Strawberry - Suzy (Rosse) McCulloch

I'll add my two cents about growing up in Mill Valley/Strawberry. When my parents and I moved to Strawberry in 1945, our street, Bayview Terrace, was the only housing there. Cows walked along a muddy path (later Belvedere Drive) in back of the house morning and evening to get milked. Suddenly in 1949-1950 other streets of houses were built and gradually the hills were filled.

I always envied those of you who could walk to a variety of stores, the bakeries, the library, and the Sequoia. On the other hand, there was a real sense of freedom and safety I felt riding my bike everywhere and exploring the hills and edge of the bay. We found arrowheads in the shell mounds on Strawberry Point. We knew all the neighbors; in fact when I was four and five I had a regular visiting route of older ladies on my street and would drop by to chat. Such wanderings would always include a visit to the backyard of two men who kept many raccoons in cages. Our cluster of houses on Bayview Terrace and Belvedere Drive was truly a neighborhood for the children of all ages with continual softball games in the summer evenings, plays we wrote and put on, and the freedom to come and go in each others' houses. Susan Heick and I were the oldest girls.

There were two Catholic retreat homes for nuns on Strawberry Point. While bike riding we would sometimes knock on the door and ask for a drink of water, although the water was often accompanied by a stern lecture on getting our parents to attend church. Later on Nancy Williams and I had a friend, Effie May DeJoria, whose mother had Palomino horses which we were allowed to ride (usually bareback, as the western saddles were too heavy for us as fifth graders to lift up on the horses).

The other thing about living in Strawberry was how many schools we went to. I lived in the same house for 16 years and attended in this order: Old Mill, Alto,Tam Valley, Strawberry (only for 1 1/2 yrs), Park, Alto, and Edna Maguire. As older baby boomers there was never quite room for our class. Two of my favorite stores in Mill Valley (when I got to town) were Sita’s parents’original art store (where I could get supplies for various art projects) and the yardage store, both near Village Music’s present location.The two women who ran the yardage store taught me how to sew, not in classes, but just by taking the time to show me various techniques and how find solutions to problems.

Muir League was a big part of my life, beginning with Redwood League which I first attended with Joelle Mayer. I remember Millie and Ben taking us to a variety of different religious places of worship and "serious discussions" at their house in Belvedere. Cazedero was a highlight; I especially remember the weekend retreats and lots of singing with guitars (Nancy and Nancy) and Larry Williams on the banjo. Ann Foster Jensen and I have remained very good friends ever since.

It was a great place to grow up: a small town, but close enough to The City to take advantage of culture and shopping. I remember Nancy and I would take the bus to San Francisco, eat a small bowl of chicken noodle soup and a large hot fudge sundae for lunch at Blum's and then go to the department stores to try on bathing suits! My parents frequently took the family to the museums on Sunday mornings when almost everyone else was at church. Anyway, people raise their eyebrows when I say I grew up in Marin County or Mill Valley and I want to stop and try to explain how it really was, but isn't the memory sometimes not worth explaining? I know what it was: a pretty wonderful place!

Suzy (Rosse) McCulloch