|
|
| Versatility
Key Ingredient to a Successful Life
This month, the Grapevine presents the first of an occasional ongoing historical series including biographies and personal reminiscences of Visitacion Valley. Through eight decades as a San Franciscan and more than 60 years a resident of Visitacion Valley, Henry Schindel has seen plenty of change, and has always been ready for a challenge. As he related, both parents had originally arrived from Europe in the United States where his father became employed in Fargo, North Dakota. After they were wed, the Schindels were prompted by an announcement from the Canadian government offering land to homesteaders, soon crossing the border and eventually building a home in Canada at Melville, Saskatchewan. It was there where Henry was born on April 26, 1905. Schindel remembers growing up as a difficult time with little money, and several siblings vying for space in the family home. Following sixth grade, he went to work in 1916 at nearby general store as a delivery boy and sales promoter. Two years later, he began employment at hotel as a combination, janitor, painter, kitchen aid and driver, taking customers to and from a nearby train depot. By 1921, Schindel was working at a hotel more than 150 miles west of Melville in Regina as an elevator operator, bellhop, clerk, waiter and laundry attendant. "I learned every phase of the hotel business from peeling potatoes to doing laundry," he explained. And after a co-worker's father who had worked with them both in Regina relocated to San Francisco and invited his son in 1923 to join him, an invitation was extended to 18-year-old Henry as well. He made the long journey to California and arrived on a Thursday, virtually penniless but rich in spirit. A steady perusal of newspaper want-ads brought him to a job interview at the Galland Laundry, with Schindel's prior laundry experience instrumental in securing the job. "I learned the laundry business from A to Z," he recalled, even learning how to make soap. After a few years, he progressed to plant superintendent, responsible for the hiring, counseling and training of more than 700 employees. If was there he met his future wife, Molly, a native of Visitacion Valley who lived on Leland Avenue and began working at the laundry during summer vacations from school. By 1937 they were married and her two brothers, both contractors having built a number of structures in the Valley, had started work on the couple's new home, the first house to be built on their block of Schwerin Street. Together, the Schindels raised two daughters and later had four grandchildren. Both Henry and Molly recall Visitacion Valley as a prosperous neighborhood with restaurants, stores, and services when "You could get anything on Leland Avenue." At one time, Safeway even had a store at the present site of the Visitacion Valley Library. And just adjacent to the business area were several wells where the neighborhood accessed its water. A student for two years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music starting in 1924, Schindel performed professionally as a musician with two dance orchestras and as part of a trio playing cello, guitar, banjo and ukulele, booked from the San Francisco office of Blake and Amber. Performances were given on stage, radio and later television. For one season in 1926, Schindel sang with the San Francisco Opera Chorus and for three years with the San Francisco Municipal Chorus. He also acted in 1926 as a movie extra for a film being made in San Francisco. In 1944, Schindel moved to the Sanitory Laundry as a superintendent where he learned about dry cleaning and chemicals. During the post-war housing crunch in 1948 he became a real estate broker in 1948. And in 1950 he opened what would eventually total six successful businesses on Leland Avenue selling furniture, paint and appliances. Schindel has fond recollections of close friend and fellow realtor Charles Louis, equally instrumental in the growth and prosperity of Visitacion Valley. For seven years, Schindel served as a San Francisco Commissioner, three as president. He recalls neighborhood interest once seeking to change the City's south boundary to incorporate the area immediately south of the Valley called Bayshore City, itself a separate town in the 1930s. It eventually became an extended part of Daly City. Schindel served as president of the Visitacion Valley Merchants Association for close to two decades, receiving a trophy signifying the group as one of the City's top organizations. For many years, he served as President of the Visitacion Valley Improvement Association, receiving a certificate of merit in serving the City of San Francisco and Visitacion Valley for 50 years. For decades, Schindel has worked with the Visitacion Valley Community Center fondly recalling its founder, the late Florence Friedman, as a woman dedicated to making the neighborhood a good place to live. For Visitacion Valley to commercially prosper today, Schindel believes at least six to eight large retail locations need to be built to attract larger retailers to the neighborhood. He explained that thousands of potential customers representing a healthy demand are offered very little supply in the immediate vicinity. For 22 years until 1974, Schindel served as executive secretary for the California Bodies of the Scottish Rite, a fraternal organization consisting of more than 4,000 members where his diversified duties included planning shows, stage work and teaching public speaking. Having developed a keen interest in cultures, he has traveled extensively through many Asian countries--including Japan, Burma and the Philippines, where techniques were studied of garbage disposal that helped him prepare for lectures he gave in forcing the eventual defeat of a proposed incinerator planned for construction close to the Valley. In 1995, Schindel received an honorary doctorate from John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, signifying a lifetime of achievement in his community. An avid reader and collector, Schindel has also composed more than 1,000 poems in his spare time. Other interests in recent years have included solar energy and reflexology, having attended health lectures for more than 25 years. The Reopening of San Francisco City Hall by Mayor Willie L. Brown "We are here to lay the cornerstone
of the building which is to be the official home of the City of San Francisco.
This is an event made possible by the liberality, optimism, pride and confidence
of our citizens in their own city. Many noble and beautiful buildings have
been erected in San Francisco, but this particular one is the result of
the expressed desire of our people, that San Francisco shall have a new
home of its own."
Mayor Rolph's remarks, made at the dedication
of the laying of the original cornerstone, remain profoundly relevant today.
The people of San Francisco realized then, as they do now, City Hall's
significance in the history and community of San Francisco.
After three years of tireless work, City Hall is ready yet again to be the "Official Home of San Francisco." When we last left City Hall, it was in violation of many fire and ADA codes. Today, San Francisco boasts one of the most accessible federal buildings in the country; one that houses over 1,000 civil servants. To minimize any future earthquake damage, City Hall has become one of the most earthquake-safe buildings in the world Built on base isolators, each of the 600 columns that support the building were jacked up by rubber and stainless steel isolator disks. These base isolators are designed to move 27 inches in any direction; a moat of more than 27 inches surrounds the building so that in a seismic event the building will move as a rigid body above the ground plane independent of the ground shaking. San Francisco City Hall is now the largest base-isolated building in the world, and the only base-isolated national historic monument. Now designed to optimal accessibility and safety, the original building, designed by Arthur Brown, Jr., the architect who also designed both Coit Tower and the Veteran's Building, no doubt had beauty and convenience in mind for the building as well. This twofold philosophy of physical grandeur and utility holds true today: The grand public Light Courts have been restored to their original design and will allow a wide variety of exhibits. The public Hearing Rooms are connected with state-of-the-art telecommunications resources, allowing citizens to testify from one room yet to be heard throughout all of the overflow rooms and chambers. City Hall will also become more convenient for its users in many other ways as well. A new city payment center has been added to allow citizens to make most of their necessary financial transactions with the city in one convenient location. For example, all types of transit passes, including those for CalTrain, Muni, Bart, Golden Gate Transit, and AC Transbay will be sold in one location. Water Department payments as well as property and business taxes can be paid at the Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office. Applications for various licenses ranging from produce stand licenses and Fire Department licenses, as well as voter registration forms, will also be made available in the new city Payment Center in Room 140. In spring of this year, you will be able to pay for traffic citations and fines in the Payment Center as well. In addition to its new resources and redesign, City Hall has been a great success already, evidenced by the grand reopening that took place on January 5. I was astounded and overjoyed to meet the many hundreds of people who toured the halls and watched as the very first marriages took place under the new dome, a dome that is, in fact, one inch taller than the dome of the United States Capitol! All of us at City Hall love our new home--and we hope that everyone in San Francisco, from children on field trips to foreign visitors--feels that it is their home as well. City Hall is not only a place where legislation is crafted; not only a place where bills are paid; but a public place for the citizens of this city to congregate and contact their public officials. It is my hope that every citizen of this great city has the chance to view the splendor and functionality of the new City Hall. The State of Recycling: 1998 In Review by David Assmann, Senior Administrator,
More than 90 percent of San Francisco residents are now recycling at least once every two weeks, according to a recent survey conducted for the San Francisco Recycling Program by David Binder Research. 70 percent of residents recycle at curbside, while 20 percent recycle in apartment buildings. In addition, 18 percent recycle at drop-off or buy-back centers. While the vast majority of residents reported that they are recycling, the survey also showed that residents are not always recycling the full range of recyclable items. For example, while more than 85 percent of residents reported that they recycled newspapers, glass jars and bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, less than 71 percent reported recycling junk mail, 70 percent recycled tin or steel cans and only 22 percent recycled aerosol or paint cans. When asked about recycling other items, 63 percent of San Francisco residents would like to recycle yard trimmings if they could, 52 percent would recycle used motor oil and 43 percent would recycle food scraps. More than one-third of respondents volunteered that they would be interested in recycling additional plastic items. Both residents who use curbside recycling and those who recycle within apartment buildings agree that the most helpful improvement to each program would be more information provided on what can be recycled and how to recycle. Larger bins and bins that are easier to access were also mentioned, but were considered less helpful than additional information. The most common reasons residents gave for not recycling was that they didn't have a place to store materials or they thought that trash collectors or other city employees sorted recyclables from their trash. The younger generation is definitely encouraging parents to recycle. Almost two-thirds of respondents with children reported that they had heard their children talking about recycling at home. Actual recycling figures for 1998 back up the survey results. 1998 was a record year for curbside recycling. We recycled more than 125 million pounds of paper, glass, aluminum, steel, and plastics through the Curbside and Apartment Recycling Program last year--up more than 5 million pounds from 1996. That's more than 384 pounds of recyclables per household! While this total is impressive, we still have lots of room for growth. We're currently recycling only a little over one-third of what's recyclable through the curbside and apartment recycling program. And we still have a long way to go achieve the state mandated goal of reducing waste by 50 percent. Paper, including newspaper, remained at the top of the list of materials recycled, making up more than three-quarters of all recyclables collected. The next most recycled material was glass, accounting for about one-fifth of the total. Special promotional campaigns to promote recycling were held in ten neighborhoods in 1998, including Chinatown, Marina, Nob Hill, North Beach, Pacific Heights, Parkside, the Richmond, Russian Hill, Sunset, and Telegraph Hill. More than 30,000 households received phone calls from the Recycling Program during the campaigns. Looking ahead, we're planning special promotional campaigns this year for a number of neighborhoods. We've also initiated a special "Join the Challenge, Recycle More" campaign for public and private elementary, middle, and high schools. Schools that demonstrate significant progress and innovation in the area of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling are eligible to win between $1,000 and $5,000 toward capital improvements. More than 60 schools have signed up in this campaign to date. The campaign began on January 4 and will last until Mar. 26. Participating schools have been asked to track the amount of paper, cans, and bottles that they recycle each week during the 12 week contest. In addition, teachers and administrators are encouraged to provide documentation of any other waste reduction projects that they participate in with their students. These may include the tracking of waste generated by the school, low-waste lunch campaigns, composting projects, or other creative and effective projects of the school's choosing. At a school's request, San Francisco Recycling Program provides promotional items, classroom presentations, technical assistance, and free recycling bins for each classroom and office. Results will be reported to the San Francisco Recycling Program at the end of the 12 week period and winners will be chosen. There will be at least three winners announced at an awards ceremony in the Spring. The award money, provided through a grant from the Goldman Foundation, will be slated for environmentally sensitive capital improvements. For example, playground benches made from recycled plastic lumber or compost bins made from reused materials. For more information on any of our programs, call our 24-hour hotline at 554-RECYcle, or visit us on the web at www.sfrecycle.org. An Issue
by Gerry L. Galvan "We would like to conclude our successful defense of the President at the earliest time possible," said one member of the White House defense team during an on-the-spot interview with a CNN anchor during a Senate trial recess. It was truly revolting to hear such remark. It was preposterously ridiculous. Such irresponsible posture presupposes to imply that the Clinton legal team was presenting a solid defense for their client. Nothing could be father from the truth. resident Clinton's attorneys had been no match to the 13 House of Representatives managers who had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the President lied under oath before the U.S. Grand Jury and obstructed justice. The Clinton legal team had the feeling of success in their assigned task of defending Clinton because a liberal mainstream media has supported their cause. There had been a feeling that, with the Democratic numerical standing in the Senate, the White House panel's client would never be convicted. That, in essence, was the basis for the their assumption. Another schizophrenic posturing was demonstrated by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle who had announced on national television that "the President will not be convicted." This assumption by the liberal senator from North Dakota was also based on an unfathomable determination of Democratic Party members knowing the final vote would be strictly along party lines. Except for Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, who broke from the ranks and voted against Senator Robert Byrd's motion to dismiss articles of impeachment, Democrats stuck together defending a misbehaving William Jefferson Clinton. True enough, Republican senators had been solid behind their case. Such GOP solidarity has justification, based on credible evidence which House managers demonstrably proved. At this juncture, it's appropriate to quote a San Francisco Chronicle reader who recently wrote: "As a former law student, I found the Clinton defense less than adequate. I counted three instances where Charles Ruff contradicted himself. Greg Craig's arguments were so convoluted that they totally confused and frustrated me. His repeated appeals to election and polls indicate that his case is legally weak and cannot stand on its own merits. Cheryl Mills' demeanor was so condescending that I felt insulted. Her monotonous use of repeated mantras indicates that she has very little of substance to say." There had been, as many of us know, a persistent call from the White House and Democratic senators to put an end to this trial. Such overly repeated and duplicated excuses that there was not enough Senate will to convict President Clinton had sickened many a decent individual. It became crystal clear why the White House and other Clinton allies insisted on the trial's termination on two counts: first, they were fearful of exposing the unadulterated truth to the public; and second, a considerable number of Democratic senators might have been convinced to break rank and vote to convict. Unbiasedly independent observers believe
the acquittal by the Senate of William Jefferson Clinton wlll have an adverse
historical impact, saying future generations would point to the Clinton
episode as a guideline for misbehavior in public office and getting away
with it.
And now with the final vote taking its place in the annals of American history, credit must not be given to the President's legal team. Blame should be laid on Senate. Americans Are Hopeful at the Brink of a New Millennium Americans are approaching the new millennium with more hope than dread for the future, though their optimism is tempered by concerns about a decline in morality and basic values and an uncertainty about the growth of technology. And as the 20th Century draws to a close, they place greater importance on the achievements made in the past 100 years. These are among the major findings of the newest edition of The Shell Poll, a quarterly opinion survey of Americans conducted for Shell Oil Company by Peter D. Hart Research Associates. Two-thirds of Americans said they were optimistic and hopeful about the future for themselves and their family. When asked to describe their feelings regarding the coming of the new millennium, more Americans (30 percent) said "hope" than anything else. Nearly a quarter said "curiosity," while only 6 percent said "worry" and just 1 percent said "dread." They are slightly less optimistic about the future of the country as a whole, with just 58 percent describing themselves as hopeful about the nation's future. "The portrait that emerges in this study is of a citizenry that is both satisfied and proud of what has been accomplished in this century and hopeful and optimistic about what could be accomplished in the century ahead," said Peter D. Hart. "But behind this broad picture of satisfaction, Americans have some very real concerns about the future." When selecting from a list of choices,
a solid majority of Americans believe both race relations (57 percent)
and physical fitness (52 percent) will be better 30 years from now, while
more believe the standard of living will be higher (43 percent) than think
it will be worse (27 percent). Americans aren't as optimistic about respect
for values and morality; 45 percent think values will be worse in the years
ahead. They also worry about the crime rate, with far more (47 percent)
saying it will be worse in 30 years than better (28 percent).
Further, Americans expect our daily lives to undergo substantial change. nine in 10 believe cash will disappear, to be replaced by electronic cards; nearly eight in 10 expect informal attire to be the norm in offices, almost two-thirds believe the traditional summer break for students will be replaced by a year-round schedule; nearly three-fourths think there will be more than two major political parties; and 55 percent believe fathers will spend as much time and energy raising children as mothers. More than six in 10 think the United States will remain the world's greatest power in the 21st Century, while 42 percent believe there's a better than even chance the country will be involved in a major war in the next 30 years. In fact, more Americans (39 percent) list global war as their greatest fear for the future than any other potential crisis, even though a large majority (77 percent) cite terrorist attacks as a greater threat to the country than military conflict with another nation. Health
Technology
Y2K
The 20th Century
Other interesting findings include: *Americans expect the biggest changes to be in education over the next 30 years. When asked to name one or two areas where great change will take place, 45 percent said education, while nearly a quarter said the workplace and politics. Further, 36 percent selected "improvements in education" as one of their greatest hopes for the future from a list of choices, ranking it ahead of "less crime" (34 percent) and better race relations (29 percent). *Thirty percent say the development of penicillin and other antibiotics is the greatest medical breakthrough of the 20th Century, while nearly a quarter said organ transplants and just more than one in five said the discovery of DNA. *When asked to name which 20th Century household invention would be the hardest to live without, 57 percent said the refrigerator, choosing it over air conditioning, the washing machine, microwave oven, dishwasher and vacuum cleaner. *A large number of Americans think Michael Jordan, Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey will be remembered in 30 years. On the other hand, substantial majorities believe Leonardo DiCaprio, Roseanne and George Clooney will be forgotten. *Large numbers of Americans believe long-standing institutions such as the Red Cross (93 percent), Harvard University (90 percent), Coca-Cola (89 percent), Major League Baseball (79 percent), the U.S. Postal Service (78 percent) and The New York Times (72 percent) still will be around at the end of the 21st Century. *Nearly half believe Biblical prophecies can accurately predict the future, while slightly more than one in five think the Farmer's Almanac is an astute fortune-teller. Twenty=-one percent say astrologers can predict the future, and 16 percent believe psychics can. Just one in 10 think pollsters can do so. *Almost seven in 10 believe there's a good chance women will earn as much as men 30 years from now, though more men (82 percent) think so than women (57 percent). *When given a choice from a list of potential future breakthroughs, more Americans (35 percent) would prefer to see medical advances that would create safe and foolproof birth control than would help develop weight-control medication (30 percent). Twelve percent chose advances in anti-aging skin products, while 7 percent would prefer breakthroughs in hair-loss prevention. *Four in 10 believe people will retire later than they do now, while just more than a quarter think they will retire earlier. *Forty percent think patriotism is the American character trait most likely to disappear in 30 years, making it the top choice among a list including belief in personal freedom, belief in equality and belief in free enterprise. *Americans expect women's basketball and soccer to gain in popularity. More believe football, baseball, basketball and hockey just will maintain their current levels of popularity. *Most think letter writing and the tradition of mothers staying home to raise children will disappear in 30 years, but a majority believe large department stores, movie theaters and laundromats still will exist. Survey results are based upon interviews with a represenative national sample of 1,264 randomly selected adults aged 18 and over. Five Years Ago in the Grapevine FEBRUARY 1994 *Serving her neighbors as a lifelong member of the Visitacion Valley Community Center, Rose Donovan was awarded Volunteer of the Year with the Most Hours in History at a Salvation Army Council holiday party Dec. 21. *Residents and staff of Geneva Towers congratulated their executive manager, Arthur Hutton, at a gala farewell party Jan. 21. *After a year-long study Muni asked the S.F. Public Utilities Commission to authorize further development of four light rail transit alternatives at a Jan. 25 meeting. *A Prevention and Leadership Alternatives for Youth (PLAY) program strived to reduce incidence of youth violence in San Francisco's southeast neighborhoods. Historic Proportions Match clues to answers. 1964
A. Civil Rights Act
Answers: 1-N; 2-H; 3-M; 4-Q; 5-J; 6-R; 7-C; 8-B; 9-P; 10-D; 11-K; 12-A; 13-E; 14-G; 15-F; 16-I; 17-O; 18-L. Sez Who? Match quotes to speakers. 1. "In life, as in a football game,
the principle to follow is hit the line hard."
A. Leo Kennedy
Answers: 1-C, 2-I, 3-G, 4-F, 5-B, 6-H, 7-D, 8-A, 9-E. |