September 27, 2013

Jan Marholin ‘69 wonders if Jane Newberry, one of last week’s Senior Sketches, was the daughter of Ima Newberry, principal of Euclid Elementary School.

69!! THAT'S RIGHT, YOU HEARD ME. 69!!  I’m turning 70 on Friday, October 4th, which means I’ll be celebrating the final day of my sixties at the First Thursday dinner at the Amigo Spot in Mission Valley on October 3rd.  OF COURSE you can come and make fun of me — and there’s Free Hors d’ Oeuvres!!  Scroll to the bottom of the page for details.  (Oh, the photo above?  It was taken in 1946 at a studio on Pine Avenue in Long Beach when the family was stationed there.  I stuck it in at the last moment when I saw Joe’s photo below)

Good news, it’s NOT an obituary!  Joe Cordileone ‘65 was awarded a Bronze Star last Friday at MCRD, 46 years after his actions at the Battle of Khe Sanh on April 30, 1967.  You can read three different articles about the ceremony:  Gretel Kovach in the San Diego U-T, Tony Perry in the Los Angeles Times, and Julie Watson in the Associated Press.  You should read Julie's article first, as it was written the day before the ceremony.

Where were you on September 26, 1963?  It was the hottest day EVER in San Diego and it took place 50 years ago.  Click HERE to access a nice article by U-T weatherman Robert Krier.

Remember when they opened the NEW Coca-Cola bottling plant out next to Channel 10 next to 94 and Federal in 1964?  Well, they’re shutting it down, and Coke won’t be bottled here for the first time since 1919.  I mention it mostly because, for the first time, ever I’ve bested Nancy in a history/geography quiz. Do YOU remember where the previous bottling plant was located on El Cajon Blvd?  Click HERE if you want to read the U-T article.

Speaking of 1964, their reunion committee has reserved the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley for their 50th Anniversary Reunion the weekend of September 19-20, 2014.  I’ve posted this Save the Date notice on the Reunions Page, 1964 Email Page and 1964 Missing Page.

My minions are EVERYWHERE!!  Oregon resident Kim McHenry Osieczanek ‘74 was reading the Corvallis Gazette-Times last week and spotted an obituary for my classmate Larry Shriber ‘62.  His sister Cookie held a memorial service this week.  She talked about their childhood.  She said Bob Dress ‘66, who lived next door to them as children, attended “and also told funny stories”.  Click HERE if you'd like to read the newspaper obituary.

 I sure don’t like posting obituaries and this one hits close to home.  Bill Grigg ‘70 sends word of the passing of Phil Bonwell ‘66 last June.  Phil’s brother Gary was my best friend at Horace Mann and Crawford and I fondly remember their sister Marlo ‘64, and parents Duane and Lois, and their house on South Thorn Street, across from the Griggs.  Phil’s wife Chris says there may be a memorial of sorts in the future.

September 20, 2013

IT'S STILL DARK IN PACIFIC BEACH and it's gonna get worse.  I think the Autumnal Equinox will take place this weekend, which means the days are just going to get shorter.  When Nancy gets here I gotta feeling we're going to end up breakfasting at the Waffle Spot.  

Did you know the Amigo Spot and Waffle Spot got their names from Stephanie Rose Petersen? Apparently she was a freckled youth.  She and hubby Andy got back yesterday from their cruise through the Panama Canal.  I have high hopes she'll be in the house at the Amigo Spot Saturday Night.

If my notes are correct, Crawford will host its FIRST night Homecoming Football Game on October 18th versus Calipatria High.  They're renting lights for the occasion.  Susan Marshall Gordon would like to hear from Colts with convertibles who would like to help with the Homecoming Parade.

At first glance I thought it might be Tombstone, Arizona, but the back of this photo simply said Oceanside.  The white building is either the Dolphin Hotel or has consented to a very large advertisement for the Dolphin Hotel.  The cars in the parking lot make me think the photo was taken in 1952.  Click HERE to see the big picture.

When Dave Duncan ‘63 retired after winning the 2011 World Series he wasn’t just imitating his friend Tony La Russa.  Dave’s wife Jeanine was diagnosed with a Stage IV glioblastoma.  Then he learned that son Chris, who had played for the Cardinals, had the same diagnosis.  Jeanine passed away this past June, but Chris had successful surgery and is working as a radio announcer.  Click HERE to read the rest of the story.

Class of ‘64 — You’re Golden!!  Get ready for a multitude of reminders that it’s been a half century since your Senior Year at Crawford.  (You can thank me later).  Using the Colt Corral link you can access the student newspaper for September 19, 1963.  Jane Adele Newberry and Edward Montague Newton were featured in Senior Sketches.  I was so surprised at the venue chosen for the football opener between Crawford and Point Loma that I’m not going to reveal it.  You’ll have to search your memory banks or click HERE and read the on-line Pacer.

Alan Marshall '65 passed away August 29th.  A native San Diegan, he taught severely handicapped students at Hoover High.  A Celebration of Life will be held Sat., Sept. 21, at 5:30pm at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.  Click HERE to view the on-line Guest Book.

Karyn Zlotoff  '67 passed away August 17th.  I'm hoping for additional details from her mother Ruth.

September 13, 2013

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH!  It’s still dark in PB and supposed to warm back up.  I’m not sure where Nancy and I will end up when she arrives from Escondido.  The tourists are gone so maybe there’s a chance we can park at Green Flash.

I finally got the September newsletter in the mail.  1960 classmates Sandra Mekuchonis, Robert Smith, Mike McKittrick, and Mel Brav are all new subscribers.  Thanks!!

Who knew?  The Crawford football team is 2-0, having beaten Julian 49-0 last Friday.  I guess that league change worked out.  Click HERE to read the article in last week’s U-T.

Sharon Culver Considine '60 poses for a photo at Colina Park with a statue of Ernie Wright, and Chuck Courtney Golf Scholarship winners Eugene Yang and Said Shaba.  Click HERE to see a larger photo and to read the rest of the story.

Four ladies from the Class of ‘59, including an interloper from Texas, had lunch last month at the Macaroni Grille in Escondido.  You’re looking at Jean Pearson Miller, Linda Minyard Isbell, Betty Lopez Parrott and Sandy Riley Holleman.  The interloper, Linda, returned home to husband Ernie and celebrated their 54th anniversary on September 5th.  Of course you can see a larger version of the photo.  Just click HERE.

Jan Worrell Manietta ‘63 has loaned me her 6th Grade photo from Mr. Black’s class at Jackson Elementary.  The good news is, the names are written on the back.  The bad news is they were written with a #4 pencil and I can’t read them.   Click HERE to check out the enlarged view.

Alice Komito ‘70 died of congestive heart failure on September 2nd, according to her friend and classmate Holly Wolf Levin.  She had many health challenges over the years, including several re-occurrences of Hodgkins disease, but was recently happy, healthy and enjoying a new romance.  Alice has two loving children, Jennifer Greene and Jonathan Berry

Memorial service Friday September 20, 4:00 p.m., Dini’s by the Sea in Carlsbad.

September 6, 2013

I DIDN'T KNOW MONSOONAL was a word, but that's how they described the past week's weather. Wednesday night seemed a little cooler -- or less humid.  I believe they're predicting 90 in San Diego today.  It might behoove me to stay close to the beach, but the Waffle Spot might draw Nancy and I into Mission Valley.

Is it 5774 already?  How the time flies when you’re Jewish — which I was for a couple of days in 1958.  If you haven’t heard the story, I announced to my 9th grade Horace Mann classmates that — Rosh Hashanah being a Jewish Holiday — I wouldn’t be at school the following day.  I went home, tripped over a garden hose, and ended up downtown at the Medico-Dental Building getting a plaster cast on my broken arm.  I wasn’t at school the next day so there may still be some folks out there who consider me one of their Old Testament brethren.  As a matter of fact, Stephanie Rose Petersen '74 promised to blow my shofar, then conveniently flew to San Francisco and boarded a cruise ship with her husband.

Earl Altshuler ‘68 spoke to Baseball Coach Bill Sandback last Sunday and they’d like to plan a get together with as many former players as they can find.  The function is tentatively scheduled for Spring or Summer of 2014.  If you played baseball for Coach Sandback, and would like to be included, email Earl at earlalt@cwo.com

Who IS that?  Not Don Knotts.  We know he's in the pictures sent in by Marilyn Spier Myers '70.  It's the woman second from left, a Home Ec Teacher at Crawford, who hosted the 1971 Old Globe after party at which the photo was taken.  Click HERE to see both photos.  We don't know who the girl is next to Don either.

Bob Mentze ‘70 shares a photo of the Horace Mann marching band circa 1961.  The only people he recognizes for sure are his dad, music teacher Walter Mentze and, right next to him, trombone player Dale Saare ‘64.  Maybe you’re in there too.  Click HERE to check out the enlargement.  I’m trying to figure out where the photo was taken.  Is that Jackson Elementary in the background?