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The primary subject of this meeting was historic preservation. There are currently two projects in the area that affect historic resources. One project involves the old Rodini property at 1715 Elm Street. The current owner would like to put apartments on this site. The property consists of three standard parcels. The middle parcel is where the old Rodini house stands, a Queen Anne cottage built in 1897. The other two parcels, one on each side of the house, were traditionally used for growing fruits and vegetables and which still have some fruit trees. The site has historic significance because of the age of the property but even more importantly because it is a largely intact, classic example of the kind of building arrangement typically found in the part of El Cerrito called Little Italy. The design and evolution of the house are clearly representative of development in that period in El Cerrito and the Bay Area.

A second project is the Oishi/Sakai nursery property in Richmond. This property was once just a part of a thriving Japanese nursery community in El Cerrito and Richmond. Now it is the last remnant of this industry and community. The actual business closed down very recently. The closing had been expected for some time but finally occurred when the property was purchased by the Richmond Redevelopment Agency. Now the question becomes how to preserve the historic legacy of this neighborhood, culture, and industry. The families themselves have shown little interest in this but several local, regional, and national groups feel this unique legacy is very important. In addition, the staff at the National Park Service's Rosie the Riveter National Park feels the nursery site is very important in preserving and interpreting the impact of World War II of the area. (The National Park Service has designated Richmond as a primary site where the impact of the Second World War is to the studied, preserved, and interpreted.)

The members of the Society reviewed some documents prepared by Tom Panas that document the locations and products of the many nurseries that existed in El Cerrito and Richmond. Richmond's Historic Preservation Advisory Committee has recommended to the City Council that the nursery site receive Landmark status. The sense of the Historical Society's membership is that the Society should do what it can to help preserve the historic legacy of both of these sites. The members also expressed the desire that the Society work with the City of El Cerrito towards a plan for the preservation of historic places in El Cerrito.

After this discussion, the Society viewed a short film called "The Chessmen". This film was created by Berkeley-born filmmaker Ken Kokka and is set at a Japanese nursery. It was shot at the Oishi/Sakai property because the greenhouses there are believed to be the oldest greenhouses of this style at a Japanese nursery in California. The film, based on a short story by Toshio Mori, tells about the changing of the guard at a Japanese Nursery and could have happened anywhere.