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January 27, 2010 ■ Stories about local schools, students and issues related to learning ALSO
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ST. R AYMOND PARISH CELEBRATES THE PAST 60 YEARS AND LOOKS AHEAD TO MEETING TODAY’S CHALLENGES.
S
ixty years ago, St. Raymond parishioners gathered for their first Mass in a little theater on the former Felix McGinnis estate in Menlo Park. The little wooden building, known as the little theater or playhouse, was built by Mr. McGinnis for his daughter, an aspiring actress. The playhouse would become the setting for St. Raymond worship services for the next nine years.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, Mass will once again be held in the playhouse, now on the site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Arbor Road and Valparaiso Avenue. A return visit to the playhouse will be a remembrance of things past for longtime parishioners, as well as local history buffs. The Rev. William Myers, St. Raymond parish administrator, and former parish priests will take part in a celebration Mass at 10 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, in St. Raymond Parish, 1100 Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park. Menlo Park Mayor Rich Cline will speak to commemorate St. Raymond’s 60th anniversary. A community social and historical photo exhibit will follow at Arbor House, the priests’ residence. The public is invited. St. Raymond Parish began in 1950 as Menlo Park’s Catholic community was outgrowing its first home, the Church of the Nativity on Oak Grove Avenue. The Archdiocese of San Francisco purchased 11 acres of the Felix McGinnis estate at Santa Cruz Avenue and Arbor Road to build a new church and school. The school was built before St. Raymond Church was constructed along Santa Cruz
By Jane Knoerle Almanac Lifestyles Editor
Avenue, for good reason. “The need for schools was great in those days,” recalls Sister Nancy Morris, former director of Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, who is now associated with St. Raymond School. California was experiencing a building boom at the time. Young families were flocking to the suburbs. “Servicemen, who came out to California during World War II, fell in love with the weather, stayed and wanted to raise families here,” she said. St. Raymond School opened on Oct. 20, 1954, with 143 children in grades 1 through 5. Since it was the Baby Boom era, it was not unusual to have 50 or more children in a class. Msgr. Edwin Kennedy became the first pastor of the fledgling parish. A San Francisco native, with a doctorate in canon law from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., he had just returned from eight years in Hawaii, where he was assistant to the vicar delegate of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Pacific. The distinctive church at 1100 Santa Cruz Ave. was finally built in 1959, nearly
10 years after the parish was founded. It was named for St. Raymond of Penafort, a contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi, and a church lawyer born in the late 12th century. St. Raymond is the patron saint of lawyers and, more recently, surfers. Today, St. Raymond Parish is a cornerstone of Catholic life in Menlo Park. Generations of children have graduated from its school. Hundreds of baptisms, weddings and funerals have taken place. Those remaining founding families are grandparents or great-grandparents now. Several still live in the parish.
The early years Some parish “old-timers,” together with Father James Morris, gathered at St. Raymond recently to reminisce about the early days. The group included attorney Howard Daschbach. He and his wife, Lenore, have been members of the parish since its beginning. Ms. Daschbach moved to Atherton in 1935 with her parents, and Mr. Daschbach came West to attend Stanford
Interior of St. Raymond Parish in Menlo Park with the original altar. The photograph was taken in 1960, a year after the Catholic church was completed.
Law School. Five of the six Daschbach children, LeeLee, Rooney, Lisa, Mark and Michelle, as well as eight grandchildren, have attended St. Raymond School. Mr. Daschbach was named “Man of the Decade” by the St. Raymond Men’s Club at its annual lobster dinner last May. Rud Scholz moved to Palo Alto with his family in 1943 and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, commuting by steam train. He dated a girl who lived on Santa Cruz Avenue and thought Menlo Park was the greatest place he’d ever seen. He and his wife, Claire, moved to Arbor Road in Menlo Park in 1961, and he says he still feels the same way. “We think this is one of the jewels of the Peninsula,” he says. All four of the Scholz children, Steven, Gregory, Kathy and Ken, were baptized at St. Raymond. Larry Johnston and his sister, Eveleen Lopez, moved to Menlo Park in 1936, when their father became the first manager of the town’s Bank of America branch. “Menlo Park was a small town when we came here,” says Mr. Johnston. Eveleen was a student at St. Joseph School when See ST. RAYMOND PARISH, page 23
January 27, 2010 N The Almanac N 21
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800.442.0989 or research@aestheticsresearchcenter.com NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF MENLO PARK PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 8, 2010 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the City of Menlo Park, California, is scheduled to review the following items: PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS Use Permit/Neil Swartzberg and Loreli Cadapan/277A Willow Road: Request for a use permit to construct first- and second-story additions to an existing single-story, single-family, nonconforming residence that would exceed 50 percent of the replacement value of the existing structure in a 12-month period and would add more than 50 percent of the existing square footage on a substandard lot with regard to lot width and area in the R-1-U (Single-Family Urban) zoning district. The proposed remodeling and expansion are considered to be equivalent to a new structure. Use Permit/Charles Holman/1750 Holly Avenue: Request for a use permit for interior and exterior modifications and an addition to the rear of the residence that would exceed 75 percent of the replacement value of the existing non-conforming residence located on a standard size lot in the R-1-S (Single Family Suburban) zoning district. Variance, Use Permit, Minor Subdivision, and Environmental Review/ Richard Tincher/433-439 O’Connor Street: Request to subdivide one parcel into two lots in the R-1-U (Single-Family Urban) zoning district, and a request for a variance to reduce the minimum lot width to 52.7 feet where 65 feet is the minimum. In addition, a request for a use permit to construct one new, two-story single-family residence on one of the newly created substandard lot with regard to lot width. Due to the variance request, the proposed project is not categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act and a Negative Declaration is being prepared to analyze the potential environmental impacts. As part of this development, the following heritage tree is proposed for removal: A cedar in the front yard with a 34-inch diameter at breast height (DBH) in fair condition. NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that said Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on public hearing items in the Council Chambers of the City of Menlo Park, located at 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park, on Monday, February 8, 2010, 7:00 p.m. or as near as possible thereafter, at which time and place interested persons may appear and be heard thereon. If you challenge this item in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Menlo Park at, or prior to, the public hearing. The project file may be viewed by the public on weekdays between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, with alternate Fridays closed, at the Department of Community Development, 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park. Please call the Planning Division if there are any questions and/or for complete agenda information (650) 330-6702. Si usted necesita mås información sobre este proyecto, por favor llame al 650-330-6702, y pregunte por un asistente que hable espaùol. DATED: January 21, 2010 PUBLISHED: January 27, 2010
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Visit our Web site for Planning Commission public hearing, agenda, and staff report information: www.menlopark.org 22 N The Almanac N January 27, 2010
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C O M M U N I T Y
Board edges M-A closer to night games By Dave Boyce Almanac Staff Writer
T
he long tradition of daytimeonly football games at Menlo-Atherton High School is under intensifying scrutiny. As wary Atherton neighbors argue for a go-slow approach out of concern for unwanted noise, light and possibly crime intruding into their community during night games, M-A’s football and lacrosse boosters are pushing for lights. The governing board of the
Sequoia Union High School District on Wednesday, Jan. 20, unanimously approved a $31,000 twomonth environmental-impact study by Menlo Park-based TRA Environmental Sciences. The study will assume the use of permanent lights and will include conversations with all stakeholders, including neighbors, officials at M-A, and possibly contacts in local government, school district spokeswoman Bettylu Smith said via e-mail.
In a nod to the complexity of the issue, the Sequoia board in its initial look at the matter in November had discussed the possibility of long-term use of temporary lights. Portable generator-driven lights run about $2,500 per use, Ms. Smith said. Clean and quiet “higher quality” temporary lights tied to the electrical grid would cost between $30,000 and $50,000 per year, she said. Permanent lights would cost the district about $250,000.
Menlo School stages ‘Twelfth Night’ Menlo School’s drama department will present Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night” Jan. 28-31 at the Florence Moore Theatre on campus at 50 Valparaiso Ave. in Atherton. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28-31, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Jan. 30. Tickets, at $5 for students and senior citizens and $8 for adults, are available at tickets@menloschool.org, at the campus bookstore, or at the door of Florence Moore Theatre, 50 Valparaiso Ave. in Atherton.