June 25, 2021

The ’61 Lunch Bunch got together last Saturday, after a 2-year COVID hiatus, at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza.   Left side:  Don Young, Larry Willis, Fred Dickson, Nelson Moore and Fritz Ziegenfuss  Right side (right to left):  Denny Bishop, Paul Dean, Ernie Dronenburg, Barry Marassi and Flip Capp

Ken and Linda Shulkind Bluer check in from Oxnard Shores, California.  Click HERE for a Blumer review.

Jack in the Box turned 70 earlier this year and Fred Dickson shares a nice little 6-minute video history.  It contains several images snagged off my Jack in the Box page, some rather recently.  Click HERE and enjoy.  

I've added a photo to the Campus Chuck Wagon page.  Click HERE to see it enlarged.

 

Debi Cox Cowan '72 shares a color snapshot of her and the other cheerleaders from the 1969 Horace Mann Student-Faculty basketball game.  Click HERE for an enlargement.  And names.  The "S" apparently stood for Student -- as opposed to Faculty.

Remember the Turkey Farm at 52nd and Trojan?  I wouldn't think so.  It belonged to the grandfather of Gary Mitrovich '76 and was featured in a Ken Kramer episode on April 30, 2021.  If the cyber gods comply, you can view that episode.  Click HERE and cross your fingers.

Here's a Vintage San Diego shot of San Diego looking west from 23rd and Broadway.  It looks almost the same today -- except for the streetcar and skyline.  Click HERE for an enlarged view.

June 18, 2021

Chuck Hansen is a '57 graduate of Hoover, and knew the late Calina Estrada '59 at Wilson Junior High.  He went on to become a photographer in the Navy, and took a bunch of photos of Calina's Celebration of Life last Saturday on Vacation Isle.  Click HERE to see his work.

It's been a slow week, so we're taking another look at a photo of the Horace Mann band taken around 1961.  Click HERE for an enlargement with comments.

And another look at some color shots of motels and llamas on El Cajon Blvd.  Click HERE for a look back.

Click HERE to check out the Senior Issue of the Pacer from June 11, 1971 -- that's 50 years ago.

John William "Bill" McCreery '67 passed away February 10, 2021 after a long illness.  After high school, Bill attended Mesa College, eventually graduating from San Diego State.  He was a long-time regional manager with FedMart Corporation, then went on to General Dynamics from which he retired as the manager of the Tomahawk missile finalization program.  For the last fifteen years, he lived in Havre de Grace, Maryland with his wife Robin Spencer McCreery.  In addition to Robin, he is survived by four children, four grand children, three great-grand children and his “just out of high school” first wife, Jeri Maracin McCreery O’Keefe ’68

 

June 11, 2021

 

Here's a Bizarro cartoon from earlier this week

The various apps on my iPad need to be updated on a regular basis, and that's a good thing.  I always cackle when -- and it happened again this week -- the calculator needs refreshing.  What?  2 + 2 doesn't equal 4 anymore? 

Every thing old is new again.  The Padres are playing way too late for me to sit in front of the TV, so I listen to Jesse Agler and Tony Gwynn, Jr. announce the later innings in bed with my iPhone 8 under the pillow.  Kind of like 65 years ago when I listened to Al Schuss report on the Pacific Coast League Padres.  My mother was always afraid I was going to strangle on the ear phone cords.  

Click HERE to read the KDEO Top 40 list from the first week of June 1961 -- 60 years ago.

Click HERE to take a look at all 8 pages of the 1966 Senior Edition of the Pacer.  Gosh, that would be 55 years ago!

My brother Gary Hill ’61 passed away in Marble Falls Texas on June 6, 2021.  After graduating from Crawford my brother went to work as a carpet and hard surface installer.  He worked in that trade for ten years, then began doing home remodeling jobs.  Following five years of home remodeling in San Diego, he moved his family to his wive’s birthplace in Marble Falls Texas and set up business there.  He retired in 2018 and is survived by his three -- children, Susan, Tommy, and Lori.   I will miss him -- Terry Hill ’60

A message from the Crawford Foundation said that Donna Bratton Henricks '63 died on May 22, 2021.  That's all I got.

June 4, 2021

A group has formed with the express interest, as I understand it, of helping support athletics at Crawford.   All is explained on their web site.  Click HERE to check it out and lend support.

There's talk of the Class of '62 joining '60 and '61 for their October Reunion -- and Denny Aiken wants in.  As good a time as any to revisit a very early posting of Denny inspecting Joel Zane's new paint job.  Click HERE to take a look.

Oh, boy -- it's the 6-page Graduation Issue for the Class of '61.  Click HERE to check it out.

I attended the funeral on May 26, 2021 for Doug Griggs '75 at Miramar National cemetery.  "Little Dougie Griggs" played little league baseball in the Andrew Jackson Little League and was a member of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.  He was a Cree hoop dancer.  I remember walking to school at Andrew Jackson with him and his two older brothers Danny and David.  He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in West Germany, going eyeball to eyeball with the Warsaw Pact countries.  While on leave in Italy he met his soulmate and the love of his life Gunilla who was from Sweden.  After the Army, Doug worked as a heavy equipment mechanic for the City of San Diego, performing maintenance and repairs on fire trucks and other heavy equipment.  He was a car enthusiast and had a beautiful yellow 1938 Chevy coupe that he had torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.  Doug is survived by his wife of 37 years, Nilla, his daughter Janice, his son Eric, and two beautiful grand daughters.  He was laid to rest with full military honors. I will miss him -- George V. Glover ’73  (Doug did not have a photo in the '75 Centaur)