December 29, 2017

I'm jumping the gun to wish you a Happy New Year.  Not much else happening in Crawford Land this week.

Charles Wax '68 forwards a photo of himself on the Sydney Harbor Bridge on December 21st.  I believe that's the Sydney Opera House behind him.

This is me -- Scrooge McFry -- spreading joy and sunshine on Christmas Day at the Catamaran Hotel.

December 22, 2017

How are you enjoying the first day of Winter?  Can you tell the days are getting longer?  It may be too soon.

Shirley Froelich Gleason submitted -- and perhaps took -- this photo of Christmas lights on Casita Way.  In case you can't make out the sign on the right, it says "DITTO", with an arrow pointing to the neighbor's decorations.

Good news ladies!! A generic Viagra is now on the market for $35 a pill.  I'm wondering how much the "good stuff" costs.

Judy Aminoff wants to know her Class of '63 "ranking".  Turns out she was reading the Barbara Lamb obituary Jack Williams wrote in the U-T in 2005 in which he says "Barbara graduated 19th in her class of 800".  I was never aware of an actual GPA ranking, even when I was teaching.  Let me know if you can help Judy.

I'm not sure what's going on with the Colt Corral Facebook, but there's some sort of competition to remember the good old days -- and good old places.  It gave me a chance to snag and share my Aunt Emma's Pancakes web page.  Click HERE to check it out and drool.

Speaking of Facebook, Paula Hildebrand Clare '64 shared this photo of a Fiesta de Pacifico gathering circa 1959.  Paula's in the first row, second from the right.  Her brother Rod '63 is standing in the middle with the cool vest.   Bill Bagnell '63 is standing at the right. Standing at the left is Paula's husband-to-be Ron (Rulon) Claire '62. They'll celebrate 51 years of marriage next month.

I'm sharing a link to the obituary for Martin Ransohoff because it gives me an excuse to show this photo of the Beverly Hillbillies, one of the shows he produced.  Click HERE to read the obit.

Barbara Kiloh Rubin '63 passed away peacefully on December 19th.  She worked as an Administrative Aide for the San Diego City Schools and, after retirement, enjoyed her children and grandchildren.  She is survived by sister Laura Kiloh Petretta '66 and brother Kirk '69.  Her children Dan and Lisa Rubin are also Crawford graduates.  There will be no services.

December 15, 2017

Christmas comes early!!  After a half century of searching, we have finally located Linda Dawes, one of the most popular girls in the Class of '62.   The most recent attempt began a couple of days ago when Christine Loss forwarded a contact in Santee and wondered if it might be her.  It wasn't, but crack researcher Mary Gale Rogers decided to take another look.  We've had at least three unsuccessful attempts to locate Linda.  This time Mary Gale found Linda's name in a real estate testimonial.  The realtor forwarded my particulars to Linda, who emailed me late on Wednesday.  Turns out she lived five blocks away from me in Pacific Beach -- but recently returned to Gig Harbor, Washington to be closer to her children.  Thank you Santa -- and Mary Gale.

Yale Strom '75 will celebrate the Winter Solstice December 21st at the San Diego Rep with a concert entitled "Winter Schminter".  Yale, Mark Dress, Fred Benidetti and Elizabeth Schwartz will be performing Jewish, Christian and Pagan music.  I'm not sure what Pagan music sounds like.  Maybe Led Zeppelin.  Click HERE for more information.

The Golden Anniversary December 14, 1967 Pacer is an 8-page Holiday Spectacular.  Click HERE to enjoy.

Bruce Brown, whose "Endless Summer" we talked about a couple of weeks ago, passed away December 10th at the age of 80.  Don't blame me, blame Norm Black.  Click HERE to read the obituary in the New York Times.

December 8, 2017

I wonder how many folks have "You can just drop me off here" stories about getting driven to school.

Aaron Boone, son of Sue Roel '66 and Bob Boone '65, is the new manager of the New York Yankees.  Click HERE to read a nice article in the New York Times about the Boone Baseball Family, pictured above.

This Class of '64 group usually meets at True Foods in Fashion Valley, but decided not to fight the Holiday Crowds at the mall.  They were hosted instead by Janice Irvine Ricards who, in addition to cooking lunch, took this photo (I assume).  Left to right are Meri Pierce Knight, Janie Newberry Smith. Laurie Koosed Rather, Kris Gjerde Flynn, and Bev Bachman Fritschner 

Linda McNeely Willis 71, of Phoenix died November 14, 2017 from cancer.  “She was my next door neighbor growing up,” writes John Hermes.  “Her brother Craig was Crawford class of 1960, sister Kathleen class of 1963, and sister Loretta class of 1966.”  Click HERE to read an obituary.

December 1, 2017

Crawford's hopes for a CIF football title came to an end last Friday or Saturday (I never did figure it out)) when they lost to Vincent Memorial 45-3.  John Maffei's article in the U-T had nice things to say about the Colts and Coach Mike Wright.  Click HERE to read the piece.

Norm Black '68 has shared some surf memorabilia.  I'm not sure how to share it with all of you.  Probably on Facebook.  

Last week's photo of Mike Miller at Camp Palomar got Susan Wilkerson McCasland to wondering:  Do Camp Palomar and Camp Cuyamaca still exist?  Yes they do.  Click on the links to get more information.

Larry Okmin '64 got most of Page A-2 in last Saturday's installment of the U-T's Profiles of Notable People.  It was partly because Larry was performing in what we used to call the Dixieland Jazz Festival at the Town and Country Hotel.  Click HERE to read the article.

George Fogelman ’63 passed away Thanksgiving Eve and was interred at El Camino Memorial Park on the afternoon of November 27th.  A Celebration of Life was held afterwards at the Amigo Spot, where George held court so many Saturdays with his Live Jazz Band.  A large crowd of neighbors, musical friends and former classmates gathered to share memories and enjoy Mexican food courtesy of Stephanie Rose Petersen '74.  

Candace Reemelin Rand-Riley ’68 passed away peacefully at home in Ocean Beach on September 29th.  She had been diagnosed with cancer in early 2015 and battled it successfully for nearly three years, two years beyond what her doctors expected.  She was born January 31, 1950 at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City, California.  A Celebration of Life was held at the family home on October 14th

Richard Wainscott ’71, a resident of Dayton, Nevada, died on November 13, 2017. Richard was born in San Diego on December 21, 1952.  He was an active member of the drama department at Crawford, starring in plays such as "Oklahoma!", and was on the football team.   A Celebration of Life service will be held on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 11 am at the Calvary Baptist Church, 4 Flowery Ave, Dayton, NV with services to follow at 1:30 pm at Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 14 Veterans Way, Fernley, Nevada.