[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 5209-5210] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HONORING THE CITY OF PETALUMA ON ITS SESQUICENTENNIAL ______ HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY of california in the house of representatives Friday, April 4, 2008 Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise with particular pleasure today to honor the sesquicentennial of my hometown of Petaluma, California, which has not only a special place in my heart, but a unique place in history over the past 150 years. My political career began in Petaluma when I was elected to the city council. I raised my four children in this picturesque town with its lovely rural surroundings, and now they are raising their children here. It is a warm and friendly place to call home, and despite its growing population, people still walk down the streets and smile and wave and greet each other by first name. Petaluma's recent history evolved from its position at the head of a tidal estuary. This location made it a natural shipping center for moving goods from fertile Sonoma County down to San Francisco in the years before the Golden Gate Bridge was built. Consequently, it prospered through the 19th century. But what put Petaluma on the map and made it famous in the early 20th century was the 1875 invention of the chick incubator by local farmers, Isaac Dias and Lyman Byce. According to local historian and former newspaper editor Katie Watts, the incubator and Petaluma's mild climate made it a natural spot for raising chickens. On the advice of a public relations whiz, Bert Kerrigan, town leaders capitalized on this speciality, dubbing Petaluma ``The World's Egg Basket.'' What's more, in 1918, Kerrigan prevailed on Congress to create a National Egg Day, August 13, 1918, with Petaluma as the epicenter. Everything became related to eggs--instead of receiving the keys to the city, esteemed visitors were inaugurated into the Order of the Cluck Clucks and given a bouquet, not of flowers, but of dressed chickens. The town colors were even yellow and white. And while parades in other cities featured floats carrying a contingent of young ladies in prom dresses, in Petaluma, they wore chicken costumes and handed out eggs. The scheme worked and Petaluma became the wealthiest city of its size in the country. ``Civic pride was enormous,'' Watts says. ``Showplace homes were built, many of which are still standing.'' The egg business slowly faded in the 1930s and 40s, and after waterway shipping was replaced by truck transport, Petaluma drifted into a sleepy decline. Watts explains that ``Attempts to modernize in the 1950s and 60s were mostly short-circuited by the fact the city determined not to tear down fine old buildings and replace them with parking lots and corrugated plastic.'' Although chickens gave way to the cows and sheep that now dot the green hills around the city, Petaluma remains connected to its rural heritage by supporting a growing farmstead cheese industry. But Petaluma is also firmly in the 21st century. Having been at the heart of Telecom Valley during the dotcom boom, it attracted tech and bio-tech companies, with many continuing to move here, drawn by the fertile business climate. Petaluma's civic pride extends to the care of its citizens--there is a model homeless shelter and a noted housing program for the economically disadvantaged. Current environmental policies reflect the city's pioneering work in the first slow-growth ordinances in the U.S. Protecting the environment remains a priority for [[Page 5210]] Petalumans. For example, in 1983, students from Petaluma's Casa Grande High School founded United Anglers with the mission of bringing Adobe Creek back to life. Since then, they have raised more than half a million dollars and built a state-of-the-art fish hatchery, the only one nationwide on a high school campus. Their program has served as a worldwide model for ecology and watershed reclamation. Madam Speaker, I am proud to represent the people of Petaluma, and I ask that you join me in congratulating them on their accomplishments of the past 150 years and wishing them the best for the future. ____________________