|
THE FIRST TEN YEARS! The following notes were taken from
the hand written minutes of the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club in the early years of its existence. There is not space for
all of the information about the Plaza. These are the highlights. There also are numerous references to purchasing benches,
planting grass and trees, obtaining loads of dirt, gravel and fertilizer and paying a young man to water the trees. These
amazing women represented a good percentage of the early 1900’s Sonoma families. They put on many balls, held card parties,
“entertainments”, doll shows and other events to raise money (sometimes only a few dollars) to enable them to
fund their work. Note the mention of an Arbor Day in 1902. On Saturday, September 21, 1901, eleven ladies met at the home of Mrs. Clewe to consider
the organization of a woman’s club. Its purpose would be to improve all sanitary conditions, parks, streets etc. and
to promote the social and literary interests of the community. Within a few weeks a Plaza Committee and a Plaza Fund were
established. A $25 donation from Mrs. Phoebe Hearst was put into the Fund. A New Year’s ball was held for the purpose
of raising money, a portion of which was to be used for work on the Plaza. On January 18, 1902, Mrs. Harvey was appointed to meet with the Plaza
Committee to arrange a program for the opening of the Plaza work by planting a tree in honor of General Vallejo. The Committee
decided on fifteen foot outside walks and to request that the Trustees plow the Plaza, clean the walks and trim the trees.
In the next few months, trees were planted in the Plaza and on the streets leading to the Depot, work was started on gravel
walks and discussions about the Plaza plans were held with a landscape gardener from the City. (The Club paid his expenses
- $1.25 for fare and dinner.) During this time the Street Committee was encouraging residents to plant trees in front of their
property and the Club paid for many of the trees, boxes to plant them in and for their watering. Minutes talk of plans to
celebrate an Arbor Day on December 12, 1902. At the Executive Board meeting of February 3, 1903, it was moved and carried
that a written request be sent to the City Trustees asking that the ordinance which prohibits cows from roaming at large be
enforced, also that the City Board cooperate with the Plaza Committee in beautifying the Plaza. Again, on March 2, the Corresponding
Secretary reported that she notified the Town Trustees to keep stock out of the Plaza. At the April 27 meeting Mrs. Bates
reported that the City Trustees refuse to assist in the Plaza work. She was appointed to attend the next meeting of the City
Board and to take any ladies she chose with her. Later minutes show that the City Trustees appear willing to give $50 or $60
for the Plaza. In 1904 the Plaza Committee asks and is given permission to have plans drawn up for a fountain in the Plaza
and begins to raise money by putting on an entertainment. After several fundraisers, much discussion and meetings with City
Trustees the fountain was placed on the Plaza at the end of Broadway in 1905 where it stood until 1932. There was a place
for horses to drink, one for dogs and one for humans. The October 19, 1906, Club meeting featured a tree naming contest.
Mrs. Lewis guessed the greatest number, (5) and Miss Cooke, Forestry Chairman, read two interesting papers. One was on “Protection
of the Forests” and the other on “Shade Trees on our Streets”. In 1907 the Club erected a rock monument honoring the Bear Flag Party.
It was unveiled by Mrs. Hill at the July 4 celebration. (Another Bear Flag monument was erected by the Native Sons in 1914.)
The ladies declared
May 19, 1909, as “Sonoma Day” – a workday in the Plaza. Farmers brought teams of horses, businessmen wielded
pick and shovel and a large plot of land in front of City Hall was filled with good soil in preparation for planting grass.
The ladies served a bounteous luncheon under the trees to all workers. Shortly thereafter a special meeting of the Club was
called to discuss a request by the City Trustees that a spraying fountain be put into the plot of land and the ladies voted
to guarantee $125 toward erection of the fountain. They further notified the Trustees that a committee of some of the ladies
would assist them in selecting a suitable design. In March of 1910 it was decided to hold a Carnival of Nations and permission was granted by the City
Trustees to use the City Hall and Plaza on July 1,2,3 and 4. Proceeds to go to the Plaza Fund. There were booths representing
different nations – American, French, German, Dutch, Japanese etc. and “Plantation” and Indian booths –
11 in all. It was a grand affair and raised over $1,000 for the Plaza Fund! By January of 1911 a motion was carried that
a fountain be erected on the north side of the Plaza and a committee was appointed to secure designs. In April the ladies
contracted with a Mr. Scherer to build the fountain for $240 and in September it was voted to present the completed fountain
to the City. They then began to discuss further improvements to the north side. And that was the first ten years.
|
