Name: Jim Fox ~~~~~~~~~~ Sat-Jun 23, 2007, 7:35 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Haytown
E-mail
Message: Charlie and I are related to Jesse James (the outlaw - not the chopper mogul). Now there's an ancestor to brag about!

Name: Art LA Mere ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 7:38 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Bettendorf Ia
No E-mail
Message: Well we will be off tomorrow for a Cougar sighting. We are going to Branson Mo. for a week and my brothers daughter and her family will be joining us. (Shelly LaMere). Also Chris if you can find a LDS stake center near you they will have the links to do the searchs on your family you don't have to wait they will also help you. The other thing I saw tonight was the bit asbout the VFW fireworks stand. I can remember when it was in the lot on Hawthorne Bl. between 134th and 135th my Grandfather was a VFW member and they had him doing the night watchmen. Well you all have a safe weekend, Art

Name: Alan Nelson ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 7:16 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Parker, AZ
E-mail
Message: I've traced mine and my wife's ancestry. Mine was somewhat difficult, since it's mostly Swedish and Italian. I can't read or speak Italian, so can't do any background over there, and you can't throw a rock in Sweden without hitting a "Nelson". Now my wife is another story. Her Cherokee ancestry is well documented, and the other side is original settler in the US, back in the 1600s. Through one line of her Cherokee family, through a Scottish Trader, she's a direct descendant of Robert the Bruce (of Braveheart fame} and also Mary Queen of Scotts. Albeit from the Royal "illegitimate" off spring, but direct nonetheless. I've documented it all on my website, using the Family Tree Maker Software. I'm still researching different lines and coming up with some intriguing results.

Name: Debbie Culling ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 6:45 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Fraser
Class: 1972
City & State: Sunset Beach CA
E-mail
Message: Hi Guys - Just wanted to update you on my brother Steve. He is scheduled to leave Mission Hospital on Monday and check into a rehab facility in Pomona. We are not sure how long he will stay there, but he is looking forward to the reunion in July. The main thrust of the rehab will be on his swallowing and on his speech. Luckily they have a little putting green at the facility so he can practice for the next golf tournament. Hopefully he will be back on Cougartown in no time. Thank you to all of you for your thoughts and prayers.

Name: Chris Prewitt ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 6:11 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1967
City & State: Fullerton, CA
E-mail
Message: Seeing Mattel being mentioned here reminded me of something I recently heard. Mattel or the company who owns Mattel has purchased Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com and Family Tree Maker. If you have ever been to an LDS Family History Center and used Ancestry.com it is no longer available as a free service. The LDS are in the process making the all of their non-copywrited documents electronically available on line for free and that didn't sit very well with the corporation. I have been doing some family research. I have found direct line family member's back to the 1600's. Anyone else searching for their families?

Name: Sharon MacDonald ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 3:23 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Badger
Class: 1963
City & State: Bruceville, Texas
E-mail
Message: Cootie - my grandparents in Wisconsin had a really old version of Cootie that we played with whenever we visited. We had to put all the little parts back in the slots/holes and make sure we did not lose any before we put the box away. Remember when Twister first came out? My family bought one for Christmas while we were visiting my grandparents in Wisconsin and talked the adults into playing while we kids watched - better than any tv program to see them all wrapped up on the floor!

Name: Penny ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 12:28 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Prouty
Class: 1962
City & State: Torrance, CA
E-mail
Message: Hope I'm not asking for trouble here--but on my resume, I can say that once upon a time, while working for Mattel, I answered Dear Barbie letters!

Name: Jan Blomsterberg ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 12:20 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1963
City & State: Torrance, CA
E-mail
Message: To all you 4th of July celebrators... If anyone is still celebrating the 4th with fireworks...and you want to 'contribute' your money to a good cause...then saddle up to the Hawthorne VFW Post 2075 fireworks stand! This year we are located in the Bally's Fitness Center parking lot on El Segundo Blvd and Oceangate Ave. We are in the west end of the lot, near Burger King. Our hours will be 10am to 10pm, June 28th thru July 3rd, and 10am to midnight, July 4th. TNT Fireworks is our supplier. This is the Posts' biggest fundraiser of the year so please come and support many veterans causes. Thank you all, Semper Fi to all my brothers and sisters of the military, and everyone have a safe 4th of July Celebration! And thank you John for the plug...Jan

Name: Sharon ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 11:00 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Moore
Class: 1966
City & State: Long Beach, CA
E-mail
Message: My neighbor had one of the first Barbie Dolls that came out. It was beautiful. I wanted one so bad I could taste it. But, my parents could not afford to buy me one. To my great surprise in the Sunday Daily Breeze there was an ad for a doll that they touted to be just like a Barbie-like fashion doll for only 50 cents. I scraped up .25 cents of my allowance and my dad gave me another quarter plus .10 cents shipping, and I sent away for this fabulous doll. I waited weeks for that doll to arrive. I checked the mail every single day. FINALLY, one day after school the doll arrived. The package was flat! Hum! I opened the package to find a paper doll with paper clothing. I was devastated and cried all afternoon. I guess my mom called my dad at work and told him of my plight, as he arrived home with the most beautiful brown-haired, blue-eyed Barbie Doll. Aren't parents great! I learned my first two lessons in business 1) buyer beware, and 2) if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Name: Keith D. Jones ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 9:08 am - HHS Time
Class: 1976
City & State: Kona, HI
E-mail
Message: My dad worked at Garrett Airesearch. Our neighbor Mrs. Phillips worked at Mattel. I don't know her first name. Back then you always called your elders Mr. or Mrs. so I never knew her first name. Did anyone know her that worked there. She was there along time, I think from the 50's to the 70's

Name: Sharon MacDonald ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 7:22 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Badger
Class: 1963
City & State: Bruceville, Texas
E-mail
Message: Before moving to Hawthorne, we lived in Providence, RI, the home of Hasbro Toys. Legend has it that the Hasenfeld Brothers founded the company in a garage in the neighborhood I grew up in. For you toy lovers, if you find old Hasenfeld Bros. Prov., RI trade marked toys those are the early items. Mr. Potato Head was the first Hasbro Toy I remember playing with. I love old toys and collect them with no real focus, just what I like, what I used to have, or what I always wanted and never had.

Name: Armand Vaquer ~~~~~~~~~~ Fri-Jun 22, 2007, 5:45 am - HHS Time
Class: 1972
City & State: Tarzana, CA
E-mail
Message: "El Rojo" jogged a memory when he mentioned the X-15. I remember back in the 1960s there was a huge neon sign at LAX that said, "Home of the X-15." Anyone else remember that?

Name: Sonia ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 10:30 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Gregory
Class: 1957
City & State: Mission Viejo, CA
E-mail
Message: My mother was the first employee of Mattel Toys. It was in 1944. They started their business in their garage down the street from where we lived. My dad made her quit work as he did not want his wife to work outside of the house. I still have her social security card from when she went to work for them. I worked for Mattel Toys in 1964 in Sales-Marketing. I had to answer letters from the clients who had problems with the toys. One of the complaints was a client received cartons of talking dump trucks. I wanted one of those trucks as I thought it would be so much fun to have. The trucks were supposed to go Varoom Varoom...not talk! I bought Shrinking Violet, Larry the Talking Lion and the Talking Parrot. It was fun for a few months until I got a better job. I know that the original owners of Mattel sold out to another company, but I think I may send a copy of my mom's ss card to them.

Name: Alan Nelson ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 7:55 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Parker, AZ
E-mail
Message: Childhood toys! My Mom worked at Mattel and later Eldon Industries. When they had new toys, they gave her proto-types for us to try out, and she was to report back how well they were received. I think I was about 5 or 6 when she brought home Army stuff, consisting of a poncho, belt, canteen, helmet, machine gun, tent, etc. She told me they were going to call it "Guerrilla Gear". So here I was decked out in all this stuff, running around the back yard going "OOH-OOH-OOH", bouncing around and scratching my arm pits like a gorilla. They eventually released the set as both "Guerrilla Gunner" sets and "Jungle Gunner" sets.

Name: linda huthmaker ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 7:44 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: huthmaker
Class: 1963
City & State: torrance, california
E-mail
Message: Dear All, Just wanted to give an update, on Ken's services. They will be held, graveside, next Friday, June 29, 2007, at 1:00pm, at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. Reception following at the Elks Club, 1735 W. 162nd Street, Gardena, California. That would be @ 3:30-4:00pm.Many thanks, Linda Huthmaker

Name: EL ROJO ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 6:40 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1960
City & State: Kuna, ID
E-mail
Message: It's quite amazing how many of our folks and us siblings worked at those aircraft plants. Myself, 9 yrs before the move to ID. My MOM and this is a comment to Karen Fuller was a pioneer of sorts and became a design draftsman..person when the X-15 and some of the newer Sabre jets were being built after the war. She brought home, after declassification, some really bitchin pictures of some of those planes that were really cool. I wish I still had them. Along with the BB Cards etc.. She also became the Identi-kit artist for the El Segundo PD in the 50's. They drew renditions of possible criminals involved in a crime as reported by the witnesses. I wish she had lived to see that SOB that killed those two El Segundo officers and that he finallly got caught and her rendition of his face as told by the kids in that crime. No computers back then, just strikingly real. Anyway, good stuff. MAY THE COUGAR BE WITH YOU. Jake N Jude.

Name: Karen Kuehl ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 6:30 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Graham
Class: 1959
City & State: Vista, CA
E-mail
Message: Oh Sharon, you were so lucky!! I always wanted a Ginny doll. I had to just be satisfied with my paper dolls. Being the only girl on the block tho, I did get to play baseball everyday also. When the boys wanted to play, they had to come to me to use the ball and bat and also the football. We played in the street or in our huge back yard. No touch football either, we played tackle! What fun memories!!

Name: Paco ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 4:55 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1961
City & State: LF
E-mail
Message: ROCK,Free love Baby....Hendrix, Joplin, and Gracie.

Name: Paco ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 3:34 pm - HHS Time
For a good time call: OS6-2378
Class: 1961
City & State: LF
E-mail
Message: Happy Birthday Franz!! 40 years ago Franz caught a fish on the Kern river, he felt so bad he gave the fish "mouth to mouth", or "mouth to gill.. "Tonight on "VH1",the anniversary of The Monterey Festival. Good stuff...

Name: Sharon MacDonald ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 3:05 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Badger
Class: 1963
City & State: Bruceville, Texas
E-mail
Message: Hey Karen, I also had a first baseman's mitt, bat & Boston Red Sox cap. Because I had a real baseball bat, I got to play baseball pick-up games almost every day. I still have my Ginny doll from 1957 (for the younger Cougs, this was a 8" plastic doll with LOTS of outfits - kind of a forerunner to Barbie).

Name: Jerry Miles ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 3:03 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Fair Oaks, CA
E-mail
Message: Hi everyone. I just wanted you to know I was released from the hospital yesterday. I?m at home now and hopefully will be recuperating quickly. Thank you all for your warm thoughts and concerns.

Name: Karen Kuehl ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jun 21, 2007, 12:53 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Graham
Class: 1959
City & State: Vista, CA
E-mail
Message: I had a mixture of toys. I was the only one on the block in Inglewood to own a first baseman's glove, a baseball bat and a hard ball. My dad taught me how to throw a pass with a football (he called me Roman Gabriel) and I collected Wonder Woman paper dolls and all the clothes and accessories!! No wonder I'm so mixed up now!! hahahaha I was a real tomboy.