Hawthorne Feedback

Name: Laura Anderson ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Aug 23, 2010, 6:29 am - HHS Time

Maiden: Twitchell
Class: 1979
City & State: Hemet, CA

Message: As I get ready to head out to a new year and a new crop of second graders, I am thinking of my first school year in Hawthorne in Mrs. Keesling's second grade class at Eucalyptus Elementary. I had to walk home to our house on Gale Ave the very first day and didn't remember the way. An angel of a crossing lady, Mrs. Johnson, helped save me and set me on the way. Mrs. Johnson helped so many children cross 120th safely in her many years on that corner. I, for one, never forgot her many kindnesses and she never forgot to give us all a smile and a hearty welcome to the day. Thank you Mrs. Johnson!! Does anyone else have any great memories of the support staff at their school...I know I couldn't do my job without them.

Name: Steve Maldonado ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Aug 22, 2010, 9:32 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1976
City & State: Longview, WA

Message: My family and I had a great time at Cruise Night at Foster Freeze last night! What a fun time to see Cougars hanging out. Great to see Dennis Kilroy and Don DiTomasso. My sister-in-law Anne (Ogren) Phillips ('74) was a last-minute addition to our gang and she had fun too! Thanks for a great time John!

Name: Bob And Karen Fraser ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Aug 22, 2010, 5:22 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1960
City & State: Hawthorne, Ca
No E-mail
Message: We had such a great time last night. It was one of the best Cruise Nights. Really enjoyed talking to so many people and seeing old friends. That's what it's all about, isn't it? Also think that Wayne Dickey should get some kind of an award for best use of door cabinet pulls. What a grill on that bird! Missed the accordian though. See everyone at the picnic on Sept. 18th and the VFW breakfast on Sept. 19th.

Name: Cindy Pablico ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Aug 22, 2010, 3:00 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Christon
Class: 1971
City & State: Hawthorne, Ca.

Message: Hello to all, it's Sunday afternoon 8-22, first of all it was great seeing Kathy Brooks. My son had Mrs. Brooks in Kindergarden and also teacher's aide in her classroom. She still looks the same since I first met her. Great seeing her. Many more years to come on her Health and Beauty. Second I had a very nice time at Cruise Night and talking with alot of Cougs. I would like to see more of my graduating class as well. The cars were amazing beautiful colors, and all. I just wish there were more Cougars there, I know it's summer, alot on vacation. So I hope to see alot of you at the picnic on the 18th of Sept.

Name: Karen Lemaistre ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Aug 22, 2010, 2:52 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Masters
Class: 1972
City & State: Hollyglen, CA

Message: Noreen...John is in my continued prayers for a speedy and complete recovery. You are also in my prayers for strength at this very difficult time.

Name: Noreen Culley ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Aug 22, 2010, 11:24 am - HHS Time

Maiden: Crotty
Class: 1972
City & State: Westchester, CA

Message: Thank you for your prayers, concerns and well wishes for my brother, John. His transplant has occurred and now the waiting has begun. These days and weeks following the transplant are the most critical. He is very sick. He's in protective isolation while waiting for the bone marrow to engraft and produce normal blood cells. Waiting is so hard. I just want to bring him home. Prayers are the best thing anyone can do for him. I really thank you all for your prayers.

Name: John Baker ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Aug 22, 2010, 7:02 am - HHS Time

Class: 1962
City & State: Lomita

Message: Great Cruise Night last night at Fosters. Thanks to all the regulars for showing and bringing your cool cars. We also had some surprise guests. Some Hawthorne High football team members were there, selling their Community Discount Cards to help fund the football program. I do hope all our Cougars bought at least one. Thanks guys for being there and good luck this year as you all sounded very positive about our team this year. Mr Harry Plotkin and Miss Kathy Brooks, Coach Plum and his wife Jeri showed up with the Coach regaling us with some of his great stories. Regulars Rich and Mary Sloan 60, with their 55 Chevy convertible, Jim Essner Serra 58 with his 57 Chevy, Bob Fitzgerald 60, Richard Hanson 56, Denny Unfried 55 with his very cool Cobra, Cynthia Christon 71, Donna VanDouris 69, Wayne Dickey and Donna Cook 69 brought their 59 Tbird, Noreen Crotty 72, Mike Shay 61, Dave Cato 60, Bob Fraser 60, and wife Karen, Larry Reese 63, Vince Jesse 83, Paco Duran 61, Bill Baker 63, thanks Bill for the Cup O Golds too, Nadine Fryar and Jerry Hopkins 59, Ron Householder 59, Jody Halberg 59, Anita Harmon 69 all the way from Sacramento and thank you Anita for the birthday cookies, Vicki Baur 76, Danny Petty and Diane Lay 65, Donna Rossworn 63, Linda Huthmaker 63, Tom Bell 58, Jamie Bach 79, Evelyn Stark 59, and from my class; Bruce George, Janet Frantz, Andi Dew, Jerry Simpson, Dan Dye, Don Scheliga, and David Stark, all class of 62. David, I haven't seen you in at least a dozen years. I know I've left out some names here, forgive me for that, but thanks to you all for being there. It's very special to get our Cougars together for these events. Next Cruise Night will be in March so if you all would kindly return we'd love to have you there again. To all the no shows, please try and make the next one. Thanks again Cougs for a fun night at Fosters.

Name: Pauline Matthew ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Aug 21, 2010, 9:25 am - HHS Time

Maiden: Spencer
Class: 1969
City & State: Oak Hills, CA.

Message: Good Morning Cougars. Does anyone know how John Crotty is doing? I have been watching the feedback page hoping to read how is treatment is going. Hope all are keeping John in their prayers. Thanks. Pauline

Name: Jake N Jude ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Aug 21, 2010, 7:18 am - HHS Time
Class: 1961
City & State: Kuna, ID

Message: Jerry Miles, happy b-day my Cougar friend. Jude and I still love that video you put together for us of the Jimmy Rodgers song, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine when we were last down there. Or it may have been the time before. Whatever, it was a wonderful tribute, and keepsake as far as I'm concerned. But I'm prejudiced about the two young people who still feel the same about each other now as we did in 1959! You made it special. Thanks forever. MAY THE COUGAR BE WITH YOU! jake N Jude

Name: Tim McCandless ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Aug 20, 2010, 11:19 pm - HHS Time
City & State: upland, ca

Message: My apologies, as I didn’t inherit my great-grandfathers smarts and I’m gradually learning how to use this site, actually primarily through my daughter Tricia’s help. As I wrote to John, and Jerry I wanted to tell you, Tricia is going to help me by attaching more photos on Google’s Picasa web albums and she can post a link on the Cougartown Feedback page for others to view. This would include a few pictures and articles that probably span a 60 year period. Hopefully it will be ready for viewing after this weekend, but Tricia is due any day with our second grandchild, so there could be a delay. In the meantime, this is all very cool and I’m enjoying reading all the posts. From now on I’ll try to refer to the Leuzinger farm and farmhouse, which makes more sense than ranch anyway since they farmed. I certainly remember the Richfield and Union 76 stations and thanks to Linda for reminding me that Denny’s was also once Tiny Naylor’s. By the way some older posts sent me to check pictures, and Uncle Louie’s car was likely a 1951 (not 1952) Chevy convertible and I know from personal experience, it indeed had been converted so everything could be controlled by hand since Louie was crippled. After Louie died family divided remaining wanted stuff, mostly old furniture, but one I had a short while was Louie’s Chevy which I vividly recall driving down Bellflower Blvd. in Lakewood where I grew up. Birdwalking further, we also gave stuff away and I know there were actually one or two Bollingers there, that early 1980’s day and I’m confident they were from the often mentioned Bollinger farm. Linda, the portrait of the Leuzingers in my first email John posted are: L to R standing, my grandpa John and my Uncle Louis, and sitting, great-grandpa Adolph, great-grandma Emma, and Uncle Arthur. It looks around 1920 give or take.

Name: Sharon Leach ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Aug 20, 2010, 4:30 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Moore
Class: 1966
City & State: Long Beach, cA`

Message: Happy Birthday Jerry Miles. Thank you to Tim for the Leuzinger information and the link he provided on Adolf Leuzinger's bio. Also thanks to everyone for the Hawthorne memories. I remember getting frogs with my then boyfriend at Okie Fanokie swamp area to disect for my biology class. I never could kill them and let them go. I failed HHS biology because of it. I ended up taking a physical science summer school class at Leuziner High to make up the credits. I got a A. Thanks Mr. Leuzinger for providing the school.

Name: Sharon Branigan ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Aug 20, 2010, 2:32 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Bierman
Class: 1976
City & State: San Clemente, CA

Message: Thanks Glenn for the link - Great story!!! Was Rosecrans originally called Rosencrans (as is spelled in the story)?

Name: Jerry Miles ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Aug 20, 2010, 12:30 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1966
City & State: Fair Oaks, CA

Message: I'm sure I have imparted all these stories before on Cougartown but as we are on the subject I will share the email I sent to Tim McCandless this morning and my remembrances of the "farm".
Tim, My name is Jerry Miles and I am a member of Cougartown. I just read your post there and wanted to thank you for sharing your stories with us. The Feedback section in the last ten plus years has become quite a time capsule for Hawthorne and the South Bay memories. I was born in Inglewood in 1948 and my family moved to Hawthorne (Del Aire) in 1953. So the Leuzinger name has long been a part of my memories. I enjoy chronicling Hawthorne’s past and have produced several videos on the subject that are linked through Cougartown. I have to apologize that all though I have mentioned Leuzinger High school in making them, I neglected to provide narrative about the Leuzinger family. My only excuse, from growing up in Hawthorne I’m sure, is that EVERYONE knows about the Leuzingers. I attended Sepulveda school which was just behind the ranch for Fourth and Fifth grades. I certainly remember the stories of anyone that dared put a foot on the Leuzinger land was likely to get a bit of rock salt from a shot gun heading their way. But in all my years I never met anyone that actually said it happened to them. Now after reading the Cougartown posts I am suspicious that the ornery farmer was actually on the Bollinger’s farm. As a teen in the mid-sixties my good friend who has now passed away, Jack Hammer, worked at the Richfield Station at the corner of Aviation and El Segundo. Many times we would go over and just keep him company. Several times he related how he would go up to the ranch and make sure the vehicle was in good working order, brakes, battery, tires, etc. He mentioned that the lady was very frail and the man was crippled but both were always very nice and pleasant during his visits. Just a side note, after over fifty years of thinking of it as Leuzinger’s farm I’m having a little trouble converting to ranch… haha But I will try to remember in the future to use the correct term. As I mentioned I enjoy recording Hawthorne’s history. I sometimes spend many hours looking for old pictures of the area and have discovered some really great ones. But several have concealed themselves from me over the years. One is the surrounding swamp just a few blocks from the ranch which we called the Okeefenokee and another was the ranch itself sitting lonely on that hill as urban sprawl grew around it. So if you have any pictures you would like to share, I for one will be anxious to see all you offer. Thanks again for sharing with our group. Jerry Miles HHS ‘66

Name: Noreen Culley ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Aug 20, 2010, 11:30 am - HHS Time

Maiden: Crotty
Class: 1972
City & State: Westchester, CA

Message: Well, Barbara Duran, maybe you weren't afraid of "the farmer", but I was. Growing up in the Del Aire neighborhood we heard all kinds of stories, all involving the shotgun. There was a red ant hill (it was only about 2 feet high, but we called it a hill) that separated the farm land from Del Aire park and Sepulveda school. We used to lay down and hide behind it and dare each other to sneak up onto his property. As soon as someone took the dare and walked a few steps onto the property we would all yell "there he is" and the kid would coming running back. I remember Mom telling us not to bother him.

Name: Debbie Miles ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Aug 20, 2010, 11:23 am - HHS Time

Class: 1977
City & State: Fair Oaks, CA

Message: Happy Birthday, Jerry.

Name: Linda Dill ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Aug 20, 2010, 10:56 am - HHS Time

Maiden: Sutton
Class: 1967
City & State: Redondo Beach

Message: I grew up on 127th Place(one block off of El Segundo Blvd). At the end of our street was "the farm". I don't remember ever referring to it as "the ranch". I also never saw "old man Leuzinger" with a gun, but I do remember hearing the stories about it. I think my dad actually had a neighborly relationship with the family. I will ask Dad about his memories next time I see him. Once I was allowed to miss school to stay home with visitors who had a son my age. We wandered down to the field (pre-park, Tiny Naylor's and gas station) and were allowed to help in the harvesting of beans. At the end of the day the man gave us $5.00 ($2.50 each) and thanked us for our help. We thought we were rich and we really were rich in experience. I remember both of the houses, although, I did not know of the connection with Rick Bollinger who was in my class at HHS. Although the park and ballfields and even TN's and the gas station also added to many memories of growing up, I will forever think of Joni Mitchell's song "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot" when I think of the farm. Thank you, Tim, for reminding us of those memories and maybe you could identify the family members in the picture.