2016 Winter

Watsonville High School

Class Of 1957 Newsletter-"HIGH TIMES"

2016 Winter

Original written and edited by Betty Bjur

VOL.38

E-editions by John Higaki

NEWSLETTER, CLASS OF 1957, December, 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone! Next year will be our BIG 60th reunion, July 16, 2017 at the San Juan Oaks Golf Clubhouse between San Juan Bautista & Hollister off of Highway 156. Bill Beecher will be drawing a map & it will be in the June newsletter. Our good friend Don Beukers will MC our event this year. Our program committee is working hard to entertain you. No nude calendar girls this time but we aren't crossing out the possibilities of the guys coming up with something rather daring & amazing.... Many of us are great grandparents now & are past 75. Yes, I hear you, hard to believe. I hope you are enjoying life with less fret & more laughter. As I've often said, it's full speed ahead. Happy 2017 !!

"At our age rolling out of bed in the morning is easy. Getting up off the floor is the hard part."

25 years ago: Gene Rugh became the first woman to serve on the Watsonville City council.

25 years ago: WHS main building, which stood for 74 years, was reduced to debris & removed due to the earthquake.

50 years ago: Nancy Reagan attended the opening day at our County Fair. Chuck Allen is the fair manager.

50 years ago: P V bushberry growers are angry after children under 12 can no longer pick berries.

59 years ago: The NBC-TV peacock logo, brought to you in living color, made its debut at the beginning of "Your Hit Parade ."

68 years ago: Marilyn Monroe was crowned honorary Artichoke queen of Castroville..

75 years ago: First commercial in TV history, "America Runs on Bulova Time."

75 years ago: Nicky Scurich was chosen cutest 2 year old in a photography contest.

82 years ago: Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance as a New York Yankee.

ANNIVERSARIES

ED & ADRIENNE MARMO FAGALDE, 55 years in December

JIMMY & BARBARA CARTER, 50 years in March

DON & MARY ELLEN BEUKERS, 50 years in June

IN MEMORY OF BOBBIE CRISEL & KEN GRAY & MR. SLAVICH

Bobbie Crisel died August 24 at 77. She was born in Arkansas & moved to Watsonville as a teenager. After graduation & marriage, they settled in Wilton, CA. & raised their family & farmed there. Bobbie was preceded in death by her husband Bill & all of her siblings, including Tom Crisel, class of 1957. She is survived by her daughters, Cathy & Cindy & son Ron, five grandchildren & three great grandchildren.

Mr. Larry Slavich died August 8. He was 93. He attended Santa Clara University & Stanford. He taught History & U.S. Government at WHS. He was the beloved husband of the late Margaret & nephew Vincent. He is survived by his nephew John.

Ken Gray passed away August 29, after his third battle with cancer. Ken was born in Oakland. He attended University of Nevada, San Francisco State & graduated from San Jose with a B.S. in Business Administration. Ken met his childhood sweetheart when she was 12 years old. They were married 56 years. His passion was supporting people to maximize their full potential. Ken leaves his wife Barbara; sons Russell, Jeffery, & Matthew; sisters Donna, June & Cathy; brothers Bud & Jon; four grandchildren.

JULES MADEROS

Jule's desire to attend college caused a minor family battle, fortunately his father's side of the family won. He was the first to attend college & chose San Francisco University. He studied Physics & Mathematics & graduated with a BS degree. This was quite an adventure for him exploring new places.like San Francisco. After college he drove to Pensacola, FL to begin life as a Cadet in the Navy School of Pre-FIight for aspiring Navy Aviators. These were difficult days & nights. He graduated as a naval officer & began flight school receiving his Wings & was soon married to Gracie & assigned to Coronado, CA. Their squadron was deployed to Japan & sent to Vietnam in 1963, the first of three deployments there. The VC were not fond of the Naval Aviation & even had a special hotel for them called, Hanoi Hilton where he was never a guest. Death missed him nine times. He was involved with one crash & burn landing, full of high octane fuel & loaded with magnesium flares in the wing racks, & yet here he is 78 years young today. His life has been an absolute blast of adventure, just exactly what he wanted as a child, no room for boring. After the war, he was sent to GA., to train new personnel how to conduct anti Sub Warfare. When he retired, Jules fell in love with computers & worked for GE & became a troubleshooter when customer relations deteriorated. Jules & his wife Gracie, adopted three children. Jules retired in 2003 from the hustle & bustle of each days challenges. From airplanes to computers to his rose garden now, keeps him happy. Lots of challenges with growing roses so they can survive their long, cold winter in New York. His wonderful wife Gracie died on May 18 of this year, leaving their 3 children, 4 grands & 3 greats. Who could have imagined such good fortune from a very introverted little Portuguese kid from Watsonville could have such an exciting life. I might add, he also has a post-grad degree from Harvard. Proud of you Jules. Jules plans to come to the reunion, Great News !!

NEWS

Jerry Chin's wife, Moira McChin passed away September 19 following a short illness. She is a proud midwest product born in Chicago & attended Chicago schools before studying piano at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. Moira was the Human Resource Director at the Lawrence Hall of Science on the UC Berkeley campus for many years before her retirement.

Betsy Wong & Al have 2 daughters & their families live nearby them in Morgan Hill. They have 4 grandchildren who range in age from 8 to 16. They love spending time with them. Betsy is active in her community in the garden club & American Association of University Women. This year they vacationed in Canada, Seattle, Maui & Oahu with their family & New Orleans.

Colleen Connor & Gene, class of 1956 went on a cruise through the Panama Canal in Nov. with 58 friends & relatives. They spent Thanksgiving with her daughter in San Diego after the cruise.

Ralph Shugart & Lee, class of 1958, went to Lake Tahoe to celebrate Johnnie Baker's 80th birthday. He was class of 1955 & is married to Joyce Stephen, class of 1958. Johnnie's daughters, Tina, class of 1977 & Leah, class of 1981 were there too. WHS was well represented. After the weeks party, they drove to Glacier Park & returned home on Hwy. 20, across northern Washington, A beautiful drive in Sept. They took Ralph's tools to their son in Yuba City, Ralph no longer needs them. On the way home they visited Dan & Jean Pini. They shared some of their wonderful wine & showed them their 1976 Chevy 4- door hardtop. A real beauty.

Dennis Blum retired April 1. His wife Carol made him. They took a month's vacation to Jackson Hole in Sept. The colors were perfect. Dennis had a blast photographing both wildlife & landscapes. He has more time now for his photography business. Check out blumdc.artistwebites.com & see some of his beautiful photos. Dennis has his home up for sale & would like to move to Watsonville type of climate along the north coast. Their

daughter Dawn, after homeschooling her children & seeing them complete their Bachelor Degree, has started working on her Masters Degree in Education Administration.

Marie Miskow works at Central CA Alliance for Health in Scotts Valley for 16 years & still loves it. She has 10 grandchildren & 14 great grandchildren & another baby girl due in January. She is looking forward to the 60th class reunion.

Sally England & Bill had a very interesting trip to France. The French Open was in progress when they arrived, then the World Cup Soccer, the floods & closing of museums & arts of the Seine where they were headed. The tour was modified but Bill was able to see Normandy. Giverney reopened the last day of the tour so they got to see Monets Garden. There were many Muslims in Paris & high security with big guns everywhere. They had to go through metal detectors & a purse search to enter their hotel. When entering a store, they used wands to body search & checked bags. They saw the president of South Korea in a motorcade to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. He was escorted by 40 soldiers, in French uniforms, limos & 6 street sweepers to clean up. Scotland was very green & the people so nice. When they arrived at their hotel they were met by a bride & groom at a very English wedding. The men were dressed in kilts or tux, the ladies wore beautiful dresses, hats & very high heels. No sneakers or torn jeans...Made Sally wish for the olden days. The groom was a well-known Scottish soccer player.

Bob Fenner is looking forward to the reunion. He was saddened to hear about his long time friend Ken Gray's passing. He was one of Bob's best friends in high school.

Jimmy Carter & Barbara survived Hurricane Matthew. Barbara has his permission to slap him if he complains. "How dare I complain about anything considering the death & destruction in Haiti?" Jimmy & Barbara will celebrate their 50th anniversary in March. Jimmy contributes this to Barbara's patience & long suffering.

Marilyn Morgan & Carl, class of 1952 are the proud great grandparents of their second great grandson, Benjamin George Wical born Sept. 3. Proud parents are Marilyn's granddaughter Natalie & husband David & his brother Jed. They live in Coronado. Grandma Marilyn wishes they lived closer.

Jim Gibson & Shirley spent a week in Temecula celebrating their oldest grandson's 21st birthday. Jim is feeling old.

Don Beukers & Mary Ellen spent 5 months traveling around the U.S. They went to some Motor Home rally's in Louisiana, visited friends in Tennessee, South Carolina Philadelphia, New York City & Michigan. In all, they put 11,000 miles on their motor home & an additional 5000 miles on their tow car. They got back home to San Jose in time for Stanford football (47 years of season tickets). "See you in July at the reunion."

Betty Sue & Allen's daughter Kerri was nominated for the CA League of High School Educator of the Year. The award stated Kerri's collaborative nature, dedicated professionalism & advocacy for both students & teachers are just a few of the many reasons the administrators chose her. Another special treat for us was welcoming our third great grandson, Jacob Elias. He was born Oct. 7. He joins his big brothers, Alex & Nathan, parents, Sam & Angela, Betty's granddaughter . Just in case you didn't know, our son, Coach Greg's Aptos High football varsity team won their sixth league championship this year. They have won 33 consecutive games without a loss. Such hard work & dedication so says proud Mama. To add a little more to the mix, Betty & Allen traveled to Albuquerque to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Eight hundred balloons was quite a sight. Put it on your bucket list, you won't be sorry.

Jan Baird's brother Bill, class of 1959 died in February, in Florida. Bill was very active in the sports program at WHS. He played football for Santa Monica City College & served in the Army.

Marion Newland passed away July 14. He was born in Oklahoma. He was active in sports playing football & track at WHS. He graduated in 1956. He served in the Army in Korea.

After coming home, he met the love of his life, Roxy. They were married 2 1/2 months later. They were married 57 years. Marion is preceded in death by his love, Roxy; his brother Harold, class of 1958. He is survived by his two daughters, Venus & Dawn & his son Scott; 10 grandchildren & four great grandchildren.

Anna Marie Cantu died August 5. She was born in Watsonville & was a WHS graduate, class of 1958. She worked for Lockheed Martin. She is survived by her husband, Robert LeGette Sr; two sons, Rob & Dave; sister Trish; longtime friend, Anne Lukrich Dobler.

Jeannine Hubbard's brother Donald died August 11. Don was born in Watsonville & raised in Aromas. He set many league awards in track at WHS & San Jose State. He competed in the US Olympics trials & placed 7th in 1956. Don served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army. He graduated from Berkeley's School of Law. Don was predeceased in death by his first wife, Sally & brother Garth, class of 1955, & his parents. He is survived by his wife Phyliss; sons Alex & Chris & his two grandchildren; sister Jeannine.

Betty Sue's cousin, Jim Washington, class of 1952, died August 18. Jim served in the U.S. Air Force. He worked for the City of Watsonville as a Junior Civil Engineer & Planner & Zoning Administrator. He is survived by his wife Lorraine & two sons, Timothy & Michael.

Don Armstrong writes he is pushing 78, playing lots of golf & is still consulting & being paid for his advice Who woulda thunk? Don completed his narrative of his 4 Navy years, 135 pages not including some photos. Great gift for your family, Don.

A LITTLE 1957 NOSTALGIA

All girls wore ugly gym uniforms.

It took 3 minutes for the TV to warm up.

When a quarter was a decent allowance

Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.

You got your windshield cleaned & oil checked when you got gas. Also got stamps at Regal Gas.

It was a great privilege to go out to eat at Wongs, Miramar, Resetar or Pronto Pups.

If the car keys were lost, they could be found in the ignition.

Being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that waited you at home.

Summers were filled with bike rides, skating, slumber parties & eating Kool-Aid powder.

Remember Double Dare, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Roy, Dale, Trigger & Buttermilk.

News from the Pajaronian says that Powerhouse Aptos High football team due to the disparity in the level of teams, especially after trashing Santa Cruz, 87-6, using their third string & winning the championship for 6 years will no longer be in the SCCAL. They are now asking permission to join the MTAL league & play Hollister, Palma, Salinas, Monte Vista High Schools. All very good teams. I guess that's what happens when you work & play hard. Time to play the big boys.

If you would like to continue to receive the newsletter after the June, 2017 edition, it will be $10.00 for five years. Make your check to Betty Bjur & I will put you on the new list. Hopefully I can still remember how to turn the computer on, type & spell by then. Oh the challenges in life. Thank goodness for grands, I'm still learning from them about this crazy computer world. Also thank you for sending me your news twice a year. I love reading about the happenings in your life. Hope more of you will respond in the future.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Betty Bjur, 190 Bjur Dr. Watsonville, CA 95076

GTObiur@charter.net