October 25, 2013

IT’S STILL DARK IN PB and I’m wondering why I don’t send this out a little later.  When Nancy gets down from Escondido we’ll deliver books to Crystal Pier and mail to the Midway Post Office.  Where we brunch will depend on where we can park.

Come on by the Amigo Spot tomorrow night for Halloween.  Stephanie’s hired a DJ.  I’m afraid to ask what kind of creepy food will be on tap.  Nancy’s coming as a witch, Lisa’s coming as a purple witch, and I’m coming as a curmudgeon.

Here’s one of my favorite streetcar photos, taken by L K Dewein on July 21, 1924.  It was taken on the occasion of the first run of the “Mission Beach Special”.  For 75¢ you could zoom to Mission Beach, take a swim, grab a bite, and be back downtown in an hour and a half.  Click HERE to see this photo in its 9 x 12 glory.  

Remember entertainer Jimmy Gilmer?  Me neither, but he had the Number One single 50 years ago on the KGB 1360 Top 40.  Click HERE to see what it was, along with the other 39.

Can you name these members of the Class of ‘60 Reunion Committee?  They recently had lunch at MCRD.  Click HERE for a photo large enough to give you a fighting chance.

Tom Cassie wondered if I’d seen the photo of our classmate Bill Lamden in the Entertainment Section of Sunday’s U-T.  The article was about the financial health of the San Diego Symphony, with nice words about Bill’s wife, Evelyn Olson Lamden, chair of the orchestra’s board of directors.  I went back and reread the article and figured out why I missed Bill’s photo.  She’s wearing red in the photo below, which was elsewhere on the page.  Oh, that’s Bill and Evelyn at the left in the photo above. Click HERE if you'd like to actually read the article.

Did I say George last week?  Ron Smith ‘72 actually lives in Georgia, I assume the one in America, not the one in Russia.  At any rate he’s shared a 1962 team photo of the Rolando Park Tigers.  The thank you note to the team scorer contains the names of the players.  Click HERE to check them out.

October 18, 2013

IT’S PITCH BLACK AND COOL IN PB, but it’s supposed to warm up nicely.  I’ve got a 10:30 annual eye check up near Costa Verde Shopping Center and I’ve got my fingers crossed we can to to Coco’s for lunch.  My old Coco’s on Sports Arena has been a U-Haul Rental agency for several years.

Whew!!  The Class of ‘63 Reunion is over — but you can look at the pictures.  I’ve posted three of John McMullen’s photo shoots on the Reunion Page of the web site — Friday Night at the Amigo Spot, Saturday Night at the Bahia, and the Saturday Night Elementary reunion group shots.  These are Picasa slide shows.  I don't know if you'll have to sign up for something to view them.  Oh, if you can help me with the names I missed or messed up, go ahead and EMAIL me.

The October 17, 1963 Golden Anniversary Pacer was six Pages — maybe because it was National Newspaper Week.  I especially enjoyed the photo of Judy Frederickson and her Ford Model A.   Click HERE to read the whole paper.

Bill Paxton ‘66 forwards a shot of his parents’ liquor store circa 1948.  He thinks it might have been on Adams Avenue.  The enlarged version, viewable on the Colt Corral blog or Facebook, makes me want to say that’s the Ibis Market in the background.  It’s still there, on Ibis and Fort Stockton, in Mission Hills.  We await more educated guesses.  Oh, and check out the Coke delivery truck in the background. Click HERE to enlarge the photo.

Ron Smith ‘72 checks in from George, although he may be in San Diego as we speak — or email.  He’s forwarded some Rolando Park and Little League goodies.  I’ll start with his Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade photos — plus the 1966 6th Grade graduation roster.  I don’t know if he still has his 4th through 6th grade photos.  Click HERE to see what I’ve posted.

You can enjoy the Colt Corral on Facebook at Crawford Colt Corral

October 11, 2013

I don’t know if you can read this, but I held my 70th birthday a day late, along with my fellow 10-4 pals Tom LaShell and Carol Redding, at — SURPRISE — the Amigo Spot.  I wonder if any of my friends, or better yet enemies, could spot the marquee from I-8.   It says HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY JOHN FRY.

NEXT FRIDAY — October 18th at 7 PM — is Homecoming.  And the first ever night football game at Crawford.  And the last game on the old football field.  A group photo of attending alumni will be taken.  Wear something Crimson, White or Blue — or all three.

Fred Dickey writes a column in the U-T that I look forward to each Monday. This week he wrote about what it’s like to be a cop in stressful, deadly situations.  I got well into the story before I realized he was writing about Janet Chelberg Burgess ‘69.  Click HERE to read the story.

Rebecca Darneals Mueller ’74 suffered a stroke last weekend at the family farm in Wisconsin and is in the hospital.  If you’d like to receive updates on her progress send an EMAIL to her husband John

Judy Wilson Gloyer ‘62 passed away on October 5th after a 7-year battle with cancer.  Services were held earlier this week, but you can still sign the Guest Book.

Search for Crawford Colt Corral on Facebook

October 4, 2013

IT’S PITCH BLACK IN PACIFIC BEACH but supposed to get sunny and warm, and even hotter over the weekend.  Nancy’s promised to take me anywhere I want for my birthday dinner.  I’m holding out for Der Wienerschnitzel.

I HATE Facebook — or at least I did until recently.  I came across a You Know You’re From Pacific Beach group and have been having fun sharing some of my photos.  Last week’s snippet about the olld Coca Cola plant on El Cajon Blvd brought a flurry of comments that I’m not sure how to share.  In the olden days I would have placed them on a special web page and I still might do that.  In the meantime I’ve created a Crawford Colt Corral group on Facebook.  I’m not sure how I did it, or if it will work as planned.  Those of you who know how to Facebook I guess can search for it and try it out.  Or maybe it'll work if you click HERE.  We’ll see what happens.  And maybe the Coca Cola people can resubmit their comments.  

Last Saturday was toasty warm and I thought it might be fun for Nancy and her daughter Lisa and I to go down to San Diego Bay and cool off before heading to the Amigo Spot.  Even better, Lisa — who is 47 years old and autistic — might enjoy blowing bubbles.  I know I would.  I went on the web to see if my local CVS carried bubbles, or whatever they’re called.  Turns out the only one on they carry produces “Penis-Shaped Bubbles”.  I was shocked and a little offended — for about 8 seconds.  Then the thought of cascading penis-shaped bubbles sailing through Seaport Village brought a large, sneaky smile to my face.  Turns out they’re only available on-line.  Back to the drawing board.

Jane Newberry Smith '64 says her mother Ina was indeed the principal of Euclid Elementary -- and before that taught Second Grade at Jackson.

Here’s the Golden Anniversary Pacer from October 3, 1963 donated by Maggie Down Hart ‘64.  Bob Lutz and Kathy Slater were the Senior Sketches.  You can read all four pages in living black and white via the Colt Corral link.

Ed Herrmann ‘64 is fighting cancer.  You can keep abreast of his progress on the Caring Bridge web site.  

The Class of '68 will be celebrating the 45th Anniversary of its graduation the weekend of October 11-12th.  Scott Shaw has contributed the above artwork. which will be featured on T-Shirts.  I assume he'll be at the reunion.  In the meantime he's ensconced at the Town and Country Hotel for this weekend's San Diego Comic Fest with fellow Colts Greg Bear, Dr. Roger Freedman, David Clark and Jann Morris-Penrod.  

When I was attending this year's Dragon Con in Atlanta, I saw that Kathy Najimy '75 was one of the guests appearing in the "Walk of Fame."  I went up to her table and said, "I've always wanted to meet you because we went to the same high school."  Her eyes went wide, and she said, "You went to Crawford?"  Yes, I told her, I definitely did.  We chatted a bit, sang a few lines of the school alma mater together, and she performed a cheer that she wrote when she was a student.  She was very friendly and clearly has a lot of fond memories about CHS.  Here's the photo we took to commemorate the occasion -- Michael Pemberton '71