December 4, 2020

 

Coach Draz didn't get 90 cards at his 90th birthday party on November 17th -- he got 150!!   He was very surprised and blown away by the outpouring of well wishes, according to his daughter Kathy Draz Zopatti.  Congratulations to those who sent in cards.  You know who you are.

Where are they now?  Norm Lombardo is enjoying life in the desert in Sierra Vista, Arizona says his big brother Jared.  Ken Pernicano is around and has been contacted by a relative.  We'll see if he surfaces and wants to reflect on his early life as a trend-setter.  Turns out he IS a Pizza Pernicano.  

Malka Buchinger Nagel, San Diego's Junior Miss for 1971, is married and living in Santa Cruz.  She accomplished the goals she mentioned in the San Diego Union article.  She majored in Social Work at San Diego State, then returned to Israel in time for the Yom Kippur War.  She attended Tel Aviv University and volunteered in the hospital where there were wounded soldiers. 

Boy, it's difficult to tease any good news out of the pandemic.  Word that California was not only in the Purple tier, but headed to the DEEP Purple tier, did bring a happy memory: April and Nino's 1963 rendition of the song Deep Purple.  Click HERE and, if the computer gods are kind, you can listen to it again.

I saved a Crying Towel handed out by the Kearny ticket takers at the CIF Finals played on December 1, 1961 at Balboa Stadium.  Turns out I didn't need it.  Click HERE to check out the program AND an article published the next day by Bill Center.

I was looking for something else when I came across one of the first web pages I ever created.  It features my class ring, pendant and pin.  I've updated the page and made it look a little spiffier.  Click HERE if you can't stand the suspense.

November 27, 2020

I've added a couple of photos to the Sunset Auto & Trailer Park page.  Click HERE to check them out.

Did you ever have occasion to visit, or drive by, Brown Military Academy in Pacific Beach?  It was torn down in 1959 to make way for Pacific Plaza Shopping Center.  Some gorgeous color shots showed up on Greg May's Vintage San Diego Facebook page this week.  I was unable to "share" them to the Crawford Facebook page so I put them on a page on my web site.  Click HERE to take a look.

It's too late now, but HAD I been asked to attend April a'la Mode in 1961, and the invitation said Dressy Cotton, what should I have worn?  (Asking for a friend).  Click HERE to see the rest of the invitation, from the Mary Ann Roskos Roffelsen Collection.

Boy, I hope the late Mary Ann Roskos Roffelson left a diary!  It would appear that every weekend night in high school she was Tripping The Light Fantastic.   Here's the last of the items she saved for posterity -- the bid for the Class of '62 After Prom at Parkway Bowl.  You'll be amazed at who was performing at The Roaring '20s.  Click HERE and all will be revealed.

November 20, 2020

Here's a nice shot of the old May Company in Mission Valley Center around 1962.  I like it just because of the cars.  Would you say May Co was painted Mustard Yellow?  My grandmother had a different name for that color.  I think it had the word Baby in it.  Click HERE to see an enlarged view of the picture.

I've added this postcard of the Sunset Auto & Trailer Court to the Pacific Highway and Taylor Street page.  Click HERE to check it out enlarged.

60 years ago Crawford and Sweetwater met on Thanksgiving for a football game to benefit Jeff Greenleaf, who was paralyzed during practice on September 18th.  Click HERE to check out the program.  (Is it just me, or is that not a VERY attractive place kicker?)

I'm almost finished going through the Crawford memorabilia collected by the late Mary Ann Roskos Roffelsen '63.  Click HERE to see larger images of her ASB and Senior Privilege Cards.

Click HERE to read all four pages of the November 23, 1960 Pacer.  You'll wanna see Tom Anderson's souped-up Chevy El Camino.

My classmate Ron Fox has checked in with memories of good friends who have died

Bill Rainey

and

Tom Ault

Ron Baldwin '60 passed away October 25, 2020.  He was born in Rhode Island on November 25, 1942

Greg Finley ’64 died November 2, 2020.  After Crawford he went to San Diego State, where he was a dedicated TKE and recorded albums with his band Little Joe and the Mustangs.  He ran Finley's House of Carpets until his early retirement in 1997. In retirement Greg played trumpet at watering holes around town.  Greg's lifelong gift for friendship meant his untimely diagnosis with Alzheimer's reverberated through a wide circle. Throughout his battle, he kept his kindness, charisma, and humor, and he never stopped loving music, dancing in the kitchen with his wife of 18 years, Ann Marie.

November 13, 2020

 

Step on a crack -- break your mother's back!

David Sleet has a good eye.  He noticed that the photo of gymnast John Giamanco in last week's Golden Anniversary Pacer was upside down.  I've corrected it here.  What neither he nor I noticed was that the photo was taken from the November 7, 1969 Pacer.  Click HERE if you'd like to see the November 6, 1970 Pacer from 50 years ago

The Crawford Alumni Association shared an article from The Reader.  It talked about how much the school has changed over the years.  It was written in 1983.  Click HERE if you'd like to check it out.

The November 10, 1960 Pacer -- 60 years ago -- featured two article about Jeff Greenleaf, who was left paralyzed after an accident during football practice on September 18th.  Click HERE to read the 4-page newspaper.

The naming of Candy Groves as 1965 Homecoming Queen was front-page news in the November 10, 1965 Pacer.  Click HERE to read that and other stories in the issue that came out 55 years ago.

I scanned two school play programs from the Mary Ann Roskos Roffelsen collection

Ask Any Girl -- 1961

The Curious Savage -- 1963

November 6, 2020

Nancy Watson Wingo says her Mom let her ditch school at Escondido High on November 2, 1960 and watch John F. Kennedy give a speech in front of the U. S. Grant Hotel prior to the Presidential Election of November 8th.  Click HERE to see some lovely enlargements from the Union-Tribune archives.

Here's a Colt logo created by my '62 classmates Ron and Heather Meyer Jagodinski.  I still don't have a handle on how they do this, but they did sent me a link that appears to show other items they've created and perhaps some other stuff too.  Click HERE and take a look.

Ben Cordilone '70 sends his OWN photo from Luckenbach, Texas.  That's his wife Louie (Point Loma '71) next to him.  Her given name is LuAnn, but when the song Louie, Louie came out -- well, you can guess the rest.  Ben says the history of Luckenbach is quite interesting and sends along a link.  Click HERE to take a look

Mary Ann Roskos '63, who passed away in 2016, must have enjoyed a fabulous social life while at Crawford -- and she saved every menu, program and ticket stub.   Her sister Susie has given me the entire collection, which I will scan and share in the weeks to come.  We can start with the program from a 1963 race at the El Cajon Speedway.  Click HERE to check out all 12 pages.

I can't help myself.  Whenever I see a color shot of a San Diego streetcar I have to share it.  This one shows a streetcar on the Number 2 line headed east on Broadway, where it would then head north on 30th Street to Adams Avenue.  One of my earliest memories was of one of my aunts on Edgemont Street being terrified to take the #2 line to North Park because it went across the rickety trestle bridge over Switzer Canyon.  That's me below on Edgemont Street about age 5.

Click HERE to read all six pages of the Golden Anniversary Pacer of November 7, 1970.  There's a lot of talk about The Witches and a fascinating Letter to the Editor from faculty member Philip Heubach.

 

October 30, 2020

Still one of my all time favorite Bizarro cartoons.  Stay safe this Halloween.

It always seems like every time there's a mention of Some Like It Hot being filmed at Hotel del Coronado there's a picture of Marilyn Monroe.  This 1959 photo just popped up on Facebook.  It's Jamie Lee Curtis and her dad Tony.  I wonder if she even knew who he was.  Obviously something ELSE has got her attention.  Maybe it's Marilyn Monroe.  

My buddy Jeff Dalrymple just came across the parking ticket he got at San Diego State on October 9, 1967 and again on October 11th.  Click HERE for the rest of the story and the part I played so many years ago.

Here's an ad from the November 24, 1965 Pacer.  $1.50 to see The Byrds.  Who had $1.50 in 1965?  Click HERE to read all 6 pages of the 45-year old student newspaper.

If you attended Blessed Sacrament and have a Facebook account you might enjoy Sayne Maza's Blessed Sacrament Facebook page.  Click HERE to check it out.    By the way, that's Kathy Keeyes Antus' Kindergarten Class pictured above.

Do you have memories of a favorite Mexican Restaurant?   Click HERE to see a list -- with photos and histories -- that will make you burst out crying.  Dry your tears -- some of them are still in business.

Uta Ritter Packman ’64 died of colon cancer on March 18, 2019.  Her life’s work was at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, going on a ship to plot the bottom of the ocean.  One of her main projects was called “Dive and Discover”.   So now I am the only one left of the family that came from Germany -- Helga Ritter ’62

Steve Eckles ’73 passed away on October 19, 2020 according to the Crawford Alumni Association website.