October 30, 2020

Still one of my all time favorite Bizarro cartoons.  Stay safe this Halloween.

It always seems like every time there's a mention of Some Like It Hot being filmed at Hotel del Coronado there's a picture of Marilyn Monroe.  This 1959 photo just popped up on Facebook.  It's Jamie Lee Curtis and her dad Tony.  I wonder if she even knew who he was.  Obviously something ELSE has got her attention.  Maybe it's Marilyn Monroe.  

My buddy Jeff Dalrymple just came across the parking ticket he got at San Diego State on October 9, 1967 and again on October 11th.  Click HERE for the rest of the story and the part I played so many years ago.

Here's an ad from the November 24, 1965 Pacer.  $1.50 to see The Byrds.  Who had $1.50 in 1965?  Click HERE to read all 6 pages of the 45-year old student newspaper.

If you attended Blessed Sacrament and have a Facebook account you might enjoy Sayne Maza's Blessed Sacrament Facebook page.  Click HERE to check it out.    By the way, that's Kathy Keeyes Antus' Kindergarten Class pictured above.

Do you have memories of a favorite Mexican Restaurant?   Click HERE to see a list -- with photos and histories -- that will make you burst out crying.  Dry your tears -- some of them are still in business.

Uta Ritter Packman ’64 died of colon cancer on March 18, 2019.  Her life’s work was at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, going on a ship to plot the bottom of the ocean.  One of her main projects was called “Dive and Discover”.   So now I am the only one left of the family that came from Germany -- Helga Ritter ’62

Steve Eckles ’73 passed away on October 19, 2020 according to the Crawford Alumni Association website.

October 23, 2020

Courtesy of Steve Weston '63

The belated passing of David Gray '63 kind of got lost in the shuffle last week.  Lee Cook '66 talks about Dave as a professional musician, while classmate Owen Western shares a delightful story of an a capella rendering of Ricky Nelson's Poor Little Fool, which he recorded.  He even sent an mp3 file of the recording, which I have been unsuccessful in posting for your enjoyment.  Go to the Class of '63 Obituary Page to read these stories.  Click HERE to listen to Dave.

Anyone interested in a yearbook that once belonged to Coach Jo Ulstad?  She's given them to Craig Churness and he's hoping to find them happy homes.  We've got 1967, 1971, 1972 and 1973.  Get back to me and I'll forward your request.  Craig still lives near Crawford, so if you're also local it should be easy to pick up.

Scott Shaw '68 shares a poster from his successful run for 6th Grade Class President at Oak Park Elementary in the Fall of 1960.  The Flintstones, he notes, had debuted on TV at the same time, so he rode their coat tails to victory.  Scott cleverly drew Flintstone images on shipping labels so kids could wear them.  Mr. Burris was his teacher.  

This photo of the Drug King in Pacific Plaza around 1968, and the iconic Newberry's tower at the rear, showed up on the Vintage San Diego Facebook this week.  Click HERE to check it out enlarged and see what else I've included.  (I know, this has nothing to do with Crawford or East San Diego, but I couldn't help myself.  It's a great photo!)

Click HERE to peruse the KCBQ Top 40 list for the week of October 25, 1965.  The Beatles were #3 with Yesterday/Act Naturally.  Isn't that TWO songs?

Crawford ended a 17-game losing streak when it upended Hoover 26-15 in football.  The headline, of course, was Colts Flip The Birds.  Click HERE to read the Golden Anniversary issue -- 50 years ago today -- distributed on October 23, 1970.

Mike Schwartz and Marion Pasas were the Senior Sketches and Suzi Patz was Girl of the Month in the October 27, 1960 Pacer.  Click HERE to check out those stories and more.

Don Christofferson '68 says his classmate Penny Farley Gore suffered a fatal heart attack on October 18th while visiting children and grandchildren in Washington State.  Don had known Penny since Kindergarten at Euclid Elementary and continued on with her through Horace Mann and Crawford.

 

October 16, 2020

My '62 Classmate Bill Rainey passed away last Friday while mowing the lawn in the back yard of his home in Burien, Washington.   Bill was a running back on the football team that won the CIF Championship in 1961 and was a record-setting track star.  Bill celebrated his 76th birthday on October 5th at the home of his son Adam, who told his dad he'd be over to mow his lawn on Saturday.  "In typical Pops fashion", said Adam, "he just had to get it done on Friday. Stubbornness will always be one of his lasting traits."  Click HERE to take a look at the wonderful web site that Adam has created for his father.  You can post a memory there.  Click HERE to check out the web page I'm working on that shows articles about Bill from the San Diego Union Sports Pages.  Click HERE to revisit the photo of Bill and some classmates at the Long Bar in Tijuana.

 

Monday's Harry Bliss cartoon struck my funny bone.  I hope no one thinks I'm sneaking in some subliminal political message.

The photo of Joe Biden campaigning in Arizona in front of the state flag this week took me back 30 years to my days in Mission Beach.  Every summer Bill Evans would host the Arizona flag at the Bahia Hotel to welcome the Zonies.  The Vietnam War was raging and someone took Evans to task for hoisting the North Vietnamese flag.  They aren't really that similar, as you can see below, but it made a cute story in Neil Morgan's column.

Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas

With Waylon and Willie and the boys

This successful life we’re livin’

Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys

Between Hank Williams’ pain songs

and Newberry’s train songs

and Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain

Out in Luckenbach, Texas

ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain

Cappy Paxton '66, in the red bandanna, sent the lyrics to Willie Nelson's song and a nice photo of his friends in front of what used to be the Luckenbach, Texas Post Office.   

The October 13, 1960 Pacer introduced Colts to their new AFS students Nur Karhan, from Turkey, and Paulo Mamede, from Brazil.  Hey, there's Patty Wilkerson again.  Click HERE to read all four pages.

There was talk of Ricksha Boy in earlier emails.  I just found this ad in the September 29, 1961 Pacer.  Burger Chef, at 5125 El Cajon Blvd., preceded Ricksha Boy.

William Reynolds '59 passed away July 27, 2020

Dave Gray ’63 died March 25, 2020.  He was the founder of Huck Fin Environmental Education, teaching kids to get along through fishing. Dave sang Old Shep at a Horace Mann assembly, making him a star with his fellow classmates. He was Vice President of Sky Hunters Raptor Rehab.  He loved going to Padre games, playing his guitar and was part of the music team for our 50th Crawford reunion. He died of leukemia, which he fought for over a good year.  When the corona virus hit we couldn’t even get in to see him -- Nancy Alba Conney ’63

October 9, 2020

 

Here's a recent Harry Bliss cartoon that gave me pause.

Were you in the 1973 Stage Band?  Crawford has a rich musical tradition and a GoFundMe campaign has just been started to digitize a bunch of recently-discovered recordings made at the school.  I've probably told the story wrong.  Click HERE to get the straight scoop and make a donation.

Looks like they updated the Pacer Masthead from the days I wrote for the paper.  Click HERE to read the October 9, 1970 issue.  That would be 50 years ago.

Here's the cover of the program for the game Crawford played at Clairemont on October 9, 1959.  Click HERE for the lineups and cool Coca Cola ads.

Line Coach Frank Smith discusses the upcoming football season.  I don't have the date, but these folks are from the Class of '61 and '62.  Click HERE to get the names and read the newspaper article.

October 2, 2020

 

Another tidbit from our Humorist in Residence Paula Kincaid

Linda Thomas didn't go to Crawford, but was recently added to the Fry Day email list because she is a neighbor of Gail Schindler Fogelman and, by a circuitous route, now a friend of mine.  Linda's been going through her late husband Gary's stuff and was wondering what to do with the ring he got when he graduated from San Diego State College in 1963.  I guess you know what happened.  It's on its way to David Sleet in Atlanta and will soon cross the pond to Belgium, where it will be prized by Marcel Hebbinlink, who worked with Dave at State in the late '60s.  Dave says I'm a matchmaker. Isn't there a song about that?

Are you getting tired of photos of Torrey Pines Beach?  Too bad.  Here's one from 1941.  Click HERE to see an enlargement and a Wizard of Oz moment.  And I'm not talking about the alleged Poppy Fields. 

Remember the Aztec Drive-In Restaurant on College and El Cajon?  Me neither.  Our family usually headed west on El Cajon to Keith's Drive-In.  Someone recently waxed rhapsodic about Azteca Tacos near 54th and I ended up on my old Aztec Drive-In page.  They are not the same thing.  It would appear that the Aztec Drive-In fed the hungry from early in World War II to around 1962.  Click HERE to check out the updates I made to the page.

Holy Crap!!  How did THAT happen?  We're now looking back at 60-year old student newspapers.  Click HERE to read the September 29, 1960 Pacer and learn about the man who replaced Mary McMullen as Principal.  Also the results of the Football Carnival, whose program we featured last week.

Click HERE to read the Pacer issued on September 30, 1965.  That's only 55 years ago.  The cover story has Sheryl Slayen and Chris Benson making plans for Club Week.  I don't know what that it, but I'm picturing Cave Men with Clubs.  Maybe I better go back and read the article.

Jo Ann Tomlinson Gorsic ’61 passed away August 27, 2020 according to the Alumni Association web page.

Christine Phillips ’68 died September 22, 2020.  Her brother Greg, also a member of the Class of ’68, let me know.  He is an old and dear friend from both Pershing Junior High as well as Crawford -- Kat Lally Wolf ’68