Name: Dala Hahlbeck Jr. ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Oct 24, 2008, 10:48 am - HHS Time
Class: 1978
City & State: Yorba Linda CA
E-mail
Message: Happy Birthday Weekend to one of my 1978 H S Crushes Lori Salazar....have a great one Lori....H1 OUT

Name: Richard (Rick) Weaver ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Oct 24, 2008, 9:40 am - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Bedford, NH
E-mail
Message: Hey Cougs, Does anybody remember the Hawthorne "garage band" the Neptunes? I remember that Richard Bianchi played guitar and I think his cousin Bob Bianchi played guitar too, but I don't remember for sure. The Bianchis lived across the street from my family on 132nd Street between Jefferson & Prairie. I remember that Richard played a beautiful Gretch guitar (an attractive shade of green) and that they played around town a bit. They would sometimes practice in our basement. My dad imported electronics and Fender was an account of his and he got them a double neck guitar in the early to mid 60's (I wish I knew who ended up with it!). I remember Richard playing "Hey Mister Tambourine Man". They did some surf music too. Richard's brothers were Ken and Brian. I don't know if they ever played at the "Drop-In" at Memorial Park on Prairie & El Segundo or not but they might have. It would be very cool if anyone had a recording of them! Remember to vote on November 4th! Peace :)

Name: Jim Schroeder ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Oct 24, 2008, 9:32 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Central Point, Oregon
E-mail
Message: Hey Paco, my good buddie, Bart Graves wore #23 for the Scarlet & Gold in the day. I bet Gillespie could throw a football. Daquilla threw "crisp" passes. Contestabile's lack of foot speed could be attributed to having to wear those clunky bronze high top shoes. They would of slowed down Steve Smith or Tim Thomas. I know Jim Reale was also fast. Who may of been the fastest Cougar back all-time? Curtis Conway? Venture an opinion. I dare ya!

Name: sharon leach ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Oct 24, 2008, 7:30 am - HHS Time
Maiden: moore
Class: 1966
City & State: long beach
E-mail
Message: Great picture of the Plaza, John. I lived on Menlo Avenue and walked past it every day. Great memories. Also, Cougars, don't forget about voting for Zach. I have voted every day this week. It looks like he may be moving up in the polls, as his picture is second in the gallery when you check in to vote. That fact may mean nothing. I hope he wins. No John, I'm not getting any cut of the prize money if he wins. I just think he's too cute and cuddly not to win.

Name: Myrna Wood ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Oct 23, 2008, 10:52 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Bell
Class: 1966
City & State: Nevada City, CA
E-mail
Message: Across the street from the Plaza was the fire station and police department in one building. When I was very young (a very, very long time ago) the DMV, or whatever it may have been called at the time, was in the police station office. My sister, Ginny ('69), and I were wandering around looking at the fire engines while mom and dad were conducting business when we saw a tortoise on the loose. Someone in the fire department found it on a street somewhere in Hawthorne and just let it hang around. Because Ginny and I were so interested in it, they let us take it home. "Sniffy" was part of our family for many years, until his demise.

Name: John Rout ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Oct 23, 2008, 7:52 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1963
City & State: Cerritos, CA
E-mail
Message: John, thanks for jogging my old memory. I've been reading the posts on the 1953 football team wondering why the name Joe Contestabile seemed so familiar. In the mid fifties my uncles played football at El Camino. One was a wide receiver and the other was an all everything running back. Joe Contestable was the QB on the teams they played on. I was ten or eleven at that time and remember the Thanksgiving afternoon football games the Warriors played. We would go to the game and then my uncles and other members of those teams would come over to our house for Thanksgiving dinner. Pretty cool stuff for a starry-eyed kid!

Name: John Crotty ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Oct 23, 2008, 6:42 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1969
City & State: Hermosa Beach
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Message: I just love those Plaza Pix. Takes me back to the lines around the entrance, the "b" movies that played there, finding a seat before the sticky floor took off your shoes, and being there from noon 'til dark on Saturdays...what a great babysitter for our folks, and for less than a buck a kid!!!!!! Also took my girlfiend there in 6th grade to see, "Gay Paree!"

Name: Howard "Paco" Duran ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Oct 23, 2008, 5:46 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1961
City & State: Lake Forest
E-mail
Message: Don't forget Mike Gillespie and.....Brian Wilson.

Name: Jim Schroeder ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Oct 23, 2008, 4:07 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Central Point, Oregon
E-mail
Message: I remember seeing the trophy in the window of Nyman Hall. It was a bronze high top football shoe, extolling the accomplishment of Joe Contestable. I always took note of it as I walked by that window, and wondered what type of Superman this Joe Contestabile must of been. Coach Chauncey let some air out of the legend when he told me once that Joe was "slower than a glacier going up-hill with a piano on its back." Coach always could "turn a phrase." But, Joe's lack of foot speed was why he didn't achieve greatness past high school. I always thought Bill Daquilla was a good HHS quarterback, but Joe Contestabile will always be a legend.

Name: Andrea Rossi ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Oct 23, 2008, 3:57 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Rossi
Class: 1982
City & State: hawthorne
E-mail
Message: I was reading the feedback page and came across a last name I remember from the 70s when I attended St Josephs. It was Treckman, I remember having a ''big sister '' named Peggy Treckman when I was in 2nd grade... and how nice she was ! ..... ok one more thing.....Does anyone know of a good Endodontist/Periodontist in the area????? please email me directly! Thanks!!!!

Name: Glenn Crist ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 8:58 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1964
City & State: Sonoma, CA
E-mail
Message: Gary, Hal has spoken (and yes, John, there is more to Cougartown than just the Feedback page). Being not known for my originality, I can plagiarize from the best, the Ol' Coach himself, this posted on the Recollections page:
"It was the season of 1953. we were having a very successful season. Our quarterback, Joe Contestabile, was having a great year passing and completing touchdown passes. A great QB from Santa Monica, named Ronnie Knox held the national interscholastic passing record for touchdown passes in a season at 32. We were playing Inglewood at Sentinel field. Joe had 30 TD passes going into that game. He called a play where he faked to two backs, & dropped back to pass. Danny Rich, our fullback made a super fake, like he had the ball, and dove over the pile of linemen. Phil Murphy went down the field on his pass route, and cut towards the goal posts. He was 20 yards behind all the Inglewood defenders. Joe tossed a 40-yard pass, which was right on target. Danny had made such a great fake that the head linesman thought he had the ball. He was blowing his whistle while running towards the pile---he looked up as the ball was in the air, on the way to Murphy. He just stopped--looked towards the heavens for forgiveness. When an official blows his whistle, the ball is dead--the play stops. That pass was the one to break Ronnie Knox record--and give Joe the Record for the most TD's in a season. The referee came over to our bench--head down and apologized profusely to Cap & me--but there was nothing that could be done. We went on to score a play or two later. Joe came out of the game laughing and came over to Cap, & me and said, "boy , we sure faked him out of his jock, didn't we !!!!!!" Joe went on to complete 39 TD passes in one season- -- holding the national high school interscholastic passing record-that was eventually surpassed by Pat Hayden of Mater Dei, HS." Ol' Coach
John, I certainly hope you kept those flashbulbs popping last weekend, and that you post yet another classic reunion page on the best high school website in existence.

Name: Patty Toy Meschuk ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 4:42 pm - HHS Time
City & State: The Woodlands TX
E-mail
Message: Hello, I was searching for my old friend Jimmy Daspit, class of 1977, whom I haven't seen since 1987 and we lost touch. I just found him on your tribute page as having passed away. I was wondering if anyone could tell be a little more about his demise. The tribute was made by Greg Botelho. If anyone has any information about Jimmy, I would appreciate hearing more. Sincerely, Patty Meschuk

Name: Patti Barry ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 4:31 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Treckman
Class: 1979
City & State: Austin, TX
E-mail
Message: Thanks for voting for Zach, Sharon! Actually, Zach has already donated to the athletic fund. But I bet if he wins the grand prize he'd donate more. :)

Name: Gary Bickers ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 3:03 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1963
City & State: pve cal
E-mail
Message: I have a lot of thought about the 1953 Cougar football team reunion from last weekend in Palm Desert. First let me say that almost every guy there has done well in life in general and they had so many awards from Jr. College, Colleges and special events it was staggering. I always looked at the guys around me and thought there could not have been a better group of talent, but now I think I was wrong. There were three All Americans in the group. This group was the base line that all the rest of us were judged against by the coaching staff. These were impressive guys and remarkable in the details of each game and play from their senior year. Being the youngest guy in the room it gave me hope when I saw how sharp these guys were and are about their lives. My wife was with me and was won over by the conduct of the guys. She fell in love with about 3-4 guys and remarked that the coaches did a great job of making men out of boys. This was a remarkable event. I thought I knew the HHS history but learned a lot more. A game between that 1953 team and the 1959 team would have been something. Sometime in the future maybe we could get the Coach to talk about the game when HHS fielded a team with 13 guys and still won a game. Maybe we could get the Coach to talk about putting in a new offense over the week end to surprise a rival the following week. Everything I saw and heard led me to the conclusion these guys were the real deal. It is a shame that this group does not have contact with the current group of Cougars. It would be a win/win situation for both groups.

Name: Henry Cooper ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 10:35 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Redway Ca.
E-mail
Message: Reply to Toby Wheeler Yes I Remember. We watch Reefer Madness a few times a year it's a popular film here in Humboldt County. Mike McCollumn of Aviation Class of 66. Father Plays the role of the teenager who fell into the depths, do to the Devil Weed. Some of you oldsters may remember the Mike McCollumn Band they played at Sweet Water in Redondo a lot. Mike lives in Aspen and is doing great. Mr. McCollumn is no longer with us. Cougarilly Yours, Henry Cooper

Name: Sharon Branigan ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 10:04 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Bierman
Class: 1976
City & State: San Clemente, CA
E-mail
Message: I voted for Zach too. I sure hope he wins, he's adorable! I've never seen such a "doodle" dog before. Maybe if Zach wins, he'll donate a small portion of his prize money to the HHS Athletic fund! COME ON EVERYBODY, GO TO THE MILKBONES SITE AND VOTE FOR ZACH!

Name: Sherry Wingo ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 9:39 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Peppers
Class: 1964
City & State: Haw. Ca.
E-mail
Message: I've got great news. My daughter just signed her first teacher's contract. She will be teaching a first grade class in the city of Ridgecrest on Monday. Her family is so proud of her even though she graduated from that other school called Leuzinger!

Name: sharon leach ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Oct 22, 2008, 9:34 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Moore
Class: 1966
City & State: long beach
E-mail
Message: I voted for Zach again. You are allowed one vote per day until the contest is over. Let's put our Cougar Zach over the top. He doesn't exactly look like a Cougar, but he's still family. Looking forward to Saturdays breakfast. Principal Newell left me a phone message and indicated that the breakfast will be in the library, not the cafeteria.

Name: Patti Barry ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Oct 21, 2008, 8:40 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Treckman
Class: 1979
City & State: Austin, TX
E-mail
Message: Thanks a million for posting our request for votes for Zach the Lap Dog. We appreciate it!! On another note, we were in Hawthorne a little while back, and were happy to see the great new rebuilt Dana and Cabrillo schools in Holly Glen. Very nice looking now, and a wonderful positive to the area.