Time to learn about infrastructure? Power-Electrical Grids…
I like this book by Brian Hayes.
The information about power (electrical) grids is enlightening; I had no idea the country was divided into a number of power grids. The West and East have their own. A small part of Texas has its own. Fly-over country has its own. A future plan is to unite them all into one powerful (electrical) grid.
Back when: Walking along Frenchman’s Creek Rd.
Coastsider.com: Message from Barry Parr
From Barry Parr at Coastsider.com
San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon is planning to attend Wednesday’s
Midcoast Community Council meeting. Coastsider wrote last week about
Supervisor Gordon’s proposal to limit who we can elect to the Midcoast
Community Council.
If you’re interested in how the Midcoast is governed by the county, you
should attend this meeting. If you have opinion about how we should govern
ourselves, you should plan to speak.
The meeting is at 7:30pm and this item will be discussed about ten minutes
after the meeting starts.
Unless we can get the Supervisors to hold a real meeting on the Midcoast,
this will be your only opportunity to speak at a convenient time and place.
The Supervisors will be discussing this proposal during the day on Tuesday,
Jan 27, in Redwood City.
The meeting will be held at Seton Medical Center Coastside: Marine
Boulevard & Etheldore, Moss Beach. Take Highway 1 to Marine Boulevard and
follow hospital signs uphill. Attendees must park in upper parking lots per
hospital policy. Turn left just before the end of the main driveway.
WHY THIS MATTERS
If you haven’t caught up on the issue, here are three items worth reading,
including a must-watch video of Supervisor Gordon’s legislative aide laying
down the law for our elected representatives:
http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/the_supervisors_must_stop_treating_the_midcoast_like_a_colony/
http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/video_supervisors_legislative_aide_lowers_the_boom_on_mcc_over_letter_to_la/
http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/coastside_democrats_ask_supervisor_gordon_to_bring_his_mcc_proposal_to_the_/
I want my community to thrive
I also want to thank New Leaf for choosing Half Moon Bay as the location of their first market outside of Santa Cruz. I can’t tell you what a difference it has made for us, having New Leaf here in town. If you haven’t been there yet, New Leaf specializes in organic foods and there’s plenty of local fresh produce to choose from. And there’s a discount for seniors.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1167543[/vimeo]
HMB Artichoke Growers Assn = John L. Debenedetti
From: History of San Mateo (narrative & biographical) by Frank Stanger (1938)
John L. Debenedetti
No citizen of San Mateo County has given more intensive and unselfish effort to the promotion of the prosperity and welfare of the community than has John L. Debenedetti, who as general manager of the Half Moon Bay Artichoke Association has achieved most noteworthy results. He is a native of the locality in which his interests are centered, having been born at Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County, on the 14th of January, 1880, a son of Joseph and Teresa (Scarpa) Debenedetti, who are represented elsewhere in this work.
John L. Debenedetti received his educational training in the public schools of Half Moon Bay and in Santa Clara College, after which he took a position in the business office of the San Francisco Call, where he remained two years. He subsequently engaged in mercantile pursuits, conducting general merchandise stores at South San Francisco and at San Bruno, for eight years, when he sold out to his brother, in order to take over the management of his father’s estate, incorporated under the name of the Joseph Debenedetti Company as well as the management of the estate of of the Misses Cuneo and Mrs. Debenedetti estate. While managing these extensive interests he became connected with the Bank of Half Moon Bay, as vice president, and soon became president of the bank, which he later sold in order to devote his entire time and attention to the development of the artichoke business, which in this locality had been neglected, as well as to give his personal attention to the management of the aforementioned estates. He became the chief organizer of the Half Moon Bay Artichoke Association, of which he was manager in 1916, and from that time on has been a hard and persistent worker in his efforts to introduce the artichoke into the markets of the country, principally in the east.
He has been eminently successful and has been the means of promoting the growing of this vegetable in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Mr. Debenedetti pioneered the Santa Cruz fields. On account of the increased eastern demand for this vegetable he later extended his activities to the Salinas Valley of Monterey county and today is the leading spirit in the industry, which has become one of great importance.
The Half Moon Bay Artichoke Grower’s Association is a cooperative organization of growers. They have branch sales organizations in the largest cities throughout the United States and maintain headquarters in San Francisco. Mr. Debenedetti is still devoting himself untiringly to its interests. In this connection also he has been very much interested in the welfare of the Italian immigrants who have located in this section of the country and many of whom, through his efforts and influence, have become prosperous and contented citizens of their adopted land. His splendid work in this regard was recognized by the Italian government, which expressed its appreciation by conferring on him the Chevalier Cross, a highly prized honor.
Mr. Debenedetti was united in marriage to Miss Rose F. Cuneo, who was born and reared in San Francisco and whose father was a prominent capitalist and philanthropist of that city. To Mr. and Mrs. Debenedetti have been born four children, as follows: John L., Jr., Rose Marie, Loraine and Joan. Politically Mr. Debenedetti gives his support to the democratic party and is a member of the Benovolent and Protective Order of Elks. The only public office held by him was that of county tax collector, to which he was appointed on giving up his stores, but he has no taste for politics, and has never consented to accept other offices , his chief interests being his business and his home. Unostentatious in manner, he is nevertheless a man of strong character and agreeable personality, and commands the confidence and esteem of the people generally, who recognize and appreciate the service he has rendered to his community.
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HMB Justice of the Peace was “M. J.” Bettencourt
From a published biography (I don’t have the year) of Judge Manuel Jesse Bettencourt
Judge Manuel J. Bettencourt was born at Half Moon Bay, and he has capably filled the office of Justice of the Peace there of the Fourth Township since 1930, and was just re-elected to the office on November 8, 1938, for another four -year term.
Judge Bettencourt was born on February 11, 1886, son of John and Mary (Machado) Bettencourt. His father, who is deceased, was born on the Island of St. George, one of the Azores group. His mother is still living at an advanced age in San Jose.
Judge Bettencourt was educated in the schools of San Benito County and in Santa Clara County, his parents having moved to Mountain View in the latter county in 1902. In 1904 he went to work for the J.S. Belchor Company, dealers in feed and fuel, and continued for about a year in this connection, and then joined the Levy Brothers Department Store, where he remained one year, following which he entered the employ of the San Mateo Feed and Fuel Company.
In 1911 Judge Bettencourt became manager of the Bank of Half Moon Bay, which in 1927 was sold to the Bank of America, and he continued on as manager until 1930.
Prominent in fraternal and other organizations, Judge Bettencourt has been a member of Ocean View Lodge of OddFellows of Half Moon Bay for the past twenty-seven years, and for the same length of time has been affiliated with the Seaside Parlor of Native Sons. He is a member and officer of the U.P.E.C. and the I.D.E.S., Portuguese fraternal lodges.
He married Irene de Bennedeti, who was also born in Half Moon Bay.
Judge Bettencourt is rated as one of the most prominent and influentical citizens on the coast side of the county. Long active in civic and community affairs, he is held in the highest esteem by his fellow citizens, and his election to the post of Justice of the Peace on three successive occasions is concrete evidence of his popularity.
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I did not meet “the Judge,” as the locals called him; he passed away before I came her– but I was very lucky to talk with his wife, Irene, on several occasions. Irene was the most active 90-year-old in town. Nothing could stop her–she loved driving her bright yellow VW “bug” around Half Moon Bay as much as she enjoyed relaxing in the afternoon with a cocktail.
We called her Irene, not Mrs. Bettencourt. I wish I could describe how she wore her hair because it just completed her elegant “look.” Irene Bettencourt lived in the home her husband, “the Judge” built about 1915 on Johnston Street, still home to many oldtimers. I recall Irene telling me that, when built, their home was on the outskirts of Half Moon Bay!
When Irene Debenedetti and Manuel Bettencourt wed, observers noted the marriage was a kind of “merger”, a marriage joining Half Moon Bay’s Italian and Portuguese community.
When she was 99, Irene Bettencourt gave up driving, and maybe her afternoon cocktail, too. She told friends that she was finally tired. Irene Bettencourt passed away in Half Moon Bay at age 100 in 1990.
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Judge Manuel J. Bettencourt passed away in June 1969.
Services will be held in Half Moon Bay Wednesday for Manuel Jesse Bettencourt, a well known real estate and insurance broker, a former banker, and a past Justice of the Peace.
Mr. Bettencourt died in his Half Moon Bay office of a stroke. He was 83.
A native of Half Moon Bay, Mr. Bettencourt was president of the Bank of Half Moon Bay from 1912 to 1928. In 1926 he sold his interest in the bank to the Bank of America but stayed on for two years as manager. From 1928 to 1950 [ed. Including the years of Prohibition and WW II] he was a Justice of the Peace, and until two years ago owned a lumber yard [ed. This would be Half Moon Bay Lumber, which was located on the Main Street side of the Bettencourt home.]
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[Note: I wish I had a photo of the Bettencourts together.]
On Legacy: What do people leave behind?
The heart of El Granada is the post office. Would you believe me if I told you that it’s fun to go to the post office? It is in El Granada. Not only are the folks who work there great, but on Saturday mornings Burt and I run into the most fascinating locals picking up their mail.
On this bright, sunny and mild Saturday morning, I met the videographer David Hodge. He lives in Miramar which is rapidly turning into a close-knit community of artists, musicians and painters.
[I’ve blogged about photographer/adventurer Michael Powers, painter Linda Montalto Patterson, her husband Richard, a well known classical guitarist and impressario Pete Douglas, but there are many more artists living there that I need to discover.]
David Hodge told me the video he’s working on right now is called “Legacy.”
“What people leave behind,” David explained.
Then I had to leave but not before David invited me to his website. I’ve been there, and it’s excellent….to visit, please click here
Here’s the background on Legacy, the video David Hodge is currently working on:
Legacy, a video installation now in design, will explore this universal question: what does one leave behind? Legacy will employ cinematic portraiture techniques not seen before, to draw the viewer deep into questions of life, lifestyle, and one’s bequest to the future. Avoiding high-level abstractions or political theories, and focusing instead on individual examples and stories, Legacy will lead viewers through captivating examples, while still allowing them room for their own interpretations of what they have seen. The installation will present a suite of stories that harmonize with each other, yet also reveal contrasts, conflicts and challenges. As viewers walk from one screen to another, they will also “walk” through the landscape of selected lives, dreams, actions, regrets, and passions, Legacy will leave its audience with a heightened awareness of how the future affects and informs the present, as the human heart seeks guidance from its imperfect foresight.
Cacti & Succulents heat up El Granada
Artist/landscaper Leon Kunke 
had a lot to do with introducing me to the creative and unusual world of cacti and succulents. No problem growing them in El Granada’s “banana belt.”
The succulent in the pot is a Haworthia coarctata v. adelaidensis
Last time I looked, Half Moon Bay Nursery on Highway 92 had a great selection of succulents. We also love visiting Flora Grubb in San Francisco. Succulents and cacti are one of their specialties. Both HMB Nursery and Flora Grubb Gardens make a good little outing. If you haven’t been to Flora Grubb, you are in for a big surprise.
Back in the 1960s, 70s, many artists came from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay to purchase flowers and plants. Sometimes they traded their paintings or handmade furniture for plants. One of the more fanciful artists was Tony Duquette, who just loved to interior decorate and went to great extremes in that endeavor. A couple of years ago Wendy Goodman and Hutton Wilkinson wrote a beautifully illustrated book about Tony Duquette.
La Peninsula: How Maverick’s Works by Montara resident Bruce Jenkins
& The Many Sides of Pigeon Point by JoAnne Semones
Review by John Vonderlin
Email John ([email protected])
Hi June,
I was just reading the Winter issue of “La Peninsula,” the Journal of the San Mateo Historical Association. The cover and first twelve pages are devoted to an excellent article about Maverick’s by Bruce Jenkins, a Montara resident. Bruce, the advisor to the History Museum’s interactive Maverick’s exhibit and author of several big wave surfing books, knows his subject really well and so do we after reading the article. He’s got good inside stuff, covers the history well, and also delves into the spirit of the unusual group of surfers who risk their lives challenging the monsters that can build, collapse and explode at our local, world famous surf spot. With sponsorship secured, invitees picked, all we need now is for Mother Nature to co-operate, and we’ll once again be exposed to one of the most daring sporting events anywhere.
With the great low tides over the next few days, if I can arrange it, I might try to make a circum-Pillar trip and get some pictures of Maverick’s, Mushroom Rock, etc. from the foot of the Point, something impossible during the event.
The other article completing the issue is “The Storied Waters of Pigeon Point,” by JoAnne Semones.” JoAnne, the author of “Shipwrecks, Scalawags, and Scavengers,” an excellent chronicling of a century of the tragedy-filled Maritime history of the treacherous waters the Pigeon Point Lighthouse was built to neuter, has added new material from rare oral histories and personal interviews with the keepers’ families and local residents. She has included historic smuggler stories that should be great background for some of the tales I’m hoping Rob Tillitz will share about his experiences in these waters. Enjoy. John
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