An Intriguing Case in MVPD ’ s History
Nick Perry Receives Preservation Award
An Intriguing Case in MVPD ’ s History
By Pamela Baird MVHA President
Last year board member Carol Donahue and I were in the Mtn . View History Center looking through its large map and folio cabinet trying to learn more about what contents the cabinet holds . Carol found a small piece of light-colored marble with a label on the back ( see above photo ). We looked at each other —“ a bombing of a bank in Mountain View ”? Neither of us had heard anything about this before . Thus began a search to learn more about the incident .
An online search yielded no results ; the Mountain View historic newspaper database — available only at the Mtn . View Library — was necessary to learn more . A full accounting of the incident was found in the August 22 , 1938 , issue of the Mountain View Register Leader newspaper .
At 3:00 a . m . on the morning of Friday ,
August 19 , 1938 , a blast rattled the town . Police Officer Claude Steach ( a distant relative of MVHA member Jerry Steach ) had just emerged from the Steach Restaurant , where he had enjoyed a cup of coffee ( evidently , he served on the night shift ). He ran down the street and saw a person hurrying from the side of the Bank of America building ( today home of the Red Rock Café ). Steach pulled the fire alarm and then fruitlessly searched by car for the suspect .
Steach then joined Mtn . View Fire Department personnel and other curious onlookers to assess the situation . Damage was sustained around the door where the suspect had placed several sticks of dynamite . Windows in the bank building and surrounding stores were blown out . Fortunately , no one was injured . The bank opened the next morning for business as usual . The glass in the windows of the bank and surrounding buildings was quickly replaced .
With the help the Santa Clara County Sheriff ’ s Department , the FBI and a tip provided by Steach , Lorenzo Cerutti , age 50 , was arrested several days later . Mr . Cerutti confessed to the bombing . Ten sticks of dynamite were placed against the side door and detonated . His motive was revenge for the foreclosure of his home several years earlier . Evidently townspeople knew of his anger towards the bank and were not surprised that Cerutti was the culprit .
Cerruti was charged with “ malicious use of dynamite ” and booked into county jail . A month later he was sentenced to serve a term of at least one year in San Quentin Prison .
Financial Report
By Melissa Rusch MVHA Treasurer
Checking Account Ending Balance 03 / 29 / 2024 : $ 17,975.81 Checking Account Ending Balance 06 / 28 / 2024 : $ 17,706.88 YTD 2024 Income : $ 2,417.35 YTD 2024 Expenses : $ 3,395.37 Key expenditures : Correction of funding not previously allocated to the Monument account , MVHA newsletter and costs associated , Adobe house meetings and costs associated Key income : Memberships , donations , book sales and walking tours Certificates of Deposit as of 06 / 29 / 2024 : $ 62,057.21
Nick Perry Receives Preservation Award
By Jerry Steach & Marina Marinovich MVHA Members
Mtn . View historian Nick Perry was honored recently with a Distinguished Preservation Service Award from the Santa Clara County Preservation Alliance ( SCCPA ). The award recognizes his years of work preserving Mtn . View history .
Perry joined the MVHA board of directors in 2011 , serving over the years as its newsletter editor , vice president , and president . “ Through his published works and his tireless contributions to the Mountain View Historical Association , Nick Perry has done more than anyone I ’ ve met to preserve the history and heart of the Mountain View community ,” said Robert Cox , MVHA vice president . Perry was introduced by Cox at the May 17 SCCPA May 17 award ceremonies in San Jose .
Perry is the author of Images of America : Mountain View ( 2006 ) and Mountain View : Then & Now ( 2012 ). A descendant of Mexican migrant farmworkers and Portuguese immigrants who came to Santa Clara Valley early in the 20th Century , Perry grew up hearing many stories about his hometown ’ s diverse past . As a teenager , those family stories piqued Perry ’ s curiosity and led him to the Mtn . View History Center , where dedicated MVHA volunteers helped him comb the archives to find answers to his questions . Perry shared his research by creating the online Guide to Mountain View — likely the first website ever dedicated to the city ’ s history . His website led to a high school planning internship with the City of Mtn . View and an appointment to the city ’ s first official Youth Advisory Group , the predecessor to today ’ s Youth Advisory Committee .
Perry ’ s curiosity in how cities evolve and how good planning can help shape them into better places led him to attain a Bachelor ’ s in Urban Studies and Master of City Planning degree from UC Berkeley . While in college he stayed active in Mountain View ; he was appointed to its 2002 Centennial Celebration planning committee and helped form a non-profit focused on preserving its historic buildings . Since graduating from Cal , he ’ s dedicated his career to projects that preserve and enhance our region ’ s unique sense-of-place . In 2020 , after twelve years working as an urban designer for the San Francisco Planning Department , Perry joined the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority where he is managing a master plan for the restoration of over 1,500 acres of recently protected open space in Coyote Valley .
Through his books , local history lectures , interpretive signage design , newsletter articles , and historic walking tours , Perry continues to preserve and share local history with the community , giving both newcomers and old-timers new insights and appreciation for our region ’ s dynamic evolution over time .
Our community is very lucky to have such a dedicated and knowledgeable person .
3