June 26, 2020

Yesterday's Bizarro cartoon

My heart goes out to Matthew Hubbard, a professor at Laney College in Oakland, who apparently suggested it might be a good idea for one of his Vietnamese-American students to anglicize her first name.  Every Asian I've known had an American first name.  I'm thinking of Ed Fong and Dennis Ming at Crawford, and Doreen Fujisaki at San Diego State.  My favorite waitresses at Chinese establishments have American names they use at work.  At any rate, Professor Hubbard is weathering a Tweet storm for being culturally insensitive and xenophobic.  He's apologized profusely, but may lose his job.  There is no way in hell this girl got through junior high using her given name, and you won't hear it on radio or TV.  It's Phuc.  I assume that's pronounced Fuck.  Cheers.

"These are the times that try men souls," to quote Thomas Paine.  I guess I can understand why Aunt Jemima Syrup is getting the boot.  Apparently Mrs. Butterworth is also on the way out, because of her figure (I'm serious).  But Eskimo Pie!!  Well, I'm not a Native American from Alaska, so I'll take their word for it that it's culturally insensitive.  Click HERE to read the article in the New York Times.

This deal on avocados, from the A & P ad I shared on Monday reminds me of the thrifty shopper who came upon an identical offer.  "How much for ONE avocado," she asked the manager.  "13 cents," he replied.  "I'll take the other one," she said.

Tuesday's Union-Tribune had a thoughtful article about NASCAR's heritage by Bill Center '63.   Click HERE to check it out.  By the way, if you type Bill Center into Google Images you get the nice photo above, and a whole bunch of shots of the Buffalo Bill Center in Cody, Wyoming.

Three of the people in this group photo are B. B. King, Eric Clapton and our own Nathan East.  Sunday's Union-Tribune had a feature article on the 20th Anniversary of the album Riding With The King, and a whole lot about Nathan.  Click HERE to give it a read.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have the snapshot of B. B. and Nathan, a 1973 Crawford graduate, that was featured in the print edition.

Remember the Horace Mann handbook submitted by Ron Smith last week?  He also sent along a copy of Crawford's Student Handbook for the Class of '68 -- or at least I thought he did.  Turns out he emailed the cover, two pages, and a school map.  It all worked out fine, because it turns out Ed Schoenberg had previously submitted the same handbook, but Ron's cover was much nicer.  I did take the time to enlarge the map for your pleasure.  Click HERE to check out the map.  Click HERE to read the original handbook.

An email from the Crawford Foundation said that Stephen Dickson '66 passed away earlier this month.  That's all I know, except that his name was Stephen but the annual printed it as Steven.

June 19, 2020

Monday's Union-Tribune featured an article entitled Diary of a Recovery.    It's probably more than you want to know about the businesses around Euclid and University trying to recover from the pandemic.  Who knew there is now a Chinese restaurant on the first floor of the Silverado Ballroom?  Click HERE to read the article.

Click HERE to view a larger image of autos waiting to cross into Mexico around 1963, a photo posted on Facebook by David Nieraeth.

Ernie Cowan's latest column revolves around his discovery of a century-old Auto Club directional sign in the desert.   Click HERE for a fascinating history lesson.

Did you graduate from Oak Park Elementary in 1961?  You might be in this photo submitted by Jim Miller '67.  Click HERE for a closer view.

Ron Smith '72 shares his 1969 Horace Mann Junior High School Cougar Handbook.  Click HERE to enjoy all 14 pages, two of which are a magnificent map of what appears to be an overcrowded school.

I burst out laughing when I saw the front page of the 1970 Pacer Graduation issue, and I've had This Is The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius rattling around in my brain all week.  Maybe it's PTSD, because that would have been my second year of teaching at Hale Junior High.  Click HERE to check out the entire ten-page issue.  Or is it eight?  I think I'm having flashbacks.

Doug Wied ’63 passed away on May 29, 2020, in Ventura, CA, surrounded by his children.   He was editor of the school paper at Crawford, and earned a BA in history from the University of California, Berkeley.  After college, Doug entered the United States Navy Reserve and attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI.  He served aboard the USS Duluth (LPD-6) during the Vietnam War and was discharged at the rank of Lieutenant.  While stationed in San Diego, Doug met Christine Goscinski, and they married in February 1971. They moved to Lodi in 1977, where they raised their family, before moving to Ventura in 2006.   Doug's career in banking and as a trust officer spanned 42 years.    Doug had a tremendous love of music and musical performance. In his youth, he played saxophone in the Bonham Brothers Boys Band in San Diego. He was a great supporter of the Stockton Symphony Association, serving on its board and as its president. He also sat on the board of the New West Symphony and was a past president of the Ventura Music Festival.   In late 2019, Doug was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, which contributed to his passing

June 12, 2020

I REALLY don't like to get involved with religion, but Paula Kincaid sent me some Church Signs.  I liked this one.

As promised, here's the Graduation Issue of the Pacer, dated June 9, 1965.  Click HERE to peruse the entire paper.  The headline notes that commencement will be held at Aztec Bowl.  I wonder if any addled grandparents ended up at other Aztec Bowl on 30th Street.

The same week graduating Colts were making the trip to Aztec Bowl, Horace Mann 9th graders were getting their diplomas over at Crawford on the Athletic Field.  Wait a minute!  Wasn't the Athletic Field right next to Horace Mann?  Click HERE to peruse the 8-page program of graduates who would make up the Crawford Class of 1963.

Larry Boles '66 died May 18, 2020.  Born in San Diego, he attended Alexander Hamilton Elementary, Horace Mann and Crawford.  A lifelong runner, Larry was captain of the Crawford Cross Country team during his Senior Year.  Larry and Linda Francis '68 were married in 1970.  After graduating from San Diego State and San Francisco Theological Seminary, Larry served as a Presbyterian minister for twenty-five years.  He followed that by serving as a director Hillcrest Retirement Community in La Verne, California.  In addition to Linda, his wife of 50 years.  Larry is survived by their children Tammy and Paul, four grandchildren and brother Bob Boles '63 -- Rob Shepherd '66

June 5, 2020

Honorary Colt Paula Kincaid shared this.  It looks like the winning entry in one of those Write Your Own Caption Contests.

I don't want to name any names (Gary Schulte) but I got an email yesterday from someone who asked if I was OK.  They hadn't gotten their Fry Day email.  My response was, "I don't know about Idaho, but it's still Thursday in California".

Why does this remind me of my college dating years?

"Dinner for two?  Will this be a conjugal visit?"  A sign posted on the door of the PB Local Restaurant said "Please, no conjugating outside".  I'm not sure that discouraged large crowds.  (I've already forgotten who sent the photo of the sign to me, but perhaps they'll check in and I can recognize the source of this malapropism.)

 

This popped up on Facebook this week, with an almost-immediate comment stating that it became a university in 1963 in time for JFK to speak at graduation.  I shared the fact that it was still SDSC when I graduated in 1966.  Here's a Trivia Question.  What years was it CSUSD?

Here's the Graduation Issue for the Class of 1960.  Click HERE to check it out.  I'll share '65 and '70 in the coming weeks.