GREG MOORE an Oral History Interview Conducted by Michelle
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Mill Valley Oral History Program A collaboration between the Mill Valley Historical Society and the Mill Valley Public Library GREG MOORE An Oral History Interview Conducted by Michelle Peterson © 2013 by the Mill Valley Public Library TITLE: Greg Moore INTERVIEWER: Michelle Peterson DESCRIPTION: Transcript, 35 pages INTERVIEW DATE: February 13, 2013 Greg Moore retired in 2011 as Mill Valley Fire Chief after 37 years in the Fire Department. Greg moved to Mill Valley from San Francisco at a young age and attended Tamalpais Valley Elementary School, Edna Maguire, and then Tamalpais High School, where he explored his love of automobile mechanics and racing. After high school, Greg got a job working at Marin Auto Body in Mill Valley and married his high school sweetheart, Kathy Reynolds. While working at the auto shop and a couple other odd jobs around Mill Valley, Greg became involved with the volunteer firefighters. His experience fighting fires in Mill Valley as a volunteer inspired him to take on firefighting as a career. In this oral history, Greg uses his time with the Mill Valley Fire Department to provide his perspective on how the Fire Department has changed over the years. Midway through his career, a new and developing mutual aid system in California allowed Greg to participate in fighting large fires in Southern California. Greg also talks about the many projects he participated in to improve safety in Mill Valley as well as his passion for maintaining the town’s steps, lanes and paths. © All materials copyright Mill Valley Public Library. Transcript made available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the Mill Valley Public Library. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the: Lucretia Little History Room Mill Valley Public Library 375 Throckmorton Avenue Mill Valley, CA 94941 ii Oral History of Greg Moore Index 111 Walnut Avenue…p. 16 Marin Auto Body…p. l1 265 Cascade Drive…p. l3 Marin Rod & Gun Club…p. 6 386 Marin Avenue…p. 1 Marshall, Hank (Tamalpais High School’s 587 Fairway Dr., Novato…p. 16 Dean of Boys)…p. 9 Alaska…p. 5 Merchant, Jim and Doris (owners of Mill Asilomar, Monterey…p. 21 Valley Lumber Yard)…p. 18 Bernal, Angel…p. 28 Mt. Tamalpais Methodist Church…p. 12 Blander, Mr. …p. 9 Mill Valley Lumber Yard…p. 18 Blithedale Avenue…p. 32 Montgomery, Anne…p. 28 Blithedale Canyon…p. 24 Moore, Keith (son)…p. 17 Bolsa Avenue Fire…p. 30, 35 Moore, Theresa Anne (Terry)…p. 2 Broadmoor, Daly City…p. 1 Oakland Hills Fire…p. 22, 24 Cantina, The…p. 8 Petaluma, California…p. 11-12 Cascade Drive…p. 30, 32 Pacific Gas and Electric Company City Hall (Mill Valley)…p. 3 (PG&E)…p. 3 Clint (coyote)…p. 34-35 Filippi, Bob….p. 12 College of Marin…p. 21 Regalia, Joe…p. 28 Concord, California…p. 4 Reynolds, Kathy (wife)…p. l0, 16-17 County Court, Ireland…p. 5 Rescue 30…p. 26 Chris, Dennis…p. 2 Ritter, Bob…p. 28 Davidson, Jeff…p. 32 San Francisco (born in)…p. 1 Dawson, Doug…p. 22 San Luis Obispo…p. 13 Day, Tom…p. 10 Santos, Al (owner of Shoreline De Pilo, Sam…p. l1 Market)…p. 7 Dowd's…p. 30 See's Drive-In…p. 8 Edna Maguire Middle School…p. 2 Shoreline Market…p. 7 Elroy Garage…p. 12 Sierra Club…p. 5 Germany…p. 1 Simi Valley (fire)…p. 29 Golden Gate Bridge…p. 33 Southern Marin Emergency Paramedic Grant, Bruce…p. 7 System (SMEPS)…p. 26 Griffin, Mr. …p. 9 Talkington, Victoria…p. 23, 31 Guthrie, Walter…p. 30 Tamalpais High School (Tam High)…p. 2, Hamilton Drive…p. 26 8, 34 Homestead Valley…p. l9 Tam Valley…p. 2-3, 7, 26 Janovitz (Janov, mother’s maiden Tam Valley Fire Department…p. 26 name) …p. 1 Throckmorton Avenue…p. 30 Kaiser, San Francisco…p. 17 U.S. Coast Guard…p. 11 Kentucky Fried Chicken…p. 8 Ventura County…p. 29 Kompf, Steven…p. 7, 13 Vietnam War…p. 11 La Goma Avenue…p. 11 Virginia City, Nevada…p. 5 Larson, Jack (elementary school Webster, Marvin “Marv”…p. 2, 12 teacher)…p. 6 iii Oral History of Greg Moore February 23, 2013 Greg Moore: Hi, I’m Greg Moore. Today’s date is February 23rd, 2013. We are over at the Mill Valley Library. Michelle Peterson: Alright, so you grew up in Tam Valley? Greg Moore: Yep, Tam Valley. Michelle Peterson: You were born there? Greg Moore: I was born in San Francisco and my parents moved to Tam Valley when I was young, about four years old. Moved to Marin Avenue, 386 Marin Avenue, in Tamalpais Valley. Michelle Peterson: Where were your parents from? Greg Moore: They were from San Francisco, both born in San Francisco. Michelle Peterson: Okay, and their parents? Greg Moore: Their parents, my mom’s side of the family was from Germany and my dad’s side of the family was from Ireland. My mom’s side of the family, her maiden name, her father’s name was Janovitz when he came from Germany and he changed it to Janov when he came over. Michelle Peterson: How do you spell that? Greg Moore: J-A-N-O-V. So my sister and I did a lot of fooling around genealogy, those name changes kind of messed us up. Michelle Peterson: Yeah, that messes you up. I’m glad you gave the address to where you grew up, will you give that again? Greg Moore: Sure, 386 Marin Avenue. Michelle Peterson: Just because you know, maybe your great, great grandkids are going to want to see the house that you grew up in, maybe they will be reading this. Okay, do you know what brought them to Tam Valley? Greg Moore: Well, they always told me that it was my health when I was young. They used to live in Broadmoor, which is Daly City, I think, and it was cold. They moved me to Tamalpais Valley, I never saw the reason for that because Tamalpais Valley is just as cold as anywhere else, yeah. So that was the main reason they moved. My dad worked in the city so it was an easy commute for him. Michelle Peterson: Were you an only child? 1 Greg Moore: I have a sister, Terry, Theresa Anne. She is two years younger than I am. Michelle Peterson: What year were you born? Greg Moore: 1949. Michelle Peterson: Your sister was 1951 then. Greg Moore: Right, right. Michelle Peterson: Do you have any memories of living in San Francisco? Greg Moore: None of San Francisco, they are all of Tamalpais Valley, Mill Valley. I went to Tamalpais Valley School and Maguire and then Tam High of course. Michelle Peterson: Did you go to Mill Valley Middle School? Greg Moore: No, Edna Maguire Middle School, yeah, that was seventh and eighth grade. Michelle Peterson: Okay, and then you went to high school in ninth grade. What is your earliest memory of Tam Valley? Greg Moore: Oh, all great memories. I was raised there when there were very few houses, so all the hillsides are covered with houses now, they were pretty much empty. We would spend a lot of time on the hills, just fooling around, building forts, kid’s things, exploring, great times. Michelle Peterson: You and your sister were close? Greg Moore: Very close, still are. Michelle Peterson: Do you remember your very first friend, who your friends were when you were that age? Greg Moore: Um, I would say, my earliest friends that I can remember would be Marvin Webster from the Webster family, they lived up on Marin Drive. The Chris family, Dennis Chris, he was a good friend. Marvin died about five years ago and Dennis lives up in Etna, California, I haven’t talked to him in years. Once in a while we will email each other. Those are probably my earliest childhood friends. Michelle Peterson: From Tam Valley. Greg Moore: And there are — I can throw out names but I haven’t seen them in years, you know, but those are the ones that I really hung with. Michelle Peterson: Okay, what would you guys do? 2 Greg Moore: Like I said, we spent a lot of time exploring, playing baseball, trying to stay out of trouble, but it was pretty wide open back then. You could run around a lot in the valley, everything was safe. There was a horn on top of City Hall1. It went off at noon and it went off at five o’clock every day. When you heard the five o’clock horn, everybody split and you were supposed to go home. Michelle Peterson: You could hear it all the way in Tam Valley? Greg Moore: Sure. Michelle Peterson: How long ago did they get rid of that? Greg Moore: You know, the horn is still there. But there is a siren there now for emergency warning. Michelle Peterson: That’s what they use it for now? Greg Moore: That’s what they use it for now, but the horn is still there, they never use it anymore. It used to scare quite a few, if you are close, it is very loud. I’m sure the siren is the same thing. Michelle Peterson: I’m sure. What were your parents like? Greg Moore: They were great. Hardworking, my dad worked for PG&E2 for 35 years. He did the normal, you know, work till retirement, pay off the house. My mom did the same thing.