History Blog: Union City Bicentennial Committee

At the start of 1976, the Union City City Council appointed a number of local residents to a Bicentennial Committee to organize events for the Bicentennial year. Appointed to the committee were Elvin and Jean Rose, Gertrude Cochero, Sally Sala, Betty Fain, Patricia Snider, Roger Snider, Lynda Patterson, Sylvia Swartz, Diane Greenwood, Donald Yerby, Patricia Overstreet, Kenneth and Susan Shattock, Elvamae Borghi, Angie Garcia, Emily Sacramento, and D'loris Turpin.

The Bicentennial Committee organized a number of events for the City. The City was building a new bridge over old Alameda Creek on Almaden Blvd. The bridge design was very similar to the bridge over Dry Creek on Alvarado-Niles Road, but the City wanted something extra. The Bicentennial Committee organized a design contest for artwork on the bridge. The artwork was to be "a bas-relief no more than 1.5 inches deep or a mosaic or similar concept."

The Committee also organized an essay contest for Union City students. The entrants had to write a short essay on the subject "What America Means to Me". There were 700 entrants to the contest. This was whittled down to 40 that the Committee reviewed. Awards were given by grade level and one single overall award was given. The awards went to Bobby Vinson - 2nd-3rd, Sarah Lau - 4th-5th, John Kroeckel & Amelia Calubiran - 6th-7th, Carol Korycinski & Ramon Inciong - 10th-11th. The overall award went to John Kroeckel, who "discussed a number of American freedoms, including the right to speak, choose friends, selection of reading, television and radio material, and attend school."

In July, the Committee organized the Union City Historical Museum, a short term Museum set up at the Union Square Mall. The Committee gathered historical donations from various city residents and put on them on display. Suzie Shattock was the museum curator. The museum was open from Monday to Friday 2 to 4 pm and then from 6 to 8 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The museum was open for 2 months and had between 500 to 600 visitors.

The Committee also started work on a history book of Union City. The book, "Looking Back: Early Glimpses of Union City" took longer than expected to write, and was published by the City in 1978. Nancy Nickel organized the team that worked on the book, with help from local historian, John Sandoval.