on one of the most mesmerizing cliffs on the entire Coastside.
During its short life, locally grown potatoes rolled down the chute and onto little steamers waiting to sail with the produce to market in San Francisco.
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.)
