Hello,
Am writing this because I'm unsure if I'll be able to make the January 29 "goal setting" meeting to address the preservation of
the Guild Theater.
Suffice to say, I find the prospect of the Guild's closure a sad one. On the other hand, am well aware I'm one of few "natives" of
this area actually living here (returned to childhood home when parent's health went south--breast cancer and vascular dementia),
and that many in the transient tech population have a passive interest about the communities they build in. Outside of whatever
directly affects their comfort bubble, that is. But I digress.
I was born in Stanford Hospital in 1969. School progression: skipped kindergarten, Ladera (grade 1), La Loma (2-3), Las Lomitas
(4), La Entrada (5-8), Menlo-Atherton class of 1987, Santa Clara University (marketing) class of 1991. Grew up at the Dutch Goose
and long gone Round Table on Alameda De Las Pulgas, across from also long gone McQuarrie's pharmacy. Still occasionally speak with
Dan Bajada at the "new" location of M-A Auto Repair, which is close to where the old Park Theater used to be.
Would hate to see the Guild follow the same path as the Park.
It's not only a Menlo Park landmark, but as someone that wrote about music and the music industry for a few decades (interned at
Palo Alto Weekly), and had a professional jazz-pianist mother, am partial to any venue that could be an alternative source of film
and live entertainment. An alternative from the multiplexes belching major-studio franchise films and otherwise formulaic
wallpaper. An alternative from content-limited streaming services and, heaven forbid, our phones.
If it means anything to anyone there on the council, I care, and will support efforts to renovate and keep the venue viable.
The community will be far worse off if it is lost.
Sincerely,DZ
Don ZulaicaSharon Road
