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Name: Steve Curtin () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 06:14:12
Email: yorbiec@aol.com
City and State: Santa Cruz, CA
Class: 1964
Message: John, Looking at the Gardena Raceway program I noticed the first car owner, Fred Gerhardt. I was at the "Fred Gerhardt Memorial" 100 lapper for USAC midgets this past April in Madera. I usually get to a couple of races a month following the Midgets and Ford Focus cars. Bakersfield last weekend, and this Saturday night it's Stockton. I think Ventura's in a couple of weeks. Going to those events is a real kick. On another note, I still shake my head whenever I visit Southern Cal and drive by the sad and lonely looking plot of land that used to be Ascot. What a shame.
Hi Bob Reagan. Thanks for remembering. Sorry I missed the picture. Steve and Caroline (parents) are still chugging along. They still ask about you.

Hey Steve, Yep, Ascot, Gardena and Carroll Speedway at the intersection of Vermont and Artesia were all fun places that land values and population growth enveloped.
Other big names from that Gardena Stadium program were Johnny Parsons, Johnny Boyd, George Amick, Dempsey Wilson of camshaft fame, Walt Reiff, Ray Crawford the Mexican Road Race winner, Rodger Ward, Bill Veith, Danny Oakes, and AJ Foyt.



Name: Cindy Whittaker () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 00:54:29
Email: cindywhittaker@comcast.net
City and State: Gig Harbor WA
Maiden: Whittaker
Class: 1976
Message: "Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days." That's why we like coming here! We like our edges removed, thank you very much. Now could someone please pass me my rose colored glasses? Remember this quote? "What you are is your parents fault. If you stay that way, it's your fault." Which can be followed by this great movie quote: "Snap out of it!" Websites like these are for remembering the GOOD times and maybe some of the not so good times. But as much sympathy, empathy, and/or compassion everyone has for anyone suffering the terrible times, they are better left for a different kind of forum. There are a lot of people who suffered terrible times, in high school and earlier, so coming here is a way to "remove the rough edges from the good old days" -- not to re-live them.



Name: Cyndi Hench () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 00:35:55
Email: CyndiAH@aol.com
City and State: Westchester, CA
Maiden: Anderson
Class: 1979
Message: Re the Mr. Pizarro discussion...what was that lttle leafy green plant on his desk? I am sure HE did not plant that little "mystery" plant! But in my year, there was this "unusual" leafy thing growing on his desk. I think it had 7 leaves on it... Oh memories from the late 70's!



Name: Mike Mueller () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 00:31:51
Email: mud@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: Colleen. Hawthorne was Hawthorne, nice to some and a spiteful thorne to others. Part of life is what you make of it and part of life is the luck of the draw. It isn't fair and everyone has all the right in the world, an obligation even, to call BS on myths. Sometimes the pretty lie can be more damaging than the cold facts. We stoners, us birds, were living the lie but so were the rah rah's and the band geeks and the validictorians. We all just lived it in our own familiar way. Although I didn't come to Cougar Town to praise it (which I did in my first post) I also didn't come to Cougar Town to bury it. I didn't even come here to add balance. I don't know why I came here- perhaps I shouldn't have.



Name: Janet Burkett () on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 at 00:12:35
Email: jmburkett@sti.net
City and State: Ca
Maiden: Humphreys
Class: 1962
Message: Oh gosh!! I owe an apology to Mr. Pizarro. I didn't have him, I had the OTHER Spanish teacher, whose name escapes me and I don't have my El Molino handy. And, No, I wasn't a victim of his shooting chalk, or of anything else for that matter. Again, sorry Mr. P!
How about my Spanish I teacher, Mr. Acosta? Now HE could fire the chalk.



Name: Cyndi Hench () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 23:54:02
Email: CyndiAH@aol.com
City and State: LA, CA
Maiden: Amderson
Class: 1979
Message: Hello, My feedback is really a suggestion. I would like to suggest that you list the alumni using the MAIDEN name for us married folk (gals). Nobody would find me as "Hench" because I was "Anderson" when I was a "maiden". :-)
Hi Cyndi, Welcome, and thanks for the suggestion. Trust me, there's a reason for the way people are listed on the Alumni List, and you WILL be found by your friends, I guarantee it.



Name: Glenn Crist () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 23:46:55
Email: gfcrist@sonic.net
City and State: Valley of the Lunatics
Class: 1964
Message: I know, everyone is saying, ?Enough already.? I've not seen anyone stepping up to defend the honorable, Thomas Helvey, Esq. Truly, a guy you liked or hated. Any attempt to defend him with those in the latter case, would, I?m sure, fall on deaf ears, and in the former be understood, that try to do so would be futile. I must say, in the first nine years of my education, he was the only one who knew that we naive, sheltered, and not-at-all-worldly-wise ones (although, some in the crowd may have believed the opposite), were in for a huge surprise, the following year, when we entered high school. He wasn?t polite or as ?politically correct? as the rest of our grade school teachers, but he understood.. And Tom Helvey, seemed, at least to me, to have a reason for everything he did. He opened my eyes to all sorts of music I would never have been exposed to, and made me look at art in a way I had never seen. Other teachers knew it too, but I believe he alone had the ?guts? to say it as it was, and perhaps salvage a life destined for oblivion. Parental abuse from an alcoholic father is unforgivable; it happens in Hawthorne, and probably every other city in the world. The misfortunes Mike had to endure, are tragic, but have nothing to do with place and everything to do with circumstance. Many of us remember happier times in the place in which we grew up. And to be able to remember, recall, and re-live those times on this treasured website, are a blessing. Thank you, John.
At least someone stood up for the teacher. Thanks Glenn



Name: Andrea () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 23:17:16
Email: ValleyofMyDolls@aol.com
City and State: hawthorne
Maiden: Rossi
Class: 1982
Message: Hi.I remeber the people sitting on the wall opposite Thriftimart.''they were called ''Birds''I would have loved to be so bold and sit on that wall but knowing my dad caould drive by anytime made me thing other wise.So I had another idea! walk over to 711 on 120th or go to the dairy!I was in detention alot..so what ? detention to me was place to see my ''stoner ''friends ''....peole that never criticized me for being different.what was so different about me? i still dont know.maybe cause i always had different taste in clothes and LOVED to hang out in the art room!But Iam who Iam! And I WOULDNT TRADE A DAY IN MY HHS LIFE FOR NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Even when my counselor Mr.Howard said i couldnt go to the propm cause i ditched too much!Thanks for afun 4 years hhs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Name: Mike Mueller () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 23:06:27
Email: firstclassass@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: Probably not the same Mr Pizarro I had. My Mr Pizarro never threw chalk. He was very sweet to the girls, especially the cute ones.
If he threw chalk at you he was probably just trying to get you to take an interest.

Same Mr. P all right.



Name: nick pappagiorgio () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 23:00:32
Email: n_pappagiorgio_44@yahoo.com
City and State: LV NV
Maiden: rusty
Class: 1975
Message: 1. A Belated Happy Birthday to Sweet Marla Crane! 2. What's a "DoSaDo"???? 3. Mike, if you need to vent, e-mail me.
I think that's a Do-See-Do as in square dancing.



Name: Jan Peterson () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 22:54:30
Email: jpeterson50@aol.com
City and State: Carmichael, CA
Maiden: Freeman
Class: 1967
Message: Ahhhh Cindy, those were the days. We did have a good time. I am still looking for Bonnie George c/o66. If anyone has any idea of where she is or how I can find her, please email me. Thanks, Jan



Name: Marilyn Ross () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 22:25:25
Email: mlr922@hotmail.com
City and State: Garden Grove, Ca
Maiden: Wisham
Class: 1956
Message: Not to change the subject, but I spent the day with a former Cougar, Mary Strehle McDermid class of 58. We met on this site and started E-mailing. Although we didn't know each other in school we have become friends. We spent 4 1/2 hours at a restaurant gabbing about everything including friends from Hawthorne. John, you made this possible. Without Cougartown, Mary and I would never have met. Thanks!
I love those rekindling stories Marilyn, thank you.....



Name: Janet Burkett () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 22:25:07
Email: jmburkett@sti.net
City and State: Ca
Maiden: Humphreys
Class: 1962
Message: Hey....how 'bout that great Hawthorne Pool??? My first job, and I got to work with some super folks, including Coach Don Walker, who later turned out to be my daughter's high school principal at El Toro! Lot's of summer fun at that pool. And, stepping back a few pages....I first saw Ray Charles at the Palladium with all the life guards and coaches when we took a summer "road trip" to the big city. Now those were some great memories for a lot of us! Between Fred and I...all that swimming and surfing rubbed off on all 4 of the grandkids and they LOVE it! And, the only bad thing I think I remember was my Algebra teacher and Mr. Pizzaro who threw chalk at the unattentive!



Name: Mike Mueller () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 21:29:51
Email: firstclassass@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Every City in LA is the same
Class: 1979
Message: Mr Helvey was my homeoom teacher, which meant we all checked in for genral announcements and roll call or whatever for about 15 minutes. In homeroom he was actually pretty nice and told jokes. By the time we returned in the late afternoon for math he was in a pissy mood and the test papers and homework were flying in the ir. If you didn't get something and raised your hand he'd turn his back or tell you to talk to him about it after school, if you tlked or goofed, he'd totaly fly off the handle. Most of the girls hated him because he treated them like guys. I knewhe was sort of an a-hole, but for some reason it just didn't bother me. I think I felt sory for him because was an unpopular teacher. Maybe I was just afraid of him. Then there was Mrs. Sandler. Or "Sandbags". She was an old Southern Belle - or hag to us- who taught "Reading". She had a very shrill voice and sounded exactly like Sister Mary Elephant. She even used to say "now class" but instead of saying "shut up!" she said "please huuush" (at full volume), which was a lot funnier than the Cheech and Chong skit. All Mrs Sandler had to do was say "class" and half the class was in stitches- about to burst at the seams. Poor Mrs. Sandler had probably never heard Sister Mary Elephant so she never understood what was so funny. I doubt she's still alive but I hope somebody filled her in on Sister Mary Elephant before she retired (she probably knew).
Say when......



Name: Carol Binder () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 21:16:22
Email: cannbyucaipa@aol.com
City and State: yucaipa,calif
Maiden: heddaeus
Class: 1963
Message: One last word and I'll just check out the site every once in a while. Since I found the site its like being able to go back and visit the house I grew up in except that the house 5039 w.118 st was taken for the freeway and the block split in half. I have to say a word in defense of Mr. Helvey who was my 8th grade teacher when I went to dana. In those days he was a bit of an iconoclast but very receptive to students and definitely encouraged and for many of us instilled critical thinking. He used the newspapers of the times as text books and awakened many of us to the idea of evaluating carefully what we were being fed and who was composing it. He is truly one of the teachers who had a major impact in my life. I don't know what time and change may have done to him, but when I knew him he was all that a teacher should be.
Best to all. Carol Binder



Name: Cal McDougal () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 21:14:15
Email: themcdougals@centurytel.net
City and State: Enterprise, Alabama
Class: 1963
Message: Car Owner Jack London, Oakland, California. John, just how old is that program? And whatever happened to Buck?
The program says Thursday November 28, 1957.



Name: Gary Nelson () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 21:13:05
Email: kruiszn@surewest.net
City and State: Granite Bay, CA
Class: 1960
Message: Charlotte: Italy, I thought you stayed down in Mexico.....and the answer is no!



Name: Mike Mueller () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 21:03:44
Email: firstclassass@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: One thing cool about Mr Helvey- no teachers pets. He treated everyone like scum, which was pretty funny when you think about it.
Why would it be funny that a teacher treated everyone like scum? Is it just me or is anyone else tired of this crap?



Name: Cindy Colby () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 20:29:54
Email: cindycolby@adelphia.net
City and State: Seal Beach, CA
Maiden: Maxson
Class: 1963
Message: Gees Mike, get over it, both of my parents were alcoholics and the sexual pervert lived in my house. I couldn't wait to get out of the house and I hated my high school years. But, I come to this site every day to remember and to hear others memories, it is a wonderful place. The Freeman family lived across the street from us, Jan's memories are the same as mine as far as playing outside, most of the time it was with all of the kids in her family, Tommy in particular. As I have said before, my family put the fun in dysfunctional. So what! I still am proud to be from Hawthorne, it was a nice place.



Name: Keith D.Jones () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 20:06:44
Email: cmi50@yahoo.com
City and State: KonaHawaii
Class: 1976
Message: Ah Mr Helvey. He definitelty was something else. He really was mean to everyone. But I think I got him about as mad as anyone when I caught his favorite ThermoFax machine on fire. Gedtting sent to the Detention office was at the very least a weekly thing for me. Me and a few others would meet up and play football on the table with the paper you folded into a triangle and tried to hang it over the edge of the table to score touchdown then hit it between the others fingers for a field goal. That wass fun in there.
The IQ of this website has dropped at least 30 points today.



Name: Mike Mueller () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 19:49:13
Email: mud@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: Jim, Mr Helvey was a 7th grade math teacher with a face like Colnol Sanders (KFC) and who dressed like a member of the Village People. He was a real hardass too- but we were ALL awful in the 7th grade!!
I never used the smoking head but I knew of it. I smoked over by the swimming pool or at the hole in the fence by Thrifty Mart. The railroad tracks area was also the stoner area.
My favorite teacher at HHS was Mrs Jenson, the old lady who taught government and history. Yep, I was pretty weird.



Name: Jim Rowley () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 19:24:26
Email: jrowley@coppersmith.com
City and State: RB,CA
Class: 1979
Message: I seem to remember that leather garb, and the name, but can't for the life of me put a face on Mr. Helvey. I find it hard to put a face on any of my teachers from Dana.
Speaking of the unspeakable, I got suspended when I was a freshman for pitching pennies against the the wall of the building 15 head. I don't know if this was true in the '60's, but in the late '70's, the shop head was the smoking head. 3rd and 4th period had no less than 50 people in there having a smoke. Every once in a while, the woodshop teacher would burst in yelling "FIRE" and hit everyone with the fire extinguisher. I don't ever recall George Key walking in. He must have on occasion.

I don't remember a "Shop" head, but the smoking head was on the south side of the building, just south of the 2 story (at that time) science building. Don't recall the building number.



Name: Charlie Fox () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 18:01:32
Email: foxhaus@cox.net
City and State: RPV CA
Class: 1969
Message: I?ve been sitting here, reading all these posts regarding the negative side of high school and what was bad enough to make me bitter throughout my adult life. I think my worst crime in high school was throwing popcorn during lunch one time and getting caught by Mr. Papo. He hauled me into the office and I had to talk to Mr. Capelouto?well?Mr. Capelouto had a talk with me. But geeze?looking back, it seems kind of funny?.ridiculous, actually. I remember sweat parties, but not really unkindly. I hated them at the time, but what the heck? Someone screwed up and the rest of us refused to turn him in. I guess the most scarring moment in high school was when Mr. Baxter (who by then went by the name, ?Mr. B,?) called me a copout because I?d gotten a haircut for graduation (oh God?the insensitivity!). I?m sure there were other high crimes done to and by me, but for the life of me, all I can remember for the most part are the good days.
Oh yeah?and then there was the time I puked on coach Jones?s shoes?

We had a sweat party with Coach Walker once, God rest his soul. No one would say who the culprit was and I DID do some sweating but in the end, the good coach walked home as I let the air out of his tires. He found out about it years later and said I always wondered who did that. But uh, yeah, that's the worst thing I did in High School. Sorry Mom, am I in trouble?



Name: Mike Mueller () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 17:40:15
Email: mud@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Pasadena, Ca.
Class: 1979
Message: Thanks for the acknowledgment Jim R. You know like I know there were two HHS's and my guess is you had one foot in each. There was the HHS at the wall and the HHS at senior square. In my whole time at HHS I never went to a dance o a prom o watched a football game. Some people hee think I'm bagging on the schol or seeking pity-my point from my original reply ws that it should be acknowledged that for a lot of people- not just me- but for a lot of people in general- High School was not a happy time. And that might go for the people that came from those "golden years" like the 50's and 60's- sure they were simpler times- but you know damn well it wasn't all Ozzy and Harriet or Leave it Beaver and the Beach Boys. This site is a historical site as well as a nostalga site. I remember there were a lot of serious problems on that campus in the 70's- and I'm not referring to the football team...



Name: Mike Mueller () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 16:21:49
Email: firstclassass@surfboardbid.com
City and State: Every City in LA is the same
Class: 1979
Message: The reason Mr Helvey called me a "first class ass" while sitting in detention was because I laughed at his clothes, I thought he looked silly in his leather pants and leather jacket, strutting into the school office with his motorcycle helmut on. He knew what I was laughing about and took off the helmut and faced me and said "Mueller, you are first class ass" and then put it back on and stormed out. I have no malice to Mr. Helvey.
I just think that overall those were the worse years of my life- and I had some pretty bad times after High School. My memories of Hawthorne are mostly memories of violence at home and violence on the playground and at school. The cops if they were so good, would have thrown my Dad in jail and made me a ward of the court.



Name: Walter Holt () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 15:57:18
Email: wholt1948ATyahooDOTcom
City and State: Costa Mesa, Ca
Class: 1966
Message: Yep John I do agree with you on your comment. Heck I remember Mr. Kyllonen (Biology )& I got into it one day, which resulted in me getting kicked out of his class. I told him I thought he was a very bright man but as a teacher he sucked. Only because most of our class at the time were not getting very good grades. Mostly because he wouldn't explain anything and would just tell us to read the book when he was asked for help. After that every time he saw me walking on the same side as him on campus he would cross over to the other side to avoid me which I thought very funny because I didn't hold a grudge against him. So I would always smile at him, say hi and he would glare back at me. That lasted even when I would come back to visit. Now days either one of us would wind up talking to the authorities.
Hey Mr. K, are you getting this?



Name: Jim Rowley () on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 15:14:18
Email: jrowley@coppersmith.com
City and State: RB,CA
Class: 1979
Message: Hi Mike (Mueller). I know we knew each other at HHS. I wish you all of the best in the present and future. I hope you are working on letting go and accepting that the past was horrible and you can?t change that. This is perhaps the hardest thing any human being can do; to stop stuffing down the pain, feel it in it?s agony and know it from a different consciousness,,, and make peace with the demon. I know it?s not about HHS; it could have been any High School. I know it?s not about Hawthorne or the ?70?s for it might just as easily have been any town in any decade. It is about alcoholism. It is about pain and suffering inflicted by the very person (people) that you are dependent upon for love and security. It?s about the feeling of being a mistake because someone else chose to stuff his or her pain onto a child that did nothing to deserve it. How can one NOT be bitter at the memories? And, you are right. You?re not alone. Many of my friends lived the same nightmare. I?m sure if you think back to those of us that hung out at the wall, you will see many of their faces.
As I read back through these pages, I remember many of the experiences that I had at HHS and had forgotten; memories that I am fond of today and I?m glad I found this site to remind me. I hope there is room here to share the ?not so rose colored memories?. They are important, as they were a part of who we were. I hope you stick around.
Best regards, Jim

Share them, yes, but berate them and drive them down our throats as gospel, and ask others to come forward and share the HORROR that was his Hawthorne, no.
This website was created by me, to remember Early 60s Hawthorne. I think it still says Early 60s Hawthorne Homepage somewhere on this website. Others came along and were welcomed, and late 60s, early 70s, mid 70s, late 70s, early 80s, etc. were added and that's great. We all had crosses, it doesn't matter when we attended HHS. This guy could have grown up on Main St. Disneyland and called it a dump. You're not being very compassionate, you say...... Not my job to be compassionate. This is not the "Psychoanalysis Helpline", it's Cougartown.


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