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.