For people who attended Crawford High School or would have attended if they hadn't
moved -- or just have fond memories of San Diego in the '40s, '50s and '60s.

Check out the Crawford High web site.

Thursday, February 25, 2021

February 26, 2021

I love the adage on the blackboard.


It's that time of the year when the Orioles head north from Mexico and Ernie Cowan tells you how to attract your own nesting pair.  Click HERE for the details.



Ernie Dronenburg's '53 Chevy gets the Heap of the Week treatment in the February 23, 1961 Pacer.  Click HERE to read all about it.



Paula Kincaid sent me a stunning 1963 Chevrolet commercial, touting four of their models.  It's nearly 60 years old, but bright and sparkly new.  It takes a while to download, so I've decided not to include it in today's Fry Day email, but to send it to folks upon request.   A link from Bob White doesn't require a download.   Click HERE



Remember the miniature train in Balboa Park?  I'm pretty sure it's still operating.  Click HERE to revisit the post on the Memories Page.




Pamela White Walton ’67 died February 4, 2021.  She was born in Dixon, Illinois to Allan and Vivian White. Allan was in the Navy and the family moved a number of times.  Pam married Gary Walton upon graduation and they had three children: Erich, Lynn and Lauri Walton. They later moved to Boise, Idaho and Pam worked for Boise Cascade and Morrison-Knudsen. She moved to Juneau, Alaska in 2008 to be near her daughter Lauri and granddaughter Allison. Pam was very proud of her children and grandchildren and loved fishing and camping.




Thursday, February 18, 2021

February 19, 2021


Great humor is ageless.  This Far Side cartoon is from April 1, 1985






Who knew?  The Green Hornet was created 85 years ago by George Trendle.  George was a talented guy who also had a hand in the production of The Lone Ranger.  His granddaughter is Mary Kay Johnston '66.  Her email to the Crawford Foundation notes that she is the Vice President of the Hornet Board, which hopes to get a new movie out in a year or so.  Her siblings are Bill Johnston (AKA Billy St. John) '70, George Johnston (who graduated from another school in 1974) and Ann Johnston '76.



Spring Training for the Padres begins this week in Arizona -- maybe.  Click HERE to get the names on this team, photographed 65 years ago.




Thursday, February 11, 2021

February 12, 2021

 


Here's a Bliss cartoon from last week.  



Susan Marshall Gordon says Crawford Art Teacher Brian Black got everything he needed -- and then some.  At least one person contacted me and offered to pick up the entire tab.  Many others also donated.  I understand that art classes at Horace Mann also be beneficiaries of your largesse.  




The Crawford High School Music Legacy Project is ready for your perusal.  Click HERE to listen to a sampling of songs.



I finally scanned all 24 pages of the 1957 Fiesta del Pacifico program sent to me by Bob Schriebman '60.  Click HERE to take a look.



Al McBride isn't the only Colt to have his photo in the San Diego Memories coffee table book series published by the San Diego Union Tribune and the San Diego History Center.  Turns out the Slayen Family -- with baby twins Ron and Larry -- got a whole page in Volume II.  Click HERE to check it out.



Click HERE to check out the February 9, 1961 Pacer -- 55 years ago.  You'll wanna read about Dan Helzer's 1950 Olds Club Coupe.



And HERE to take a look at the Pacer published on February 11, 1971 -- 50 years ago.  The good news was that the Coke machines were back.  The bad news was that only two of the four were reinstalled.



Terri Wesner Lauf ’73 passed away on January 19, 2021 according to the Crawford Foundation 




Alwin Darryl Holman ’75 passed away on January 29, 2021 according to the Crawford Foundation. 


Friday, February 5, 2021

February 5, 2021

 

I just came across this Gary Larson cartoon and thought I'd share it.


I sure got a kick out of a Facebook posting last week that began with the following question: How many of you went to Camp Matthews in 6th grade, where UCSD is today.  Camp Matthews, of course, was the Marine Corps Rifle Range, but it didn't stop folks from waxing rhapsodic about fun times at Camp Marston and Camp Cuyamaca.  



In 1957 Hollywood came to town and created a tiny airport on De Anza Point in Mission Bay.  They were making a film of Pylon, a novel by William Faulkner.   Carl Skinner, the late father of my buddy Willie Skinner, took some color slides at the time.  Click HERE if you'd like to take a look.




I was perusing the Memories Page of the Crawford High section of my web site when I came across a link that featured this photo.  The car and the house are the products of a master model builder.  Click HERE to look at some of Michael Paul Smith's other creations.


Click HERE to read the February 3, 1966 Pacer.  That's 55 years ago.


Linda Kassel Thacher ’64  died November 30, 2020.  Born in Berkeley, CA, Linda moved to San Diego at a young age.  She attended SDSU and was member of Kappa Delta Sorority.  She received her Bachelor and Masters of Education degrees. She also held a Reading Specialist Credential.   Linda became Mrs. Glen B. Thacher on December 20, 1968, a marriage of 37 years.  Her first job offer followed from Hall Elementary School. She enjoyed a 34.5 year career there and spent the rest of her life in El Cajon.  She is survived by her sister Laurie Kassel ’71, extended Kassel and Thacher family, and many lifelong friends.




Judy Zimmer Mozingo ’68 passed away from COVID-19 on January 27th.   She worked for the El Cajon School District for many years.  She and her husband, married for nearly 50 years, loved to travel.  She resided in Temecula -- Marsha Zimmer Van Norman ’74





Elizabeth Lee ’68 died May 12, 2017.  Liz had a musical career playing the piano and organ that began from a very young age.  She majored in music at San Diego Mesa College and the College of the Redwoods. She performed solo work and accompanied choral groups, instrumentalists and soloists publicly from 1960 until she retired.   Her Persian cats Betsy and Puddy, inherited from family members who lived in Arizona, were one of her joys. Wherever we went, the cats came in tow. They traveled with us from San Diego to Texas were we lived for four years, and then back with us when we returned to San Diego.  During our return to California, Liz alone in one rental truck with two cats in the front cab, the brakes and power steering gave out while heading down the long, steep grade into Sierra Blanca outside of El Paso. Somehow she found the strength to steer the runaway truck and bring it to a stop at the gas station at the bottom of the hill. Liz took all of this in stride, and the next morning, as the truck was repaired, she and her husband enjoyed a breakfast of Huevos Rancheros and went on their way.  Back in California, she and her husband acquired another Persian cat, Petey, who they loved for 16 years.  A year ago Liz purchased a Mini Cooper. She enjoyed driving her Mini S hard top, and drove it with the same precision and bravado as she showed with the keyboards. Liz’s love of cars began with her father, who was a self-professed “motor-head” and always drove fast cars. Liz had owned her share of performance cars, from a Chevy Camaro to a Datsun 240Z, and the Mini reminded her of those past vehicles. She would often say after driving her Mini, “I still got it.” Like her passion for music, Liz carried her youthful zeal and panache throughout her life to the very end, living through its daily demands with grace, fortitude, and loyal perseverance to her values and love of God.  Liz is survived by her husband of 28 years, Neil R. Simpson, and her sister Carol Lee White ’70.