June 2021 Homestead Headlines

Volume 65, Issue 6 | June 2021

Download the Headlines here

June 2021 Community Center Calendar

Public meetings and gatherings are cancelled until further notice.

1 | Firewise Committee |

8 | HVLT Board |

15 | HVCA Board |

22 | Sanitary District Board |

1st/3rd Weds. | Tam Design Review Board |

Community Center and Pool Update

Pool Renovation On Track

By Ashley MacDonald

The Homestead Valley Pool Renovation project is back on track! After the first round of bids last year (which came in much higher than estimated, thanks to increased costs of raw materials due to the pandemic) our volunteers, County staff and architectural team reviewed and revised the project. Following another round of bids and some brilliant financing work by board member Alan Cowan and former resident/board member Scott Greenstone, a contractor has been awarded the project by the County of Marin. We are scheduled to begin construction in September 2021!

By beginning the project in the early Fall, we are hoping to accomplish some important priorities. We hope that we will get a few months of dry weather before the winter rains appear and a larger portion of the major construction can be done in a timely manner. We are also preparing to have a modified pool season, similar to last summer (stay tuned for announcements). Camp Funderblast will be returning to the meadow to serve local families and children. We also want to keep the meadow open as a safe gathering place for as long as possible during the summer months.

The new pool design will feature a completely new pump and maintenance system, salt-water filtration system, new restrooms and changing rooms, outdoor showers, a new pool deck and upgraded features throughout. We are so excited to present this pool to the Homestead Valley community in the Spring of 2022!

Land Trust Notes

Worth It

It was a clear and warm day in early June; even the night had been warmer than usual. I was heading up the valley through the Land Trust holdings to check on the high trail on Homestead Hill. The pure purple of harvest brodiaea were seen against the salmon pink of ripening rattlesnake grass, intermingling with the sherbert orange of monkey flower, or next to the red-orange of Indian paint brush. A few hardy poppies were still kicking around.

Where I remembered the glory of the iris blossoms, sculptural seed pods stood dark blue-brown. The decorative cow parsnip pods were beginning to dry. The Scotch broom seeds were dry enough to rattle but the sheaths weren't ready to pop. Wild hazelnuts were turning tan in their green husks. Here and there, in the open, a blushing buckwheat hung low to the ground.

There were some edible treats; native blackberries, their taste delicate and clear, the flavor of spring. Salmon berries were big but still mostly green.

But it was not all sweetness and joy. Some of the attractive color was poison oak, already turning red in drier spots. A lush green specimen had almost closed the high trail. Sweat stung my eyes as I worked to clear it, and small black flies buzzed around in demented fashion. When I reached a cool glade with pools for the dog to lap, a cloud of mosquitos hovered around my bare legs and arms. After leaving the dry grassy areas I had many kinds of seeds and burrs to pick out of my socks.

Even so, sitting in the rambling oak with a view by Homestead Trail, drinking hot tea from a thermos in the cooling breeze, I felt it was worth it, whatever the minor trials. I'd do it every day if I had the time.

June 1987

These timeless articles are reprinted from "On Foot in Homestead A Hiker's Journal of a Coastal Valley," by Matthew Davis, 1988. Matthew Davis (1935-2015), a former HVLT Board member, wrote articles which appeared in the Homestead Headlines beginning in 1984. In 1988 Matthew compiled his columns into a book "On Foot in Homestead - A Hiker's Journal of a Coastal Valley," published by the HVLT.

Homestead Valley Vignettes by Chuck Oldenburg

Alex McCurdy & Family

Alexander Steele McCurdy was born in 1875 on a ranch in Bolinas. His wife, Mary Wilkins, was born in 1876, also on a ranch in Bolinas—her parents had come in 1852. A daughter, Mary Adeline McCurdy, was born in 1915 and a son, William Wilkins McCurdy. was born in 1916.

Having grown up on ranches, Alex and Mary were comfortable with the idea of moving their family to Hill Ranch, the house at 361 Ridgewood which had been the headquarters of the vast Dias dairy ranch. They rented the house from Ida Dias from the early 1920s until the early 1930s when they purchased it.

Alex McCurdy was Mill Valley chief of police from 1925 until 1935. He ran for county sheriff in 1930, but did not win the election. Alex died in 1936 at age 61. His wife Mary died in 1972 at age 96. She had lived over 50 years in the old Dias ranch house. Both McCurdy children were brilliant.

Mary McCurdy graduated from Tam High in 1932, and from UC Berkeley in 1936. She then began teaching English and History at Tam High. She was later chairperson of the physical education department, dean of girls, and assistant principal. In 1949 she married a Mill Valley postman named Baker. Their son Bill was born in 1952. The marriage did not last very long. Mary McCurdy Baker lived in the old Dias ranch house until her death in 1972. Bill Baker graduated from Tam High in 1970, attended College of Marin, and died from Hodgkin’s disease at age 30 in 1982.

William McCurdy graduated from Tam High in 1933. He was a great runner, winning the California High School title in the half-mile. He went on to run for Stanford University from which he graduated in 1937. He ran the Dipsea in 1938 (came in 8th), 1939 (10th), 1940 (3rd) and 1941 (best time trophy). After college, he worked for Fuller Paint and then went into the army, where he won awards for his athletic ability: “Captain William McCurdy scoring a record-breaking 692 out of a possible 700, smashed all previous record scores in the army’s physical efficiency tests—push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squat jumps, 300 yard run carrying a 170 pound man for 100 yards in 18 seconds.” After the war he went to Springfield College in Massachusetts for a master’s degree in physical education. He went on to coach track and field at Harvard from 1949 to 1982. Harvard dedicated its new track facility in 1985 and named it the McCurdy Track.

Homestead Valley & COVID-19

We hope this finds all our friends and neighbors healthy, happy and safe at home in these continuing turbulent times. As of this writing, the shelter-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues. All public meetings and gatherings are cancelled indefinitely.

Useful Links:

HVCA contact information:

info@homesteadvalley.org

Marin County Coronavirus website:

coronavirus.marinhhs.org

Marin Recovers:

marinrecovers.com

Individuals may contact Marin Health & Human Services with non-medical questions about the coronavirus by calling (415) 473-7191 Monday-Friday 9:30am to 12 noon and 1:00pm to 5:00pm, or by emailing COVID-19@marincounty.org