Half Moon Bay Memories

November 10, 2006

I Meet With HMB Artist/Sculptor Ken Paul

(my video of Ken Paul here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6sKNwsm4c8)

This afternoon I got an email from Peter Adams. What about Ken Paul? he asked.

Ken Paul is an extraordinary Half Moon Bay artist & human being–whose intricately carved wooden sculpture pieces are displayed outdoors, for all to enjoy– in a pretty setting, a charming clearing, if you will that sits on Main Street between Carol DelMar’s real estate office (located in a cozy historic home) and the historic Zaballa House, a B&B. I already posted several Z-House photos earlier today.

Peter’s email got me curious and next thing I knew I was in Half Moon Bay chatting with Ken Paul about past lives and spiritual things at his “sculpture farm”.

Do you know he’s 73? Unbelievable.

Photo: Ken Paul

Here’s Ken Paul’s fabulous sculpture called “Neptune”

And here’s a sculpture a defector from Hollywood did of Ken:

November 10, 2006

Let’s Take A Field Trip! [1924]: Part I

Drawing of Pescadero High’s colors by a Pescadero student, 1920s

It was spring 1924 in the tiny village of Pescadero. The cattle grazed peacefully., the brook reflected the clear blue sky and the wild buttercups and daisies competed for attention.

At the high school some 20 students and their three teachers reminisced about the field trip the science class took to the Portland Cement Company’s plant at nearby Davenport, a picturesque coastal village nine miles north of Santa Cruz.

More than a dozen students and Miss Kartheiser, their instructor, had piled into three cars for the ride to Davenport. The road was narrow and not one automobile was encountered.

The day was picture perfect–and Miss Kartheiser stopped the convoy to pick wildflowers for the botany class. Resuming the journey, the caravan headed south–and all went well until there was a sharp crack followed by a discouraging “pfffffttttt.”

…To Be Continued…

November 10, 2006

The Historic Zaballa House, A B& B I love…

because, for one good reason, they welcome pets.

These are old photos of the Z-House, located on Main Street, near the concrete bridge (built in 1900) and across the street from the Pasta Moon Restaurant–the one in color was taken in the 1970s.

November 9, 2006

Tim, from San Mateo, Has A Question

Hi June,

I live in San Mateo, but very much enjoy the coast, as well as learnng more about the history of the area. I just discovered your web page, and have spent the past 2 hours or so perusing some of your stories!

Here’s a question for you:

About a mile or so N of the Pescadero lighthouse, in the midde of a field, sits a very large concrete wall, about 80′ long, about about 8′ tll. It’s about 3′ thick at the base, tapering up to about 8″ thick at the top.

There’s a very old, paved roadway section (perhaps the original Highway 56/Hwy 1?) running parallel to Cabrillo Hwy on the W which once led to an entrance gate for theis compound. There is an old wooden barn or storage building now built onto the side of this wall.

Any info on what this wall was built for? Someone long ago went to a lot of effort to put it there.

June to Tim: I don’t know.

Tim to June: I expect it was a concrete backstop for a target shooting range used
by the troops who were stationed at the Bolsa Point Military Reservation — a WW-II era
coast defense site that was in the immediate area, and apparently housed troops in the old Portuguese fishing colony buildings just a little further north.

Photo: San Mateo County History Museum–please visit the new galleries–and check out local history in the archives. 650.299.01.04

November 8, 2006

A Cypress Tree Once Thrived On Hwy 92 & Main Street

November 8, 2006

Old Friendly Friends

Photo: Artist Mark “Billy” Peterson and ceramist Randall Reid

November 8, 2006

What Was It Like At Grace Ball Secretarial School In San Francisco?

My friend Lynn Kalajian McCloskey tells us:

Photo: Lynn Kalajian McCloskey

Do you remember I went to secretarial school in San Francisco- Grace Ball.?…

…Grace Ball (GB) was located at Powell and Sutter above the Owl Drugstore, which had a lunch counter and the best hamburgers.

Grace was a very old woman with extremely bad breath, and when she’d talk to you, she’d pin you up against a wall and her face was about two inches from yours. She
was decrepit.

Her sidekick, Ruth something, was a “little” younger and the drill sergeant type. There were about 100 girls in the school. My class was the rebellious one. We would meet each morning in the shower room and plot our strategy for the day. Nothing really bad ever happened, just prankster type stuff.

Our typing teacher was a small, thin woman – you think nice? Guess again. She was nasty mean and used to walk around with her pointer lightly smacking hands if they were idle. Soone day we took her smacking pointer and threw it in the garbage. She didn’t
know what to do, and we told her the custodians must have accidentally
thrown it away. That’s just one example. Most of the other teachers were
pretty nice.

Grace Ball was a secretarial school but we also took accounting classes.

I hated it there–so did everybody else. I only liked going to GB because I met some great people. Most everyone boarded there, but there were a few of us who lived in the City or on the Peninsula. We disliked it– but had fun flaunting the rules. We were
devilish.

You probably wonder why were we there.. we were biding our time waiting for something better to come along….

November 8, 2006