Hawthorne Feedback

Name: Kyle Jokela ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Apr 24, 2007, 1:07 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1971
City & State: Irvine, Ca
E-mail
Message: Hi Larry Bach. I remember you as you were a friend of my younger brother Kenny. You were both friends while at Eucalyptus Elementary School. Ken went to Eucalyptus from Kindergarten until the middle of 4th grade. You may have reunited as friends back at Hawthorne Intermediate in the 8th grade, when our family moved back to Hawthorne, but we only stayed for that year until moving again. I remember back in my Eucalyptus days, that it was a big thing to have a chemistry set at home. In the kit were little bottles of many different types of chemical elements and things to mix together for interesting experiments. As I recall, my chemistry set was carried inside a metal case with a handle on it, which could be carried like a tool kit. The metal case was mainly red in color. My brother said that you also had a chemistry set at home and that he would come over to your house and watch you do experiments. One day Ken came home and told me that if I ate Sulfur, that it would make me stronger. He told me that Larry Bach told him this. Being that I could be very gullible when I wanted to believe something, I actually went to my chemistry set, opened up the little bottle of Sulfur, and with the tiny spoon scraped up some of the white Sulpur and ate some. I think I only did this a couple of times. I didn't get sick from it and I didn't notice it making me any stronger. Now that we here on Cougartown are talking about great eating, did you ever try eating Sulfur to make yourself stronger? Maybe Ken was making all this up, but he was never much of a fibber.

Name: Larry Bach ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Apr 24, 2007, 12:33 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1972
City & State: Torrance, CA
E-mail
Message: I always stopped at that Taco Bell across from HHS when walking home from the beach cold and hungry. They used to sell for thirty cents a sort of Mexican Sloppy Joe: a hamburger bun with taco meat, a tomato and shredded cheese called a "Beef Burger". Then it was off the menu for awhile. Later, Taco Bell brought El sloppy Joe forth again, left off the tomato, raised the price and changed the name to "Bell Beefer", or was it "Beef Burfer"?

Name: Sherry Wingo ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Apr 24, 2007, 12:09 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Peppers
Class: 1964
City & State: Haw. Ca.
E-mail
Message: Hi Karen Fuller. This is Sherry Peppers, also class of '64'. I want to email you, but you're not listed on the alumni page. Post your email on Cougartown.

Name: Keith D. Jones ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Apr 24, 2007, 10:27 am - HHS Time

Class: 1976
City & State: Kona, HI
E-mail
Message: Mr. Keys mentioned Taco Bell. Back then they had maybe ten items you could buy. I do remember when it got robbed once. The whole parking lot in the back was filled with cops and they obviously closed the place. Then I heard about a guy who came up to the window and tried to rob the place again. To his surprise the place was filled with cops and he was arrested. I always thought that was funny. I really miss the good ol' days.

Name: Tania Duncombe ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Apr 24, 2007, 8:50 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Duncombe
Class: 1987
City & State: Abaco, Bahamas
E-mail
Message: I'll be flying in from the Bahamas to see everyone...I can't wait! Go Cougars! Grrrr!

Name: Paula Bondi - Springer ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Apr 24, 2007, 8:20 am - HHS Time
Class: 1976
City & State: Cameron Park, CA
E-mail
Message: Hi Everyone! After the successful launch of David Mark's biography "The Lost Beach Boy" in the UK, the book is released by Virgin May 29th in The US. To celebrate there will be a launch party @ RUSTY's SURF RANCH (Santa Monica pier, in Santa Monica, CA - 29th May), David would like to extend this invitation to fans everywhere and on the message boards as well. All information will follow, but thought you may want to get the heads-up on the date for planning etc, as this will be a very hot event, with limited places! If I can be of any help please contact me at jpjcl@jps.net Thanks. Paula

Name: Armand Vaquer ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 11:12 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1972
City & State: Tokyo, Japan
E-mail
Message: Speaking of sneaking a smoke, a bunch of us would go to the truck of the parking lot guard, George Elkins, and smoke there with him and swap stories about fishing and camping. This was usually during the lunch break.

Name: Larry Bach ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 9:54 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1972
City & State: Torrance, CA
E-mail
Message: Las Toltecas! That place was five minutes away by foot, I ate there frequently but couldn't remember the name. I must be getting old! My parents went to Las Toltecas sometimes on Friday nights with the Creede's (Ed Creede, former Hawthrone P.D. 1960's and 1970's and sadly no longer with us). The details are sketchy, but the place must have changed owners in the early 1970's. More than once, the new owner was drunk and obnoxious so we stopped going there. The place changed hands again and was renamed Pineda's Jockey Club (presumably after the small, wiry feller next to a horse, whose photos replaced most of those oil-paint on velvet bullfighters on the walls). But I do remember Delta Liquor, where I walked to most every night when I had any change in my pocket or some bottles to turn in, to buy a twelve cent can of Cactus Cooler. Jack, the owner, was cool, but he eventually closed shop and reopened in Orange County on Brookhurst, south of the 405. Walking to Delta Liquor at night was often a risky enterprise. I was rousted and frisked by the police more than a few times while crossing El Segundo Blvd (they just didn't understand my view that since "Hawthorne Way" was a named street on the map, then I wasn't really jay-walking). There was also a redneck dude always working on his pickup who lived in the "Pride Apartments" next to the parking lot I had to negotiate for the most direct route to Delta Liquor. I never said boo to this ball cap Bubba, but he didn't like my haircut or my whiskers, said as much, and muttered something about me being a no-account communist. Bubba stalked me repeatedly as far as El Segundo Blvd, which I then crossed at the quick step. Did I look like a delinquent or a subversive?

Name: Jorge Llaves ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 9:21 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1980
City & State: PVE CA
E-mail
Message: Reading about all these great places to eat in Hawthorne I was amazed and very sad no body mentioned HHS cafeteria and Taco Bell where you all tried to hide and sneak a smoke while ditching assembly. And you thought we didn't know.

Name: Noreen Culley ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 8:13 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Crotty
Class: 1972
City & State: Westchester, CA
E-mail
Message: To the classes of '71 & '72 - It's time to send in your reservations for the reunion on August 25th at the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo. Sure hope to see a lot of you there.

Name: Lynn Hopkins ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 8:12 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: St. George
Class: 1972
City & State: Redondo Beach, CA
E-mail
Message: Hey Classmates, The class of 1971 and 1972 are planning a joint reunion on August 25, 2007 at the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo. Send in your reservations by going to the reunion page and you should be able to link to the order form. Looking forward another fun filled evening. Go Cougars!!!!!!

Name: Jim Dally ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 7:32 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1963
City & State: Carson, CA
E-mail
Message: Back to the subject of FOOD for a moment: maybe this place isn't where we cruised at night but, it certainly is from our past; Knott's Berry Farm! For those of us 60+ and if we stop by between 3-5 p.m. daily we can get the delicious "Early Bird Senior Dinner" for just $7.35! Includes soup or salad, cherry rhubarb (yummy) and a choice of six entrees (yes, chicken is one of them). Three dessert choices as well and I believe a beverage comes with it too. If dinner isn't your thing then the "Senior" (that's us!) breakfast is available from 7-10:30 a.m. with four (4) choices for just $4.45! Some of us live in or near Buena Park so there you go and a HINT; they are busier than heck on Sundays & Holidays so, go during the week, no lines no fuss. Mrs. Knott started somethin' good back then when she and Walter were trying to make ends meet so she cooked and sold her good food to the folks and they kept on comin' back for more. The oddity now is, across the street from Knott's kitchen dinner house is a T.G.I.F. restaurant ON Knott's property! Yes Virginia, decisions, decisions.

Name: Frank L Gardner ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 7:15 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1967
City & State: Paso Robles,Calif.
E-mail
Message: Hey, heard we are having a reunion this summer- Kurt Pettlon told me and for some reason I'm not on the reunion list. I'm hoping to attend and will respond as soon as I can. Hope to see everyone in July............

Name: Keith ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 4:29 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1976
City & State: Kona, Hi
E-mail
Message: Saw someone mention neon. Have any of you been to M.O.N.A. It is the Museum Of Neon Art in Downtown LA. It is hidden back in an industrial area and is really neat to walk through. Has neon from all different periods. To bad about the Cockatoo Inn. Was a landmark.

Name: Jerry Miles ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 3:22 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1966
City & State: Fair Oaks, CA
E-mail
Message: If anyone is curious how good old HHS is doing today, I just posted a link under the Cougartown Videos to a promotional piece by a current student at HHS, Marco Diaz. I think it is well done and certainly a welcome change from all the terrible things you seem to hear on a regular basis. This student knows what Cougar pride is all about.

Name: Jim Dally ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 3:14 pm - HHS Time

Class: 1963
City & State: Carson, CA
E-mail
Message: A "Follow-Up" from previous posts; I drove over to Hawthorne today and had a look at the Cockatoo sight. There is a four story edifice still under construction that takes up the ground from the Blvd to Acacia. 100 ft South of this building is a single story dwelling that is not as lengthy E/W. The roof line on the four story gives the impression of a Best Western motif. Strangely, the Cockatoo Hotel signs are still up along the boulevard, Imperial and Acacia AND the abandoned Inn bldg on the East side of Acacia is still there. Then I drove to 120th for a look at our town's mall. The "Pick-Up" room area from Montgomery Wards is now the Hawthorne School District Welcome Center! On the corner of 120th & Hawthorne Blvd is a Quizno's Sub eatery. I then went to the City Hall and spoke with someone in the Planning Dept and was told the owners of the mall property have submitted plans to open the middle part to the street and offer retail sales there and build condos above the parking structure! The Mall Interior has been used in many movies, etc and I was told it looks better now than it ever did when "we shopped there." The submitted plans are in the City Hall for review or will be shortly. And so it goes.

Name: Julie Blunt ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 3:01 pm - HHS Time

Maiden: Leeper
Class: 1987
City & State: Murrieta, CA
E-mail
Message: Class of '87 20 Year Reunion tickets are now on sale! Please go to www.hawthornecougars87reunion.com to purchase tickets and for more details. Please sign our guestbook!

Name: Cliff Hitchcock ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 11:09 am - HHS Time

Class: 1973
City & State: Northridge, Ca
E-mail
Message: It seems the older I get the less details I seem to remember but things still happen in a timely fashion. Just last Saturday I was watching a special on art deco neon in LA and they happened to mention the sign for Pann's restaurant at Centinela and La Cienega. They explained that the sign is an actual copy of the buildings roof line and even though it dates from 1958, is on the LA historical building list. Of all the times I was there, I never knew that. I still want a Taco as good as the ones that they made at Taco Tio and a sizzeling steak like Ivys Coffee Shop used to serve.

Name: Jill McFarlane ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 8:59 am - HHS Time

Class: 1977
City & State: Mission Viejo, CA
E-mail
Message: Okay, I got a place, but I don't remember the name. I think it was on Crenshaw north of Imperial Hwy near the Bumbershoot restaurant. Anyway, they served long speghetti and Mom would get it to go. I remember one time Mom went to get it and while she was gone we had a power outage. So Dad got candles and when Mom came back we had the long speghetti by candlelight! Anytime after that when Mom went to get the "long speghetti" We use to turn out all the lights and pretend we had an outage, but we did not consider that the TV had to be off to pull it off. Anyway, a very fond memory.

Name: Bud Rhoades ~~~~~~~~~~ Mon-Apr 23, 2007, 8:54 am - HHS Time

Class: 1974
City & State: Belmont Shore
E-mail
Message: Good morning Cougartown. Our 4th annual C-Town Classic is less than a month away! I know several alumni have contacted us to confirm but we really need deposits as soon as you can. Please send those to Jill before the deadline so we can assure everyone a top notch day, and it is going to be quite a tournament this year! Thanks in advance and we will see all you on the links soon.On the topic of great old eating haunts, does anyone remember Las Toltecas on Hawthorne Blvd next door to Hawthorne Intermediate? Ah... the Guadalajara Taco. Cheers, Bud