A Bit of Napa Valley History, the Eagle Cycling Club
I really can't imagine staying on ActiveRain
if it weren't for people like Curtis Van Carter who
inspires others and has a long history of what it takes
to move around this world and run a business. Below is an intro to his
bio from his website and a re-blog of fascinating history in Napa Valley
This post is dedicated to Curtis. Comments to me are disabled to give
you an opportunity to connect with a great man here on ActiveRain.
---Patricia Feager
Born into a career Air Force family, Curtis Van Carter spent only a few months at his birthplace, Mitchell Field, Long Island, New York. By the time he was 17 years old, he had moved with his parents 21 times and resided in many different places including all across the United States, Bermuda and seven years in Germany.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Ohio State University and continued his physics career as a research technician at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. While working under the tutelage of two brilliant Cal Tech physicists attempting to develop a “heavy ion accelerator,” he realized physics wasn’t for him and returned to school attending California State University, Hayward where he took graduate classes in Geography.
From 1972-83 he pursued a number of careers until 1984 when he realized a dream of taking a year off to discover his Greek roots and the spirit of Alexander the Great.
Vintner’s Golf Course, YountvilleUpon his return to the Napa Valley, he began selling real estate, developing projects and making deals. He affectionately refers to his profession as “peddling dirt, finding rainbows and the pot of gold.”
Many years ago, I used to own two gift shops here in Yountville, Caboose Noir and Train of Thought. Opening Caboose Noir in 1977 is what brought me to living here in the Napa Valley. Caboose Noir was a gift shop carrying primarily Noir Enamels which was owned by my late cousin Loreon Vigne', a well known San Francisco artist and finally the owner and founder Isis Oasis. Train of Thought was a paper store featuring gift cards, posters and many other paper products.
About 1980 during Christmas while working at Caboose Noir, a young man came in to buy gifts for his mother. Unfortunately, he did not have enough money to buy the ones he picked. He did have an old photo album containing many historic photos from the early 1900s which we agreed to use as barter for his purchase.
I am in the process of moving so I have been going through everything to see what moves, what to sell and what goes into the trash. This gave me reason to revisit the photo album which by this time contained a large number of very faded photos. One photo to survive in fairly good condition was that of the Eagle Cycling Club which happens to be a long time cycling club here in the Napa Valley.
I reached out to them and was contacted by a Ken Rands. He was kind enough to send me their history by El Jefe which I have included here. It makes for interesting reading. I hope you enjoy and sorry about the formatting but it was the best way to include it here. I was grateful I could give them the photograph from their past.
If I can help you find the perfect Napa Valley property, please contact me
Your Napa Valley Broker Extraordinaire, selling Real Estate here from its heart, Yountville
My website & blog: www.NapaValleyAddress.com
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