Community Corner
City Looks to Peacetime Economy in December 1946
El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce: 'The sacred season of Christmas is the anniversary of the dawn of hope throughout the civilized world.' Also on Page One: the Richard Barnwells travel to Riverside for a family reunion.
Sixty-five years ago this week in the Dec. 26,1946 edition of the weekly El Cerrito Journal, a story about the most recent city council meeting reported that one William Faulkner asked for permission to operate a special police patrol in the Mira Vista area.
Here are some of the actual headlines from that day's front page, followed by our brief summaries of the articles:
Red Cross Lists Holiday Cautions
Red Cross accident prevention expert Clayton Hess outlined 11 "common-sense precautions" for a safer yuletide, noting that more persons are killed in December than any other month of the year.
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Fairmont P-TA Unit in Christmas Meet
Instead of its usual business meeting, the group held a party. In an atmosphere of softly glowing candles and the lights of a beautiful Christmas tree, the party began by the singing of carols, led by Mrs. Philip Doan. With the carols setting the mood for joy and solemness, Rev. Charles Johnson of the Community Church gave a talk on "The Moral and Spiritual Values Necessary for a Free World."
Cerritans Enjoy Varied Christmas Day Activities
The Journal chronicled the many ways residents of El Cerrito celebrate the season "with Christmas shopping behind them."
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Mrs. Bertha Hoover enjoyed her first Christmas as "just a housewife, having been with the OPA (Office of Price Administration) for several years." And Journal staffer Miss Ellen Garey looked forward to her first white Christmas this year having left by plane to be the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Patterson in Detroit, Mich., for the holiday.
Cerrito C of C Offers Christmas Greetings
In its holiday letter to the community, the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce toasted the new peacetime economy, and the city's 'undeniable future as one of the most attractive residential cities in the state.'
True, we are grateful for our successful past, but we should strive to utilize our errors of that past as stepping stones for El Cerrito’s future,' the author wrote. 'This may be accomplished when merchant and and resident realize and exchange their civic responsibility; when merchant and resident enjoy a greater cooperation so that a civic balance may result.
'These thoughts are the materials out of which happiness is made. And happiness is the true result of the first Christmas.'
