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Here are some memories from Vern Dander, describing growing up with Al.
These include grammar school, boy scouts, college, etc - so kick back, get your
mouse ready, and read about the very early days of Al's life.
Grammar School Saga - Part 1
Grammar School Saga - Part 2
Grammar School Saga - Part 3
Grammar School Saga - Part 1
Following is info collected from scrapbooks and recalls that they
triggered. Keep in mind it was 50-60 years ago.
/////////////////////////////////////
GENERAL
Remembrances:
The neighborhood where Al and I lived in southwest Stockton was almost
all working class with a great diversity; it had just about any racial
or ethnic background you could think of as well as a lot of
out-of-state immigrants. Latter were primarily from two sources;
pre-WW II Dust Bowl refugees and WW II war-workers attracted to the
good wages paid at the shipbuilding operations at the Port of Stockton.
A lot of people worked in agriculture in one way or the other. If it
wasn't in planting and harvesting, it was in the canneries which were
based in the area.
Mrs. Molina worked in dry cleaning establishments, I believe one of
which was located on McKinley Avenue at about 2nd Street. I believe
she died as a result of her long term exposure from the cleaning
solvents involved in the work. As I remember she was a pretty woman
who always had a very serene way about her. Mr.
Molina I remember being relatively short and with a deep copper-colored
complexion . He always had a smile for me. I believe he worked for
the Stockton Unified School District as a groundskeeper. Hugh and
Easter were older and I don't remember them being involved very much in
our early lives; probably because they weren't interested in a couple
of scruffy little kids.
Al’s house was at 404 W Eighth Street. It was a one story but the main
floor was elevated above the ground a couple of feet. This was not
uncommon in the area which was prone to flooding and the added
elevation minimized damage when it happened and the half
basement could be used for storage. I believe it has
been replaced by another structure. It’s been a long time but as I
recall the house had a peaked roof running front to back with an
enclosed porch-like room attached to the back. I can still remember
being somewhat intrigued by the fact that there was a metata readily
available on one of the kitchen counters; my mother used an electric
mixer, but did not grind her own corn.
We didn’t spend a lot of time in the house but I do recall a dinner
Mrs. Molina had for my family where we sat in the dining room. It was
the first time I had been exposed to “real” Mexican food, not that
era’s version of Taco Bell. The meal was multi-coursed, the mole a
yet-to-be-matched standard I have used whenever I have had it in my
subsequent travels.
The house was on a standard lot, probably 50' wide X 100' deep. The
drive was on the west side off of 8th St. and curved around the back to
exit on Lincoln Street that runs perpendicular. There was a shed and
grove of bamboo at the rear of the lot behind the drive. At some point
the shed burned down. The combination shed/grove area was a great
place to hold off Nazis who were the enemy of choice in those days.
I don’t recall the Molina’s having a car. Bus service was available
about 5 blocks away at McKinley Avenue and prior to the end of WW II,
you could catch an electrified trolley at San Joaquin Street and 8th
Street across from McKinley Park. The big deal with the trolley was
helping the motorman switch the pole
that went to the overhead electric line. The trolley
had a cowcatcher at each end, the rear one not visible to the motorman
who was in front. However, catching a ride on it was strictly
forbidden!!!!
McKINLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Remembrances:
I first met Al when we both entered McKinley Grammar
School as kindergartners. McKinley was located on
McKinley Ave at the corner with 9th Street, I lived
in the 3rd block west of McKinley Ave on 7th Street and Al lived the
5th block west of McKinley on 8th.
Because of the street layout in those days, we both had to head east on
8th to a block west of McKinley and then turn south to get to 9th. So
we both walked the same route to and from school. One memory of these
enroute treks is breaking up the 1/4” - 1/2” ice on mud puddles during
the winters mornings. If you misjudged, it meant going shoeless for
the first school period while your shoes dried out.
Our school building, which has been replaced because of earthquake
concerns, was built in the early 1920’s in what I'd called "Princeton
College" style (See photos Mckinley School-1 and -2). It was a two
story brick structure shaped in a reverse "L" with the front facing
McKinley and the side on 9th. Classrooms and offices were in the
McKinley side and a good sized auditorium in the other wing. In the
space between the two legs of the "L" was a 1 story covered courtyard
which also contained the cafeteria. It was divided in two parts with a
girl's and boy's side. I recall two other schools on the north side of
town that looked like they were designed by the same architect; Victory
and El Dorado. I believe the Victory was replaced for the same reason
as McKinley but last time I was in Stockton, El Dorado was still used
for non-school functions. If you're interested in the building style
it's at the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Harding Way.
I think Al enjoyed grammar school. For the most part, we were in the
same classes, except for our Arts & Music “majors”. Drawing was one of
his favorite subjects, probably because he was considered pretty good
at it. His art teacher was Clarice Cook. I was attempting to play the
trumpet and consequently we weren’t in the same class. We usually
didn’t get into much trouble in the classroom because we both enjoyed
learning (I had an advantage or maybe a disadvantage since some of the
teachers had been my mother's teachers).
The following McKinley faculty information is compiled from scrapbook
documents:
Principals - Mr. Esser followed by Ms Francis Yale Libbey Vice
Principals - Elwin House followed by George C Westcott
Teachers (have assumed we were in same classes; L=low or first
semester, H=high or second semester; M=from memory, R=from my report
cards)
Grade
KL Ms Miller M KH Same M
1L Iva G Kirtley M 1H Same M
2L 2H
3L 3H
4L Ethel E Nicholas R 4H Same R
5L Ms M Hammill R 5H Ann W Tugel** R
6L Ethel W Mantele M 6H Same M
7L Henry Schiffman R 7H Same M
8L Una B Spooner M 8H Same M
* *Married (Smith) while we were still at McKinley
Other staff; positions where remembered- Ms Ann W Smith, Audrey S
Esplen (music teacher), Maybelle E Kerner (music teacher), Ethelyn V
Stevens, Helen Prouse, Betty Baker, Mildred Sutherland, Mary
Dillingham, Virginia Chance, Eila W Kroh, Pearl L Stafford, Pauline
Shaw, Madeline Reingar, Verna L Thompson, Irma Walter (cafeteria
staff), Mabel D Hersom (cafeteria staff), Kathleen Parker, Clarice Cook
(art teacher)
Might use AM 1947 and AM 1948 photos sin connection with this info.
One of the big deals during the last half of our 8th grade year was
making the commitment to what we wanted to do in life; i.e., decide
what type of courses we going to take in high school. Ms Spooner got
us thinking about it, and our big project was creating a collage
representing our career choice. Al’s collage was focused on biology,
mine on chemistry. He came close, I missed a mile.
The following are selected extracts copied from a booklet put out by
the 8th grade class that graduated in 1948:
McKinley Memories
Class 1948
..................................................................................................................................................
ALFONZO MOLINA
Nickname: “Tonchi” Born: California
Hobby: Model building
Ambition: Biology or Zoology Teacher
Recall nickname was pronounced : Tawn (as in dawn) - che(as in cheese)
..................................................................................................................................................
Favorites of ‘48 (Selected by class)
Favorite song Sabre Dance
Favorite movie Good News
Favorite male star Alan Ladd
Favorite female star Betty Grable
Favorite male singer Bing Crosby
Favorite female singer Dinah Shore
Favorite comic strip Donald Duck
Favorite radio program Sam Spade
Favorite woman in the news Eleanor Roosevelt
Favorite man in the news President Truman
..................................................................................................................................................
The Year In Review
Science Club Goes to San Francisco
Early in the school year a Science Club was founded by Mr. Westcott
(vice principal) to promote the interest in science. All of the
officers were boys.
They were Vernon Dander, President; Alfonso Molina, Vice President; and
Larry Burgess, Treasurer.
Highlight of the year was a field trip to San Francisco where the group
visited Golden Gate Park, the Aquarium, and Fleischacker Zoo. At
Christmas time the group worked very hard repairing and painting toys
for gifts to needy children of the community. We well remember a very
nice picnic lunch Mrs. Dander presented to us at that time. Several
members of the groups made special projects and reports for
presentation to the group. Movies were presented on several occasions.
It is hoped that next year more field trips will be undertaken.
George St. Clair
.............................................................................
Brad, you mentioned Al recalling going to San Francisco as a Boy Scout.
I don’t remember such a trip. I believe all Scout trips away from
Stockton were to the Sierra. This trip may be what he was recalling.
Grammar School Saga - Part 2
McKINLEY ORGANIZED SPORTS
Remembrances:
Behind and to the south of the McKinley main building were pretty good
sized play area covered with pea gravel or whatever would grow
naturally (lots of mud when it rained). Grass was grown in front for
show!
Gravel area had some tether balls and we had one or two softball
backstops and basketball courts. When we got to be 7th & 8th graders
we participated in intermural sports with other grammar schools,
Hazelton, Jackson and Luther Burbank being the primary rivals. Sports
included volleyball, basketball, softball and flag football. We both
won our McKinley Block M’s (See Photos Block M-1 and 2)There was a
summer baseball league run by the city rec department but I don't think
Al went out for it.
In 1947 Mckinley won both the “1 and 2” and the “3 and 4” Stockton
Volleyball Championships . As I recall the team classification
numbering was based on size-bigger guys were 3 and 4 class (See photos
VB
1-2 Champs and VB 3-4 Champs). Members of the “1 and 2” team whose
names I can recall were:
George Allen
Ernie Bantillo
Larry Burgess
Johnny Eliab
Roosevelt Fleming
Joseph Mahan
Alfred Medel
Alfonso Molina
Members of the “3 and 4” team were:
Alfred Barafoldi
Jerry Bolden
Robert Bolden
Teddie Brown
Mark Burruel
Vernon Dander
Theodore Lopez
Richard Valverde
Floyd Weaver
Emmitt Webster
The following article was put out at the school near the end of the
1948 school year before we graduated.
........................................................................................
SPORTS YEAR IS A SUCCESSFUL ONE
All in all, the sports year at McKinley was a successful one. We had
some success in every sport except track which is not very popular with
the McKinley boys. Our most successful team was our 1 and
2 Volleyball team which once again won the championship in its class,
defeating El Dorado (grammar school) 21-3. A favorable sun in the
eyes of the Hazelton (grammar school) team helped defeat the team
which we considered our closest rival.
The free throw was practically McKinley all the way.
Gold basketballs for first places were won by George Allen, Larry
Burgess, and Florence Maestas, all members of the McKinley basketball
teams. Our 1 and 2 team was beaten only by Hazelton in a closely
contested game. Our 1 and 2 softball team was also defeated by
Hazelton but managed to defeat them in a return game. It hasn’t been a
bad year and the graduating class are to be congratulated for their
fine work on teams while at McKinley:
George Allen (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team photo)
Ernie Bantillo (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team
photo)
Larry Burgess (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team photo)
Eddie Brown
Vernon Dander (in 1947 3 and 4 Volleyball team photo)
Fred Dohring@
Johnny Eliab (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team photo)
Roosevelt Fleming (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team
photo)
Joseph Mahan (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team photo)
Alfred Medel (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team photo)
Alfonso Molina (in 1947 1 and 2 Volleyball team
photo)
Vicente Morales
Eddie Silveira
Floyd Weaver
Melvin Weatherred
Emmett Webster (in 1947 3 and 4 Volleyball team
photo)
Compiled by:
George Allen
Roosevelt Fleming
“FOOLING AROUND” ACTIVITIES
Remembrances:
In those days, what’s now named as McKinley Park in Stockton, was known
as the Muni Baths. In addition to standard park slides, teeter totter,
etc., it had a very extensive complex of swimming pools which were
filled from warm water wells which were highly sulfuric. Advantage was
the water was warm; disadvantage was it smelled bad. There were two
small pools (about 50 X 50 each ) at the west end of the complex for
the smaller kids; depth about 4' max. To the east of these was a large
(200' diameter) pool which was 10'-15' deep. Diving boards were in
this area including a high dive platform. East of these was a large
rectangular pool about 300'X50' which was covered by a high roof. Water
was about 8' deep. Big feature was two water slides. We all spent a
lot of time in the pools while we were growing up, transitioning from
the smaller to bigger as our swimming skills and “courage” warranted.
However, I don’t think we ever tried the high platform “headfirst”.
The park also had a small gym which had been converted from a
merry-go-round. Vaguely remember the latter before the conversion from
carousel to gym. Our first indoor basketball experiences.
Before we got more sophisticated, our favorite movie house was the
Rialto on Main Street. Standard Saturday fare was a western and either
a gangster or a mystery picture. RKO was king! A big deal was trying
to get in at the kids rate. Al was about 9 months older than I, but
shorter, so I always had to “prove”
my age while he got through without any questions.
The normal western boundary of our turf was the French Camp Turnpike
(it’s now I-5). It was a paved, two-lane road elevated above the
surrounding land and acted as a levee to keep water out of our
neighborhood (in most cases) when the San Joaquin River flooded.
There was a big old house on the levee that was something out of the
Bates house “Psycho”. We steered clear of it. There was a slough, the
McDonald Canal, at the base of the Turnpike which was a great place to
explore; lots of cattails, water, tadpoles (in season), frogs and small
fish. During grammar school we generally hung around in the area
bounded by the Turnpike, 9th Street, 6th Street and Mckinley Avenue
except when we went to the Park or downtown for a movie. At that time
there were a lot of vacant lots within this area which were
criss-crossed with trails that made great bike paths.
Am not sure what grade, probably 3rd or 4th, we got the entrepreneur
spirit and started collecting returnable glass bottles. Could get 2
cents for them.
We'd scrounge around the lots and fill up my American Flyer red wagon
and haul them up to the 99 Market (on McKinley Avenue between 6th and
Delhi). Our loot was immediately turned back to the grocer, either
cokes, gum or Kool-Aid packs. On the way back home we usually could
not wait to have the Kool-Aid turned into its liquid form and ate it
out of the packs.
This addiction led to our first crime spree. After collecting our cash
we went over to the Kool-Aid display. We were a little "short" so
decided to slip a couple of extra packs into our pockets, paying for
one or two. Can't remember being so scared, flying a helicopter in
Vietnam was a piece of cake in
comparison. But we pulled the job off without a
hitch (I think; the grocer may have just let my mother know when she
shopped there)
In the spring the lots were covered with high grass which if you
crawled around in you could not be seen.
The grass also provided our version of snowballs; when the ground was
damp in the spring, you could pull out a chunk of soil with a grass
tail. Properly compacted, the adobe made a very effective missile to
throw. Rule was you could not load the adobe ball with a rock (unless,
of course, you were going to throw it at a girl). North of the back of
the houses on 6th Street was a large field which was used to grow hay.
This was where we built tunnels. Worried our parents because some of
them could be dangerous if they caved in on us. As the summer
progressed the lots and fields became very dry and if they caught fire
could endanger structures. One of the annual adult rituals was the
burning off of the grasses under controlled conditions. The big field
was always a problem because the farmer wanted to mow the hay and there
was always a period where it was highly combustible but not quite ready
for mowing. A couple of times it did burn and we had the excitement of
having the county fire department show up.
The vacant lot where we spent most of our time was the one next to Al’s
house, on the corner. This was our primary “football field”. Besides
the two of us, other regular players were Vince Morales and my brother
Dick. The alternative field was a lot across from my house on 7th.
Al’s lot was preferable for football because if the ball went astray it
wasn't in someone else's yard. Also it had a street light on the
telephone pole at the corner which allowed night play; probably was a
100 watt bulb but was better than total darkness. Mr. Molina improved
the “Molina Bowl”
by getting a load of sawdust in on it so you even had some padding if
you fell down. Football could be played with as few as two of us. In
this case it was usually a contest of punt/pass/kick to see who could
force the other to the back of his end of the lot. Al was pretty good
at all three.
When we went down my house, the big deal was the ability to stay off
the ground for “great distances”.
My mother's sister lived next door to me and my uncle's wife lived on
the other side of her (both their husbands were in the Army in the
Pacific). The buildings and fences were located in such a way that if
you started on the far end of the roof of my uncle's house you could
travel roof to fence to roof across the back of all three properties
without having to descend to the ground. Descents when made, usually
involved jumping off a roof; sometimes 10-12 in the air (jumps were
often as paratroopers when fighting the Nazis!)
Another advantage of my place when we were in about the 5th or 6th
grade was we could generate a pretty good audience if we decided to
hold a parade or other extravaganza. I had 2 younger brothers and 5
cousins who, if they weren't required to be in whatever we
were putting on, could act as spectators. As we got
older and were allowed to have low power Daisy BB guns, the people who
lived on the other side of my house had an extensive population of cats
who provided sport when shooting at empty bottles got boring.
As we got older, our primary mode of transportation was balloon tire
bikes. Went all over the neighborhood, to the movies, library, and
YMCA
downtown, and as far north as Oak Park. Bus was the
alternative. Al and a fellow named Herbert Culver had modified the
rear gears on their bikes to a “nine”
which gave them a mechanical advantage over the rest of us (we didn’t
have multi-gear bikes in those days).
Although it took them more effort to get going, once they did they’d
be cruising along while the rest of us pedaled frantically to keep up.
About the 7th or 8th grade our mothers decided we needed to improve our
social skills and started sponsoring rotating parties. The other kids
that I remember for sure who were in the group were Jo Ann Skinner,
Fred Dohring and Alfred Barofaldi who lived on 6th, Eddie Silvera who
lived on Delhi, and Marilyn Reeves who lived at 7th & Mckinley. Memory
is poor but others may have been Marilyn Holman and Lorraine
Martin. I remember M Reeves and Jo Ann both had
pianos and could play from sheet music to supplement the 78s we had.
Don't think 45s were out then (just thought, you probably have no idea
what I'm talking about; they're record speeds; CDs of yesteryear!)..
Parties usually involved some dancing, games, punch and cake.
Depending how restrictive the parent was, the games varied from pin the
tail on the donkey to spin the bottle or post office.
I had some interest prior to the parties in a girl who lived on Delhi
Street (i.e., I would go over a sit in her yard with Al and maybe
another guy, and we'd horse around; I needed back-up). She moved to
the north side of town so I became the confirmed bachelor (i.e.,
nerd). I don't recall Al having any girl friends
prior to the above parties, but I'm pretty sure he started "going
steady" with Jo Ann Skinner about that
time. Holding hands and all that yuckee stuff.
SCOUTING
CUB SCOUTING
We got involved in Scouting when my mother decided it was “time.” She
talked my uncle into being a Cub Scout Cubmaster. I think the deal was
she’d do most of the work as Den Mother, if he’d sign the papers.
Al was one of the charter members.
Remembrances:
Pack 4, Den 4 (see Photos: Cub S-1, Cub S-2, & Cub
S-3)
Cubmaster -AL VETTER
Asst. Cubmaster - VERNON S DANDER
Den Mother - MARIE DANDER
Den Members
ALFONSO MOLINA
VERNON A DANDER
EDDIE SILVERA
ALFRED BAROFALDI
FRED DOHRING
Can’t recall others.
Other than meeting at our house, I don’t have many
memories of our Cub Scouting days. I know we built
some bird houses made from patterns supplied by the Scout central
office. My uncle cut out the pieces from plywood and we did the
sanding, gluing and nailing.
BOY SCOUTING
As we got older we both graduated to Boy Scouts and became members of
Troop 4, based at Mckinley Grammar School in 1947 through 1948. Al and
I were members of the Tiger Patrol.
Remembrances:
Our Scout Master was named Del Price. Asst. . Scout Masters included
Irv Shaeffer, ??? Patterson and my dad (Vernon S. Dander), and a
couple of others I don’t
remember. Del Price worked for a fertilizer company
with a facility near the SP tracks in Stockton.
Apparently the company created custom fertilizer mixes because I
remember we would go to their plant periodically and load empty craft
paper bags on a truck to make money for the troop by recycling the bags
through the local paper mill. The different fertilizer residue in the
bags made it pretty dirty work! We used the money to finance trips and
to buy materials for oak pack frames which we fabricated from scratch.
Other Troop 4 members I can remember were BOB PRICE, ROBERT ALAMEDA,
FREDDIE BURROWS, FRED DOHRING, DONALD BEHNKE, ALAN BEHNKE, EDDIE ROMO,
LEO CORIDA, DICK DANDER, and EMMITT WEBSTER, Elzie Boyd, Donald
Christen, Oliver Fine,
I recall the following Scout activities:
-Meetings (See photo: Boy S-01)
We met about once a month at the McKinley Grammar School where we we
had a storeroom for our equipment.
The school had a covered court described earlier where we met. Also
would meet prior to trips at my house to plan menus. My mother was our
“technical advisor”. We usually ate pretty good but it was always a
major problem trading weight (we usually had to pack it in ourselves)
for what taste good and was easy to prepare. Freeze dried of today was
not available. We learned to make a lot of things from Bisquick.
-Littlejohn Creek(See photo: Boy S-02)
We took at least a couple of overnight trips to an oak grove on
Littlejohn Creek which is located south of Stockton, just west of the
municipal airport . The grove was owned by a friend of Del Price and
he let us camp there. We would leave McKinley Grammar School, cross
McKinley Avenue to the SP railroad tracks that paralleled McKinley, and
hike south on the track bed.
There were various small industries along the way including a pottery
works and grain elevator. The grove was just south of the elevator.
The grove was somewhat unique in retrospect since it was an original
stand of Valley Oaks, most of which had been removed in the massive
land leveling operations that went on to create the relatively flat
valley of today.
-Mt Diablo (See photo: Boy S-05)
We took one trip to Mt Diablo; probably in the spring of ‘47. Asst.
Scoutmaster Patterson was famous
(infamous?) for driving his Nash car to our camping sites. The car was
unique for its day because it had the capability of tilting the seat
backs down to horizontal so you could create a bed inside the car.
Can remember Patterson setting up the Nash while the rest of us made do
with ground covers. Remember the spectacular sight the night we were
there of being above the clouds (Central Valley was foggy) with full
moon out.
One or two overnight trips in vicinity of town of Camanche. Camped on
Mokelumne River. Town was flooded when Camanche Reservoir was created.
Scoutmasters were going nuts because we kept stirring up the
rattlesnakes. We qualified for several merit badges on these trips.
-Yosemite Valley
We took a week-long trip to Yosemite; probably in the
summer of ‘47. The troop hired a truck and we took
our bikes along and had a ball getting around the floor of the valley
(bikes weren’t that prevalent then). After we had pretty much
exhausted the valley routes, we made the mistake of getting too
ambitious and tried to take the road to Glacier Point. These were not
10-speeds bikes and we had to push the bikes most of the way. We got
as far as the overlook where you can see Bridle veil Falls and turned
around, figuring we’d have a nice easy run downhill. Problem was that
we had standard New Departure rear-hub brakes, not calipers. We
started down and the brakes quickly heated up and we had to walk the
bikes down as well as up. We also did a lot of hiking while we were
there. One hike in particular was to Vernal Falls and the up to above
Nevada Falls (think it’s called “The Chutes”). We did Mirror Lake
frequently in the evenings on the bikes.
-Camp Baxter (See Photos Boy S-01 thru Boy S-04, S-06 thru Boy S-11 )
Boy S-01 is of Scoutmasters. Al is on far left in Boy S-07.
Camp Baxter was the Stockton Boy Scout District camp on the Stanislaus
River (it’s off of State Route 4 - “Ebbetts Pass Highway” on the river
below Big Meadow ; may be called Sand Flat now). As I recall we were
there twice, once around 7/1948 and again in the following summer.
Both times were for a week of camping as a troop. I think the end of
the 1949 was when Al was elected to the Order Of the Arrow, a big deal
for a Scout (or at least it was in our time). He later went on to get
involved in Indian “hoop dancing”.
-Stockton District Camporees
The Boy Scouts held an annual Stockton District Camporee at Louis Park
(was called Dad’s Point during our era). In the spring of 1948, our
patrol had teams in the following events and won ribbons as indicated:
Team of : Alfonso Molina, Vernon Dander, Elzie Boyd,
Donald Christen, Oliver Fine
Competitions in: Knot tying (Red), Wall scaling (Red; time 1 min. 10
sec), Judging (Red)
Team of : Alfonso Molina, Vernon Dander, Elzie Boyd,
Donald Christen
Competitions in: Signaling (Yellow), Compass (Red)
Team of : Alfonso Molina, Vernon Dander (See Photos Boy S-12)
Competition in: Tent pitching (Blue; time 4 min. 15
sec)
-Day-long Jamboree at the Stockton Civic Auditorium.
Al was on the Order of the Arrow Indian hoop dance team which performed
at the event.
-A couple of overnight trips to San Antonio Creek up near Sheep Ranch.
Was near the Fricot Boy’s Facility; you could see it above our camp
area.
Grammar School Saga - Part 3
MCKINLEY GRADUATION
Below is provided in it’s entirety as a wrap-up of our grammar school
days. Author is not identified.
Most likely it was put together by Mrs. Una Spooner (8th grade teacher)
with collaboration of Mr.
Westcott (vice principal) and Miss Clarice Cook (art
teacher) or a student under their supervision.
Suspect it was not a student because of no student by-line which are
in other parts of review and pretty ambitious goals set for eighth
graders.
THE CRYSTAL BALL
Tonight is a gala night at the newly-opened, million dollar Hotel
Stockton which was built on the site of the old hotel of the same name.
Its owner, LARRY BURGESS, stands at the entrance to the ballroom
welcoming his special guests, all members of the CLASS OF 1948 of the
McKinley School. Twenty years have passed since last they met as a
group. Fame and fortune has touched some of them and tonight’s banquet
brings them from all over the world. As Larry stands at the door he
looks back on his own good fortune. As a big league ball player with
the New York Yankees he built up the fortune which helped him build
this beautiful hotel. He also owns an interest in the Stockton Ports
which is being managed this season by his old friend, GEORGE ALLEN, who
also had a fine baseball career with the Cleveland Indians. But what
of the other guests? What has the last twenty years brought them?
One has to only look about the spacious ballroom to see thousand of
flowers provided for the occasion by ALFRED BAROFALDI@, now operating
the most successful nursery and chain of florist shops in San Joaquin
County. All of the interior decorating was done by DOLORES VALVERDE
and MARTHA GUMS who are partners in this profitable business. On the
bandstand is a famous name band led by ERNIE BANTILLO who employs LYLE
ALEXANDER and BETTY JOAN WALTERS as musicians.
Singing in the band is HELEN DOMINGUEZ. A special floor show will be
held this evening starring MARILYN REEVES who has just completed a
starring role in a movie version of the famous mystery book “The Corpse
in the Attic” which was written by MYRNA WALTER.
Among others appearing will be JO ANN SKINNER who has just completed an
engagement at the London Palladium, OPAL MAE FRAZIER who is called the
Nellie Lutcher of 1968, and HELEN HERN whose latest success is a
sensational movie version of the opera “Carmen”.
Many of the guests have found successful jobs right here in
Stockton.
MARILYN HOLMAN is director of girl’s physical education at Yale Libbey@
(McKinley
Principal) High School named after the well-known Stockton principal.
Among the teachers there are JUNEVIEVE TODD of the home economics
department, ALFONSO MOLINA who is head of the science department, and
JOHN ELIAB who after a year’s study of the fossils in the La Brea Tar
Pits is with the science department also. FRED DOHRING@ is now
conducting a campaign which might result in his election as district
attorney of San Joaquin County. On the staff of the Stockton Record
(local newspaper) is FREDDY BEAVER who is chief cartoonist, GRACE
O’NEAL who is secretary to the editor, and NEVA ANN HEDRICK who is in
charge of the classified advertising department.
Flying in for tonight’s ceremonies is VERNON DANDER who has made
quite
a name for himself as an atomic scientist. Last week he made an
important speech on a nationwide television network. He was introduced
by VICENTE MORALES, now one of the nation’s leading radio announcers.
Vernon’s personal pilot in his plane which is of the rocket type is
HERBERT CULVER.
Several others will fly in from the army air base in Alaska. They are
DONALD ROWLAND, PAUL SISNEROZ, and MELVIN WEATHERRED who are all
captains in the U.S.
Army Air Corps. They are stationed at a huge Alaskan air base
commanded by Brigadier General EMMET WEBSTER.
LOIS LEITNER who was the swimming star of the 1968 Olympics held in
Antarctica will fly in with her latest husband.
Many of the former members of the class are now living in various
parts of the United States. EDDIE BROWN is a photographer at MGM
Studios in Hollywood; MARGARET BELL is a public stenographer in
Kalamazoo, Michigan; RUTH CHAVEZ is a hostess on a rocket ship;
ROOSEVELT FLEMING is a sports writer in Albany, New York; and EVELYN
HARRIS operates a chain of beauty shops in Modesto. MARLAND HOSFORD
now operates a factory which turns out model rocket ships in Portland,
Oregon.
Employed as nurses at San Joaquin General Hospital are ROBERTA
CHERRY,
AGRIPENA DeAVILA, BARBARA HOLT, MARILYN RYAN, and BETTY GRAVES. Head
nurse at Dameron Hospital is MARY RUTH McCAIN. The new wing at
Dameron was built by the contracting firm headed by EDDIE SILVEIRA.
The electrical work there was done by GEORGE ST. CLAIR who is the
headman at the Short Circuit Electrical Company. Among his excellent
staff of workers are JOSEPH MAHAN and THEODORE REED. Oh, yes, George
employs a huge secretarial staff including EVELYN WALTERS, BETTY JOAN
WALTERS (no relation to the Betty Joan who sings in the Ernie Bantillo
band) , and EVON WILLIS. ELSIE SAIKI and JEANETTE TAHARA have
established a dressmaking firm which has many wealthy customers. Elsie
does the designing and Jeanette does the secretarial work.
JOANN WILLIAMS has won fame as a female detective and with the help
of
her famed secretary, BEVERLY LOURENZO has solved many cases. PEGGY
STANAWAY, BETTY LAFFOON, BETTY TILLERY, BETTY JO SMITH, PEGGY QUEEN,
ELEANOR MONTANEZ, and JUANITA LAFFOON, have all satisfied themselves
with catching wealthy husbands who will be with them at the affair this
evening. Chef at the new Hotel Stockton is FRANK MARTINEZ who has JUNE
HORTON and FLOYD WEAVER on his staff of excellent cooks.
Well the big night has finally arrived. The party will soon get
underway. Once again as on that Friday evening in June, 1948 the CLASS
OF 1948 will have fun again. Let’s hope that this will happen again
next year and for many years to come.
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