Milestones

Bill Russ: Happy 86th birthday from your friends at New Community Church

by Linda Hubbard Gulker on May 31, 2020

We got a tip that the members of New Community Church in Menlo Park were planning a drive-by birthday parade in celebration of parishioner Bill Russ’s 86th birthday today. And what fun it was!

Bill has contributed rainfall reports for InMenlo since the very beginning and it’s been fun to get to know Bill and wife Sally through not only the email about latest percipitation but also on various walks around Menlo Park over the years.

Bill has called Menlo home since 1952, and he and his wife Sally have lived in their current home, where the rainfall gauge is located, for 54 years. He started measuring rainfall because, he says, “It’s something old guys do.” Initially he had a network of buddies that he compared recordings with but with the passage of time, that group has shrunk, largely due to inevitable transitions.

For those who are not liturgically minded, today is Pentecost, the Christian festival celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension, held on the seventh Sunday after Easter. It seems a fitting day to celebrate the spirit of people’s good hearts!

Photos by Linda Hubbard (c) 2020

{ 1 comment }

Menlo Park teen Sarah Pistorino selected for San Mateo County Hall of Fame

Teen advocate and volunteer Sarah Pistorino, a senior at Lydian Academy, will be inducted into the San Mateo County Women’s Hall of Fame on March 7 following RISE 2020, the Women’s Leadership Conference, along with three others. The award ceremony will be held at 4:15 p.m. March 7 at Skyline College, 3300 College Drive in San […]

Click to read more →

Cafe Borrone celebrates 30 years in Menlo Park

We’re sure we aren’t the only ones in Menlo Park who feel so lucky to have two great Menlo Park “institutions” side by side — Kepler’s and Cafe Borrone. The latter is celebrating its 30th anniversary. “We originated in Redwood City in 1979,” emails Marina Borrone, “and opened in December of ‘89 in Menlo Park. […]

Click to read more →

Two local teens from Troop 206 earn Eagle Scout status

Two local scouts — Kevin Box (above right) and Hazen Stribling (left) — received their Eagle award from Troop 206 at a Court of Honor held January 12, 2020 at Trinity Church in Menlo Park. Troop 206, first chartered by Trinity Episcopal Church in Menlo Park in 1958, has advanced 187 scouts to Eagle rank in […]

Click to read more →

Los Trancos Woods Community Marching Band celebrates 60th anniversary on Jan. 1, 2020

In 1960, two Stanford University roommates, Jim Harvey (pictured fourth from right above) and Don Nelson, assembled a loose cadre of friends interested in playing music and drinking beer and created what would become known as the Los Trancos Woods Community Marching Band (LTWCMB). Band members and their invited guests will be celebrating the occasion […]

Click to read more →

Invitation to send Happy 100th Birthday to World War II vet living in Menlo Park

On August 18, World War II veteran Tom Dimperior, who resides at the Menlo Park VA facility, will turn 100. A longtime a resident of Modesto, his hometown Congressman, Josh Harder, is encouraging Americans to send birthday cards to Tom. Cards should be sent to Rep Harder’s Modesto office: 4701 Sisk Road, Suite 202, Modesto, CA 95356. Dimperio […]

Click to read more →

Sad day for community journalism 26 years ago

A personal note: My first published story was in the Palo Alto Times when I was in six grade. I contributed to the paper when I was in high school. Lots of guys I knew growing up here were paper boys delivery the afternoon paper to household in Menlo Park. I was lucky enough to […]

Click to read more →

Alas, the Oasis has been gone a year

Menlo Park resident Tim Johnston reminded fellow members of “Do You Remember the Old Menlo Park” on Facebook that as of March 7 the Oasis has been gone for a year. Valiant efforts were made to save it, and locals lined up for blocks for a last beer and burger. Tim enhanced a photo using […]

Click to read more →

Atherton resident Lou Matas celebrates his 105th birthday at Harry’s Hofbrau

Last night (Tuesday, January 29th) Atherton resident Louis (Lou) Matas [red cap] celebrated his 105th birthday at Harry’s Hofbrau in Redwood City surrounded by family and long-time friends. Lou lives alone at the house he’s resided in for many years. A representative of the Carpenters Union #217 — where Lou has been a member the […]

Click to read more →

Left Bank Menlo Park is celebrating its 20th anniversary this summer

If you were in the area in the late ’90s, you’ll remember what an instant hit Left Bank was when it opened in downtown Menlo Park. Chef Roland Passot, who grew up in the culinary capital of France — the city of Lyon — opened the restaurant in the summer of 1998. Ten years earlier — […]

Click to read more →

Café Zoë is celebrates its 10th anniversary today

Café Zoë is celebrating its 10th anniversary today, Tuesday, June 19, and the InMenlo team swung by in time for a champagne toast. The Café — its people and events — has been featured at least four dozen times over the years on InMenlo, which launched just a year later in the summer of 2009. […]

Click to read more →

← Previous Entries