The lookout

Friday, April 16 -- Ken Wales can clearly recall the bygone days when city business was conducted at the lunch counter of a local drugstore. There, down a long hallway lined with cigars and magazines, city officials made policy over a sandwich and soda.

"Our city was run at a drugstore on Seventh and Montana," said Wales, who was the Master of Ceremonies at Thursday night's 24th Annual Awards Dinner & Benefit for the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum. "There was probably never a major decision made at city hall."

Wales, a film producer and director, was, of course, xaggerating. But not by much.

McCarthy's Drugstore was just one brief stop during a leisurely walk down memory lane that paused at KCRW, the Arrow Theater and SamoHi, among other Santa Monica establishments.

Along the way, there was still time to celebrate the city's history, the institution that preserves it and those who have written some of its pages.

"Our job is to keep the history of Santa Monica alive," said Louise Gabriel, the society's president.

Honoree Lowell "Pat" Patton, recalled the days when Montana Avenue was the city's Main Street and his job every morning was to climb the stairs to the six apartment's above his drugstore to make sure the elderly tenants were still alive.

Patton, who has served on numerous boards, came up with a unique way to celebrate the city's centennial in 1975 - plant 50 trees along Montana and dedicate each one to a different state. Only two remain today.

If times have changed, "a challenging new millennium beckons us," said Sister Marie Madeleine Shonka, president of St. John's Health Center, the city's largest private employer.

St. John's, along with Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, joined Patton among the night's honorees. Now, Santa Monica-UCLA, the city's first hospital is slated to be rebuilt, with an eye, of course, to the past. The new $200 million development will echo the original facade.

1) Who was the first President of the Santa Monica Historical Society?Ans.
2) In what year did a violent storm demolish the end of the pier?
3) What was the price range of the first lots sold in Santa Monica in 1875?
4) What was the original name of Colorado Blvd.?
5) What do the call letters KCRW stand for?

Answers:
1. Former mayor Clo Hoover.
2. 1983.
3. They ranged from $50 to $500.
4. Railroad Ave.
5. College Radio Workshop. No they don't stand for Can't Read or Write.

The photo on the front screen was taken on the corner of 4th and Wilshire.

The Santa Monica Historical Society and Museum, located at 1539 Euclid Street, is open to the public Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the second and fourth Sunday each month from 1 to 4:30 p.m., and by appointment. To lend your support, please call 395-2290.