The Burlingame Voice

Local Gem: PEZ Museum

The San Francisco Chronicle made a rare foray down to lil ole B'game to visit our friend Gary Doss and his PEZ Museum and wrote up a lovely review of the local gem

“I’m good, thanks,” said Doss, when asked by a museum visitor if he would like a raspberry-flavored Pez candy to chew over while he pondered exactly what he had gotten himself into 24 years ago when he opened the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia at 214 California Drive, a few blocks from the Caltrain station.

Inside the museum are 1,100 dispensers — at least one of every model made by the Austrian candy company since it began cranking them out in 1950.  The museum is one of those places that, if it cost more than $3 to go in, nobody would. A magazine named it one of America’s top 50 roadside attractions, along with the beer-can house of Texas, the shoe tree of Nevada and similar places that most parents have made a habit of driving past on road trips without stopping.

Fortunately, three bucks buys not only an admission ticket but a personal guided tour from Doss, a former computer salesman and metal worker who got hooked on Pez a quarter century ago at an antique show. He tossed the computers from the Burlingame storefront to make room for the Pez dispensers and has never looked back, even when — as on Thursday morning — only three people showed up.

Way to go, Gary.  As the giant new building rises across the street, let's hope over sized, glass-faced beasts don't consume everything quirky and quaint in town. 

Historic on Drake

Every once in awhile things do work out well for those of us who care about recognizing and preserving B'game's history, especially its historic homes.  Finally, after a lot of effort by the homeowners, B'game has it first National Historic Registered residence.  The Daily Journal has this piece along with some nice interior photos that were not in the print edition, noting

The only person architect William Whifler intended to impress when he designed the unique and stylish home tucked away at the end of a quiet Burlingame street was his mother.  But through the tireless efforts of his son Graeme Whifler, the family’s property on Drake Avenue received widespread recognition after recently being added to the National Register of Historic Places.

William Whifler, who designed homes across the Peninsula between 1950 and 1970, was honored by the federal agency for his creative approach to the mid-century modern home template featuring expansive windows and ranging, open interiors.  Despite his reluctance to seek attention, William Whifler’s work established a long legacy in his native community, as he designed Burlingame City Hall and co-founded the College of San Mateo’s department of architecture.

Many kudos to Graeme who noted that "his father deserved accolades similar to colleagues of his era such as developer Joseph Eichler, despite never seeking out such attention while working."  My wife, Cathy Baylock, recalls speaking to Graeme's sister about how to go about getting started back in about 2013 while Cathy was advocating for historic preservation as a city councilwoman.

This so gratifying to see and a great addition to Kohl Mansion's status.  I have now added a photo taken from the sidewalk.  My guess is the plaque is the Historic Landmark marker, but didn't want to just walk in to look.  Very serene setting at the end of the street.

 

Collector Extraordinaire

The Chronicle ran a piece about a major art acquisition by UC Berkeley of 450 pieces of art by Arthur Szyk.  I was just reading it for my interest in art and stumbled across this

The acquisition by what is formally called the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life comes thanks to a $10.1 million donation by Taube Philanthropies, making it the largest single monetary gift to acquire art in the long history of UC Berkeley.

The holding to be known as the Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection was purchased from collector Rabbi Irvin Ungar of Burlingame. It consists of 450 paintings, drawings and sketches from all stages of Szyk’s career, including the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel. Most of the work has never before been publicly displayed.

Of course, here at the Voice you want the back story on the local angle so I spoke to Rabbi Ungar's son who is a good friend of mine.  His dad has assembled this collection over the last 20 years.  He gave the groomsmen in his wedding party Szyk pieces as presents in 1975 and that kicked off the collecting bug.  Szyk was the second most popular artist in the country post-WWII after Norman Rockwell.  Here is his Wikipedia entry where you will see some great examples of his work and read this

The immense popularity Szyk enjoyed in the United States and Europe in his lifetime gradually flagged after his death. From the 1960s to the end of the 1980s, the artist's works were seldom exhibited in American museums. This changed in 1991 when the non-profit organization The Arthur Szyk Society was established in Orange County, California. The founder of the Society, George Gooche, rediscovered Szyk's works and staged the exhibition "Arthur Szyk – Illuminator" in Los Angeles. In 1997, the seat of the Society was transferred to Burlingame, California, and a new Board of Trustees was elected, headed by rabbi, curator and antiquarian Irvin Ungar. The Society's work resulted in staging many exhibitions of Szyk's works in American cities in the 1990s and 2000s. The Society also maintains a large educational website.

I enjoy a collector with real passion and Rabbi Ungar certainly qualifies!

Tudor Lights and Neighborhood Spirit

B'game is composed of a fantastic variety of neighborhoods with a wide variety of architectural styles -- or at least the original homes in the neighborhoods have compatible styles.  The Daily Journal is shining some light on the tiny Willborough neighborhood with this piece on Christmas and Hanukkah lights.  Here is an excerpt but do click through for the full B'game holiday spirit

More houses in the neighborhood formed by Willborough Road, Willborough Place and Neuchatel Avenue between Oak Grove Avenue and Palm Drive glow with more holiday lights than ever before, stopping and slowing cars passing through the narrow streets.

John Ward has lived in the neighborhood since 1975, and has decorated his house for as long as he can remember. His house was once the only source of light on the street during December, drawing the eyes of passersby with a glowing Santa, sleigh and reindeer in the middle of his front lawn.

This year, Ward has adorned his traditional, English-style Tudor house with white icicle lights hanging from the roof’s edges and colorful globe lights brightening the trees on his front lawn. Ward has placed his famous Santa sleigh and reindeer, as well as a bright star, on the roof of his house. They shine over the glistening Christmas tree that fills his front window.

But this year, Ward’s house is joined by several other houses whose residents have chosen to celebrate the holidays in similar fashion.

Ron Leavy bought his starter home in the neighborhood 40 years ago and never left. Initially drawn to the area by its proximity to downtown, Caltrain and freeways, he found it difficult to leave the close-knit community he found there.  “We watch out for each other,” he said.

Leavy is Jewish, and chose to decorate the trunk of the large evergreen outside his home with blue and white lights in celebration of Hanukkah. He also embellished the roofline and bushes outside his home with bright white lights. Leavy credits the neighborhood’s friendly attitude with the proliferation of decorations this year.

 

The Voice wishes you all a peaceful holiday and a Happy New Year.

UMC Mural

You may have noticed the nice mural that has been painted on the backside (parking lot side) of UMC. Saturday was the dedication event.  Check it out.

Nice job!

St. Francis' blessing

For a variety of Christians today is St. Francis of Assisi's feast day (October 4th).  My two pooches looked like they could use a blessing so we trotted over to St. Catherine's for the outdoor blessing of pets before school started.  Very fun with a wide variety of dogs and a few cats mixed in.  Here is Fr. John sprinkling a pooch or two.

Real Charity Begins at CALL

Long time Voice contributor Peter Garrison and I have been discussing the more frequent appearance of street panhandlers in B'game.  He has noticed them in front of churches, then on the Avenue and lately in front of Lunardi's.  We also notice a similarity between the signs they hold which may point to a coalition.  Pete knows Terri Boesch, the Exec Director at CALL Primrose, who provided this bit of advice for B'gamers

With the long, warm days of summer comes a noticeable increase in the number of panhandlers, especially at busy intersections and in front of heavy traffic areas such as storefronts, churches and gas stations.  

While it may feel good to provide spare change or a few dollars to “help” those who appear to be homeless or hungry, those dollars often go to buy alcohol or drugs, which may be the very vices that led to the homelessness in the first place.  In addition, there are a number of large scale scammers, who employ vulnerable women with young children (often infants) to beg for money, with a promise of part of the proceeds for their efforts. Providing money in these instances only perpetuates the problem.  

For those who are genuinely hungry or homeless, there are many resources in the area that offer legitimate assistance. The CALL Primrose center, located in downtown Burlingame, is one of those resources. Founded over 30 years ago as a joint project between the First Presbyterian and United Methodist churches of Burlingame, CALL Primrose is a direct aid and referral agency, offering immediate grocery/food support to individuals and families along the peninsula. Clients may visit weekly to pick up food, grocery and small toiletry items that are tailored to individual living situations. CALL has an array of non-perishable items, along with meat, dairy and fresh produce options, available on a drop in basis.  If the need goes beyond that of food, CALL has a wide network of service agencies that can be called upon to help.    

The next time you encounter someone asking for help, perhaps instead of a few dollars, you can provide them with information about CALL Primrose. For those truly in need, this may be their first step towards a path of self-sufficiency.

Pete also notes "I carry information cards from our local food pantry that I distribute when I encounter someone asking for money."  Good advice from both of them.  Terri is at 650 342-2255.  They are Gems of Burlingame.  I hope this doesn't get to the point of us needing a "Sit - Lie" ordinance.

50 Year Perspective; 58 Years Ago

I recently bought a pamphlet titled "Burlingame 50 years Golden Anniversary" on eBay.  It's "a short journey into history; 1908 to 1958".  The opening page after the obligatory mayoral Proclamation from Mayor Andrew C. Byrd was written by Dr. Frank Stanger and provides an interesting perspective on those times and ours.

Burlingame as a young city, like a self-conscious debutante, had subtle ways of impressing people with her special charms and her own importance.  There was a legend abroad to that effect that Burlingame, by comparison with other cities, was something special.  Or was it more than a legend?  Be it fancy or fact, the idea had wide acceptance, and the people of Burlingame, quite convinced that theirs was no ordinary town, were doing nothing to deny it.

I wonder if we still have that perspective of being special?  Sometimes I doubt it as I see people and agencies trying to homogenize us to be like every other city.  Stanger goes on to talk about him being 18 and interviewing for a teaching position in town.  He gets the job offer then writes

As I started my return journey with a promise of a contract, I found myself also trying to remember some of the statistics that had been casually dropped into my ears-- "x" percentage of the population received incomes above "y" dollars a year, "z" proportion were home owners, etc., etc.  A second more tangible impression was received when I came house-hunting and found that rents in Burlingame were ten dollars a month higher than in the East Bay.  And this news was imparted without apology--rather I though there was a little bragging involved.

Res ipsa loquitur

No. 8 Nationally

The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp. which also has dealing with the National Association of Realtors so I'm guessing their statistics are pretty solid.  If so, our very own Stanley Lo has once again placed high in the nation for individual agents volume--No. 8 to be exact!

The numbers show are in millions.  We had one of the top teams as well in Burlingame, I just forgot to take that photo before I recycled the papers.  Any remember who it was?  As I understand it, Mr. Lo takes a smaller commission and "makes it up in volume".  With real estate prices where they are at now, one wonders if more agencies will follow?

Futsal Starring in B'game

The Daily Journal is shining a spotlight on two local gems - Burlingamer located on Rollins Rd and it futsal evangelist, Jen Short

Much as San Jose became known for Silicon Valley, Burlingame is becoming the center of the women’s national futsal team.

Last month, Jen Short, general manager of Burlingamer Sports Center and president of Gamer Futsal School, and Roxy Kamal, the director of coaching for Gamer Futsal School and who played for the U.S. in a tournament in Colombia, were named to the coaching staff of the U.S. Women’s National Futsal Team for the upcoming Pacific Cup to be held at the San Jose Event Center July 14-17.

Short has turned Burlingamer into the de facto training center for the women’s national team. Having worked for the last couple of years with U.S. Futsal president Alex Para, who happens to live locally, Short was asked in May to build a team to take to the tournament in San Jose.

I've been to a futsal game over at Burlingamer and it is very fun.  It's fast moving due to the short field.  You can check out all the activities at their website.  Rookie City Councilwoman Donna Colson owns the business and is passionate about local sports for local kids (and adults).  If you want to burn off some kid energy as school lets out, this is one option.