Here is where I have set up "office" at the Church St Cafe' just a 5 min walk from Alter'Nathan's flat on Dolores here in the Mission. Very colorful mix of people. I met Rick Borutta here yesterday on our way to visit the City!
Raining a little during my walk up to Greco Cafe in North Beach, seeing the edge of Chinatown, and the bookstore where the "Beat Generation" folks hung out to envision what "On the Road, and Howl" might look like. An older part of the City where Rick mentioned even the Cockette's got their start back before the Castro was the center of rainbow activity.
I have been learning some pu tong hua, Mandarin Chinese and here is the Chinatown Branch Library on Powell where we found the cable car to Post Street where Lewis Wm Glessner died at the opulent Elks Club in May of 1964. Happy for the online research through Ancestry.com that I did before this trip!
Nice signs to practice your Chinese reading!
Rick Borutta waiting for Ken Cottura, Elks Lodge Secretary, and a third generation of Italian SF native family to welcome us here. He found a card showing Lewis W Glessner was a paid member for 1963-64 and that he died May 5, 1964. The funeral home, Carew and English wrote that he died at 456 Post Street Elks Club on May 5, on May 6, 1964. Uncle Lewis was mentioned in Peg Weaver's autobiography as leaving Findlay OH suddenly in 1925, and her two cousins, John and Bob left too. On line I discovered that Uncle Lewis died on May 1964 and his ashes went to a cemetery in Saratoga near San Jose.
Ken is pointing to the front of the Elks Lodge as it appeared in 1925 along with the collage of black and white photos here in his office.
Here is Rick as we enjoy a Prohibition Brew, a local nice mellow drink at the bar, perhaps where Lewis and even his son, Robert, of LW Glessner and Sons listed in 1945 at 265 Market Street and his home that year, 940 Union Street.
Our food, Rick a burger and fries, mine a chef special of penne chicken in sauce, with a side salad!
Wonderful to share in the old ambience here!
After seeing the film LINCOLN last weekend, Steven Spielberg's vision of the last 4 years of Lincoln's life. Others have suggested Lincoln had many men in his life. Wonder what this Play Bill is referring to. This was on the stairs in the Elks Buidling as there is theater in the building.
Rick led me to the City Hall, in the Civic Center Complex. Here is the dome underwhich there were some weddings happening today!
World Tree of Hope, sponsored by some LGBTQ group with origami Cranes.
Rick looking at the tree in the City Hall.
Rick with the bust of Harvey Milk and the red ribbon next to the tree.
And here I am with Harvey Milk too.
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