2011 Summer
Watsonville High School
Class Of 1957 Newsletter-"HIGH TIMES"
2011 Summer Original written and edited by Betty Bjur
VOL.29 E-editions by John Higaki
CLASS OF 1957 NEWSLETTER, JUNE 2011
Hello Friends, I've been thinking a lot lately about burgers & fries & cherry
pies, in a world we use to know! So simple & easy back then walking in
the sand, hand in hand. This has been quite a year, Tucson tragedy,
earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, killing of bin Laden, Arnold, the
Spermanator & the Rapture. Wow, & the year is only half over. I think I
much prefer burgers, fries & cherry pies.
CLASS OF 1957, 55TH CLASS REUNION AUGUST, 25, 2012
I know, a little scary but just think you will be with everyone your own age!
Save the date & mark your 2012 calendar. Details later.
METAL BUSINESS CELEBRATES SILVER ANNIVERSARY
Roy & Carol Phelps Large have plenty to celebrate. During this current
down economy, there is a big demand for metal. They do everything
metal, from conveyors to the metal pan under your washing machine.
They mainly do agricultural & industrail jobs. Roy & Carol opened their
shop April 1, 1986. Carol works in the office. They employ 10 people
including their son Bob.
AMERICAN IDOL FEVER HITS WATSONVILLE
James Durbin one of the final American Idol finalist has roots in
Watsonville. His mother Judy is a 1971 graduate of WHS & his
grandfather Jim Durbin, plays the tuba in the Watsonville Band. Even
though James has Asperger's & Tourette's syndrome, when he sings, all
of that disappears. He's very endearing & has a great voice. James sang
before an audience of 30,000 at the Beach Boardwalk.
Marvin Byers has been a volunteer for 20 years to the Pajaro Valley
Historical Assoc. He helps in the archives, & is a fantastic fix-it man. Bill
Beecher started in 2008 & this year has volunteered 200 hours scanning
the huge historic photograph collection & prints copies of photos. Ken
Dobler has been volunteering for many years & serving on the board.
25 Years Ago Pajaro Valley School board trustees revised the district's
flag-salute policy so teachers no longer have to recite the Pledge or salute
the flag, now only being required to stand during the pledge.
50 Years Ago The cartoon panel "Ponytail" by 1950 WHS grad, Lee
Holley first ran in the Register-Pajaronian.
75 Years Ago Fox Theatre announced it will take over the Pajaro
Theatre. The Pajaro Theatre was first opened in July 1925
"HALL ECHOES"
Check out our class website & you can read the latest edition of EA Hall
School "Hall Echoes", May 15, 1953. There is some beautiful poetry by
Nicky Scurich, Darlene Kerns, Boyd Youmans, Jerry Chin, to name a few.
Also a few Wills....Dennis Blum, Billy Osborn, Bobby Lea, Stanley Winvick.
A sample of 1953 writing.. Jimmy Carter wants freedom of the press & the
press wants freedom from Carter. Wow, what a journalist. I'm impressed.
This year we will experience four unusual dates.... 1/1/11, 1/11/11,11/1/11,
tt/11/11...now, go figure this out: take the last 2 digits of the year you
were born plus the age you will be this year & it will add up to: 111 I'm
sure you great minds from Miss Pogue's class will figure this out.
IN MEMORY OF DOLORES ADDLEMAN
Dolores Addleman died January 19 in Paradise, CA. Dolores was
married to the late Joe Fraga, class of 1956.
Ann Soldo died January 24th. She served as mayor of Watsonville & a
principal at Aptos Jr. High, Radcliff, Linscott, Mintie White & MacQuiddy.
She even drove a school bus early in her career. She was named the
PV, Woman of the Year in 1967 & Ann Soldo Elementary School was
named after her in 1999. Her late step son was Andy Soldo, class of '55.
Jim Beebe's sister Kathy Beebe Lanier, class of '58 died Feb 6th. Kathy
had plans to come to CA for a visit the day she became ill. She is
survived by her brother Jim & close friend Lorene Dyer.
Merle Worley's son Patrick Beckman died, Jan 9th in Tucson, Arizona.
He is survived by his mother, Merle, his step father & brother.
Norma Williamson's brother Al died April 4, following a courageous
battle with lung cancer. Al is survived by his wife, Doris & daughter &
granddaughter;sisters, Norma & Judi & brother David. Al was a veteran of
Vietnam. Burial was with full military honors.
Elvena Marini's father, Henry Marini died May 1. He was 99. A native of
Watsonville, he loved spending time with his family. He leaves his
daughters Elvena & Vicki; sons Robert, Gary & Henry; 12 grandchildren;
16 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great-grandchild.
Linda Davis McQuary, class of '58 died Jan. 26. She is survived by her
husband, Tommy McQuary, class of '55 & family & her sister Dolores
Davis, class of '56.
Howard Burdick, Jr. died April 18, class of '59. He is survived by his
sister, Peggy Burdick.
THOUGHTS ON THE EARTHQUAKE FROM FRANCES TANIMURA
Many of you know that I taught elementary school for the Dept. of Defense
Schools on U.S. Forces bases overseas from 1970-2002. Tho' I started in
Germany, most of those years were in Japan & my last assignment was in
Misawa, Japan, which is a few hundred miles north of Sendai. My
assignments covered from there all the way south to Okinawa, the
"scenery" & faces were all too familiar. Additionally, I early established &
keep in touch with relatives & colleagues. Both were minimally effected.
Bottom line: it was more difficult to see the coverage of the devastation,
than seeing the second plane hit the twin towers...which ironically, I saw
"live" from Misawa. Further irony is that Santa Cruz is so close & familiar
as I live in Prunedale...just a few miles from the side of Monterey Bay
which was UNaffected.
Gary Costa received his long awaited kidney transplant, Dec. 4th at USC
University Hospital. Needless to say the family is thrilled. Their daughter
Kelli was going to be the donor but after receiving the phone call from the
hospital that a kidney was available, Kelli said, "go for it."
Don Vines is living in Dewey, AZ. Not much going on there but "old
Foggies" sitting around with nothing to do but relax, go bowling, play pool
& cards & go to the dog park to walk their dogs. He is enjoying retirement.
Harold Kelsey & Betty will attend their granddaughter's graduation from
BYU. They are looking forward to their first great grandchild's birth in July.
Jane Sullivan spent a week in Park City, Utah with her daughter & family.
She also went to New York with her graduating Middle School
grandchildren & cousins. They saw a Mets baseball game, visited Ground
Zero, toured the Yew York Stock Exchange where Jane's husband was
on the Board for several years. Off to Lake Tahoe in July with family.
Jane's sister Terry's daughter, Stacy, had a baby boy which is bringing lots
of joy to the family.
Adrienne writes that she & Ed spent part of the winter in Casa Grande,
AZ. They liked it so much they purchased a house on the golf course in
the Mission Royale country club. "Now we have a place to go to get away
from the terrible winters at Lake Almanor." Adrienne said, "Our 50th
wedding anniversary is next December & this house is our gift to each
other. We are looking forward to spending our big day in the sun rather
than the snow!" They plan to spend summers at the Lake & winters in
Arizona. This means they can play golf year round!
China here we come. Charlene Corrigan & her husband took a
cruise to Asia, Betty Sue & her husband took the same cruise, going to
Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea & China.
Betsy Wong & her husband toured China in May. We're just trying to
help keep the economy going in China.
Janet Tindall's granddaughter Jessica Mattos continues to dominate in
the dicus event with a winning throw of 121.10 for Aptos High School.
Jessica will be attending college in the fall.
Don Beukers & his wife planned to visit Egypt & Israel in Feb. but the
company removed Israel from the trip, so they opted to go to Peru, Chile &
Argentina. Luckily for them as they would have been in the middle of the
action in Cairo & would have been evacuated. In all the years of foreign &
domestic travel, it was the first time Don was targeted & had his front
pocket with a velcro closer flap, pick pocketed. Everything was lost, wallet,
credit cards, drivers license & divers certificate. Fortunately, they had a
ATM card in another pocket. After vacationing in Santiago, Puerto
Montt/Puerto Varas, Andes to Bariloche they caught a flight to Buenos
Aires & then home. After returning, they packed up again with their diving
gear & headed for the Bahamas with their daughter. Upon arriving they
realized it was spring break. It wasn't all bad, as there was a lot of eye
candy for the older folks to look at.
John Higaki writes that they are grandparents 3 times over. Daughter
Kris has 2 girls, Kaitlyn & Milla. Yuji, their son has a boy, Kenzo. John has
updated our class web site. His current project is to add all the old
newsletters, http://sites.google.com/site/whsclassof1957
David McDaniel just returned from visiting Machu Picchu in Peru, one of
the seven wonders of the world. The weather was perfect, the people
were kind, food very tasty. The Inca people are in good shape as they
continually run around on steep mountains doing their daily chores. They
learn to prepare detailed "to do" lists so extra trips back down to the store
are not needed. The mangos were the best he has had anywhere in the
world.
Edna Reimer sends thanks for the newsletter & enjoys reading the news
of our classmates. She spoke in San Diego at a Mammography
Technologist conference. She loved the California sunshine. She also did
some training at Vandenberg Air Force Base. She loves living in Portland
& always buys Watsonville strawberries.
Dan Pini & Jean are taking a month's trip in their RV to CA, AZ, NM, CO,
MT, ID & back to Oregon in time for their granddaughter's graduation from
high school. They have several trips planned after the graduation; CA, Six
Flags with their grandchildren Falon & Chase, a car show in Fortuna with
the '32 Ford. Jean's 50th reunion here in Watsonville & he will bring the
'32 Ford for that. Dan is rebuilding a '56 Chevy for his 16 year old
grandson, hopefully he will help & not lose interest. This fall they head
South with the snow birds if there is any money left for diesel. Dan has
hired a wine maker to care for the grapes.
Yoshie Yoshida & her husband just returned from a month vacation to
Hawaii & will be going on a cruise to the Caribbean in Oct. Yoshie says,
Isn't retirement fun, continue to live life to its fullest.
Charlene Corrigan's daughter Carin & husband had twins May 20.
Andrew Thomas & Catherine Anne were born in San Francisco. Both
weighed 7 lbs. Carin's twin sister Claire had her second girl Feb. 4. Lily is
a real charmer with a ready smile. She has a big sister, Lyra. Charlene is
loving the Grandmother role. This has been a very special year for her.
WATSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME
Harold Kolstad, class of 1953. Athletics has been a lifetime pursuit for
Hal, & it all started at WHS. Hal spent 5 years in the Red Sox organization.
He ended his career with the LA Angeles. In 1966 he started teaching &
coaching at Campbell High School Dist.
Katherine Tovin, Ph.D, class of 1968. She received her college eduation
in New York, Skidmore College. She taught English at Ho\yoke
Community College in Massachusetts. She later received her Ph.D at
Stanford. She worked for Hewlett-Packard, most recently Katherine
worked for the federal gov't in Washington, D.C., under Bush & Obama.
Hugo Martin, class of 1983. Hugo attended Pomona College. After
graduating, he was selected to a journalism internship at LA Times. He
remains a staff writer at the Times & won the Pulitzer prize for their
coverage of the Northridge Earthquake in 1992 & the LA Riots of 1994.
Megan Seely, class of 1991. She is a graduate of CSU Chico & earned
her Master's Degree in Sociology from CSU Sacramento. She is a
teacher at Sierra College, teaching Sociology & Women's Studies.
Betty Sue Henry Bjur Hope to hear from you. GTObjur@charter.net
Have a great summer, Talk to you again in December
