2004 Winter

DECEMBER 2004

Merry Christmas from Watsonville where all the men are good looking, the

women are brillant, the children above average, & the grandchildren, A+.

New addresses:

Dee Beckwith 842 Wabash Ave. Medford, OR 97504

Tom Crisel 4911 Donna St. North Las Vegas, NV 89031

Helen Fowle 2448 Mormon Way Gardnerville, NV 89410

Jan Blohm 13000 F York Rd. #181 Charlotte, NC 28278

Bob Osborn 3234 Ashwood Way Soquel, CA 95073

Mary Ann Edwards P.O. Box 5187 Corning, CA 96021

IN MEMORY OF ROBERT "BOB" LOFTIN

Bob Loftin, a long time resident of Freedom, passed away at his home on

October 28, after a short battle with cancer. Bob was born in Fort. Smith,

Arkansas. He was a graduate of WHS, class of 1957. He then served his

country proudly as a U.S. Marine for four years, stationed for a period of

time in Japan. In 1960 he married his high school sweetheart, Donna

Holmas, class of 1960.Bob was the owner of Bob's Backhoe Service &

after his retirement moved to Atwater. Bob is survived by his loving wife of

44 years, Donna; his daughter Vickie & his son & daughter-in-law Ray &

Gina & his cousin Barbara Loftin, also the class of '57. Bob will be

remembered for his deep devotion to family, great sense of humor, his

love of camping & his deep appreciation for classic cars.

Henry Mello died Sept. 4. He was born in Watsonville in 1924, the son of

Portuguese immigrants & apple farmers, the future legislator was very

proud of his background & learned the value of hard work while farming

during the Great Depression. He was a graduate of Watsonville High &

attended Hartnell College. His public office began in 1966, serving on the

Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors until 1974. Two years later, he

was elected to the State Assembly, before winning his district's State

Senate seat in 1980 . Mr. Mello remained on the Senate until he was

termed out in 1996. He played a key role in convincing the University of

California Regents to locate the new University of California at its current

site. A city wide memorial was held.

Georgeann Cowles' family was awarded the Farm Family of the Year

award in Watsonville this year. The Cowles/Eiskamp family first established

itself in the Pajaro Valley more than a century ago. In 1908, George

Cowles, was born to Hebert & Edna Cowles on the same Amesti Rd.

ranch he currently raises berries, & has been farming in the Pajaro Valley

for more than 60 years. He married his wife, Mattie Lou, in 1935 & the

couple had two daughters, Martha Lou & Georgeann. Mr. Cowles was

named the bureau's farmer of the year. Mr. Cowles accepted the award

with his daughter Georgeann & grandson, John Eiskamp. Georgeann &

John have resided in Watsonville since 1998. John currently farms 150

acres of berries for Driscolls, which named its first commercial blackberry

after George Cowles. Congratulations to the Cowles family.

Tom Crisel retired Dec. 31, 2003. He & his wife Carol moved to Las

Vegas a week later. They built a new home & are settling in . They have

been doing some traveling & are not in any hurry to become couch

potatoes.

Helen Fowle & Dave have moved to Gardnerville in an old homestead in

the Fish Springs area. They have 9 1/2 acres & about 2500 sq. ft. of house

that they are remodeling. There is lots of old farm equipment including a

'46 Farmall tractor & they just inherited a '52 Willys Jeep. Dave restores

classic motorcycles, so getting all this stuff running is on his to do list. Their

older daughter, Joni, lives in Reno & is a legal assistant. Their younger

daughter, Jill is a labor & delivery nurse at Tahoe Forest Hospital in

Truckee. She has a son Tanner, 8 & Keith 22, & daughter Tara, 20 who

are students at University of Nevada at Reno. Helen is active with the

Carson Valley Art. Association & has been in a couple of their shows.

Helen says, their gate is always open to their place & everyone is

welcome. It's a good party house.'

John Higaki writes, the fog hugged the coastline & the daytime

temperature hovered around 76 degrees with a slight breeze coming in

from the North, a picture perfect Chamber of Commerce day for the

Watsonville Obon, July 18. Every summer in the middle of July, the

Watsonville Buddhist church holds its annual Obon festival. This is a day

of remembrance for family members who are no longer with us, & it is

celebrated with food, music & dancing. John arrived an half hour late as

he was operating on Japanese time, that is considered to be OK, but Art

Mino called him on it. The following members of the Class of '57 met to

renew old acquaintances, Frances Tanimura, Mieko Hirahara, Jean

Mizuta, Jean Tao, Sandy Yoshida, Barbara Wada, Betsy Wong,

Yoshie Yoshida, Art Mino, Kunio Idemoto, Bill Kajihara, Bill

Akimoto & John. The evening was capped off by dancing in very colorful

kimonos & not so colorful shorts. John did note that after being out of

school for 47 years, it was difficult to recognize people. John invites

everyone to the next Obon festival in 2005.

Dee Beckwith is living in Medford, Oregon & is semi-retired. She owns

her home in Medford & keeps very busy. She spent a month in Maui this

summer.

Nancy Wynne & her husband Bob spent 7 days on the Island Princess &

5 days on land, with 3 of those days in Denali National Park in Alaska. It

was one of their best trips. The scenery was magnificent & vast. The wildlife

was thrilling to see in nature's own cageless "zoo". Nancy fell in love with

the sled dogs & wanted to smuggle one home. The ship was beautiful &

they felt very pampered, the best ever.

Charlene Corrigan had a great trip. The first 14 days of the month were

spent in Europe. Ron & Charlene flew into Rome & after a night in the

eternal city took a train to the coast & boarded the Holland America

Moordam. The ships first stop was in Monaco with a side trip to Nice. The

next day found them in Marseille, France, then onto Barcelona, Cadiz,

Casa Blanca, Gibraltar & Lisbon. The ports of call were wonderful

especially Morocco. They were able to see the locals in their burkas.

Women with their heads covered, men wearing the traditional fez. It was

such a cultural difference, it will not be soon forgotten.

Sally England & Betty Sue & their husbands spent a month in

Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Estonia & Russia

this summer. Great fun.

Colleen Connor left July 13 for 9 weeks on their journey to Alaska.

They took their trailer, met another couple & headed for the Alaska

Highway. They drove to Prince Rupert, BC, caught the ferry & went up to

Ketchikan, Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau & Haines on the Inside

Passage. While in Ketchikan Colleen called Peggy O'Farrell & spoke with

her husband Glen. He said that Peggy is doing quite well & able to get

around. After Haines, they drove to Tok, Palmer, Anchorage, Seward,

Homer, Denali, Fairbanks down into Dawson City & then the Canadian

Rockes, Jasper, Lake Lousie, into Idaho & home. It was a wonderful nine

week adventure with so much beauty, history, animals & lots of glaciers.

Jane Beck's granddaughter, Ashley 10 years old auditioned & won a

part in the Sacramento Ballet, The Nutcracker, as a teeny tiny mouse. She

auditioned again this fall & got a bigger part (but still a mouse). She hopes

to one day play Clara!

Joan Mezger will be getting married Dec. 21 to David Bawden. They will

be moving next year to their new home in Tehachapi. We wish them the

very best.

Wanda DeMoss class of 1958 died June 17, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Barbara Treseler class of 1953 died, August 25, in Santa Cruz.

Barbara's brother Fred was in our class. Blanche Norris, class of 1954

died August 25 in Tuscon, Arizona.

Georgeann Cowles' mother, Mattie Lou Cowles died Sept. 1 at her

residence in Watsonville. A native of Gladwater, Texas, Mrs. Cowles lived

in Watsonville since she was 11 years old. Her father ran a pharmacy in

Watsonville for many years. An active berry farmer in Watsonville, working

with her husband. She loved spending time with her family.Mrs. Cowles is

survived by her husband, George; two daughters, Martha Lou &

Georgeann; four grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren.

Evonne Baldwin's sister Barbara Baldwin Wilcox died at her home

September 4. Barbara was born & raised in Pajaro & attended Watsonville

High School.

Chuck Allen (class of '58) brother Henry "Hank"Allen died Nov. 24, he

was 61. Hank graduated from Watsonville High.

Betty Sue's granddaughter, Angela Bjur was married to Sam Huezo

Nov. 13 in Watsonville. Angela is a graduate of WHS & attends Cabrillo

College. Sam is a firefighter for North Monterey County.

Ken Dobler's son, Craig has announced his plans to be married to

Annamaria Muzzi in the summer of 2005. Craig graduated from WHS &

received his bachelor of science degree in agricultural engineering from

Cal Poly. He is a partner in the family produce firm, Dobler & Sons., LLC.

Charlene Corrigan's daughter Claire is engaged to be married Oct. 1,

2005 to Lain Cunningham. They met in law school at Hastings in San

Francisco. Charlene says that Lain will be a wonderful addition to her

family.

Mary Ann Edwards writes that they have found their ideal place in the

country on 4 acres in Rancho Tehama, mailing address is Corning. They

are enjoying the wildlife, quietness, the seasonal creek & beautiful

Manzanita bushes & oak trees. Mary & her husband Dave have four

children. Their son Neal has an all expense paid trip to Iraq, thanks to

Uncle Sam. He will be leaving in Jan. with his Army unit. All of their family

will be home Christmas.

Carole Hiatt's granddaughter Cristin Murphy, a student at Cabrillo

College was named MVP for the Northern California Coast Conference

Division for soccer. Cristin is a graduate of Aptos High. She is applying at

other colleges to continue her education.

Bob Osborn welcomed a new granddaughter, Hannah Louise on Dec.

16th. Happy parents are Bob's son Kirk & wife Becky & big sister, Abby.

Joan Mezger's grandson, Travis Tompkins received several awards for

Soquel High School varsity football team. He played the last game with a

broken wrist, his friends cut off his cast so he could play & won the game

for his team in the last few minutes by intercepting a pass & running 25

yards for the final TD. Travis was named ALL-SCCAL first team defense,

won the team's award as Captain of the year for outstanding team support

& team playing & never missing a practice.

Celebrating #65:

Bev Sampson spent the day locked in her closet.

Betty Sue rented a 1957 Chevy limo & partied with her girlfriends. No

men allowed.

Adrienne celebrated with friends at Lake Almanor. Everyone sang Happy

Birthday to her.

Sally England spent her day on a 747 flying home from Copenhagan.

Betsy Wong had Japanese dinner with friends & family.

Marilyn Morgan was discharged from the hospital after surgery on her

big day.

Janice Baird had dinner in San Francisco with friends.

Virginia Powers was given a surprise birthday party by friends.

Charlene Corrigan had dinner with good friends with birthday cake.

Barbara Beard had dinner on the Santa Cruz Wharf with family.

Norma Williamson had dinner with friends.

Carolyn Pettus had an all girl slumber party in Capitola.

Margaret Day, just another day, no big deal.

Thanks for sharing your Big Day & welcome to Medicare!!!

Till next time, Happy 2005. Please send in any info about yourself &

family.Makes my job a lot easier & the newsletter more interesting. Thanks.

Betty Sue Henry Bjur-GTObjur@aol.com 190 Bjur Dr. Watsonville 95076

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