February 14, 2020

Just the other day I was asked when Crawford opened.  I was pretty sure the answer was 1958.  Click HERE to get ALL the details from Victor Perez '71.  My new question is, when did Crawford's address change from 4191 55th Street to 4191 Colts Way?

Julia Burnham Little '64 asked if I could find a photo of the ROTC Firing Fillies Girls' Rifle Team.  I checked the appropriate yearbooks to no avail.  Julia was pretty sure they competed with the boys at the indoor firing range on campus.  All news to me.  How about you?

Take it easy girls!!  It's not James Dean.  It's ME -- leaning against the car I drove to San Diego State College.  Click HERE to see what some other Colts drove to Crawford.

I think I've shared this before.  It's a 1946 aerial taken by my late buddy Howard Rozelle.  It looks east from the Ferry Landing and the old Police Station on Market Street.  Click HERE if you'd like to look at an enlargement on my web site.

Click HERE to read a Pacer from 60 years ago -- February 11, 1960.  Remember Slave Day?  Those were the good old days.

Robert Smith ’60 passed away February 5, 2020 from metastatic throat cancer.  Born at North Island, Bob graduated from Crawford, went on to SDSU and graduated in 1970 from UCSD with a PhD in Math.  He spent his entire career at the Navy Lab at Point Loma, at first doing math modeling, then moving on to something he loved more: managing the building of --and taking to sea -- towed array sonar surveillance systems.  A hunter most of his life, after retiring in 1995, he took up bird hunting and acquired the first of his four beloved hunting dogs.  A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, March 8, at 1 PM at the Thursday Club, 1224 Santa Barbara St., San Diego.

February 7, 2020

I just stumbled upon this photo of me taken in front of our Quonset Hut at 32nd Street around 1949 and thought I'd share it.  Click HERE if you'd like to see a Howard Rozelle aerial of our abode.

This photo appeared on Facebook this week.  It was taken by Bob Gardner in 1967 and looks west on Broadway from 8th Avenue.  Click HERE if you'd like to see it enlarged on my web page.

Click HERE to peruse the 6-page Spring Fashion Issue of the Pacer, published on February 11, 1965.  I think that's close to 55 years ago.  (I've added a special treat)

Here's something else thats 55 years old: a photo of the 1965 Horace Mann 8th Grade 4R (B) Intramural football champs previously shared by Don Rogers.  Click HERE for an enlargement with names.

This just in from Leatha McGowan Cooksy '70.  It's the Oak Park contingent at the Class of '66 20 Year Reunion.  Click HERE if you'd like to see it enlarged.  I don't have names, but they all have name tags, so maybe I can work on that later.

Here's one that's only 50 years old, from the San Diego Union February 8, 1970.   Lucky for Hope, this was 1970.  If it was 1960 they'd list your home address AND your measurements.  What could go wrong?

Dotty Saladin Matz ‘64 wanted to let all know that her sister Sally Saladin Knigge ’61 died on January 15, 2020 in Stuart’s Draft Virginia.  Sally joined the Navy after high school, and was a dental assistant for four years. Her husband Gene retired from the Navy and they moved to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

January 31, 2020

Did you watch the Grammies last weekend?   Me neither.  I don't know any of the singers or recognize any of the songs.  I guess some guy named Billie Eilish won everything.   Oh, wait -- Billie Eilish is an 18-year old girl?  I rest my case.  CBS Sunday Morning had a snippet from the first Grammies in 1959.  The winning single was Volare and the best album was The Theme from Peter Gunn.  That was REAL music.  Hey, you kids get off my lawn!!!

I guess members of the Class of ’68 have begun turning 70.  The guys above met at Mike Meyer’s abode in Palm Desert last weekend to begin celebrating.  Pictured are Rick Walsh, Mike Tyndall, Richard Mossay, John Risly and Mike Meyer.  Mike Tyndall, John Risly, Rick Walsh and Mike Meyer met at Montezuma Elementary.  Richard Mossay joined the group at Horace Mann.

Terri Quinlivan Parham '66 posted her 6th Grade class photo from Darnall on Facebook.  I've added it to the Darnall Elementary page on my web site.  Click HERE to see the above photo enlarged.

Rik Kranenburg '72 died January 18, 2020 according to the Crawford Alumni Association.  There were no other details.

January 24, 2020

Here's a bucolic image of Julian, California circa 1900.  I think it's looking southeast toward Lake Cuyamaca.  Click HERE to view an enlargement.

Click HERE to read the Pacer from January 21, 1965.  I think the 55 year stone is Emerald.   I noticed photos of Sue Roel and Bob Boone, who -- I believe -- later went on to get married.  

If you could read this you might recognize disk jockeys Ernie Myers, Art Way and Noel Confer.  You might also fondly recall El Paso, Why and Scarlet Ribbons, the top three hits on the Mighty 690 Top Forty list for January 1, 1960.  Click HERE to enlarge it to a point where you might be able to read it.

Patricia Daniel Schatz ’64 send word that her classmate Donna Maxey Webber passed away January 15th.  Details may follow.

January 17, 2020

Not a lot to share this week.   I've been busy folding, sealing, labeling and banding the quarterly alumni newsletter, which I hope to get in the mail today at the Midway Post Office.

I'm not sure if the swallows are still coming back to Capistrano each year, but Paul Hildebrand Clare is still coming back to La Jolla -- and still running into Coach Dick Draz.  He's seated next to his buddy Henry Zopatti, who once taught at Pacific Beach Junior High.  I assume they're watching all the girls go by.

Those of us who grew up in the '50s were dealt another blow with the passing of Edd "Kookie" Byrnes.  What I DIDN'T know was that Logan Byrnes, local KUSI newsman, was his son.  Click HERE to read an obituary from the New York Times.

January 10, 2020

I don't know what year this image was taken.  Jack in the Box was still offering Shrimp and Chicken -- but not French Fries.  They were still called French-Fried Potatoes.  It's a good excuse to revisit the Jack in the Box page.  Click HERE -- and enjoy.

Sharon Mass '61 won a trip to New York, according to the January 14, 1959 issue of the Pacer.  I think that was before jets.  Click HERE to enjoy all four pages of the student publication.  This was 60 years ago, so I guess it's a Diamond Anniversary Pacer.

The article on Savings Stamps in the Diamond Anniversary Pacer is a good excuse to visit the Savings Stamp page on my web site.  It also includes Green Stamps and Blue Chip Stamps.  Click HERE please.

I'm passing on a couple of obituaries garnered from the Crawford Foundation web page.   They came with no additional data.

Mary Allison '65 passed away December 15, 2019

Richard Bredeson '72 died December 19, 2019

January 3, 2020

I guess the Roaring '20s are back.  I'm waiting for it to stay light a little longer -- and warm up.   I don't expect to get a lot of sympathy from Colts ensconced in cooler climes.

I liked this Harry Bliss cartoon from yesterday.

Better late than never!  An article in the November 21st Union-Tribune told about George Glover '73 being honored as the Veteran of the Year in El Cajon.  George joined the Coast Guard and was sent to the Coast Guard Station on Harbor Drive.  Reminds me of my late friend John Finn.  He was raised in Los Angeles and joined the Navy to see the world.  I think he spent the first 10 years of his enlistment at North Island, but managed to win the Medal of Honor for his heroics at Pearl Harbor on December 7th.  John died in 2010 at age 100.  By the way, George Glover eventually put to sea.  Click HERE to read all about it.

I've added two more items -- a matchbook and an ash tray -- to my Aunt Emma's Pancakes page, courtesy of John Clay '69.  Remember when everyone smoked in restaurants, even the waitresses?  But the health department made them wear hair nets?  Remember when you could be seated in the No Smoking section, but still be next to a table in the Smoking Section?  Glad I got THAT off my chest.  Click HERE to revisit the Aunt Emma's Pancakes Page.

Here's a brilliant color photo of San Diego, circa 1953, when Navy Hospital was a sprawling pink complex and San Diego High was covered in ivy.  Click HERE to see this photo enlarged on my web site.

December 27, 2019

I snagged this off of Lulu Summers' Facebook page.  Who knew it would end up hitting a little close to home at La Casa Frito?  (That's Spanish for The Fry Home)

Sharon Cramer Sceper '68 forwarded this photo, I think taken at a Denny's.

The grandchildren of my classmate Bernadine Berlin Temple don't go "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house" for the holidays.  Grandmother comes to them on the back of a Harley.  Here she is getting ready to leave the grandkids' house in San Jose for the return trip home to Hayward.

Click HERE to take a look at the KCBQ Top 40 from December 25, 1970 -- 49 years ago!!

Did you ever go the the Coliseum in downtown San Diego?  Me neither.  It was owned by the Navarro family and I'm wondering if it became Jerome's Furniture.  Last week marked 40 years since the venue was shut down.  The Union-Tribune published an article written by Wayne Lockwood at the time.  Wayne wrote great pieces, always fun, about the history of San Diego.  Click HERE to read this one.

This classic color shot of the Twin Inns in Carlsbad popped up on Facebook this week and I had to share it.  Click HERE to see an enlargement, a little information, and a postcard showing the chicken statues that used to be out in front.

December 20, 2019

When is the official start of winter in San Diego?  The solstice will be at 8:19 PM on December 21st.  San Diego gets 9 hours, 59 minutes and 50 seconds of daylight on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.  When the summer solstice rolls around on June 20, 2020, the city will get 14 hours, 18 minutes and 25 seconds of daylight.  (From Robert Krier's column in Monday's Union-Tribune)

Ginger Irvine Barnard ’60 recently received the Los Angeles Junior League’s Spirit of Volunteerism Award.  She  currently is serving a 2 year term as President of the Ebell Club, at 125, the oldest women’s club in California. The Ebell Club has a 1,200 seat theater and clubhouse on Wilshire Blvd and a $6 million dollar budget, a full time unpaid job for Ginger. She previously chaired the Protocol and Programs committees for the LA Junior League.  Pictured above are Janis Irvine Ricards ’64, the aforementioned Ginger, and Georgeanne Irvine, award winning children’s books author and Director of Corporate Publishing for San Diego Zoo Global.

What are the chances?  On December 17, 1903 Orville Wright, and his brother Wilbur, made the first powered aircraft flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  On December 17, 2019 Orville Wright Jr., a 1976 Crawford graduate, asked to be a member of the Colt Corral Facebook page.  I wonder if they're related.

Turns out Raquel Welch WAS a Weather Girl on Channel 8.  I always thought it was an Urban Legend.  Here's a 1960 photo of the La Jolla High grad -- then known as Raquel Tejada -- working on the weather map.

I'm not sure what year this photo of Horton Plaza at Christmas time was taken, but I think that's a '56 Chevy stopped on Broadway.  Click HERE if you'd like to see an enlargement on my web site.

Click HERE to read the 6-page December 18, 1969 Golden Anniversary issue of the Pacer.

December 13, 2019

Reformed convicts?  I'm not sure, but in its current iteration it's Shades of Sound, a cover band containing two Crawford brothers.  You can watch them Sunday at 10:40 AM on KUSI Channel 51 (or is it 9?)  Pictured above are Gary Lewis '69, Brandon Parkhurst, George Lewis '70, Mike Parkhurst, and Jim Klempan.

We mentioned former Crawford High School English teacher-turned French-trained pastry chef Melanie Dunn last year when she opened a bakery in Hillcrest.  Now she's upgraded to a spot in North Park.  Click HERE to read the article in Tuesday's Union-Tribune.

This photo of the Andrew Jackson 1968 Little League Tournament Team popped up on Facebook, but I don't recall anyone saying they were in the photo.  What year would someone in this picture have graduated from Crawford?

From the San Diego Union, December 16, 1959 -- 60 years ago!!

Here's a snazzy old photo from the San Diego Police Museum posted on Greg May's Vintage San Diego Facebook page by Tom Giaquinto.  It looks north across the intersection of Pacific Highway and Taylor Street around 1946.  Click HERE if you'd like to see it enlarged.