IN THE FORM OF A QUESTION: If you cannot
answer at least three of the following quiz questions about
Greater Noe Valley,
then either you just blew into town or you’ve never strayed
far from your
permeable sidewalk. Those who get all the answers right will
receive a virtual
blue ribbon. (The answers, all except for the answer to
question #10, can be
found at the end of this column.) Anyone who knows the answer
to question #10
should email me c/o editor@noevalleyvoice.com by April 23. You
will receive a
real blue ribbon. All of you regular Voice readers
already
know the answer to question #1, since you’ve had a month to
figure it out. Good
luck.
1. Where in Noe Valley was Fat Ron’s Deli?
2. Who is the president of the Noe Valley
Merchants and
Professionals Association?
3. Who was Alvin Edlin and what was the name of
his business?
4. What famous Noe Valley cartoonists sold
their house back in
1998 and moved to a farm in East Haddam, Connecticut?
5. Name the structure near Noe Valley that is
the oldest
building in San Francisco. What happened at that site on June
29, 1776?
6. What is the claim to fame of the house at
159 Liberty St.?
7. Where are the Harry Street Steps?
8. Where in downtown Noe Valley is the El Vira
Building (also
known as Elvira)?
9. Before it was Sterling Bank what was it?
10. The Blue Ribbon Question: For
what it’s
worth, where exactly in Noe Valley is Worth?
= = =
DO YOU NOE THE WAY: Downtown
Noe Valley became a destination for more than 35 members of
the Northern
California Concierge Association, which is a non-profit
professional
organization for concierges employed at more than 50 Bay Area
hotels. They took
a tour of our Main Street in the late afternoon of the vernal
equinox (March
20). The tour was arranged by the Noe Valley Merchants and
Professionals
Association as part of its effort to attract more visitors to
our urban
village.
“According to SF Travel, our partners in
commerce and the
liaison agency to the Mayor’s Office, tourism generates 6.3
billion dollars in
revenue to the city of San Francisco,” says tour organizer
Dani Sheehan-Meyer.
“We just need a little bit of that to thrive.”
Many in the group came to Noe Valley via a
special bus from the
downtown Marriott, which landed them at the top of 24th Street
at Cliché Noe
Gift Store. Others came by way of the J-Church, disembarking
at Noe’s Bar. The
concierges broke up into smaller groups, and several of our
merchants acted as
guides in Downtown Noe Valley. The visitors were treated to
hors d’oeuvres at a
range of eateries, from Noe’s to Contigo, and received gifts
from many
retailers.
One of the tour guides, Carol Yenne from Small
Frys, was
delighted with the event and impressed with the turnout.
“This is the first time we have ever done this
kind of thing,
and I think it will generate more tourists visiting our
commercial corridor,
especially when they [the concierges] saw how easy it is to
get out here by
public transit.” Yenne said she was surprised that many in her
group “had never
been out to our neighborhood, and [they were] very pleased
with what they saw.”
The tour ended with a big reception on the
Savor restaurant
patio, with good eats, a raffle, and prizes. Each concierge
got a supply of the
2013 edition of the NVMPA’s Noe Valley Guide, and
merchants
are now bracing for the onslaught of shoppers.
= = =
If you
see this lovely lady on April 7, please wish her a happy
birthday. Jeanne Galarza will be 93 and on her way to a
celebratory lunch on 24th Street.Photo by Lorraine Lombardo
A WALK ON THE NOE
SIDE: When
Jeanne Galarza takes her daily walk in downtown Noe Valley on
April 7, it will
likely take most of the day to finish. She was born on April 7
back in 1920 in
Stockton, California, but has lived here in San Francisco for
almost all of her
93 years. Noe Valley has been her residence since 1991.
Her progress won’t be hindered by her gait but
by her gaiety. On
her walk from her home on Church Street at 22nd—up Church to
24th, then up 24th
to Castro, then back down 24th to Church, then home—she talks
to scores of
people who work at businesses along the route or sit outside
at the parklets.
It may take several hours to hear everybody’s rendition of
“Happy Birthday.”
“I have met people from all over the world on
24th Street,” says
Galarza, “and there are so many wonderful people who live in
this neighborhood,
such a diversity of people—all kinds—and they all are so
nice.”
Says the ninety-genarian, “My walk every day
makes my day. It
makes me feel good! I walk up to Walgreen’s and then on the
way back stop at
Phoenix Books to check for anything interesting in their free
box, and I shop
at Whole Foods mostly for their fruit, and sometimes go in and
get a pastry at
Starbucks, but I like to talk to the people who sit outside at
Bernie’s and
Martha’s.”
Our 24th Street beat officer, Lorraine
Lombardo, says she will
be spending at least an hour with Galarza at a birthday lunch
on 24th Street.
“I asked her if she would like to lunch with me on her
birthday, and she said,
‘Well okay, but I have never eaten in a restaurant in Noe
Valley.’” Galarza
confirms that eating out in a restaurant will be a special
treat.
= = =
MY WORD: The WordWeek
Book Festival, brought to us by Friends of Noe Valley (with
special thanks to
Richard May and Peggy Cling), was a huge success. On March 23,
St. Philip’s
parish hall was packed with people perusing the tables of
upwards of 40 local
authors. There were successful children’s book authors, such
as Brandi
Dougherty and Michelle Cannon, and a science fiction writer,
Suhail Rafidi,
surrounded by a crowd. Olivia Boler and Laura McHale Holland
from the Voice were
there, as was Patricia Lee Jackson, author of the
lesbian parables Takes
an Uprising. G.A. Peters gave out turquoise, white, and
beige candy with
his humorous illustrated book, The Dark Side of
Decorating, and
Michael Castleman got everyone excited about his new murder
mystery,Killer
Weed. (You can download the first seven chapters
free at
killerweednovel.com.) History author Bill Yenne also was there
with his latest,
a paperback western novel called Bladen Cole: Bounty
Hunter.
Elizabeth
Street resident John Bird is an editor at U.C. Berkeley’s
Haas School of Business, but he plays an art history
professor in his new novel: Chasing My Long Shadows.
Spring certainly appears to be the time for new
books. Elizabeth
Street resident John Bird, who edited the Noe Valley Ministry
newsletter for 10
years, has published a book titled Chasing My Long
Shadows: A Tale of
Love, Lust, and Taking the Long Way Home.He says it’s
about an art history
professor facing a midlife crisis who decides to explore some
new experiences.
(Parental discretion advised.) You can find the book on the
“Local Authors”
shelf at Phoenix Books, he
says. Bird currently works as an editor at U.C. Berkeley’s
Haas School of
Business, by the way.
Another local author, Daphne Miller, is seeing
her second
health-related book released this month. Dr. Miller—she has a
family practice
on Sanchez Street—pennedFarmacology: What Innovative Family
Farming Can
Teach Us About Health and Healing.
Farmacology will hit the bookshelves
April 16, and a
gala party to celebrate its release has been scheduled for
April 30 at the
Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market. Miller, whom most people call
“Dr. Daphne,”
describes the work as “an adventure by a Harvard-trained
family doctor who ends
up on [seven] family farms around this country to learn the
hidden connections
between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food.”
She also has had good luck with her first
book, The
Jungle Effect, which is about “the wisdom of
bringing traditional
diets to our own plates, in the interest of both our general
health and our
pleasure.”
Dr. Daphne has appeared on TV and radio talk
shows like Dr.
Oz and Michael Krasny’s Forum, at the
Commonwealth Club,
and in Vogue magazine.
Expect Farmacology (what a
great name) to
create a big splash. Miller has already won reviews from Alice
Waters, Andrew
Weil, Raj Patel, Michael Pollan, and the founder of the Slow
Food Movement,
Carlo Petrini.
= = =
Fima
Gelman’s portrait series of the Mary H. family recently
won a gold ribbon from the Professional Photographers of
the Greater Bay Area. Photo by
Fima Gelman
ODDS & ENDS &
EVENS: Everybody
is very happy with Happy Donuts’ new sign. Go take a look.…
Kudos to Castro
Street photographer Fima Gelman, who won a gold ribbon in the
Best Photo Album
category from the Professional Photographers of the Greater
Bay Area.… The
editors have corrected the online version of last
month’s Rumors, but
for all you print media folks, the Mark Zuckerberg item
talking about a house
in the 3000 block of 21st Street should have read “the 3600
block of 21st
Street.” It also appears that the Facebook folks bought two
properties “down
the hill,” not just one. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg was spotted
buying flowers at
the French Tulip. That’s really cool....
Looks like SF City and County is actively
moving towards the
purchase of what will become the Noe Valley Town Square.
City-hired drillers
appeared on the property to take soil samples (which is
routine whenever the
city is buying property), and the square is another step
closer to becoming a
reality. I think the square should be named the Town
Circle....
Good luck to Noe Valley’s world-class chef
Chris Cosentino. The
Incanto star has being nominated for a James Beard 2013 award.
The awards
ceremony will happen in New York City on May 6. And congrats
to Noe Valley star
restaurants Contigo and La Ciccia, for best Spanish and
Italian restaurants,
respectively, in 7x7 magazine….
It was nice seeing that a two-disk CD, Riverrun, has
recently
been released. It was recorded live at the Noe Valley Ministry
a
couple of years ago and features bassist Michael Manring,
flutist Larry Kassin,
and pianist Tom Darter, who bill themselves as “the world’s
most sophisticated
jam-band,” and they are. You might want to go see them on
April 20 at Studio 55
Marin, 1455 E. Francisco Blvd., in San Rafael.... How about a
shout out to The
Whole Hog blog (wholehog.wordpress.com) for
their
wonderful piece, “Noe Stairway Walks,” last month....
And doors are opening and closing quickly these
days, with
Selecta Auto Body moving to Bernal Heights and Noe Valley Auto
Works expanding
upstairs on 24th Street. Selecta says it will offer a mobile
estimator service
for its Noe Valley customers.
Noe Valley Deli surprised many by closing
without fanfare last
month, after 34 years on 24th Street. Permits have been
applied for, for
various upgrades to what appears to be an incoming food
service there….
Speaking of food, it looks as if the so-called
Asia fusion
restaurant on the corner of 25th and Church has passed all of
its inspections
and is ready to go, but when exactly it will open is still
unknown.
= = =
THERE WILL COME AN
ANSWER: You
may now look at the answers to the first nine questions:
1. Where in Noe Valley was Fat Ron’s
Deli? 4015
24th St., where Tung Sing is now located. Karim Balat bought
Fat Ron’s in 1979
and moved down the street to 4007 24th in 1989, establishing
the Noe Valley
Deli.
2. Who is the president of the Noe
Valley Merchants and
Professionals Association? Robert T. Roddick.
Roddick, whom everyone
calls “Bob,” runs Noe Valley Law Offices at 1330 Castro St.
3. Who was Alvin Edlin and what was the
name of his
business? Alvin Edlin is legend in these parts. His
nickname in
Downtown Noe Valley was “Bud,” and he owned and operated Bud’s
Ice Cream on the
corner of 24th and Castro from 1952 to 1980. The shop space
was ultra small,
and Bud made all of his flavors in the creamery in the back of
the store. Bud
sold to a group of investors in 1980.
4. What famous Noe Valley cartoonists
sold their house
back in 1998 and moved to a farm in East Haddam,
Connecticut? That
would be Bill Griffith, famous for Zippy the Pinhead, and
his
wife, Diane Noomin, creator of the character Didi Glitz and
editor of the
anthology Twisted Sisters. By the way, my old
page-mate at the Voice sends
his best regards to everyone. Griffith emailed saying he has a
new book coming
out later this month called Zippy: The Dingburg
Diaries, a
collection of his latest Zippy strips. He says he still lives
in CT and teaches
comics to sophomores in New York City’s School of Visual Arts.
5. Name the structure near Noe Valley
that is the oldest
building in San Francisco. What happened on June 29, 1776? Yes,
the
oldest building in our urban mecca is Mission Dolores, located
on Dolores near
16th Street. At that site, along the shores of Lake
Dolores (La Laguna
de Nuestra Senora de los Dolores), an arbor was
constructed and a
special mass celebrated on June 29, 1776, by Father Francisco
Palou. Palou was
the chaplain for a small band of Spanish soldiers sent here by
Captain Juan
Bautista de Anza to establish a military outpost for Spain
(the Presidio).
6. What is the claim to fame of the
house at 159 Liberty
St.? The house at 159 Liberty was built in 1878 and
owned for a long
time by Judge Daniel J. Murphy. The house, according to the
authors of Here
Today: San Francisco’s Architectural Heritage, became
“a hotbed of the
women’s suffrage movement,” as evidenced by an invitation to
the house by
Murphy “to meet Miss Susan B. Anthony, Rev. Anna Shaw, and
others interested in
the ‘Woman’s Suffrage’ question, for a social chat.”
7. Where are the Harry Street Steps? The
steps
are located in Fairmount Heights off the 100 block of Laidley
Street. Harry
Street has 241 wooden steps that climb through trees and yards
from Laidley up
to Beacon Street.
8. Where in downtown Noe Valley is the
El Vira Building? It
is located at 3993 24th St. at Noe, and it consists of the six
residential
units above Toast and Starbucks.
9. Before it was Sterling Bank what was
it? A
coin-operated laundromat called Launderland, which also
occupied the space next
door (on 24th near Church Street).
10. The Blue Ribbon Question: Where
exactly in Noe
Valley is Worth? That answer will be revealed in
the May issue.
