Hawthorne Feedback

Name: Kyle Jokela ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 11:47 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1971
City & State: Irvine, Ca
E-mail
Message: Hi El Rojo. I've always been a UCLA fan also. After I moved up to Washington, I also became a U of Washington Husky fan. If they both play each other though, I lean toward Washington. I have too many memories of the campus area up there. Those John Wooden teams were the best. I think Bill Walton was the best college center of all-time. If he hadn't gotten injured in the NBA, I think he would have been the greatest center of all-time. He killed Kareem the year his Portland Trailblazers won the NBA championship. After that year, Bill was too injured to play at his best.You graduated HHS in 1960, so I'm not sure you know HHS varsity basketball coach Ernie Woods. He coached at HHS in the early 1960s. After he coached at Hawthorne, Ernie moved up to Bellevue, Washington and was the first coach at the new Bellevue Community College. I went to Bellevue CC and was on the basketball team my second year there. Ernie was my coach, but all the time I didn't even know that he had connections with Hawthorne! It wasn't until years later that I found out that Ernie was a Cougar and coached at HHS. Ernie was also a Washington State Cougar, as he went to college and played there under Marv Harshman. I learned alot about basketball from Ernie, he was a great teacher. This was definitely a Cougar siting, but way before there was a Cougartown. Heck, it was before the internet. What a small world.

Name: Dan Petty ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 10:57 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1965
City & State: SANTA ANA, CA
E-mail
Message: Great Cruise Night, thanks to all that made it happen. Its great talking to old friends. Rob Stevenson mentioned that cars made in the '40s '50s and '60s had actually gone 100 mph on Hawthorne Blvd, no COUGAR would ever do that...ya think? See ya next time.

Name: Rich Sloan ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 8:18 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1960
City & State: Laguna Hills, CA
E-mail
Message: John - Thanks for another great Cruise Night. All of us who attend greatly appreciate the time and effort you put into all the great Cougar events. Friendships are one of lifes greatest gifts - the longer the friendship, the greater the gift. Keep up the good work. Rich

Name: Jan Peterson ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 7:05 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Freeman
Class: 1967
City & State: Carmichael, CA
E-mail
Message: Hi all and Happy Sunday. I am presently in New York where my hubby have been for the weekend celebating my big brother Tom's (HHS64) 60th birthday. We have had a ball, and the highlight was last night where we attended a 60's Concert and none other than our old friend and neighbor Chris (Zeke) Montez was performing. I got a great picture with Zeke, Tom and I, will email it to John when I get back home Tuesday. The show included Chris, Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and the Young Rascals. We all woke up with no voice this morning will all of the screaming and singing. We all went back in time many years and it was awesome!! There is no better place to be from than Hawthorne, California. Hugs, Jan & Tom

Name: ed schatz ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 6:54 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1970
City & State: lakewood, calif.
E-mail
Message: I would have to agree woith Mr. Gibson's overview. Jim, were either of your parents encarcerated, mine neither, anyone here. More and more adults are not looking at the consequences of their actions on the children they are raising, perhaps not concerned for any of their consequences at all. Cast all concerns to the wind. Definately takes rwo parents, and as the burgeoning populace of single parent househilds becomes the norm, it appears, said, appears, and corresponding rise in youth violence and sedition. Most of us. said, most; had two parents there, many didn't, yet we turned out ok! So, why now, where is this coming from. In your own hut, very correctly seen, Jim.

Name: Jim Sloey ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 4:53 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1966
City & State: Solvang, Ca
E-mail
Message: First of all, there is no way Jerry Miles can be a dork with all those great videos he has done. Second of all Jake, The Bruins won with Wooden's regime in 64 and 65. [Not 63-64] Texas Western now Texas at El Paso won in 66 although there was a team that would have beat them by at least 20, this team went undefeated that year and did not even get into the NCAA tournament. Who are they?

Name: Laura Anderson ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 4:52 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Twitchell
Class: 1979
City & State: Hemet, CA
E-mail

Message: Don't think this qualifies as a Cougar Sighting but I just got home from the Cal Teachers Assoc annual conference and sat with a first year teacher whose dear hubby is a Student Teacher at HHS!! He is in the Math department and she is teaching at Kornblum Elementary. Andy and Diana MacGregor. I got the skinny on the campus fight but I was also able to share with her the history and passion I read about so often on this website. She shared that the new cafeteria is beautiful and I got to tell her about the tradition of the Senior Square it replaced. She also was happy to hear about the work being done to replace trophies and photos in Nyman Hall. What a coincidence!

Name: Dennis Kilroy ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 4:38 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1977
City & State: OC CA
E-mail
Message: Hey John, we all did have a great time last night. Ctown events get better and better. Last night Jill and myself did some planning for the class of 77 Reunion. So it was very good for us also. Last night I talked to Tracy Turner for the first time since High School. He was nice enough to give me HHS Basketball Pics from our class. I have posted them at hhs77.com under Morestuff (and will be adding more pics). Also, John Crotty I am sorry I was the one drooooooling on your ride. I hope you had no problems cleaning it up today! LOL (I hope someone will post a picture of your car soon so everyone else can enjoy it like I did!) See everybody soon. Don't forget to send your $$$$ to Jill for the reunion.

Name: Jim Gibson ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 3:17 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1967
City & State: Redding, CA
E-mail
Message: Having worked exclusively w/ "wayward", 14 through 18 yr old teenagers (Shasta County Probation Dept) for just shy of 20 yrs, 12 of which assigned to the Crystal Creek Boys' Camp, a juvenile detention facility in the mountains near Redding, it would be very easy to cultivate a jaded view of today's teens. Almost daily, I am forced to remind myself that the thousands of kids I've worked w/ over the years represent just a tiny fraction of the teenagers in the community. Sadly, their files are pretty much alike, in that about 95%(+) of incarcerated juvenile offenders are products of single parent families, and if there are 2 parents, one is in prison, the other is on drugs, or some variation of the two. Certainly, there are many exceptions, but as a rule, this is the situation. Our facility is recognized as one of the finest in the state (60% of our graduates do not reoffend). Our success can be attributed directly to certain practices that were commonplace in most families when we were teens - respect for self & others; consistent discipline; consequences for negative behavior; a balance between discipline & compassion; the refusal to accept mediocre effort. Our staff have a heartfelt, vested interest in the success of each & every kid. We elect to RAISE the level of expectations according to the abilities of each kid, whether on a work crew performing some type of community service or in the classroom tackling algebra. We are quick to laud even the smallest sucesses, & just as quick to offer compassionate counsel & advice (NOT coddling)as to how to better deal w/ the failures. We do this by establshing a genuine mutual respect, trust, & credibility from day one, to the point where the teen would be upset if he were to disappoint a staff member, or, himself. These are all attributes that were readily employed by the vast majority of parents, teachers, & coaches "back in the day." I'm no expert, but I think that same dynamic among today's "community mentors" hasn't changed much. As I see it, the central problem is that misbehavior not properly dealt with @ home during the formative yrs will likely manifest itself in any number of social settings, especially schools where peer pressure is intense. There is really no mystery here. If we wish to curtail the current trend of violence in our schools & elsewhere, we need to get back to the basics of ACTIVE parenting. Remember, we had our fights, sometimes on campus. The problem is that in today's teen society, even a misinterpreted "look" or the wearing of the wrong type (or color) of clothing can result in a level of violence that we never had to experience. I don't mean to over simplify, but hey, you have to start somewhere. Hillary was right, to some extent, it probably does take a village...but it STARTS in your own hut!

Name: John Crotty ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 2:23 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1969
City & State: Hermosa Beach
E-mail
Message: I really did have a great time last night at Foster's. Thanks for the compliment JB on my classic vette. The best part of the gathering is the people. What a fabulous group of individuals. No phonies, all real Cougars. Just a great, great crowd. And it's all because of you JB...you are the best!!!!!!

Name: EL ROJO ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 2:02 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1960
City & State: Kuna, ID
E-mail
Message: Kyle Jokela, been a UCLA fan since Red Sanders ran the Single Wing at UCLA in football. Most won't know what that is. Also since John Wooden started the dynasty in BB 63-64. Or actually before with people like Morrey Taft, and the coach from Louiville, Denny Crum, might not be the right spelling with either name, but...the Bruins beat everything in front of them from 63, 64 and after Texas Western's run in 65 there wasn't much of a challenge. The U of Houston team with Mr Hayes had their day in the dome. Beat the Bruins by one. Broke the 60 plus winning streak..UCLA, Kareem, Shackleford, Washington and Heitzs, Vallele beat them in the semi's or finals, like little leaguers stomping on Seniors on GRAD night!! Shackleford made about 6 or 8 shots that should have been 3's that were an ordinary "2" back then, and UCLA beat them by 30 PLUS!!!. And you could only hear it on the radio. Now, I might be off a total or two or ten, but UCLA kicked their proverbial A**! By the way for all you BB wunderliks. They stopped the "DUNK" when Alcindor became a freshman. Freshman couldn't play varsity ball back then.:-( They also carried that through Bill Waltons ERA, for anyone who cares. All they could do was drop it in the hole.! And the Bruins did, 10 years or so, over the 60's and into the 70's. Dang Bake I don't believe sc ever did that in any sport. Come to think of it they didn't beat the Bruins in football this year!!!!!! We got quite lucky, but played a hell of a game. GO BOISE STATE!!!

Name: Jerry Miles ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 12:51 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1966
City & State: Dorkville, USA
E-mail
Message: John, I took Sloey?s test and came up a dork. So I tried your retest and it confirmed I was a dork. I even tried to cheat and use Jim Sloey?s personalized test (knowing he is the coolest thing going) and still came up a dork. I guess I?m destined to permanent dorkdom. But what I really wanted to write about was to congratulate you on your acquisition of the greatest book ever produced?the 1966 El Molino. You must be so proud.

Name: Harry Plotkin ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 12:42 pm - HHS Time
City & State: Harbor City, CA
E-mail
Message: Thank you, John, for another great cruise night. It is always fun seeing former students and Cougar friends. Regarding your earlier query about Wiseburn's humble beginnlngs - 1896 was the magical year that Wiseburn became a school district. I must say Rich and Mary Sloan are so supportive of Cougar events and it is always a pleasure to see them. Love to all,HCH

Name: Mike Shay ~~~~~~~~~~ Sun-Mar 11, 2007, 9:52 am - HHS Time

Class: 1961
City & State: Cerritos, CA
E-mail
Message: Wow, Great Cruise Night; Thanks to all of you that brought the beautiful cars. What a treat to see them. How long since you've seen a perfect 50 Olds coupe? Now how long since you saw one with a Mc Culloch blower on it?? Beautiful car. Lots of people from the early classes too. It was an absolute pleasure hanging out and visiting with all you folks. There are none better! I got to hug some pretty girls too! Thanks John for making this kind of thing possible, we love you man! M.S.