April 12, 2019

A recent internet query by Bob Richardson '61 coughed up a 1955 San Diego Union society column that mentioned the summer plans of the Richardson Family and those of the Milnes and Crouches -- two other faculty members from San Diego State.  Click HERE to get all the details.

Mike Meyer '68 shares a treasure trove of photos from his years at Montezuma Elementary.  Click HERE to check it out.

John Blackwood '59 asked me to share the fundraising information above

April 5, 2019

Last week I noted that the Fab Five had the top five hits on KCBQ the week of March 29, 1964.  Cheryl Blount Schell '70 was pretty sure only four Beatles showed up when she went to see them at Balboa Stadium.  The Fab Five was the University of Michigan basketball team coached by a young Steve Fisher.  To add insult to injury I didn't even get the number of hits correct.  Peter Thompson '65 noted the fact that the Boys from Liverpool had the top SIX that week.

Bob Kaplan sends word of two books on medicine authored by members of the Class of '65.  The first, by Tom Patterson, now a UCSD Professor, and his wife Steffanie Strathdee describes Tom’s infection by series of antibiotic resistant organisms.  He was in a coma for months and there appeared to be no hope that he would survive.  But his wife, an infectious disease expert at UCSD, rallied support from scientists and physicians from around the world to try a novel therapy.  It worked.  The book is called, The perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug.   The second book is by Bob himself, who is now a professor at Stanford.  Bob draws on a lifetime of research and experience as a university professor and as a senior executive at the NIH to make the case that America needs to radically rethink its approach to health care if it wants to stop overspending and overprescribing and improve people’s lives.  The title of the book is, More than Medicine:  The Broken Promise of American Health

On November 11, 1958 a group of 4th Graders at Oak Park Elementary sent a petition to their Congressman -- Bob Wilson -- that was later published in the Congressional Record.  Click HERE to see it in a larger format and to read the comments by Phil Evans '67.

I am not aware of any great pranks pulled on April Fool's Day this year.  The April 1, 1960 Pacer is still the best one I've ever seen.  Click HERE to take another look.

The Alumni Association reports the following Colt passages:

Rob Wied '62 on December 25, 2018

Kenneth "Duke" Province '67 on March 30, 2019

March 29, 2019

I, too, had Miss Dirksmeier and Ms. MacMaster.  I retained the Pater Noster, the first lines of Gaudeamus Igatur [song] in Latin and a fondness for word roots -- Shirley Kanter Ginzburg  '65 

I had Ms. Dirksmeier in first year Latin at Horace Mann. That would have been 1958, I think.   Amo, amas, amat.  Guadeamus Igitur. The only things I remember.  I know that those years in Latin class were the perfect prelude for my job in the Air Force.  I became a linguist (not my choice). My language was not Latin, but Mandarin. I was an Intelligence Officer.  Thank you Ms Dirksmeier -- Dana Carr ’64

Miss Dirksmeier was my 9th grade English teacher.  Even after getting a BA in Journalism from SDSC in 1965, I still credit her for teaching most of what I know about grammar and sentence structure.  Amazing, though tough, teacher.  I lot of kids didn't like her strict demeanor, but I just learned from her -- Jim Schrupp '61

John Lennon was the featured Beatle in the March 29, 1964 KCBQ Big Q Survey and the Fab Five still had the top five songs.  Click HERE to see who else hat hits that week.

Jeff Schriebman and Al Miller were the two Colts in the Royalites, who played in San Diego from 1963-1967.  Jeff posted this photo on Facebook, but hasn't responded to my emails, so I don't know which one he is -- and I don't have an Al Miller in my CHS database.

Remember the Bookmobiles?  This photo popped up on Facebook this week, along with a little history of the mobile libraries by Richard Crawford.  Click HERE to check it out.

Dan Burton sends word of the passing of Jimmie Loucks '65 on March 18, 2019.  After high school Jimmy moved to Colorado where he became a skilled cross country skier, downhill skier, and back country aficionado. He loved the desert, the ocean, the rivers of the western United States, and the mountains of California, Colorado, and Baja California. He coursed the Colorado and San Juan Rivers in Arizona and Colorado, and fished the sea off the coasts of California and Alaska. Jimmy could sing!  He had an amazing voice and could imitate countless artists. His ear was so good he could listen to hawks calling one another and then imitate it so well he could call to them and they would swoop by to see him. He had a green thumb and had stunning gardens wherever he lived. His sense of humor was the greatest. He is survived by, among others, his brother David Loucks of Encinitas and his sister Kathie Loucks Blackburn of Ceres, California,

March 22, 2019

Spring arrived on Wednesday and I ended up dining at Fat Fish in Pacific Beach with my long-time buddy Tom LaShell.  We shared the Shrimp Enchiladas, which featured a Oaxacan cheese chipotle cream salsa.  I'm pretty sure that's what Jack-in-the-Box has been putting in their tacos all these years.

How was your Holi?  A lot of folks -- especially me -- wondered why March 21st featured the word holi on their iPhone calendars.  Turns out it's an ancient Hindu Spring Festival.  I wasn't sure how to celebrate it so I decided to have another piece of Chocolate cake.

Apparently I had Miss Dirksmeier for 1st Year Latin in 9th Grade at Horace Mann, and Mrs. Virginia MacMaster for 2nd Year Latin at Crawford.  Amo, Amas, Amat is about all I recall.   Lis Urick Heacock, on the other hand, says she can still remember the Pledge of Allegiance in Latin.  I'm not sure I can remember it in English.

KCBQ featured biographies of The Beatles during the month of March 1964 -- 55 years ago.  The March 22nd Big Q Survey singled out Paul.  The top five best-selling records belonged to The Beatles.  Click HERE if you'd like to see the list.

Dee Dee Rhea, Pam Nielson, Jill Dulich, Cheryl Crawford, Sue Novak and Dia Roemmich were revealed as finalists for Coed of the Year in the March 20, 1969 Pacer.  Click HERE to check it out.

U-T cartoonist Steve Breen did a nice drawing in memory of surfing guitarist Dick Dale.  Click HERE to read a great obituary in the LA Times.

March 15, 2019

Beware the Ides of March (that's March 15th -- today).  I can't for the life of me remember the name of my Latin teacher.  Was it Mrs. Dirksmeier?  Turns out it was William Shakespeare who coined the phrase.  If you still don't know what I'm talking about, click HERE for more information.

Nancy Watson Wingo shares this cartoon.  

At least TWO Colts were featured in photographs of the 2019 "Going Red For Women" American Heart Association luncheon article in last Sunday's U-T.  Sheila Smith Lipinsky '64 is second from the left in the photo above.  Joan Embery '67 is on the left in the photo below.  I heard once that Joan was the most featured guest ever on Johnnie Carson.  I wonder if Joan's twin sister has been mistaken for her over the years.

Just came across this photo in the frontispiece of the 1964 Centaur.  You can see Newberry's in the shopping center beyond the Horace Mann auditorium.  Turns out I had previously posted a larger version on the web site.  Click HERE to check it out.

Coach Harvey's 1942 Thumpabird was the Heap of the Week in the March 17, 1959 Pacer.  It messes with the mind to realize that the vehicle was only 17 years old in 1959.  Click HERE to read the rest of the 60-year old school publication.

Jeanne Hickey Allen ’63 let Pat Chambers know that her brother Ron Hickey ’60 passed away March 8th.  “Ron, Bill Killinger and I were The Three Musketeers,” reports Pat.  “I hadn’t spoken to him in several months.  Services will be held in Kansas.  Details may or may not follow. 

March 8, 2019

I think this is a play on The Three Stooges.

George Glover '73 took his wife and daughter for a final pilgrimage to Pekin Cafe in North Park, which is closing this month after 90 years in business.  George figures he's been dining there for 55 years, first as a kid with his folks, and now with his own family.  "I left," he said, "feeling as if I'd lost another piece of my childhood."

We might have a winner!!  Barbara Bright Wilder '62 did some research on Barrel Restaurants.  Looks like they were started by Roy Allen and Frank Wright, so those of you who voted for A and W Root Beer were correct.  Click HERE to read more and see a Bunch of Barrels.

The March 6, 1969 Pacer had six pages, including a Sports and Fashion page.  Click HERE to read all six.

March 1, 2019

San Diego Comic Fest is around the corner, March 7 through 10 at Four Points by Sheraton, 8110 Aero Drive. The show's big guest will be Sergio Aragonés, who's created cartoons for MAD magazine since we were all kids. I'll also be a guest there, presenting my hilarious ODDBALL COMICS LIVE! show twice (clean and dirty versions) and selling of copies of my latest children's book, MAROONED LAGOON and other silly stuff. Many other Crawford alumni plan to be in attendance, including Special Guests award-winning science fiction author Greg Bear and physics professor and author Roger A. Freedman. I hope to see some of you at San Diego Comic Fest -- Scott Shaw ’68

My neighbor has a friend in Vista who is selling an RV for $12,500.  It has 53,000 miles.  Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you more details.  My email is mail@johnfry.com (for those of you reading this on Facebook or the Colt Corral)

1969 grads Sharon Whitley Larsen and Karen Smith Takizawa -- friends since 4th grade at Phoebe Hearst Elementary in Del Cerro -- recently dined in Temecula with their respective spouses, Carl and Kenzo.   Karen, who retired as a professor at Hosei University in Tokyo in 2017, served as Sharon and Carl's Tokyo tour guide for a week in October of 2017, which included a visit to Tokyo Disneyland, of course.  After teaching high school bilingual special education for a dozen years, Sharon is now a freelance travel writer.  She and Karen are both looking forward to the 50th reunion of their class on August 17! 

Thanks to the recollections of several Colts, and the fact you can now access San Diego City Directories on-line, I learned that the old East San Diego Carnegie Library was located at 4081 Fairmount Avenue.   I've added an East San Diego Library page to the Crawford web site.  Click HERE to see what folks had to say.

I wasn't as successful tracing the history of the Aliberto's Taco Barrel.  Guesses from Colts included Flower Barrel, A and W Root Beer and Mel's Root Beer.  

Three student reporters from Crawford got to interview Nat "King" Cole, according to the March 3, 1959 Pacer.  Click HERE to read the student newspaper from 60 years ago.

Al Pain ’62 died February 11, 2019 from complications of prostate cancer.  He worked for the USPS for almost 20 years.  He is survived by two daughters and one grand daughter -- Colin Cole

Bob Sabbe ’68 passed away from a heart attack on February 15, 2019.  Although he liked to travel and get out a bit, he was a life-long San Diegan and actually lived near Crawford his entire life.  Bob was pretty active right up until the end and thanks to Rick Walsh and Mike Meyer who organized monthly lunch get-togethers, Bob was always in attendance -- Steve Morgan  

This recent photo, taken in Ocean Beach, shows Bob second from the right.  Left to right:  Mike Tyndall, Mike Meyer, John Risley, Rick Walsh, Bob and Steve Morgan.  Frequent lunch attendees not in the photo are Dave Margulis and Rich Mossay.  We all loved Bob and he is missed.

February 22, 2019

Remember when the teacher would flip the calendar from January to February and two bright red holidays leaped off the page?  Washington's Birthday would have been one of them.  Happy Birthday George!!

I'm not sure I get this, but it still made me laugh.

Hope you can read the details of the Class of 1969's 50th Reunion, to be held at Bali Hai on August 17th.

Vince Massullo and Dee Dee Rhea were the Senior Sketches in the Golden Anniversary Pacer published on February 20, 1969.  Click HERE to read all four pages.

Click HERE to read the KCBQ Top 40 from February 23, 1964 -- 55 years ago.

The East San Diego Facebook page of Gary Mitrovich saw this photo posted last week.  It's the East San Diego Carnegie Library, which existed from 1918 to 1964.  Nancy remembers it, but I don't.  Was it on Fairmount?  Click HERE for more details -- but not the address.

Also popping up on Gary's East San Diego Facebook page was this photo of Aliberto's Taco Shop on Fairmount and University.  My question is, what business occupied the barrel before Aliberto's?

Jaye Froehlich Koehler ’66 passed away on December 4, 2019 after a lengthy illness.  She will be interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery with her husband of 32 years.  She is survived by, among others, Shirley Froelich Gleason ’61, Gary Froehlich ’65 and Keith Froehlich ‘68

James Kalleberg '70 died February 17, 2019.  That's all I know, and I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't gotten an email from his classmate Wayne Zucker.