March 22, 2019

Spring arrived on Wednesday and I ended up dining at Fat Fish in Pacific Beach with my long-time buddy Tom LaShell.  We shared the Shrimp Enchiladas, which featured a Oaxacan cheese chipotle cream salsa.  I'm pretty sure that's what Jack-in-the-Box has been putting in their tacos all these years.

How was your Holi?  A lot of folks -- especially me -- wondered why March 21st featured the word holi on their iPhone calendars.  Turns out it's an ancient Hindu Spring Festival.  I wasn't sure how to celebrate it so I decided to have another piece of Chocolate cake.

Apparently I had Miss Dirksmeier for 1st Year Latin in 9th Grade at Horace Mann, and Mrs. Virginia MacMaster for 2nd Year Latin at Crawford.  Amo, Amas, Amat is about all I recall.   Lis Urick Heacock, on the other hand, says she can still remember the Pledge of Allegiance in Latin.  I'm not sure I can remember it in English.

KCBQ featured biographies of The Beatles during the month of March 1964 -- 55 years ago.  The March 22nd Big Q Survey singled out Paul.  The top five best-selling records belonged to The Beatles.  Click HERE if you'd like to see the list.

Dee Dee Rhea, Pam Nielson, Jill Dulich, Cheryl Crawford, Sue Novak and Dia Roemmich were revealed as finalists for Coed of the Year in the March 20, 1969 Pacer.  Click HERE to check it out.

U-T cartoonist Steve Breen did a nice drawing in memory of surfing guitarist Dick Dale.  Click HERE to read a great obituary in the LA Times.

March 15, 2019

Beware the Ides of March (that's March 15th -- today).  I can't for the life of me remember the name of my Latin teacher.  Was it Mrs. Dirksmeier?  Turns out it was William Shakespeare who coined the phrase.  If you still don't know what I'm talking about, click HERE for more information.

Nancy Watson Wingo shares this cartoon.  

At least TWO Colts were featured in photographs of the 2019 "Going Red For Women" American Heart Association luncheon article in last Sunday's U-T.  Sheila Smith Lipinsky '64 is second from the left in the photo above.  Joan Embery '67 is on the left in the photo below.  I heard once that Joan was the most featured guest ever on Johnnie Carson.  I wonder if Joan's twin sister has been mistaken for her over the years.

Just came across this photo in the frontispiece of the 1964 Centaur.  You can see Newberry's in the shopping center beyond the Horace Mann auditorium.  Turns out I had previously posted a larger version on the web site.  Click HERE to check it out.

Coach Harvey's 1942 Thumpabird was the Heap of the Week in the March 17, 1959 Pacer.  It messes with the mind to realize that the vehicle was only 17 years old in 1959.  Click HERE to read the rest of the 60-year old school publication.

Jeanne Hickey Allen ’63 let Pat Chambers know that her brother Ron Hickey ’60 passed away March 8th.  “Ron, Bill Killinger and I were The Three Musketeers,” reports Pat.  “I hadn’t spoken to him in several months.  Services will be held in Kansas.  Details may or may not follow. 

March 8, 2019

I think this is a play on The Three Stooges.

George Glover '73 took his wife and daughter for a final pilgrimage to Pekin Cafe in North Park, which is closing this month after 90 years in business.  George figures he's been dining there for 55 years, first as a kid with his folks, and now with his own family.  "I left," he said, "feeling as if I'd lost another piece of my childhood."

We might have a winner!!  Barbara Bright Wilder '62 did some research on Barrel Restaurants.  Looks like they were started by Roy Allen and Frank Wright, so those of you who voted for A and W Root Beer were correct.  Click HERE to read more and see a Bunch of Barrels.

The March 6, 1969 Pacer had six pages, including a Sports and Fashion page.  Click HERE to read all six.

March 1, 2019

San Diego Comic Fest is around the corner, March 7 through 10 at Four Points by Sheraton, 8110 Aero Drive. The show's big guest will be Sergio Aragonés, who's created cartoons for MAD magazine since we were all kids. I'll also be a guest there, presenting my hilarious ODDBALL COMICS LIVE! show twice (clean and dirty versions) and selling of copies of my latest children's book, MAROONED LAGOON and other silly stuff. Many other Crawford alumni plan to be in attendance, including Special Guests award-winning science fiction author Greg Bear and physics professor and author Roger A. Freedman. I hope to see some of you at San Diego Comic Fest -- Scott Shaw ’68

My neighbor has a friend in Vista who is selling an RV for $12,500.  It has 53,000 miles.  Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you more details.  My email is mail@johnfry.com (for those of you reading this on Facebook or the Colt Corral)

1969 grads Sharon Whitley Larsen and Karen Smith Takizawa -- friends since 4th grade at Phoebe Hearst Elementary in Del Cerro -- recently dined in Temecula with their respective spouses, Carl and Kenzo.   Karen, who retired as a professor at Hosei University in Tokyo in 2017, served as Sharon and Carl's Tokyo tour guide for a week in October of 2017, which included a visit to Tokyo Disneyland, of course.  After teaching high school bilingual special education for a dozen years, Sharon is now a freelance travel writer.  She and Karen are both looking forward to the 50th reunion of their class on August 17! 

Thanks to the recollections of several Colts, and the fact you can now access San Diego City Directories on-line, I learned that the old East San Diego Carnegie Library was located at 4081 Fairmount Avenue.   I've added an East San Diego Library page to the Crawford web site.  Click HERE to see what folks had to say.

I wasn't as successful tracing the history of the Aliberto's Taco Barrel.  Guesses from Colts included Flower Barrel, A and W Root Beer and Mel's Root Beer.  

Three student reporters from Crawford got to interview Nat "King" Cole, according to the March 3, 1959 Pacer.  Click HERE to read the student newspaper from 60 years ago.

Al Pain ’62 died February 11, 2019 from complications of prostate cancer.  He worked for the USPS for almost 20 years.  He is survived by two daughters and one grand daughter -- Colin Cole

Bob Sabbe ’68 passed away from a heart attack on February 15, 2019.  Although he liked to travel and get out a bit, he was a life-long San Diegan and actually lived near Crawford his entire life.  Bob was pretty active right up until the end and thanks to Rick Walsh and Mike Meyer who organized monthly lunch get-togethers, Bob was always in attendance -- Steve Morgan  

This recent photo, taken in Ocean Beach, shows Bob second from the right.  Left to right:  Mike Tyndall, Mike Meyer, John Risley, Rick Walsh, Bob and Steve Morgan.  Frequent lunch attendees not in the photo are Dave Margulis and Rich Mossay.  We all loved Bob and he is missed.

February 22, 2019

Remember when the teacher would flip the calendar from January to February and two bright red holidays leaped off the page?  Washington's Birthday would have been one of them.  Happy Birthday George!!

I'm not sure I get this, but it still made me laugh.

Hope you can read the details of the Class of 1969's 50th Reunion, to be held at Bali Hai on August 17th.

Vince Massullo and Dee Dee Rhea were the Senior Sketches in the Golden Anniversary Pacer published on February 20, 1969.  Click HERE to read all four pages.

Click HERE to read the KCBQ Top 40 from February 23, 1964 -- 55 years ago.

The East San Diego Facebook page of Gary Mitrovich saw this photo posted last week.  It's the East San Diego Carnegie Library, which existed from 1918 to 1964.  Nancy remembers it, but I don't.  Was it on Fairmount?  Click HERE for more details -- but not the address.

Also popping up on Gary's East San Diego Facebook page was this photo of Aliberto's Taco Shop on Fairmount and University.  My question is, what business occupied the barrel before Aliberto's?

Jaye Froehlich Koehler ’66 passed away on December 4, 2019 after a lengthy illness.  She will be interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery with her husband of 32 years.  She is survived by, among others, Shirley Froelich Gleason ’61, Gary Froehlich ’65 and Keith Froehlich ‘68

James Kalleberg '70 died February 17, 2019.  That's all I know, and I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't gotten an email from his classmate Wayne Zucker.

February 15, 2019

There's big doings coming up, if you're into the Hammond Organ, thanks to Doug Kvandal '66.  I can't quite figure it out, but the image above has all the info -- I think.  A freebie at Rosie O'Grady's in Normal Heights on Sunday at 9 PM and a $20 concert at Dizzy's on Monday, preceded by a free educational clinic at 7:30.  Contact Doug, if you have questions, at dkvandal@gmail.com or 619-337-5005   This just in!  Click HERE to read a nice piece about Doug's Organ in this week's READER.

Two Ernies -- No Waiting

Ernie Cowan's Outdoor Column this week is entitled "Sourgrass brings back fond memories of youth."  It certainly does for me.  Sourgrass grew next to my neighbor's retaining wall and I would regularly grab a handful to chew and savor -- until I noticed the neighborhood dogs were using the site to mark their presence.  Click HERE to read Ernie's article.

Diane Bell's column in yesterday's Union-Tribune noted that County Clerk Ernie Dronenburg would have "four cute and cuddly Havanese puppies dressed to be ring bearers and flower-carrying bridesmaids for the first 30 couples who showed up to get married at the County Administration Center.  Click HERE to read her column.

The End of the World is Near!  Donut Bar, coming to a location very near me, will feature Donut and Beer pairings on Friday and Saturday nights.  And I thought Avocado Toast was the yuckiest thing I ever heard of.  I wonder who the lucky teenager will be who gets to hose down the Morning After detritus the next day.  

Ron Klein '66 shares a wonderful color photo of his classmates Charlie Neuman and the late Harry Butler in their Rolando Little League uniforms circa 1959.  Remembers Ron, "All of the uni’s were the same style only with different sponsor patches and, of course, different colors.  Eddie Herrmann and Bob Boone wore purple.  When I was 10 I was yellow (wool) and the next year we had a new sponsor so we were green and cotton like these.  Our sponsor was Greenwood Mortuary."

Remember DJ Art Laboe?  Me, too -- sort of.  Not only is he not dead, he's still on the air at age 93!!  Click HERE to read his fascinating history.

Turns out the 45th Anniversary Stone is Sapphire, so here's the Sapphire Edition of the Pacer for February 13, 1964 -- almost 45 years ago.  Click HERE to read the complete issue.

Tom Jauregui ’67 passed away January 18, 2019.  After high school, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Army.   He spent one year in Vietnam and was allowed to leave the military early to, again, follow in his father’s footsteps and join the San Diego Police Department, where he retired 34 years later.

February 8, 2019

I got a chuckle out of this headline in Wednesday's U-T.  I wonder if they hired folks from the Roger Penske Racing Team.

This photo in the Union-Tribune certainly caught my attention.  Apparently the baby giraffe born last week at Safari Park was being ignored by its mother and the zoo staff decided they'd have to raise it by themselves.  First order of business was a cat scan.  Who knew there was a cat scan that would hold a baby giraffe?  Click HERE if you'd like to read the article.

The official word is out.  The Cohn Family is opening a restaurant in Del Cerro, if you consider Adobe Falls Drive Del Cerro.  It will be called Del's Hideaway, I guess because it's in Del Cerro and it's hidden away.  It was most recently called the Junk House, but some of you may remember it as  Nicolosi's.  Click HERE to read the article in the Union-Tribune.

I snagged this shot off the City of East San Diego Facebook page of Gary Mitrovich '76.  You're looking west on University at Fairmount.  Gary notes the tower was the location of East San Diego's first city hall and that the elegant home behind the trees was moved to a site near 56th and Adams.  (Yes, it's still there.  Nancy got a tour from the owners a few years back)  Click HERE to read more about the house AND see a current photo.

Hope you're sitting down.  This is what Crawford will look like in a couple of years.  Click HERE to look at the video, courtesy of Barbara Alvarez '70.  

I had forgotten about the College Theater.  This ad is from the February 6, 1969 Golden Anniversary Pacer.  Click HERE to read it.

I'm not sure I've seen this College Grove photo before.  It's taken from the 94 Freeway looking northwest (I think) with two of the Chollas Towers in the background..  J C Penney, Newberry's, and Walker Scott appear to be the major tenants.  Click HERE to go to the Facebook page I stole this off of.

Jacqueline Steiner died last week at the age of 94.  She wrote a song that began, “Let me tell you the story of a man named Charlie. …” made famous by the Kingston Trio.  Click HERE to read her obituary in the New York Times.

Terry Raymond Hanson ’60 died December 18, 2018.  She was a resident of Cambria, California.  She is survived by, among others, siblings Ken Raymond, Mike Raymond, and Lynn Raymond Waugh

Eileen Reichert ’64 passed away May 15, 2018.   That's all I got.

Ginger Kiesel Wildrick ’65 died at her home in La Jolla on December 17, 2018, surrounded by family and friends.  She flew for PSA, and later US Airways, for more than 20 years. 

While researching the death of Eileen Reichert Mary Gale Rogers learned of the passing of Russell Reichert, presumably her brother, on March 24, 2011