Hawthorne Feedback

Name: Raymond Smith ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Jan 14, 2006, 12:28 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1981
City & State: Portland, OR
E-mail
Message: Hello people. Just thinking about the times we were kids. I have a 6 yrs old daughter and she is growing up fast and I am expecting my 1st son this June if all goes well. Being a "Near" teenager and hanging out w/ my BEST friend Mike we sure did alot of things that we thought were "Innocent" but in today's world we would be busted! There are some things we did that seems funny but looking back I sorta feel bad (but it was funny. Mike and I had paper routes and we would love "Trash Day" which I think was on a Thursday. After I finish my paper route (Daily Breeze) I go with Mike (Herald Examiner). We would ride our bikes like airplanes trying to shoot down each other. Along the way we would crash into SEVERAL trash cans like exploding bombs! By the time we got down the street it look like a war Zone. OMG...I am so surprised we weren't caught.
After school in the 6th grade we would walk home and I would see Mike face get that thinking and he goes like this.."Watch this". He would grab a open padlock off someones garage and walk a few houses down and put it on someone else garage. OMG...I busted of laughing so hard wondering how the owner going to figure out if he had the key for such a lock let alone trying to open it. I think they started "Neighborhood Watch" because of us! Playing "ARMY" was one of favorite pastime. We would hide in bushes and walls to Ambush the other guy. Here I was walking around with my "Rubberband Gun" trying to seek out the enemy. Alot of times we be in Neighbor's backyard and they never complained. At one time we managed to get toy guns but no one every called the cops on us. Sometimes we pretend to have Knife fights with the other guys just for fun. Once we did just that but I went home for lunch. I found out later someone called the whole H.P.D. when 2 of our friends were mocking a fight and their neighbor thought it was the real thing! Ah yes...the good' ol' days.

Name: Nick Fitzgerald ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Jan 14, 2006, 9:09 am - HHS Time

Class: 1959
City & State: Medford, Or
E-mail
Message: I have some really sad news. My friend and classmate for over 50 years has passed away. RICHARD BEHRENS HHS(59) passed away in his sleep last night. Richard has been ill for a long time. Cathy Ferges HHS(59) and I visited Rich last weekend, he was in good spirits and happy to see us. He will be missed by all who knew him. I believe a service will be in about three weeks at his daughters home in Dunsmuir Calif. If you like more info contact me and I will let you know when. Nick

Name: Al Murphy ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Jan 14, 2006, 8:50 am - HHS Time
City & State: Helena MT.
E-mail
Message: Hey George, how goes it? Last year when I talked with a retired cop in AZ. Jerry Peer was his neighbor. Two or three of them spend the winters there.[He is the same, nice, calm and cool].Pete Steelman left the dept. and moved too Nev. He went to work for the Nev. Highway Patrol. Couple years later he was on a traffic stop outside of Las Vegas and another vehicle hit him. He was paralized from the neck down and about a year later passed on. This is good information from a former Dep. from that Co. where it happened. Have a good one, Al Murphy

Name: Jim Gibson ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 11:50 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1967
City & State: Redding, CA
E-mail
Message: Hey, Larry Biller . I remember you from HHS '67. For what it's worth...never thought of you as a "social misfit"...just kinda quiet & reserved...that's all. For every "social misfit" who was quiet & reserved, there was a loudmouth, show-off, battling the exact, same insecurities...just in a different way. What it boils down to is that during the high school years, just about EVERYONE was dealing w/ insecurities of some kind. Some were just better than others @ masking them.

Name: George Johnson ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 7:41 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1962
City & State: Spinnaker Cove, Ca
E-mail
Message: J.B.; What picture is that of me you have posted, Hawthorne Intermediate vintage 7th or 8th grade?. I was not at HHS long enough to get a picture taken for the yearbook. As I recall, I was only there for somewhere between 2 to 4 weeks, before they kicked me out. I think I ended up at about every high school in the Centinela Valley school district. Hard to believe I bacame a cop & now have two degrees.

Name: Larry Biller ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 8:19 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1967
City & State: Portland,Or
E-mail
Message: Been wanting to write this for awhile but couldn't find the "right" words so I'll just make it short. When my brother John (hhs 76) first showed me Cougartown a few years ago I thought it would be a way to somehow recapture those high school days and try to "fit in" better socially. But as we all know you can't "do it over again". My years at HHS were not great ones, academically, athletically and especially socially. OK enough of the sad story. I guess the reason I'm writing this is just to say how important it is to take advantage of each day while we have them. And BTW I'm not a social wallflower these days. Life is good....Even with all the rain outside.

Name: Baxter Dodd ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 4:01 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1957
City & State: Riverside, CA
E-mail
Message: F.M. was the worst but not the only one. One night I got a ticket in Inglewood for ?sounding? like I was ?going too fast.? They were on a side street and heard me on La Brea. I tried to explain 456 posi gears to the officers but got only blank stares. Wrote it for 45 in a 40 zone (I was really going under 35). Got stopped one night in El Segundo by an L.A. cop who threatened to give me a ticket for drag racing. I had not raced anyone all night so I asked him where he got that idea. He said, ?you don?t have any hub caps on your car because you took them off to race.? A couple of my buddies had taken them off the night before and put them on a neighbor?s car for a joke. The cop yelled and cussed at me for about 20 minutes but no ticket. You can?t make this stuff up. More later ---- Baxter

Name: George Johnson ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 3:11 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1962
City & State: Spinnaker Cove, Ca
E-mail
Message: Anyway, back to the Jerry, Pete and FAT Freddy story. These guys used to catch me and/or several other notables that read your site (I won't give names, but they know who they are)in front of the Pizza Show or in the center parking island across from Foster's Freeze on I believe 131 St. We would congregate at these places after Foster's closed, because Russ the owner, did not want us in his parking lot after closing. Looking back now, it probably had to do with a liability issue, however, us astute teenagers thought he was just being an A-hole, sorry Russ, may you rest in peace. We were usually drunk, because back in those days beer was the drug of choice (thank god) heck, you could buy a case of "Coors" 12 oz's for $5.20 a case and if you really wanted to go wild, you would splurge and buy "Country Club Stout" Malt Liquor short dog's. We would always end up at either the center island and/or in front of the Pizza Show, usually drunk as skunk's, it was a given, a ritual or something?. We (drunk teenagers, did I say drunk or dumb?) would all collect there after consuming large amounts of alcoholic beverage either down by the 405 Fwy. construction site (because the cops never came down there) or after a party, at lord knows where or at who's house. There used to be a sign post at the rear of Foster's by the alley that people posted addresses of open parties they knew about. We would go from party to party, as they were listed as open parties, some of these parties would be great distances away. I recall an appartment house on Chadron Ave. off of Compton Blvd. that always had a party going every week end. During the course of the party going, keep in mind, this scerario happened every week end, except Christmas & Easter, just kidding, I sure there were even parties on those two days because that's what we did. Anyway, back to the story, I'm starting to ramble and be to wordy. Boy, J.B. when you start thinking & writing about the old days a lot of memories pop-up (is that what they mean by the term "Flash Back"?). Anyhow, they (Jerry, et al) would take us behind the Pizza Show, that as I recall was a vacant lot or something and procede to give us an ass whippin ( not always all of us at the same time). I can still remember Jerry whippin my ass on more than one occasion and warning and advising me that every time he caught me drunk, he would continue the practice of whippin my ass until I wised up. I know some of you are saying, if you knew you were going to get an ass whippin why didn't you run?. Well, several reasons, If we ran and they caught us we would probably still get an ass whippin + go to jail or if we got away eventually they would catch us and give us a longer ass whippen than if we would have just stayed and took our medicine. They had many options. I never got arrested, just ass whippin's, until I finally saw the light and wised up. Now some of you are saying to yourself's why didn't you file a complaint, well, I Keep in mind, those police officers didn't beat us, they just inflicted some curb side justice, that in retrospect we/I deserved, because as I see it now, we were the A-holes.
I had the pleasure of seeing Jerry one time after I joined the L.A. Sheriff's Dept.. We talked and laughed about the old Hawthorne days. He never brought up the Pizza Show ass whippins nor did I. I do remember him saying somethig about he was glad to see that I wised up?.
The last I heard about Jerry, he had been in an on duty T/C and got injured pretty badly and was living on a boat down in Wilmington somewhere.
AHHHH the good old days.

Name: George Johnson ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 2:45 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1962
City & State: Spinnaker Cove, Ca
E-mail
Message: J.B. Talking about old time Hawthorne cops, I don't know if you remember Big jerry peer or Pierce, (not sure of last name spelling) as I have injured or killed a lot of brain cells over the years from drinking to many Barley cokes and other forms of alcoholic beverages. I know some of the older, Hawthorne Blvd. cruisers probably remember him, he worked with Pete Stillman and as we used to call him FAT ASS Freddy Moore. He (Jerry) was a big guy, about six foot fourteen, or there about. Jerry finally left Hawthorne P.D. and went with CHP, & worked motor out of their Torrance facility. As I recall the (Hearsay) story, Pete Stillman left Hawthorne P.D. and went to work for the California State Corrections System as a Jailer. As the folk lore goes, one night Pete was travelling down Hawthorne Blvd. by himself and two phantom vehicles pulled up along side of him, one on each side. As the story goes, somehow or another, the two phantom vehicles came together, wedging Pete in between and causing him to take a great fall, the two vehicles then sped away never to be seen again. Pete left the department sometime shortly after that incident. NOTE: this Pete Stillman story is hearsay, if anyone has the correct story, please correct me. More about the Jerry, Pete and Freddy later....

Name: Al Murphy ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 2:29 pm - HHS Time
City & State: Helena MT.
E-mail
Message: Hi Steve, Reinkie's first name was Jerry. He was a Juvie Officer at the time. We had a Capt. that always wanted the center strip cleared out all the time. I remember my pardner and I worked out a deal with most of the guys, when they saw us turn in the center they would leave, then come back in 20 or so minutes. that worked out real well! O'well, them were great days!! John you do a terrific job with this site. It always brings back Ole good memories, have a good one, Al Murphy

Name: Keith D. Jones ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 11:35 am - HHS Time

Class: 1976
City & State: Kona, HI
E-mail
Message: I hope their is a cruise night or something when I am in town. I AM planning on going to our reunion in August and I will be in Vegas at the end of July for the Mr. USA so I may just stay for a few weeks in LA and Vegas till the reunion just so I don't have to come back. Maybe I'll rent a classic old car so I will fit in for the cruise night.

Name: Steve Temoshek ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 11:35 am - HHS Time

Class: 1969
City & State: Lag Hills,Ca
E-mail
Message: Does anyone remember a plainclothes cop named Renke or something like that? He drove a plain black plymouth and always kicked us out of the islands at night. Funny thing is Dimitri Pappas bought that plymouth at the Hawthorne auction a couple years later.

Name: Maureen "Mo" Trott ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 7:19 am - HHS Time

Maiden: Trott
Class: 1964
City & State: Hawthorne, CA
E-mail
Message: You are soooo right about Dave Stark. Definitely the nicest guy (sorry Ron & Steve). Yes, he retired a few years ago. I think he was on the department for 30 or more years. Not only is he nice, but the whole family is just the same...right guys?

Name: Wade Greasby ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jan 13, 2006, 5:40 am - HHS Time

Class: 1973
City & State: Surf City, Ca
E-mail
Message: Hey Ron Warner, good to see your post. Congrats on your retirement and success up north. Do you still support the handle bar mustache? Firemen are a special breed and Hawthorne had the best. Keith, Dennis Miller, HHS '70, had a Green Chevy SS 454 back in the day. Had power and speed. Bobbie Chasin good to hear from you. Hope all is well in Greece! JB what's the schedule for this year? How many cruise nights, picnics and gigs at two-six? Have a great weekend. Forecast for Big Bear is SNOW, watch out for this old "Gray on a Tray". An over 50 guy on a snow board. Sure beats skiing.

Name: carl rilling ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jan 12, 2006, 11:57 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1959
City & State: Oregon City, Oregon
E-mail
Message: Dang, I must be the only person out of the 50/60's that deserved every ticket I got. And those Moore brothers knew every hiding place around town. Ask Jerry Hopkins 59'.

Name: Debbie ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jan 12, 2006, 8:16 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1977
City & State: Del Aire
E-mail
Message: I know lots of people read C-Town but don't post. Just in case any old school pals of Danny Bellare & Diane are reading this, their oldest son, Joshua passed away this Saturday in a car accident. He was barely 18. If anyone would like a flier with a map from Hawthorne to the funeral home, there are some fliers @ Tony's Sub's & Pizza in the log cabin on Aviation & 119th st. For those who are not local, you may contact the Stout Family Funeral Home 27135 Madison Ave Temecula, CA 92590. Their phone is 951-296-3700. The services are this Saturday @ noon.

Name: Bob Reagan ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jan 12, 2006, 5:18 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1962
City & State: Redding,Ca
E-mail
Message: The "King Harasser" of the early sixties had to be officer Delberto, don't remember his first name other than "A--H---. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to give him the one finger salute. Of course it was behind his back, although there were times when I thought for sure he had eyes in back of his head. I wasn't sure if he hated all mankind or just teenagers.
I have to say that the best one on the force during that time was officer Al Murphy. He would see me driving on Hawthorne Blvd and sneak up behind me and throw on the lights, scaring the crap out of me. Of course me being who I am, I knew I had to be guilty of something.
So with the bright lights shining in he would walk up the side of the car only to say "Hey Reagan, How're You Doing?" After he would leave, I immediately had to go home and change. Al Murphy, Thanks for the good times. Hope you are enjoying retirement.