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50s Classic> MORE CHUCK BERRY!!

Name: Armand Vaquer () on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 00:57:51
Email: AMVaquer@aol.com
City and State: Tarzana, CA
Class: 1972
Message: Actually, in my case there was no punishment involved. The only thing that existed was a situation that was handled badly by Selz and Nelson and the matter was resolved when a friend's dad came over to school and read Nelson the "riot act" bigtime. This was in my junior year. After this, I never had a problem with Nelson. I do recall that after the law was passed that granted "adulthood" at 18, students who were 18 went off-campus to smoke without any hassle. That happened in my senior year.
Hey Armand, that's MR. Nelson. Is anyone seeing a pattern here? Is it that all, or lots, of the 70s people show minimal respect towards the teachers/administrators and they feel free to ask their parents or a friend's parent to tell off the school administrator? I'm just asking as that's the way it looks to me. A student screws up and an administrator gets on him. A friends father reads the riot act to the administrator and no problem with Mr. Nelson after that.
Not many years previous, the student would've respected the wishes of the administrator and not involved their parent for fear that the parent would've taken the administrator's side and taken it out on HIM. I think we could be onto something here.

Name: Mike Mueller () on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 00:21:51
Email: mudd@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: John. I never once got punished in High School because I never did anything to anger the teachers. I didn't like High School because I was on the outside looking in, weirded out about what was going on at home. I got punished a lot in Dana because I was a spaz and there really wasn't anything they could do with me. I'm not sure but I think there was some talk of putting me in a funny farm.
No, you got punished alot at Dana because you acted like a "first class ass". Don't blame your father for being a doper alcoholic. You were in detention because YOU messed up, NOT because you were a Spaz. You're still blaming society for your problems. Why don't you say it was YOUR fault, and not some teacher that was there to teach you, that you were laughing at because you thought he dressed funny. You're the problem, Mike, not the teachers you run down. They were ALL there to help you rise above your problems. YOU'RE the problem, not them. People, please don't email me and say I'm not understanding enough. Mr Helvey was correct, This guy is a FIRST CLASS ASS!!

Name: Mike Mueller () on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 00:08:45
Email: mudd@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Every City in LA is the same
Class: 1979
Message: It's like High School never ended. All was peaches and cherries in Cougar Town then...never mind,... Dan, what was the English word you mispelled in Pizzaro's clase? Can you spell it yet? Anyone know where I can get a gig?
Dan, and anyone that knows where he can get a gig, please email him, Thanks....

Name: Armand Vaquer () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 23:34:33

Email: AMVaquer@aol.com
City and State: Tarzana, CA
Class: 1972
Message: Interesting topic on "not-so-fond" memories of HHS. I have a few of my own, but I will keep them to myself. The staffers I had the least use for were Miss Selz (nice lady, but could not handle anything major) and Darth Vader's role model, Mr. Nelson. There was one staffer that probably nobody ever mentions, parking lot security officer George Elkins (circa 1970). We used to hang out with him smoking cigarettes and discussing (of all things) camping. He was really a nice old guy. One thing about unpleasant stuff, while it is great to "get over it" and all, some things can stick to your craw even after 30-40 years.
Miss JoYce Selz, I don't remember anyone caring too much for, but Dan Nelson, I thought, was an all right guy. At least he never hassled me. And NOTHING stuck in MY craw for 30 or 40 years. Maybe certain 70s people are overly sensitive.

I had to stay after class, run laps, shave with the razor that was left over from the Korean Conflict, almost failed Senior English because I lost my notebook, did 200 push ups for some stupid reason, and much much more, and I will say now that I deserved all the punishment I received. Armand, Dan, Mike M, and a few others; did you deserve all the punishment you received?

Name: Janet Burkett () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 22:44:15

Email: jmburkett@sti.net
City and State: Ca
Maiden: Humphreys
Class: 1962
Message: In the late 60's I worked at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. Many of those Monterey folks showed up there on a regular basis, including Janis Joplin. She asked me to take her clothes shopping once, but she was strictly into the Good Will stuff...the Huntington Mall wouldn't do for her. I think she taught me a few of my first four letter words too....ones that you seldom heard out of the mouths of the HHS girls, unless it was something like "bitchen". Even that, most of us wouldn't say in front of our folks.
The parent word, as I recall, was "Twitchen".

Name: Bob Veach () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 22:42:21

Email: GRV5891@aol.com
City and State: Long Beach, CA
Maiden: Iforgot
Class: 1972
Message: For all of you who "had it out with your teacher" or "laughed" at the way they dressed in front of other students, I only have one question- How do you keep a job? As I tell kids every day who get kicked out of class for that same behavior, act like that at work and YOU WILL BE FIRED!
Please take this from a guy, that by today's school rules, would not have been allowed to graduate. In the '72 El Molino I am photographed making a secret 1 finger wave in the Cougar Staff picture. When Konnie Krislock was told, she "surprised" slugged me in the back of my head when I wasn't looking. She called my mom who said to slug me again.
See now, you younger Cougs can't relate to this kind of behavior, but this is what is known as being INSTANTLY responsible for your actions. Bob is also correct about the "FIRED" part. Smart off to a teacher and nowadays there are minimal repercussions. Do it to your boss and you are out looking for another job.

Name: Walter Holt () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 22:32:01
Email: wholt1948atyahoodotcom
City and State: Costa Mesa, CA
Class: 1966
Message: Unfortunately due to a military commitment I was unable to attend Monterey POP that year. However due to lack of a military commitment I did make it to Woodstock 69, an event that I will never forget. And that one wound up not costing me a dime.
I know about the Monterey Jazz Festival, but wasn't that the ONLY Monterey Pop Festival?

Name: Miaaka () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 22:12:02

City and State: Olancha, CA
Maiden: Lester
Class: 1977
Message: John, I don't get here often, but want to let you know I enjoy the site and say thanks for the great job you are doing. Keep it up!
Hi Miaaka, Thanks for the kind words and maybe we'll see you at the next Cruise Night. Hopefully it'll be much drier this time.

Name: Gary Bickers () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 21:27:35

Email: garybicdds@aol.com
City and State: pve cal
Class: 1963
Message: Sherry, thank you for remembering the music. I spent 3 days sleeping in a car at that event. I got a great picture of Janis in full gear the night they appeared. First of many Janis sightings for me. Big Brother lives; as does Mountain and Grand Funk Railroad.

Name: Sherry Wingo () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 20:04:35

Email: dscwingo@pacbell.net
City and State: Haw. Ca.
Maiden: Peppers
Class: 1964
Message: I was chatting with my neighbor recently and sharing memories. She mentioned she had been at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967. Wow I thought. She shared a book she had and it mentioned the ticket prices. They ranged from a high of $6.50 to a low of $3.00. Can you just imagine seeing acts like Janis Joplin (Big Brother & The Holding Co., The Association, The Animals, The Mamas & The Papas, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding and others for such a cheap price. Going by today's standard ofcourse it would be unthinkable.

Name: Frank Romano () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 18:26:18

Email: fromano@lvcm.com
City and State: Las Vegas, NV
Class: 1961
Message: Just between thee and me Robin, a can of whomp ass is not always the answer. At least that's what I'm told. However, its my thinking that if its just a few individuals, that require re-training, they should learn to walk with a limp for a while... If in the event its a large area, Pave it. Simple enough. That's after the anger management group. As I told the nice doctors... it was my thumper not my head. About short fuse Mr. Acosta. He was a great shot with his chalk. Coach Sevier, was a sweet, gentle individual, until you went one on one in a hand ball game... One afternoon, he also introduced me to the starting pistol... He had me cold, flat footed and no place to go. Blanks still get you duckin'
I'm hip. Coach Ron was the one coach I did NOT want for PE.

Name: carole ferruccio () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 17:40:23
Email: isahighcarole@yahoo.com
City and State: lake Isabella, CA
Maiden: Anderson
Class: 1960
Message: Well I have not put a feedback on in a long while but your Scrivners ad blew me away. Scrivners in the hole was my home away from home. About Mike, well a lot of us had bad parents and bad times at school (like being caught with cigs in my purse or off campus at lunch without a permit or kicked out of Home ec. or my moms signature didn't match my absent excuse) I also never went to a dance or even dated a guy from HHS. BUT Hawthorne is my home town and HHS is my school. I say grow up and get over it. Of course being from the real old class of 1960 I have enough time behind me to get over most everything except when I have to say my age and start stuttering. LOL
Hey Carole, glad the Scrivners ad jogged your memory a little. I'm pretty much over all the bad stuff in school except for the time I lost my trunks in the diving pool. That one I can't shake.

Name: mariella () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 16:57:08
City and State: spain
Maiden: domingo
Class: 1984
Message: Have a great reunion. I would love to but can´t.
Hi Mariella, I guess Spain might be a little far for 5 hours of fun, but you can stay in touch with your frieds right here.

Name: Cliff Rickson () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 16:12:02

Email: ynoino@aol.com
City and State: St. Pete, Fla
Class: 1967
Message: Hi John, Speaking of racetracks, I started going with my Dad to the Friday night flat track motorcycle races held at Western Speedway before moving over to Ascot. Is Western and Gardena Stadium one in the same? Thanks, take care!
Hey Cliff, It sure is, located on Western Av in Gardena.

Name: Marilyn Ross () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 15:48:24
Email: mlr922@hotmail.com
City and State: Garden Grove, Ca
Maiden: Wisham
Class: 1956
Message: Cindy Whittaker's last post gets an A+.
amen to that.....

Name: Bob Melendrez () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 15:28:37

Email: Strongheart@pacificwest.com
City and State: Lawndale, CA
Class: 1971
Message: Yikes. For some the storms of the past rage on unabated... I was at first intimidated by Mr. Helvey. But one afternoon after missing a few days of school, I nervously approached him for some help in getting caught-up. He was impatient at my initial unwillingness to ?think out-loud?, yet the more I tried, the easier the math problems became. It is true, the saying that ?A single moment of understanding can flood a whole life with meaning?. That afternoon was nearly 40 years ago. I believe Mr. Helvey?s sub-text message was about respect. Respect for ones self by making the effort to learn, respect for others by not being disruptive. I now teach math part-time myself. So, in a sense, Mr. Helvey is still teaching... Have a great summer Cougs!
Great story Bob, and let's hear it for the Mr. Helveys of the world who wouldn't tolerate slackers or even mediocrity from his students.

Name: Robin () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 15:15:38

Email: RHood10542@aol
City and State: Maui this month
Class: 1960
Message: Your killing me John!...Dont sell that program on e-bay as we can make a deal. I never got Troys autograph and he never had a bigger fan than myself. When men were men and drove in T-shirts and leather helmets to win Indy. A local kid who won at 22 and spoke english (what a concept) in the Agajanian special #98....As far as anyone who threatens to blow up a classroom....A good ass whoopin is what they need and in our day would have probably got one after he was laughed out of the classroom...Later Cougs
Sorry dude, I just traded it for a Surfin Byrd album and a Harpers Bizarre 45, of "59th Street Bridge Song".

Name: Dan Johnson () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 15:06:28
Email: wch1ispink@aol.com
City and State: Sherman Oaks
Class: 1977
Message: JB you're right about the cultural differences between the late 50s and early 60s and the 1970s. For one thing, there were far more nuclear families in the earlier time period. I was the product of first a single parent family and then a family led by a step-parent which has got to be the hardest job on Planet Earth. Also we were going to school in the aftermath of the counter cultural revolution and there was a lot of distrust of authority not only among the students but many of their parents as well. Many thought that the "iron fist" discipline approach was discredited and in fact contributed to the distrust across generation gap. The actions of our political leaders help foster an attitude of rebellion against authority. Mr. Pizzaro was among the most permissive teachers at HHS -- he "related" to his students in many ways, including offering up to them a copy of Sheer Heart Attack which he purchased (I will not speculate why) but did not like. That didn't stop me from challenging him when I believed that what he did was wrong. I got in trouble but really what could my Mom do? My grades were decent, I played on HHS sports teams and I never went to jail -- all in all a pretty good track record for the 1970s! And I did have Mr. Gaier for Science Fiction. At his urging, I wrote reviews of SciFi short stories for mimeographed "fanzines" and won an all expense pass to one of the first Star Trek conventions at the LA Airport Hilton in 1976. And you all wonder why I like Pink Floyd?
What could my mom do ..... and I never went to jail??!! Now there's something to put on your resume'.

Name: Jim Rowley () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 14:56:43
Email: jrowley@coppersmith.com
City and State: RB,CA
Class: 1979
Message: There was a teacher at HHS that reminded me of a thin Col. Sanders. He taught speech (civics?). He organized his classroom desks into a circle and required his students to sit in a different chair every day. He said "Humans are creatures of habit" and he wanted us to venture out of our comfort zone, I suppose. But mostly, it forced him to assign names to faces instead of seating charts. I enjoyed his class, even when he wrapped my wet feet in newspaper because "newspaper is a good insulator". It was good at conjuring up a little embarrasment as well:-)

Name: Mike Mueller () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 14:24:05
Email: mud@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: I think Dan (or some other blond hair stoner) might have been in my Sci Fi class. Who was that teacher who taught Sci Fi- Mr Gayer or somebody or other? I think I read about 40 or 50 pulp novels in one single semester. I was burning them up at a rate of two or three per week.

Name: Mike Mueller () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 14:08:06
Email: mud@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: Pizzaro also had a fondness for saying "rigor mortis" which to me was sort of unsettling. After a few "rigor mortis" comments I sort of backed away from him figuring he might be dangerous. I think today if you threatened to blow up a classroom they'd have the entire police force out there in full flak gear along with the feds and a few choppers buzzing overhead. Back in the 70's they'd have suspended you and told you where to go buy the dynamite.
Mike, that's MR. Pizarro.

Name: doris () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 13:47:02

Email: dorisjean@mindspring.com
City and State: twin falls, id
Maiden: donaldson
Class: 1957
Message: I'm sorry John; you'll probably NOT thank me for saying this, but I love it when someone has the guts to rattle our cages once in a while like Mike Mueller did. I'm sure it was obvious to everyone that people not only rallied around YOU, but CT, HHS, and Hawthorne! Of course lots of us had unhappy childhoods and teenhoods (is that a word? LOL!), but it wasn't Hawthorne or HHS that made it that way. Cindy Whittaker said it best ... darn! Wish I'd thought of those fine words Cindy. I couldn't agree with you more!
I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! THANKS JOHN!!! But I especially love it when CTers rally round each other with support and genuine caring.
Thanks Doris, I loved the comment by a certain un-named 70's Coug who exclaimed, "Who wizzed in his Cheerios?"

Name: Dan Johnson () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 12:53:16

Email: wch1ispinkATaolDOTcom
City and State: Sherman Oaks
Class: 1977
Message: Mr. Pizarro was responsible for one of my suspensions from HHS. We had a Spanish test where the Spanish words appeared in the left column and we were supposed to fill in the English word in the right column. Mr. Pizzaro offended my acute sense of justice by marking one of my answers incorrect not because I put down the wrong English word but because I misspelled it. I went ballistic on the guy and literally threatened to blow up his classroom. I was a little high strung. I deserved the suspension, no doubt about it. But to this day, I think marking that answer incorrect was a travesty of justice.
Great story, Dan. Also it says lots about the difference in attitudes between the mid to late 70s, and the 50s and, at least, early 60s. I can tell you now, if someone had offered me a 100 dollar bill to say to a teacher that I was going to blow up his classroom, I couldn't have done it. That kind of thing would have gotten back to my parents and there would have been hell to pay. There was no such thing as a timeout when I was growing up. The punishment was painful.

Name: Bud Rhoades () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 12:46:31

Email: bud.rhoades@fullmerinc.com
City and State: Belmontshore
Class: 1974
Message: Spotted on my way in to work this morning: parked in the Huntington Beach parking lot an original Helms Bakery truck that is still in use. Obviously not Helms, I believe it said Kerrs bakery or something like that, but overall in pretty good shape.
Great sighting, Bud, thanks for the info......

Name: John Crotty () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 12:35:05
City and State: Hermosa Beach
Class: 1969
Message: Denny's right about the liquor store. I guess that was too easy, huh? My dad used to send me there to get his smokes, even though I was in grade school. He had a deal with one of the older clerks there. My dad would phone the store, place his order, and then send me there on foot. There was usually a candy bar in the deal for me. The clerk would put them in a brown paper bag and just hand the bag to me, even if there were other customers there. I just walked out of the store and went home. My dad would pay him the next time he went there for whatever. And don't go telling ATF because the store is gone and the statute of limitations is over!
Lots of stories about kids picking up beer or cigs for parents back in the 60s. Everyone knew each other, then.

Name: Denny () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 11:24:45

Email: denny?uncledennyscorner.com
City and State: Del Aire
Class: 1955
Message: The Thriftymart liquor was at the West end of the property to keep the sale of liquor the required number of feet from the school (think it's something like 1000 feet).
In the 40's where the Thriftymart used to be was an old Craftsman home owned by the Schufelt's. Their son was my age and also attended Wiseburn (Dana).
Man, what a wealth of Hawthorne/So Bay knowledge we have on this website. Thanks Denny....

Name: Walter Holt () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 11:08:14

Email: Wholt1948@yahoo.com
City and State: Cost Mesa, CA
Maiden: nomorepittypat
Class: 1966
Message: OK John....you asked for it.....WHEN....Gardena Stadium what memories that brings back..I remember as a kid my dad taking me there. Also going to the old Ascot Raceway to watch both the Jalopy and the Midget racers. One of the other racers that would frequent those raceways was Parnelli Jones. Here is a great link I found dedicated to the old Jalopy racers.... http://www.geocities.com/toml242001/index.html
Thanks for the link, Walter. Great memories there.

Name: John Crotty () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 08:58:01

City and State: Hermosa Beach,CA
Class: 1969
Message: Hi JB, Funny thing, I was just thinking the other day about The Big "T", (Thriftimart) and how you could see that big red initial from almost everywhere in Hawthorne. But then I was trying to remember what was there before they built that little strip mall. I figured I would go to the "man" (you) who has a vast recollection of everything "cougarish." Wasn't there a lumber yard there first? And doesn't anyone remember the candy counter at Aloha Drugs? You could stand there for an hour trying to pick out something to eat for your nickel. Finally, does anyone know why they built the Thriftimart Liquor Store at the far end of the parking lot? I do, but I am curious if anyone else remembers why.
Hey John, Great question, but don't remember. It was there in 1962 and being an eastsider, I just don't recall. Anyone know the answer?

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