November 13, 2026

 

This the very first Far Side I ever saw and I swear it was in Readers' Digest.  The cartoon was black and white, but the lion's tail was in color.

-----------------------------------------------------

Who knew this 1965 Colt was a direct descendant of Dan'l Boone?  Bob passed away Monday.  Click HERE to read the Union-Tribune remembrance written by our own Bill Center '63

-----------------------------------------------------

Merry Lou Gurling saved the program from the 1962 Senior Play "The Man Who Came to Dinner".  Click HERE to check it out -- and read the glowing review in the Pacer.

-----------------------------------------------------

This ad got me to thinking about the Red Coat Inn

-----------------------------------------------------

and University Lanes Bowling Alley

-----------------------------------------------------

and the Cinerama Theater

-----------------------------------------------------

and the girls behind the candy counter at Cinerama.  Jeez, they even have Clark Bars.  

-----------------------------------------------------

and Sheng Haw Low Chinese Restaurant

-----------------------------------------------------

and the University Avenue photos I shared once before.  

-----------------------------------------------------

IN MEMORIAM

MSgt Randy Thomas USAF, Ret.’70, passed away November 6th due to injuries sustained in a fall that broke his hip and a vertebra in his back. The injuries led to fluid build up and low blood pressure which claimed his life. Randy excelled in cross-country at Crawford. He also excelled as a baseball pitcher but was turned down by coach Sandback. So, he took his talents to the American Legion where his successful outings caught the eye of coach Sandback who begged him to join the Colts. Randy told him to stuff it! He went on to complete his successful tenure at American Legion. Randy and his brothers were actively involved with their church and Youth for Christ activities. 
Randy had a 22-year career in the Air Force, first as a Weapons Loader “Load Toad” a majority of his career, then retrained to become a Training Manager where he worked in Wing Training positions. He retired as an E-7. He met his wife Rebecca at his first duty station at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona and they married in May of 1973. 
After retirement at Luke AFB, Arizona, he stayed in Phoenix and worked for many years at the Desert Sky Pavilion until they closed their doors. He then worked at a hardwood flooring company until he retired. 
He and Rebecca moved to Gladwin, Michigan in 2009. They enjoyed making hand-crafted wooden bird houses that they sold at events for $200 or more. Randy also excelled at golf with a 1 handicap and often thought of trying out for the Senior PGA tour. 
They returned to Arizona in 2020 and settled in Yuma to be close to family after Rebecca was diagnosed with dementia. Rebecca passed in 2024. Randy never got over her loss and his health steadily declined. 
Surviving Randy are his fellow Air Force veteran brothers Greg ’69, Jeff ’73, and Cory ’74

November 6, 2026

Man -- I don't know how many times I heard that at the dinner table, not that I ever threatened NOT to eat it.

----------------------------------------------------

I coulda told 'em 200 years ago, "Sure, you're a big operation now, but that total celibacy thing is gonna bite you in the ass."

-----------------------------------------------------

I don't know Deanna Hayes, but I sure like her photos.  This is the County Administration Building, all lit up for the elections.  Did you know it was originally San Diego's City Hall, dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on July 16, 1938

 -----------------------------------------------------

Another treasure from Mary Lou Gurling's Scrapbook and one more thing I wasn't invited to.  I was probably too busy anyhow working on my stamp collection.  Click HERE to see the image enlarged.

 -----------------------------------------------------

IN MEMORIAM

Bob Belenzon '70 passed away last Friday at Scripps Hospital.  He and his wife were in Phoenix, on their way home from visiting family in Missouri, when he started feeling badly.  They drove straight to Scripps in San Diego where he died of a brain bleed.  It wasn't a total surprise, I assume, as he had had heart surgery last year.  I didn't know Bob, but he shared things with me over the years, which I'm sharing again below.  The Belenzons -- Bob, David and Debbie -- were first cousins of my late pal George Fogelman '63. 
Bob's niece has left a wonderful remembrance on the Class of '70 Obituary Page.

Click HERE to take a look at Bob's copy of the 1964 Montezuma Elementary School 6th Grade Graduation program.

and HERE for a larger copy, and some signatures, of the 1962 Rolando Little League American Mattress team.

Bob also shared photos he took of the Belmont Park Roller Coaster.  We're not sure of the dates, but Belmont Park closed down in December 1976 for non-payment of property taxes and then was refurbished and reopened on August 11, 1990.  Click HERE to look at enlargements.

October 30, 2026

My favorite Bizarro Halloween cartoon -- or maybe it's just a Witch cartoon.

-----------------------------------------------------

I had hoped to use A.I. to spiff up  this photo of my costume for Halloween 1947, but ChatGTP wouldn't help me out.  I think I was Casper the Lone Ranger, but A.I. must have thought I was a junior member of the KKK.  Which reminds me of the incident below.

-----------------------------------------------------

When the drizzle started at this 2014 Angels-White Sox game, folks pulled up the hoods on the free rain coats given out as they entered the park.  What could go wrong?

-----------------------------------------------------

Our old pal Yev Yorobe caught this shot of a Full Hunter's Moon coming up behind Balboa Park's California Tower last Sunday.  The UPS plane made it look, to some folks, like the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro.  Click HERE for more details and an enlarged view.

-----------------------------------------------------

I had not seen this shot of a B-24 over downtown San Diego before and decided to colorize it.  This process seems to bring out even more detail in photographs.  Can you see Balboa Stadium?  How about the El Cortez?  Click HERE for a larger view.  

-----------------------------------------------------

Here's the latest tidbit from Mary Lou Gurling's Scrapbook.  My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.  Click HERE for a larger view and a look at previous entries.

-----------------------------------------------------

Any '68 grads go to Blessed Sacrament?  I enlarged and cleaned up the photos Kathy Keeyes Antus sent me once upon a time.  Click HERE to take a look.

-----------------------------------------------------

Margo Miller shares the sad news that her husband, Edward Miller ’62 died on October 23, 2026 — “Ed joined the Navy after High School and remained for 20 years.  After he retired from the Navy he went to work at NASSCO as a marine electrician and continued to raise his boys here in Spring Valley as a single dad until he married me 35 years ago and also became a stepdad to two more boys.  He became an avid woodworker and dabbled in art, becoming an accomplished sketch artist.  For a number of years Ed volunteered at the San Diego Maritime Museum using his marine electrician skills to maintain their displays and ships.”

October 23, 2026

You can tell a lot about someone by the cartoons they choose (that would be me)

-----------------------------------------------------

Hide the Women and Children!!  The Campus Lab School '63 gang is back at Lake Poway.  Click HERE for an enlargement and captions.

-----------------------------------------------------

Mary Lou Gurling saved the confetti from President Eisenhower's parade up Broadway on April 24, 1960.  Click HERE to see a bigger picture AND a great photo of the parade.

-----------------------------------------------------

Lee Young's '55 Chevy Bel Air was Heap of the Week in the October 10, 1960 Pacer.  Click HERE to get the details.

-----------------------------------------------------

60 YEARS AGO

Evening Tribune • October 24, 1966 -- Valerie, I believe, went on to tennis greatness, once beating Billie Jean King.

-----------------------------------------------------

50 YEARS AGO

San Diego Union • October 26, 1976

October 16, 2026

Well THIS brings back some bad memories!!

-----------------------------------------------------

I'm not even sure if Five Guys is still around, but this cracked me up.

-----------------------------------------------------

Hey, Dobbin -- how about we go visit the zoo?  I'll bet the lions reading this ad were licking their chops.  I came across it while researching the house at 4110 Lamont in Pacific Beach.

-----------------------------------------------------

'65 Colt Jack Tempchin apparently writes a new song every day and goes down to the beach and sings it to strangers.  I assume he can afford to do that with the money he gets from The Eagles for writing Peaceful, Easy Feeling (and a couple of others).  He got a nice mention in the Netflix documentary on the group.  I like the title and the message of this one.  Click HERE if you'd like to watch the video.

-----------------------------------------------------

I've added Jerry Monell's '56 Ford to the Heap of the Week Page.

-----------------------------------------------------

How does this look?  I colorized a screen grab of Barb Nielsen's CBS8 "Throwback" video of the clean-up crew getting Crawford ready to open in September 1957.  Click HERE to see some other shots.

-----------------------------------------------------

Remember "Fearless Fosdick's" futuristic "2-Way Wrist Radio".  My classmate Mary Lou Gurling has one -- or maybe it's just an iPhone.  Anyway, from her home in Lake Wylie, South Carolina she sent pictures of some of the pages in her high school scrapbook. Actually, the one below is from Fad & Fun Day at Horace Mann in 1959.  Click HERE to get the details.

-----------------------------------------------------

IN MEMORIAM

Elliott passed in his sleep on September 4, 2026 according to his wife Diane.  A great guy, a great dad, and a great surfer — Matthew Leddick

-----------------------------------------------------

65 YEARS AGO

Evening Tribune • October 21, 1961

----------------------------------------------------

Evening Tribune • October 21, 1961 -- Olafur is sporting his first short sleeve shirt. They don't sell them in Iceland.  Ugo was the AFS student in my class at Crawford.

October 9, 2026

 

Tickets go on sale today for Stephen Bishop's Farewell Tour.  It seems like only yesterday that he wrote about his musical aspirations in the 1969 Centaur

Stephen's final performance will take place in San Diego on August 21, 2027 at the Balboa Theatre, not to be confused with Balboa Stadium where The Beatles played their first, last and only San Diego concert.

Stephen (no, I can't call him Steve) is a regular Fry Day reader and is offering Crawford Colts a 10% discount on tickets purchased during the next two weeks.    Click HERE and use the code BISH10.  Tickets in Rows 1 and 2 include a limited-edition collectible tote bag and merchandise package.

-----------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------

Let's leave last week's llamas in the A & P parking lot and see what's happening on the east side of 54th.  

Let's revisit the Don's Hamburger Page and see who this girl is.  I took the picture in 1959.  "A pretty girl is like a melody" or -- from some others -- "You always WERE a pervert."  Such talk. 

-----------------------------------------------------

Can you even SEE Andrew Jackson Elementary from the street?  I snagged this photo off of Joe Dyke's page.  Click HERE to look at his class photos.  You can almost read the names of a lot of the kids.

-----------------------------------------------------

I've spiffed up the color photo, taken on the Horace Mann steps, of Larry Okmin's 1958 tribute to Mr. Bob Sanford.  Click HERE to check it out.

-----------------------------------------------------

I've used ChatGTP to improve the photo of the cheerleaders for the 1969 Horace Mann Student-Faculty basketball game.  Click HERE to learn more. One of these girls played volleyball in the 1988 Olympics.

-----------------------------------------------------

65 YEARS AGO

San Diego Union • October 14, 1961

-----------------------------------------------------

60 YEARS AGO

Evening Tribune • October 10, 1966

-----------------------------------------------------

50 YEARS AGO

San Diego Union • October 11, 1976