November 1, 2024

There are SO many good Halloween cartoons.  Here's one of my favorites.

Did you ever eat at the College Restaurant, 6695 El Cajon Blvd?  It's still there, doing business as The Daily Grind.  Click HERE for an enlarged photo and a couple of newspaper clippings.

I never got out to the City of El Cajon much, but I sure like this photo taken around 1965.  The marquee touts Whitney's, Sir George's and De Falco's.  In the background is Oscar's Drive-In.  Click HERE for a larger photo.

Homecoming Queens made the front page of Pacers from 65 and 60 years ago.

Click HERE to read the Pacer from October 29, 1959

Click HERE to read the Pacer from October 29, 1964

 

October 25, 2025

This is just silly, which I guess is the root of most humor.  If you can't read what Abe Lincoln has written, it's a warm-up to the Gettysburg Address:  "And so the bartender says, 'Hey that's not a duck' (pause for laughs)"

Sharon Cramer Sceper was in town, and even came to visit me.  Here's what she had to say about book covers.  I used paper grocery bags like so many other people.  But, I was so proud of one purchased cover that I located in one of those goofy gift stores in the malls, like Spencers Gifts. Front, Spine and Back cover for a book entitled 101 Things to Make with Human Skin.The pictures on the cover were of Lampshades, Wallets, Belts, bookmarks, coasters. It was so well done as look like the real thing. It grossed out everyone who saw it. Truthfully, I cannot recall if I was still in Junior High, or all "grown up" at Crawford.  Geez, it was fun!

This ad from a 1966 Old Town tourist guide showed up on Facebook.  I'm not sure our family ever got to eat in Old Town when I was younger.  Actually I would have been a Senior at SDSC in 1966 and I still don't recall eating there.  It wasn't long afterwards that I started hanging out at Presidio Golf and eating at Casa de Pico.

We've seen this 1955 photo before, when Casa de Pedrorena was the Mexican restaurant at 2616 San Diego Avenue.

Somewhere behind those pepper trees is 2616 San Diego Avenue today, part of Old Town State Park.

Sabra Clardy Bordas ‘60 passed away September 28 in Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach from leukemia.  Sabra graduated from San Diego State in 1965 and taught school in Long Beach for five years. After her marriage to Pete Bordas in 1968, she devoted her life to volunteer work, including Brownie and Cub Scouts, the National Charity League and her current association with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County

October 14, 2024

I remember the match books and the “Draw me” ad! I wanted to be an artist when I was young and after retirement, I finally took some lessons from two amazing artists! Here is a story about one of my art adventures! This is Ernie, he was the oldest known living giraffe when I spent three days painting him at Safari West in Santa Rosa, CA. His bones are now at the Smithsonian. His head looks funny and lumpy because he had arthritis. Ernie could lay down in the barn at night but he couldn’t get up in the morning, so his keeper would use a hoist to pull him up. Ernie would then walk around all day in the sunshine. One time I displayed Ernie’s painting in an art show and a man got up real close, really checking him out.  I went and asked if I could answer any questions. He said no, that Ernie just looked like his giraffe! Turned out he was Ernie’s keeper! He recognized the arthritic bumps! Other viewers just thought I messed up! LOL! I would never sell Ernie!!  --  Jeannine Berger Passenheim ’60

My brother David Farnell '63 passed away on July 5, 2024 after a brief illness.  While at Crawford, he played French horn in the orchestra, marching and honor bands.  Dave was a master electrician with King Soopers grocery chain in Denver for many years and enjoyed RVing after retirement.  He is survived by his wife Cherie (who kept him plied with meat loaf and gravy), three daughters, 10 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, a younger brother Jim and myself,

Judi Farnell Brown ‘65 

October 12, 2024

 

Roxana Popescu
Union-Tribune
September 25, 2024


In Normal Heights, the owners of Nickelodeon Records marked the shop's 40 years not with a party or promotions, but memories and spunk. In an interview at the record boutique last week, the owners talked about how their business stayed the course despite challenges from technology, thieves and ageism. One of the owners is Ruthie Bible, age 82. "B-I-B-L-E, like the book," she said. The other owner, age 79, is Betsy Scarborough, "like Scarborough Fair”. Bible said shoppers sometimes underestimate them. They walk in looking for the owners, not grasping that the two women are in charge. "'They come in and say, 'Oh, are you the great grandparents?' No, you little, . . . .”   She stopped short of using salty language. They opened the store in 1984 in a 200-square-foot space. Rent: $200. It later moved to a bigger space at 3335 Adams Ave, where the walls are now covered with vintage posters, photos, bumper stickers, memorabilia and LPs. It was a second act for both. Bible had been working for a bank and Scarborough was a high school English teacher. They loved music and had a lot of records, and they decided to make that into a business. “  We knew we weren't going to get rich off them (the records), but it was what we loved," Bible said. "We were in the minority, believe me," she added. Not long after they opened, CDs became popular and LPs were trending down. In 1988,CDs outsold vinyl LPs, "and by 1989 they outsold prerecorded music cassette tapes for the first time ever thus becoming the most popular audio format," according to Retro Manufacturing, an audio supply store.
People would walk by the record shop and say, "No wonder no one's in there, they don't have CDs," Bible said. Asked how she felt when people suggested that vinyl was old news, Bible laughed. "We're just little rebels,” she said. Their business survived, but other record shops have closed, including Off the Record, which had opened in 1978 and shut down in 2016. Given that closure, Nickelodeon Records is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, record store in San Diego. They named other challenges, including the pandemic and shoplifters. During the pandemic, Bible pivoted and wrote a book about records. One hundred copies were published, and she saved one for the shop. As for shoplifters, Scarborough shared a story about two customers who used to stroll in and change the price tags "and make their own sales.” She confronted them. Love is what sustained the business through those and other upheavals, including the eventual arrival of MP3s, Napster, then YouTube and Apple Music. Also: deaths of relatives, pets, and all the richness and complications of growing older and running a business well past the standard retirement age. It's not just their love of vinyl, but the fact that other people love it, too. Vinyl has staying power because the audio quality is unmatched, Scarborough said. These days record shoppers prefer original LPs, not reissues, because "I mean, even though they're brand new, they really don't seem to have the depth that the original vinyl did. A lot of the older vinyl may look whipped and still sound good.”


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My brother Richard M. Robinson ’70 passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack on September 10, 2024.   He and his wife Paula had retired to Portland, Oregon five years ago — Julie Robinson Zurek, ’67

August 9, 2024

 I'm taking a break this week, but here's a Far Side cartoon.

August 2, 2024

 

I'd barely posted last week's photo of Lerner's Shops, at 3055 University, when this shot of Woolworth's, at 3067 University, popped up.  Click HERE to see an enlargement and a current view.

Tom Isom shares a 1918 view of the Santa Ysabel country store.  I've added a current view.  Click HERE to see both.

Dale Mann ’68 passed away unexpectedly June 10, 2024 in Rancho Bernardo.  He was born in San Diego and grew up in La Jolla and San Carlos.  He was a gifted and talented illustrator and nurtured a deep appreciation for the arts. He attended Grossmont Junior College and California State University, San Diego majoring in graphic design with a minor in business administration. Dale ventured out on his own to establish a retail art supplies business in Escondido known as Vintage Arts. He designed and produced products for the Maritime Museum, the San Diego History Center, the Coronado Historical Association, the La Jolla Historical Society and the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum.  His work with the Flying Leathernecks was especially dear to him. Over the past few years, Dale worked tirelessly to support the Aviation Museum and gift shop. Dale made friends easily throughout his life, and he especially enjoyed the Flying Leathernecks community of friends.   He is survived by his sister Linda Mann Urmacher ’67

July 26, 2024

Cartoonist Scott Shaw! '68 posted this on Facebook.  I thought it might bring back memories.

A great photo of a Douglas F4D Skyray over North Island.  Click HERE for an enlargement and some interesting information.

I've shared this photo of Lerner's in North Park before.  I love to hear the stories of young ladies taking the bus there, before there were shopping centers elsewhere.  I've added a photo of what's there now.  Click HERE to check it out.

 

Jerry Ellis ‘61 died May 3, 2024 in Fairfax, Virginia after a short illness. He was born in San Diego and was one of three siblings, his sisters Joan and Barbara having passed before him.  Upon graduating from San Diego State University in 1967, he joined the Navy and in 1968 he was designated as Radar Intercept Officer in the F-4 Phantom and made two combat tours in Vietnam.   Upon return from his military service, he continued his career and worked his way up the ranks at Western Airlines, starting as a ramp and cargo operator in 1966 and ending as SATO manager – responsible for all the official and personal travel of the McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, WA. When Delta Air Lines acquired Western in 1988 he continued his service by working in Military and Government Sales. At Delta, he became the Global Account Manager in which he was responsible for the coordination and administration of Delta’s participation in the General Services Administration’s (GSA) City Pair Program (CPP) Federal air travel contract.  One of Jerry’s favorite jokes was that he couldn’t die because the Lord didn’t want him, and the Devil didn’t want the competition. His friends and family can imagine him quipping that a compromise must have been reached, and “they” found him a golf resort where it’s always a perfect day for golf, no wind, and your drives are flying long and straight. However, the clubhouse often runs out of prime rib and mashed potatoes.  Those of us who have survived Jerry will be missing his humor, his kindness, and his faithful presence.