Name: Carl Tank ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 3:40 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1971
City & State: Los Angeles, CA
E-mail
Message: Hi fellow cougars! The Class of 71 and 72 Reunion Committee is in the final planning stages for the Multi-Class Reunion August 25. There will be another drop-in at Stick n Stein get-together on Friday August 24th. We are all personally contacting people we know, who have not yet purchased tickets, to remind them we are coming up on a month away! We have to have a headcount for the Hotel for food etc. The committee has focused on '71 and '72, but all of the years around us are welcome to join us! The web site now has a confirmed attendee list - - which I will update weekly. So, please help us have another great reunion by adding your names to the list!

Name: Larry Biller ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 3:03 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1967
City & State: Portland,Or
E-mail
Message: Mr. Crotty, Your HHS pool info would also be suitable for Wikipedia. The coolest part about jumping into the pool from the platform or high dive was being the first one in as the water was like glass and weren't sure just when you'd hit the water. Made it seem higher some how? I think? Ya know?

Name: John Crotty ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 1:53 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1969
No E-mail
Message: Actually, I was being facetious about the wet hair thing. I loved those pools. Like you JB, I spent so many summer days there over the years. I bet I went every summer day from 3rd grade thru the 6th (10 cents-all day). Occasionally, I went at night also. But my favorite was Saturday mornings, 9-12PM (I think it was FREE). Very few swimmers and the water was crystal clear!!! And, in high school, I prayed for hot days. They made us swim instead of other PE stuff because of the heat and we'd usually play some game where you threw a wet towel at each other in the pool. (Was that garbage ball?). I remember the coaches made all the guys with the lacquered pompadours duck their heads under the water. They were pissed. And, I also played Varsity water polo...so the pools were my thing.

Name: Alan Nelson ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 1:20 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Parker, Az
E-mail
Message: Ahhh. The Hawthorne Pool. Being on the Swim and Water Polo team, not to mention Hawthorne Swim Club, I think I put way more than my fair share of time in a soggy state. From 6 AM practices, 7th period to 5 PM practices, and then 6 PM to 8 PM Swim Club practices, I pretty much had permanently wrinkled fingers. Hours treading water in the dive pool. Thousands of laps and flip turns. Blonde hair with shades of green hair the chlorine. I didn't find out that I had brown hair until I was 20 years old. What I found amusing was that the swimmers from all the other schools were pretty much pasty white, while HHS swimmers were tanned and bronze. One of the advantages of having an outdoor swim facility.

Name: Dan Johnson ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 11:03 am - HHS Time
Class: 1977
City & State: Sherman Oaks, CA
E-mail
Message: I avoided the pool at HHS, preferring the pool at the Hawthorne Y. I do remember being forced to swim in the HHS pool once for PE class (or something). All I remember is that it was freezing! Yesterday on the radio (570 AM), I heard Petros Papadakis (former USC and Peninsula High running back, and now TV and radio host), talking about playing against HHS in the mid-90s. He rattled off the names of half a dozen Cougars (most with Tongan names) and was gushing about how great that team was (although he said he ran for 195 yards, including 70 on the first play from scrimmage and Penisula won).

Name: Wade Greasby ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 10:54 am - HHS Time
What was 2 days ago: Birthday
Class: 1973
City & State: Surf City, Ca
E-mail
Message: Hey Les, Sorry I'm late 2 Days. HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I was up in the Sierra's fishing.....Hope You had a great day. JB, if it weren't for CT, I'd never stay in contact with my sibs. Looking forward to Cruise Night!!! Though I don't have a classic car, I know being at Foster's shows class. "Cougar's never die"

Name: Walter Holt ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 10:34 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Surf City, CA
E-mail
Message: I am not really sure of these but on the 1st row 1st on the right might be Janet Barr. 2nd row in the middle between Kathy and Steve might be Karen Hastings. 3rd row 3rd from the left might be Wanda Cox.

Name: Janet{Jan}Hyatt ~~~~~~~~~~ Thu-Jul 19, 2007, 9:23 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Brown
Class: 1963
City & State: Sparta ,Mo
E-mail
Message: I was wondering if Ron Burt, in the class picture #3 had an older sister named Sharon HHS class 64. I grew up on w. 123pl down the street from the Burts, would love to know how to contact Sharon, has been forty years. Thanks Jan

Name: John Crotty ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 8:35 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1969
City & State: Hermosa Beach
No E-mail
Message: The diving boards at HHS were challenges to everyone. The "low" one, west of the wading pool was a "spring board." It was about 3' above the water level and had huge springs beneath the back entry step to about 3' forward of that same step. It was probably 12' long horizontally. You could jump up and down at the end and gain vertical momentum, nearly touching the water on the down. When you actually leapt off the end, you would either be vertically airborne or horizontally thrusted toward the north edge. It had such "buoyancy that you were literally on your own. The "high dive" had a warning sign, "12 feet." Twelve feet above the water level. Very little "spring" as at that height, one could launch themselves past the pool rim onto the concrete between the diving pool and the "swimming pool." It was maybe 10' long horizontally. And, no matter how you positioned your forward arms and hands (flattened to break the plane, or knived to pierce the plane), in my personal experience, it always "stung" the hell out of the top of your head, if you chose to "dive," rather than jump, off that vertical threat. The "platform" was at the west end of the diving pool and really was a platform. It was approximately 8' feet above the surface and was about 6' wide. It was latticed with 2' X 4's covered with a gritty substance, like sand paper, that would not allow you to run and accidently "slip" on the platform. From this edifice you could choose your own way of entering the atomosphere above and the liquid below. And, if memory serves, the wading pool went from 1' to 2' in depth. The "swimming pool, with the marked lanes, went from 3' to 5'. And, finally, the diving pool went from 9' to 15 feet. And was an eerie deep blue......These are only my own guesses and observations, since I never got my hair wet in four years.....

Name: Leslie Greasby ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 7:51 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1979
City & State: Whittier , CA.
No E-mail
Message: Hey Ray, The diving boards and Platform are still located at the 12ft pool. No, there never has been a "middle" size board under the high dive. I look at them every Saturday and Sunday, as I Lifeguard and teach swimming lessons, at the pool. In between lessons, I catch myself looking around the pool and remember learning how to swim in the 2ft., moving over to the big pool, and jumping off the high dive because all my friends were doing it. I remember my mom sitting outside the fence, as many parents do , now, Camera's at the ready, watching as their children learn! And the expressions on the kids as they dunk their heads under the water and come up with a big smile on their face. People we grew up with are bringing their kids and grandkids to the pool to learn to swim. I'm always seeing someone I know. I dont think I'll give up on being a part of the City of Hawthorne. Especially, in the Parks and Recreation Dept. 29yrs of service and proud of it. Well, I have rambled enough, Sorry. I love my hometown and will stay, "True to the End". Hail to you, hail, Hawthorne High.

Name: Jim Schroeder ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 7:00 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Oregon
No E-mail
Message: Row 2, #1 is Jill Mead. Jim Gibson: if you want a ride to the reunion, I'll be passing through Redding on Friday about 10AM. Bring a tooth brush. E-mail me if you can make it.

Name: Cliff Hitchcock ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 6:14 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1973
City & State: Northridge, Ca
E-mail
Message: I have to admit that I remember the pool with that 80 storie diving board. Or at least that's what it seemed like to me since I don't like heights. But in typical high school fashion I was prodded into diving off it head first by my "friends"! On the way down I was hoping that I would pop up out of the water and say, Hey, that wasn't so bad, but nope! It was just as awful as I thought it would be, and gave me a headache to boot. I soon learned how to get out of PE and never looked back. Karens line "Cant swim with a big fin" cracked me up.

Name: Keith D. Jones ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 3:17 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1976
City & State: Kona, HI
E-mail
Message: Mary Kobus are you related to my old friend David Kobus

Name: Raymond Smith ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 3:02 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1981
City & State: Portland,OR
E-mail
Message: I just recently took my daughter to our local outdoor pool which has a miniture taste of Hawthorne Pool. Remembering back in those days and knowingly they had 3 different pools (1 for swimming, 1 for babies and 1 for diving). I'm trying to recall the memory of the diving pool area. I know there was a low diving board as well as a high diving board but wasn't there a platform board as well? And, on the High diving board...was it just 1 or didn't they have a middle and a high dive on the same structure? (in the center of the diving pool area). Now, my head is really racking because I don't recall ever having a diving team at HHS. Why Hawthorne pool have these diving choices. Was there any pool in the Bay like it? I can't recall that one either. I still think HHS had the best outdoor pool at the time. Can anyone update my aging mind? thanks.

Name: Dean Morris ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 2:44 pm - HHS Time
Class: 1972
City & State: Vallejo, CA
E-mail
Message: I dont know any of the students in the picture. I do remember Mr. McCann as one of the all time faculty mavericks at Dana. He taught US History in 1967 and made it fun by throwing out the text book. Although we had to pass the mandatory exams on the US Constitution and take mid-terms and finals, most of the class was a 60s experimental education using peer group learning. We formed our own fictitious newspaper that covered history by eras focusing on politics, culture, literature, entertainment, and so forth rather than memorizing all the Presidents and every war. Our task was to put out a newspaper each month or so for a period in time. Most everyone got into the spirit of the project making history fun and lively. In many respects, he was far ahead of his time in how he approached history. Ironically, Mr. McCann ran a tough ship and did not tolerate BS from students or the class as a whole. He was one of the good ones for sure.

Name: Mike Shay ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 2:23 pm - HHS Time
My Hawthorne Phone # was: OS6-9393
Class: 1961
City & State: Cerritos, CA
E-mail
Message: Wow; Hello Cougars; I see that John Sparks HHS62 has checked in after 45 years. He won't remember me because my game wasn't anything special but I used to enjoy watching John shoot pool over at Utters with some of the best players I ever saw. Guys like Jerry Scholls, Gary Lendennie, Don Hinzo, Jim Kendall, Bob Cross, Pat Cardin, and several others that my memory has just lost track of. Welcome back to Hawthorne John, hope the years have been good to you.

Name: Walter Holt ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 10:38 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Surf City, CA
E-mail
Message: Ok got another one..4th row 2nd from the right is Harold Crenetz...Martin Kaiser should be Keyser.

Name: Karen Fuller ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 9:34 am - HHS Time
Maiden: Fuller
Class: 1964
City & State: snorin,Ca
E-mail
Message: HI Sherry! i believe that our class was forced to wear ugly one-piece suits. i think i had to get into the entire suit underwater--holding my breath! and NO, John, no pics as far as i KNOW. :) but thanks to this experience i was offered a job as a topless mermaid--my response? "sorry, i cant swim with a big fin" (Sherry, want the job?)

Name: Walter Holt ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 5:24 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: Surf City, CA
E-mail
Message: 1st row down from the top 4th picture from the left is Kathy Wilkins....1st row on the bottom 4th over is Dale Frum. I see some othe familar ones and the brain cells are burning..

Name: John Sparks ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 4:09 am - HHS Time
Class: 1962
City & State: Niagara Falls, NY
E-mail
Message: I really enjoyed your site. I moved from Hawthorne graduation day and this brought back some nice memories.

Name: jim sloey ~~~~~~~~~~ Wed-Jul 18, 2007, 3:36 am - HHS Time
Class: 1966
City & State: solvang, ca
E-mail
Message: Top row #1 Harry Pappagikos #3 Ron Burt. Marlene Winters is really Linda Winders. Danny Litton you are absolutely right! Next Row #3 is Martin Kaiser and I think Fred spells his last name Kaiman. Schroeder if you're going to catch Young and Stelse you better hit the road.

Name: Linda Dill ~~~~~~~~~~ Tue-Jul 17, 2007, 11:46 pm - HHS Time
Maiden: Sutton
Class: 1967
City & State: Redondo Beach, CA
E-mail
Message: Great Picture! Jim Gibson, the Winders in the picture is Lynda. Marlene is a few years older. Our reunion is this Sat. night and we would like to invite any faculty members to join us. Just look on the Reunions page of Cougartown for all the specifics. Mr. Plotkin, I am going to bring my 8th grade math report card to discuss my grade with you, so I hope you can make it. Working on the reunion committee with Pat, Paul, Judi, Mike, Linda P., Marsha, Patty S., and Marla has been a Blast! See you Saturday Night.