Info from Dutra Mortuary (Now called Dutra-Randleman), Half Moon Bay
“Four miles south of the town of Half Moon Bay lies the little, almost obscure, cemetery of Purissima. It is situated on a hill opposite a little country school-house. Although mostly covered by grass, it does not lose its charm. In fact it adds to it because it is typical of what it is–a pioneer cemetery.
“Up to the 1860s the deceased of Purissima had been buried in Half Moon Bay or other far away parts. But on September 15, 1868 John Purcell deeded a section of his territory to the residents of Purissima for a burial ground. He decided to deed it with three clauses added to the document. One was that the cemetery be kept in the hands of a Purissima Cemetery Association; that there be no fees charged, and that there be no changes. Number Two clause sets aside a section of land 150′ by 500′ in the North-East and for the erection of a Protestant Church. Number Three reserves land for a family plot.
“The first person buried there was a little boy named Downing. Unfortunately, this was tragic for he was not dead when buried, but only in a coma. A similar example of this coma occurred shortly after the boy was buried, when a man took sick and fell in a stupor. The Downing boy’s father, realizing the possibility of his son’s having been buried unconscious, opened the grave and found that his sound had turned over!
“Other early settlers of Purissima are buried here, too. These include the family names of Britt, Richer, Doble, Locke and the Denmarks.”
(Photo: L-R: The Locke Brothers, Josiah, David & Silas.)
Dar says: Our new mural that was the big white wall that was in my yard.. finally
done.. birds love it,, and the day after we finished it a chipmunk came
had not seen them in a year or more..
Happy Easter all
(Photo: At the beauty salon: Devin with her dog, Cody.)
I was having my hair done the other day when a young woman named Devin came into the salon with her dog. The dog, called “Cody,” looked like a service dog but Devin wasn’t blind. Turned out she was a diabetic, and the dog, as part of an innovative project, had been trained to “identify the subtle scent changes that hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) creates in body chemistry, changes undetectable to their human companions.”
What happens when your blood sugar is too low, I asked Devin. What does Cody do to alert you?
“Most importantly, at night, when I’m sleeping, and I’m at greater risk,” Devin told me, “Cody will jump up on the bed to wake me up.” She said, at other times, the dog will put his paw on her leg–he’ll do whatever needs to be done to get her attention.
Devin works in the City and lives in the East Bay–and she’s just crazy about Cody and the project called Dogs for Diabetics.
For information on this great project, please click here
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Great story about Dogs For Diabetes. My ex-coworker volunteered at Guide Dogs and had mentioned the Dogs For Diabetes program to me. She moved to Bend and was hoping to do volunteer work for that program. She has a guide dog breeder, Alda. Did you know some doctors use standard poodles to detect certain types of cancer. A naturopathic m.d., in Mill Valley (or maybe it’s San Anselmo) has two that he uses for diagnosing. It’s amazing. My friend, Bill, who died of lung cancer told me every time he walked into the office the dogs would come up to him, nudge his legs, bark and then sit.
(Photo: Indoor Shopping Mall with beautiful glass roof)
By June Morrall
The crowds were thick and upbeat in the lobby of the new Oceano Hotel & Spa at Princeton-by-the-Sea. On a drizzly Coastside evening, they were there to witness the long-awaited ribbon cutting ceremony, performed by jovial county Supervisor Rich Gordon.
The lobby was so busy that I couldnât get a hard count on how many folks had come to celebrate with the Coastsideâs Keet Nerhan, the man associated with the nearly completed project.
And in the middle of the festive mood, the loud conversations and live music, I watched Keet Nerhan confidently walk through the jammed room, constantly stopped by well-wishers wanting to shake his hand and offer well deserved congratulations.
Remember that the Oceano Hotel & Spa is opening in the early stages of what appears to be a serious economic recession.
For Nerhan, reaching tonightâs ribbon cutting ceremony has been a long, hard journey (and Iâm sure thereâs a book in it), a project that has been in the works for decades (and one that famous developer Henry Doelger considered in the 1950s).
The Oceano Hotel &Spa is surely the most complex project Keet Nerhan has worked on in his entire careerâand one has only to look at the attention to detail to appreciate the accomplishment.
The Oceano Hotel & Spa has impressive conference facilities that feature fine views of the harbor and Pillar Point. Thereâs a nautical theme throughout; for example, a model yacht placed above the fireplace and a variety of seashells used creatively. This motif is carried throughout the hotel
Itâs not just a hotel, though; you must look up when youâre walking through the indoor shopping mall with its extraordinarily beautiful glass âroof.â? No shops were open yet, and I have no idea how many have been rented.
The restaurant-in-the-round, or so it looked to me, is an eye-catcher and Iâm certain there are beautiful harbor views.
For little Princeton-by-the-Sea, a harbor-fishing village with some 450 permanent residents, the Oceano Hotel & Spa is an amazing project bigger than anything else nearby. It will definitely become a venue for people and families hungry for something fun to doâclose to home, easy on the gas tank–and that is why I feel it will be a success.
As for me, I hope that good take-out restaurants move in. As a superb blueprint, Iâm thinking of the Ferry Building in San Franciscoâwhere everything is fresh and comes from local farms and flower growers. We have the talent right here on the Coastside.
And I have never encountered a grumpy salesperson or moody waiter at the Ferry Building—They must give a congeniality test to all potential employees; everyone is so cheerful and loves what they are doing. I hope that’s what we get at the Oceano Hotel & Spa.
But the Oceano Hotel & Spa will have its supporters and its detractors, and the argument over what is appropriate for the Coastside will continue to be a bitter source of controversy
Cheers!
(Photos below: Getting the ribbon ready for cutting and Supervisor Rich Gordon poses for me–I was using an Iphone).
I am delighted to present Part II of my email conversation with Mrs. Elaine M. Teixeira, a most gracious woman, who shows us Moss Beach, as it was. Thank you Mrs. Teixeira. (Mrs. Elaine M. Teixeira, at right, with her sister, Loretta.)
Half Moon Bay Memories (HMBM): You have family connections to the Torre family of Moss Beach. Are they related to Frank Torres, the deceased owner of the Marine View Restaurant?
Elaine Martini Teixeira (ETM)
Frank Torres is not related to the Torre family, he was from Peru – There is no “s” on our family name. My grandfather’s brother, Giovannibattista (John), had a son named Frank, the family lived above Ottavio Torre’s family on Sunshine Valley Road. That home is still there but boarded up. I had forgotten but, Donald Torre, my first cousin, said the State purchased it for a future bypass, but because of the forthcoming tunnel, the new road will not go thru there.
Frank Torres owned the Torres Marine View Hotel/restaurant
and the Montara Beach Hotel, along Highway 1, on the way to Devil’s Slide. The one in Montara burned down
and Frank Torres rebuilt it. Later it was rebuilt and became for the Chart House, then the Outrigge. It is still there, but closed. The Marine View spot is now the Distillery.
HMBM:
Did you know Fanny Torres?
ETM:
Yes, I knew Fanny Torres, my Mother worked as a salad lady for Frank and Fanny at the Montara restaurant, knew them even before. No, she was not related to the Lea’s in HMB. They are Italian, she was not.
HMBM:
Please tell my readers a little about yourself.
ETM:
My full name is Elaine Martini Teixeira. My brother, Raymond Martini, he and his wife Cathy, live in HMB; he used to have Reliable Plumbing in HMB. My older sister, Gloria Bernardo lives four house up from me in Redwood City. My younger sister, Loretta, is married to Guido Santini; they live opn the coast hwy, near Frenchman’s Creek.
I graduated from Moss Beach Grammar School,
and Half Moon Bay High School, the location in 1948 was on Kelly Avenue, across from the present Catholic Church.
My husband,Tony Teixeira, & I married in 1949 in the original Catholic Church, which is now the site of their social hall, behind the current church building. We had two children, Kevin, married with two children and living in Sunnyvale, and a daughter, Stacy, living in Sunnyvale. Tony died about 2 1/2 yrs ago. It is his two sisters, Mary Schuttloffel and Hazel Dooley Cornett, and father, Antone, on the front cover of your Princeton book (“Princeton-by-the-Sea“.) His brother was John, had Captain John’s boats in Princeton.
HMBM:
Why did Italians settle in Moss Beach?
ETM:
One reason some of them settled there, they had relations that proceeded them, and they came to join family, all immigrants like to join others who speak their language, and, also, some came to get work, on the farms, etc. My Mother’s father and brothers, along with their father, may have settled first up in the gold country, and my Dad and his brothers joined their older half-brother up in Nevada. They all eventually came to San Francisco. My Mom’s father and his brother came to Moss Beach after the earthquake. Had dairy cows and guess the coastside gave them the opportunity to move the dairy down to Moss Beach and get away from the ‘quake area of San Francisco.
HMBM:
Were there any special places in Moss Beach where Italians would go to have fun?
ETM:
There is another building, down old Highway 1 (originally Etheldore), below the grocery store, owned by my grandfather. There was a bar in there and all the daughters of the Torre brothers would come to the dances, and that is where several found their future husbands. I was recently told they also had movies up stairs, over the saloon area in this building. Later, of course, there was the Moss Beach Club building and there was the structure down on the Moss Beach
below the cliffs believe it was called the Reefs. I am sure there were other places, Dan’s had a bar and restaurant, up the road from our grocery store. Alot of entertaining was done in the homes.
Several of the family members, especially the women, met their husbands, as I said, at the dances. Many of the men worked on the local farms.
Both of my Mom’s cousins from her Mom’s side of the family, Daisy and Angelina Baresoni were quite young when their parents died; they were raised in Ottavio Torre’s family on Sunshine Valley Road. When the two finished grade school, they went to SF to work in the garment industry and lived with their dad’s relations, but they returned to live in Sunshine Valley, after their marriages.
HMBM:
Did you go to Moss Beach Grammar School? What about churches?
ETM:
Yes, I attended Moss Beach Grammar School, all of my family did – plus various cousins. I, at one time, had six cousins going to school with me – David and June Torre, Donald Torre, Albert Bertolucci, Roy Cardellini and Bob Prouse.
The school building burned down; after it was closed. My younger sister , Loretta graduated from the Moss Beach school, called Faralone View, it was located up on the property above the Light House, part of the former Navel Station from World War II..
While I was in grade school, Montara School was closed and combined with Moss Beach.. Therefore, Rosina Pecoraro – who you knew – my two cousins, Roy Cardellini, Bob Prowse (children of Daisy and Angelina) – Georgina Bettencourt, Gladine and Clifford Harp, and a few others, all came down to Moss Beach to continue their education.
There was a Catholic Church, just a street or so below the Post Office, near the ocean. It was part of the HMB parish and the priests came out to conduct mass at 9 am every Sunday. We had religious lessons and received first communion there. A woman, Mrs. Jordan, who lived in Moss Beach, taught the lessons, and I believe, Margaret Kyne gave them, later.
There were, also, two places, one in Moss Beach (they came down from SF) close to the beach, and another up in Marine View (different order) where there were homes used by the Nuns for vacation.
I saw more of the nuns from Moss Beach, they would come in and shop at our store. It might be that later, priests, also came there for that reason, but not when I was young or living on the coast.
HMBM:
I have heard that Italians, who weren’t citizens had to move from the West side of Highway 1 to the East side during WWII. Is that true?
ETM:
Yes, all the Italian families and others who were not citizens had to move. We were lucky that we were on the “right side” of the highway. The Cima family had to move, as well as the Benedetti family, who lived down below us on Hwy One, near the current entrance to Seton Hospital.
HMBM:
You certainly come from a large family!
ETM:
I hope I didn’t misspell any names. AND, if you get lost along the way, I understand. The women that put together my “family book” would get so confused; in the Torre family, three brothers (another brother, Filipo, lived in SF) named a daughter Rose, two name them Lena, two Eva. To distinguish who they wee talking about, it was Little Rosie, Rosie Filipo, Little Eva, Big Lena and Little Lena – guess you get my point! For some reason, the boys lucked out, had more original names, some after past generations, but no duplications within the same generation.
We just rented an “on demand” movie (“Flawless” with Demi Moore/Michael Caine) and were shocked/stunned to see it cost $10.99!!!! That’s DOUBLE the PRICE that it was just a few days ago.
Follow Author Richard Brautigan’s lead: Tell your own story.
And Michaele asks, “Did the famous Brautigan “Mayonnaise” Library make it to its new home at the Presidio branch library in San Francisco?…… Whether or not the collection actually made it, I have not been able to find out, despite many inquiries and phone calls to the Presidio Library.”
Richard Brautigan wrote about a library where anyone with a story to tell could write it out and put it on the shelves for others to read. The overseer of the library, which was open 24 hours a day, lived there. The fictional library was based on the Presidio Branch of the San Francisco Public Library,
Inspired by Brautiganâs idea, in 1990, the Brautigan Library was founded in Burlington, Vermont, by Todd Lockwood, a Brautigan fan, together with poet Robert Creeley and Brautiganâs daughter Ianthe..
Instead of the Dewey Decimal System, used by most libraries, the Brautigan library categorized its books according to the Mayonnaise System, referring to the fact that the library in the novel used mayonnaise jars as bookends.
My unpublished novel, The Dioscuri, registered with the Brautigan Library on May 25, 1990, was given the Mayonnaise catalog number LOV1990.05.003. The 325 books of the Brautigan Library archive (which included Brautiganâs typewriter) traveled to Seattle for a book fair, then back to its basement home in Vermont. It changed addresses in Burlington a number of times, finally winding up in the public library.
In 2005 the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington decided it would be fitting to ship the collection to the Presidio branch of the San Francisco Public Library. Whether or not the collection actually made it, I have not been able to find out, despite many inquiries. The last posted information about the move was a 2005 story in the Boston Globe.
What I wanted to talk about, however, was not the Brautigan Library itself but rather the idea behind a library where everyone could tell his or her story, without the assistance of agents, publishers and editors. True, there is the Internet. But not everyone has access to a computer, and some people still like the idea of something written on paper.
I spend at least four hours a day writing at the computer, mostly for fun these days, though occassionally I will send something off to a magazine, and once in a while something will be published. I am a hundred pages into âMurder at the Parthenon,â? a mystery novel set at a Tennessee newspaper in 1954. Certainly this effort is spurred by the love of the old newspaper technology, with its Linotypes and locked pages. I meet regularly with a writer friend so we can toss ideas back and forth, and nag each other about keeping our noses to the grindstones.
I am working on a biography of the pianist and Teacher, Egon Petri, part of which has appeared in magazines and on a piano pedagogy website originating in Finland, of all places. I am editing a wonderful work in progress by a friend who wants to tell her story about meditation. And I am proof-reading an exquisite collection of songs by a composer friend.
There is a modern facility which somewhat resembles Richard Brautiganâs library. My nonfiction mystery,Searching for Anna, was published in February by Lulu.com. Lulu is an international print-on-demand publisher, some of whose thousands of titles strongly evoke those of Brautiganâs fictional library, such as âGrowing House Plants By Candlelightâ?.
Anybody can tell a story on Lulu. For a small fee, a book can even get an ISBN number and be entered into Books in Print, which means it is available through outlets such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Everyone has a story. Jung said that in most disassociated ânormalâ? living, oneâs story was often interrupted. He said psychologyâs primary function was to retrieve that story and reunite the individual with it.
One of the best pieces of writing I ever encountered was by a Skyline College student who had brought his essay to the Tutoring Center, hoping for help with his English. The story, laboriously written in longhand, was about how to wash dishes. The studentâs grandmother had taught him the proper way to wash dishes, and in the telling of the story, the student revealed himself: Loving, respectful, obedient, attentive to detail, humble. The language was awkward, but the story was truly touching.
How to tell your story: Hemingway said to place the seat of the pants on the seat of the chair and move the hand from left to right, or something to that effect.
I would add a bit about spelling and grammar, but it really seems to be mostly about having
something to say, saying it as honestly as you can, and then hoping somebody reads it and understands what you meant.
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Author Michaele Benedict lives in Montara. To read Mikieâs âSearching for Annaâ? website click here
âSearching for Annaâ? tells the heartbreaking story of Michaeleâs search for her beautiful young daughter, snatched from her Purisima home in the early 1970s. For info and to purchase the book, please click here. Email Michaele: [email protected]
(Mrs. Elaine M. Teixeira, at right, with her sister, Loretta.)
