January 27, 2017

My taste in poetry generally runs along the "Man from Nantucket" lines, but I enjoy Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" each evening, and it ends with a poem.  They never rhyme, but what the heck.  Last Saturday's offering was "Theater" by William Greenway, which brought back childhood memories.  I'd be interested to hear what you think of it.  Click HERE to read and/or listen to it.

I forget the details, but there was a lovely collage of Anthony's Fish Grotto photos in this week's Union-Tribune having to do with the closing of the restaurant on the harbor.  I think you can win gift certificates to use at the La Mesa store.  Anyway, the shot of Mama Ghio sampling her "red" clam chowder made me think of my 1981 Miss Pacific Beach Anna Cawthon.  She was excited to have her own postcard in the rack at Anthony's and we went to check it out.  Alas -- it wasn't there.  Mama Ghio issued orders she didn't want that kind of thing in her restaurant.

Word that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is shutting down, coupled with news that Circus Vargas is at the Del Mar Fairgrounds caused me to think it might be time to take another look at the the photo Bob Richardson shared some time ago of his sister at the Clyde Beatty Circus in 1949.  That's it below.  Click HERE if you'd like to see a larger version, plus a caption.

Bonnie Hinrichs Shipley '65 passed away January 15th in Tennessee, where she had moved to be close to two of her adult children and grandchildren.

Sigrid Overstreet Carlson '72 was born in Tennessee, but moved with her family to San Diego.  Her father -- C. S. Overstreet -- taught at Crawford.  Sigrid died January 6th in Huntington Beach.  Click HERE to read an obituary.

January 20, 2017

“The addicts pull up just after nightfall near a sedan parked along a busy street in this border city best known for murder.   One by one, they fork over fistfuls of cash to Sonia Garcia, who reaches into the trunk of her car and hands over the trafficked goods”.  Click HERE to read the Los Angeles Times article entitled “The ‘Krispy Kreme Familia’ and the black market doughnuts of Juarez”

Sharon Cramer Sceper '68 assures me she's not snow-bound in her Hayfork, California log cabin.  I suspect she might have cabin fever in any case.  She's not a Happy Camper that Dos XX beer has replaced The Most Interesting Man in the World Jonathan Goldsmith with The Most Interesting Man in the World Augustin Legrand.  You can cry in your beer together.  If you feel the need to commiserate contact her at sds@thelegalway.com

“Unfortunately, we’re probably the biggest provider of mental-health beds in San Diego County, in my jails,” said Sheriff Bill Gore '65 in the San Diego Union-Tribune.  Click HERE to read the whole article.

World-class bassist Nathan East '73 got the whole front page of last Sunday's San Diego Union-Tribune Entertainment section.  Click HERE to read the article by George Varga.  (Be prepared to swat away some advertisements to get to the article)

Steve Fontana '69 thought you might enjoy the San Diego and Coronado Ferry tickets he discovered last weekend while going through some of his Dad's stuff.  

Karen Richter Tolvo '64 rode the ferry on August 2, 1969 and has the certificate to prove it.  It was the ferry's last day before the Coronado Bridge opened.  Hey, that's the same year Steve Fontana graduated.

Bob Smedley '64 passed away December 4th.  Click HERE to read an obituary

Robert Svet '65 is gone, says Harry Proctor.  Services were held on December 13th.  That's all I know.

Barbara Rizzo Moody ’67 passed away January 5th, after a courageous battle with lung cancer.   She leaves behind, among others, sisters, Ida, Joyce and  Gerrie.  Click HERE to learn more.

January 13, 2017

Happy Friday the 13th!

I thought Larry Willis '61 and any other woodworkers out there might enjoy yesterday's Bizarro cartoon.  That's Poplar Mechanics, not Popular Mechanics.

Tim Abbey '71 wonders if anyone has photos of Curley's neighborhood store on 56th and El Cajon?  "It used to be popular with Andrew Jackson kids," he says.

News that the Chargers will return to Los Angeles next year took me back to the 1960 April Fool's Edition of the Pacer, in which Coach Walt Harvey was "hired" as an assistant coach of the LA Chargers.  Click HERE to read the rest of the paper.

Ron Prager '61 retired last week as a Superior Court Judge.  Click HERE to read the article in the Union-Tribune.

Remember the kiddie railroad in Balboa Park?  I thought you might enjoy another look at the photos submitted a few years back by Bill Ross '65.  Click HERE to take a look.

January 6, 2017

Here's my favorite Bliss cartoon from the last week.

Fred Koch is insisting he shouldn't be on the missing list.  He's living in the old family home on West Falls View Drive and actually taught at Crawford a while back.  I've placed him on the Class of '64 Email Page.

Here's the KDEO "Fabulous 40" list for the week of January 5, 1962.  Click HERE to go to my web page and see it enlarged.

Remember Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm in a 2003 shark attack while surfing in Hawaii. Bethany, daughter of Cheri Lynch '71, was back in the water a month later -- but it gets better.  Last Tuesday she advanced to the semi-finals in the World Surf League competition in Fiji.  Click HERE to read the article in the New York Times.

I tuned in briefly to last week's Oregon vs USC basketball game and noted that one of the announcers was Casey Jacobsen.  He turns out to be the son of Von Jacobsen '66.  Click HERE to read what Wikipedia has to say about Casey and HERE to read a 2001 Los Angeles Times article about the Jacobsen Basketball Family.

Lynn Routt Swanson wants Class of '62 alumni to Save The Date.  A 55th Anniversary Reunion buffet at Tom Ham's Lighthouse is planned for the evening of Thursday, October 5, 2017.  She's on a birthday cruise to the Mexican Riviera for a week so save your questions until she returns.

December 30, 2016

Best wishes to you as the last few grains of sand disappear from the 2016 hourglass

I don't know if there are tax benefits involved, but you might want to end the year making a donation to the Crawford High Foundation.  Click HERE to learn more.

Newsletter subscription renewal envelopes went out to Class of '67 subscribers this week.  I no longer mail to all of the addresses in my database, so if you've been thinking about renewing click HERE for details.

I finally located a trifecta of Crawford aerials taken in 1957, 1960 and 1961.  I showed them once before, but thought they were worth another look.  Click HERE to check them out.

Did you ever hang out at the Admiral Baker swimming pool?  I took this shot in 1964 -- I think -- and recently shared it on Facebook.  

While looking for the Crawford aerials above, I came across a page of snapshots I shared some years ago and thought you might like to see them again.  I think Rob Wied is stuffing Gary Bonwell in a trash can.  Gary looks about 12, so this may have been taken at Horace Mann.  Click HERE to take a gander.

Speaking of Horace Mann, I learned this week that Math teacher Robert Press passed away on Christmas Day.  He was married to my classmate Cheryl Donk.  We think services will be held at Greenwood on January 7th.  I'll share details when I get them.

Mike Falconer '64 died on December 12th in Concrete, Washington, where he had lived for some years.  I'll have more details at a later date.

Joe Spry passed away November 29th in Kennewick, Washington.  Click HERE to read an obituary.

December 23, 2016

Winter arrived in Pacific Beach this past Wednesday accompanied by a light rain.  That's a good thing.  The fact that the days will not start to get longer is even better.

Yesterday's article in the Los Angeles Times about immigrants from around the world making their way to the border at Tijuana, featured a map showing the Red Light District.  Where was it when I needed it?  No, I don't know why the Red Light District was included.  Maybe I should go back and read the article.

Nur Karhan Deleman '61, your exchange student from Turkey, wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.  I'll bet iPad'imden gönderildi means "Sent from my iPad" in Turkish.  If you'd like to respond, Nur's email address is ndelemen@gmail.com

I saw the obituary for Clark Hyde. Clark and I were in the Boy Scouts and the Order of the Arrow part of Boy Scouts for years.  Interesting note, at least for me, is that Mr. Hyde, Clark's father, was active as an adult scout leader. He smoked a lot I remember, which as we know was all too common in the day.  Mr. Hyde ran my Boy Scout Eagle Scout board of review, where the scout sits in front of three adults and answers questions for about an hour.  One of the other adults on the panel was Mr. Henzie, the principal at Crawford you wrote about recently.  I remember both Mr. Hyde and Mr. Henzie to be easy to work with and kind at that time. When you're 14 all the adults are larger than life and can be overpowering. It's interesting at least to me to have been reminded of them both in your Fried Egg update -- George Sorensen '69

Turns out Winston Churchill DIDN'T say "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."  I still thought about the quote when I decided to encourage folks out there to sign up for Facebook.  I have to deal daily with Puppy videos and selfies of "friends" eating breakfast burritos, but the incredible bright side is getting to see photos of San Diego that I haven't seen before -- and then share them.  Just as important is the ability to comment on the photos and, sometimes, begin a running commentary.  Having said that, take a look at the photos below.

Greg May's Vintage San Diego Facebook page is a regular source of fabulous new old photos.  This color shot of the old Normal School, just north of the Education Center on Park Boulevard, popped up last week.  I don't have the dates, but I'm pretty sure this was Horace Mann Junior High before its replacement was built on 54th Street.

Photos of the 1953 Toyland Parade sent me looking for the photo I took of Barbara Addkison '62 who was Queen of the 1962 parade.  Click HERE to look at the 1953 parade on Facebook.

I recently posted some photos I took at La Jolla Shores in June 1962 -- or at least that's the date on the edge of the photos.  I thought I'd get comments from my male cohorts, but mostly it was girls waxing rhapsodic about the swimsuits, hairdos and -- who knew? -- purses.  Click HERE to see all of the photos on Facebook.

Also photographed in June 1962 was a beauty pageant, I think at College Grove Shopping Center. Click HERE to see the rest of the images I posted on Facebook.  I sure wish I'd copied down names, but I had my hands full with my Yashica-D camera.

Oscar Amezcua, John Hall and Bill Davis pose for a photo while recording "Pancho Raccoon" for a movie Oscar was making at Crawford.  "They gave credit for this stuff," says Bill.  "We put thumb tacks on the felt hammers of Mrs. Amezcua's piano for the authentic honky-tonk effect."  Bill calls your attention to the "high-end reel-to-reel recording equipment" -- and, yes, wishes he still had the hair.

December 16, 2016

Perhaps the lady above would like some of the stuff below.  I don't know what it is, but it's organic and it's 50% off at Sprouts this week.

Remember Anthonys on the embarcadero?  Word came down this week that the folks who own the Brigantine Restaurants have won the contract to build a new dining facility after Anthony's closes next month.  Click HERE if you'd like to read the article in the Union-Tribune

It sounded like "Carrying Coals To Newcastle" when I heard that Taco Bell was opening 45 Taco Bells in Spain.  Turns out there are 31 there already -- and tacos don't come from Spain anyhow.  My Google search turned up an interesting site:  12 Beautiful Taco Bells You Never Knew Existed

The photo above, illustrating an article in the LA Times on the new all-electric Chevy Bolt EV, caught my eye.  The gas station looked identical to a Richfield station my aunt and uncle ran near Malibu in the 1950s.  Turns out it's actually an electric recharging station.  Click HERE if you'd like to read the article.  

WALK FOR MANKIND

I remember the Walk for Mankind,   I did it!  And remember wearing out a pair of sandals – before we knew about athletic shoes, eh?  I was sore for weeks!  Yet, it was a good cause.  Do not remember the route, sorry!  Maybe Mission Bay?  Thanks for the memory -- Marsha Rubin Steinfield ’74

Oh, I remember that walk well.  I finished all 20 miles but it was grueling and my friend, Rose Ponce (’72), kept getting bursts of energy and was definitely much more up to the challenge than I was! I can’t remember the route, I was too busy being miserable --  Debra Rogers Park ’72

I remember that Walk for Mankind ! It was 30 miles, not twenty if I remember correctly.  There were times when I could only put one foot in front of another.  One step at a time.  I'm not positive, but we may have started in Balboa Park or on Mission Bay, or walked through these areas.  I remember walking Sunset Cliffs, but don't know where we ended.   I made a bet with my fellow high schooler's that I would walk the whole 30 miles... and... come to school the next day - and I did.   Thanks to the Epsom Salts my mom soaked me in I made it to school the next day, blisters and all.  I still remember the orange sandals I wore that day to school so I wouldn't rub my blisters .  I have told many people over the years about that walk, but I don't think they really believe that I walked 30 miles around San Diego.  It took about 8 hours to complete -- Susan Tell Damberger ’70 (Sacramento)

That's Michael Byrne '64 leading the Charles River Wheelmen on a warm September 2016 day in the apple country west of Boston.  I wonder what he's doing today.  The weather report for today in Framingham, MA -- where Michael lives -- shows a low of 11 degrees.  Luckily it's supposed to warm up to 17 later in the day.

Clark Hyde '65 passed away in 1989.  We know this because Jerry Lame, brother of my classmate Marcia, was heard a lecture about why certain people like certain music and recalled that Clark Hyde was the only person he know that liked opera.  Jerry learned that Clark is buried at Oberlin Westwood Cemetery in Ohio.  "I know it is the same Clark Hyde because he went to Oberlin College and I ran into him in Berkeley when he was at seminary," says Jerry.