Mission Bells Why are the
“historic” bells installed on Highway 101, at southbound at
Cochrane Road and northbound at Coyote Creek Road, instead of along
Monterey Road, which is after all, the old El Camino Real?
Mission Bells
Why are the “historic” bells installed on Highway 101, at southbound at Cochrane Road and northbound at Coyote Creek Road, instead of along Monterey Road, which is after all, the old El Camino Real?
The bells originally lined El Camino all the way to San Diego but, by the late 1960s most had been stolen or were in disrepair.
For a time the California Federated Women’s’ Club offered the bells to groups willing to pay the $600 fee to have them installed along El Camino Real, the route used by Father Junipero Serra.
The Morgan Hill Historical Society installed one in front of the historic Morgan Hill House at Villa Mira Monte, 17860 Monterey Road. Further north, in Sunnyvale, for example, the road is still called “El Camino.”
Now the bells can be ordered from www.californiabell.com/ Caltrans is overseeing the installation from San Diego to Sonoma and explained that more people see the bells on the highway than on El Camino. Caltrans officials would seem to have been asleep in history class but we can’t fault their good intentions.
Give pets a chance
Since animals are such an important part of Morgan Hill and so many need homes, I wonder why your paper doesn’t feature one available pet in every issue. It seems like such an easy answer to connecting needy pets with available owners.
We used to run the Pet of the Week every Friday, with lots of information on how to adopt an animal from the shelter. When we went to the new format this August and began publishing on Saturday instead of Friday, the Pet of the Week began running as an advertisement on Tuesdays. See page C4 in Tuesday’s edition.
You can find the quarter-page ad under the heading of “Pet Services Directory” with a deserving dog or cat holding forth center stage. The attractive pet, all of whom get along well with others and learned at an early age to bring in the paper or save small children from disaster, is surrounded by other, smaller ads.
To make adopting a furry one even more rewarding, adopting families receive coupons and treats from the advertisers who want to show their gratitude.
Some ads are for pet support systems, grooming, veterinary services and even obedience training, though no dog we know of would require such a service. Cats, of course, require their owners to be obedience-trained so the question of training cats is moot.
The Times does try to get notices of pet adoption days at PetCo at Monterey Road and West Edmundson (next up is Dec. 4-5), pleas for adoption from TownCats, the no-kill agency in town and other pet agencies whenever possible. Make no mistake: we love pets and try to help whenever we can.
If you’d like to adopt a pound puppy or cat, here’s how:
The San Martin Animal Shelter, 12370 Murphy Road, is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It is closed Tuesdays and major holidays. All animals are spayed or neutered, come with rabies shots, two complimentary vet check-ups, and with an implanted microchip to help locate them if lost. The adoption fee for an adult dog is $90; puppies, $85; adult cats, $70; and kittens, $65. Details: 683-4186 or www.santaclaracounty.org; choose featured web sites, then Department of Animal Control.
Check out the TownCats website, www.towncats.org to view a gallery of furry beasts, get their life stories and find out how to adopt a cat or kitten that has been fostered for maximum sociability and hygiene habits. 779-5761.
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