Mtn. Review Special Edition Late Summer 2020 | Page 2

News & Notes President’s Message By Nicholas Perry MVHA President Dear MVHA Members, This newsletter is published four times a year by the MOUNTAIN VIEW HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION P.O. Box 252, Mountain View, CA 94042 www.mountainviewhistorical.org MVHA Board of Directors President: Nicholas Perry Vice-President: Robert Cox Secretary: Jamil Shaikh Treasurer: Emily Ramos Past President: Candace Bowers Historical Data: Melissa Wright Membership: Lisa Roquero Garcia Newsletter: John Cortez Ways & Means: Mark Perry Director-at-Large: Mary Kay Marinovich Director-at-Large: Gil Lane Newsletter Copy Editor: Cynthia Hanson Newsletter Graphic Designer: Nick Perry MVHA Board of Directors Email: [email protected] Voicemail: [phone] In Memoriam Garrett Hammell April 9, 2020 MVHA member & founder of: “Lost Mountain View” facebook group I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well during these challenging times. Our lives have changed dramatically since I last wrote to you here at the start of 2020. As I’ve noted in this column before, my family no longer lives in Mountain View and the MVHA’s meetings and events have been our Frontline worker tribute at 390 Palo Alto Avenue. Thanks to Renee Scherer for sending us the photo! primary connection to our hometown. It’s felt so strange to not have a MVHArelated reason to visit Mountain View for six months. While taking this unexpected break from MV history, I’ve been watching history unfold from my home on the other Castro Street, in San Francisco. It was shocking to see how quickly this bustling city shutdown. The first thing we noticed was the sudden absence of the noisy Google busses that drove past our apartment on their way to Mountain View! After shelter-in-place officially began, we found hope and encouragement in daily walks spotting dozens of rainbow drawings taped to neighbors’ windows. By mid-March, a new nightly ritual was in full force: At 8:00 p.m. cheers and applause for frontline workers erupted from the city’s hills and valleys. And a few times, later in the night, an eerie natural callback to those cheers could be heard: the howls of coyotes (yes, coyotes!) venturing into the neighborhood, emboldened by the sudden lack of people and traffic. Those early weeks of the pandemic felt like the entire Castro had fallen asleep and we were collectively living in a surreal dream. And then, the murder of George Floyd on May 25, and a sudden reawakening of the neighborhood in early June. Helicopters buzzed overhead, protests in support of Black Lives Matter filled Castro Street, a nightly curfew was imposed. In a non-pandemic world, I would have joined the protests. But I’m taking their message to heart. Mountain View has long prided itself for its ethnic diversity; and during my time on the MVHA Board we’ve made it a priority to reflect the city’s diversity in our events and programs. But there’s still more work to be done. I’m starting by educating myself about the local history of the Black community. Please see my article on page 3 for more information. As we head into the fall, it’s hard to predict what the future has in store. With COVID-19 still threatening us, wildfires threatening our communities, and an important election coming in November, I’m afraid the months ahead will be just as eventful as the ones we’ve just lived through. All of this is a long way of me getting to my main point: We are all now witnesses to what will be a defining year in history. If you live in Mountain View, consider writing down your thoughts or snapping photos that capture what life is like in your neighborhood right now. Future local historians will thank you for helping to memorialize how the events of 2020 affected the lives of the people of Mountain View. If there’s anything you’d like to add to our archives, contact us! As you’ve probably guessed, the MVHA has canceled all in-person events until guidance from Santa Clara County health officials indicate it will be safe to hold public gatherings again. In the meanwhile, we hope you’ll stay connected with us online and that you’ll join us for our first-ever virtual event on Zoom on September 6. Until then, stay healthy, be safe, and take care. —Nick 2