Bruce Wilson

OBVIOUSLY this is in no way an inclusive list nor a contest of any sort, just us mentioning someone who stuck in mind for one reason or another.

So, let us not forget Dan Schweers in that list of smarties.

Why, here's Dan now:

Looking trim and grinning and staying light on the portions.

His story is an interesting one. I am glad I looked him up. 

Bruce Wilson

Funny 

I can remember when there was no Torrey Pines HS

And  Lane Field was the place for classics

Like Al Schuss

Terry Lee Maple

One of the rarest gifts bestowed by our creator is the gift of leadership. Pat Borunda is a born leader and anyone who meets him will recognize his unusual talent. Of course, he is also an exceptional orator and his abilities at the podium were honed through hard work and preparation. I was priviledged to be his running mate when he was elected governor of the California-Hawaii-Nevada district of Key Club International. It was clear to me then that this young man was going to be a formidable leader. His account of his career is gratifying as I wasn't aware of the rest of his story. I've worked in the nonprofit world myself and his record of success is remarkable. In high school we walked among some intellectual giants, but it is unfortunate that so many of them failed to keep in touch with the rest of us. I was a close friend of Hank Sieradzki's and stayed close to him as we both ascended to adulthood; I admired Fred Longworth for his intellect (but he was also a bit of a squirrel, as Coach Pruett would say). It's good to know that he has succeeded so admirably in his chosen career. Pat spoke softly but he carried a big rhetorical stick. It was a joy working with him and I wish him continued success. I'm hoping Par, and Fred, and Hank choose to join us for the next reunion. There are many tales that remain untold, a good reason to spend quality time with your classmates. I turn 73 on September 10th; when is that next reunion anyway?  

Bruce Wilson

Kind of a tickler (hee hee)

Have to clean this up a bit and explain why it is showing up here.

Three of my crushes and one of Terry's who I also liked a lot as a friend.

I located Jim Frese when Frank was murdered, but got no response back.

Brad and I have talked a few times. Who is that between Phil and Brad

Why no Montel?

RIP Leanne, Jo Ann, Mona, and Jeannie..

Bruce Wilson

Dog Day Afternoon

Our dog Susie (1955). The old house on Minot, with a lot of upgrades, sold for over $500K recently. Funny thing they did not change many of the windows (e.g. the ones shown here).

Contests you say? 

Long time arm wrestling champion had/has a gym out in Spring Valley.

Frederick (Fred) Longworth, Jr.

Bruce,

Yes . . . from about my age ten, Mother would drive me to the Bank of America in National City and we would pick up a $50 bag of pennies, which I could go through looking for rare coins.

By the time I was about fourteen, I had a collection worth a couple of thousand dollars in the money of the time. As part of their systematic repression, my parents took my entire collection away from me, stuck it in a safe deposit box, and told me if I needed to access it, I could.

I never saw it again until I was a student at SDSU, and made a big scene over their "theft" of the collection.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Thanks for the good words!

Fred
 

Bruce Wilson

Great story Fred:

As Art Linkletter used to say (sort of) "parents do the darndest things".

I only knew that you did it, not how successful you were.

I should have put some of my paper route money away instead of buying Sir Guy shirts and suede and alligator shoes? Yikes!. At least I wasn't bitten.

Bruce Wilson

Speaking of the mid-fifties, where is this?

Hint: Vincent Price had a house nearby.

Bruce Wilson

85 degrees in CV today. Is it just me, or are other folks becoming less tolerant of heat? Heat did not seem to bother me as much a few years back.

Jim Hawes

Bruce,

The picture looks like Imperial Beach at the foot of Palm Ave? If so it looks earlier than the mid-50's. In 1955 we lived in a beach house a block south of where the pier is located. The house just south of Dempsey's Tower was owned by the Davies family (Davies Motors), but I recall a boardwalk and houses to the north side of the tower.

Some interesting history of IB here: http://sunnycv.com/history/exhibits/trv.html

They were still trying to find an answer to the Tijuana sewage problem in the 30's!

Gail Eileen Dillon (Boone)

Sharon Collins (Alford)

What: 55th Lancer reunion potluck

When: October 26, 2019

Time: 5pm.-8p.m.

Where: 3518 Garrison Street, San Diego, CA 92106

What to bring if your last name begins with: 

A-G  Salad

H-M Entree

N-S Appetizers

T-Z Dessert

Water and soft drinks will be provided. You may also BYOB.

Please RSVP by October 15 to:

Tskiles1146@hotmail.com

Bruce Wilson

Hi Gail:

Ninth Grade Council it is and that is Don Montel to the viewer's left of Dick.

As far as I can recall he has not attended any reunion functions. He did go fishing with Butterfield and Schuller (not Morgan Sledge, Dave)  though.

John Link was my guess too, but I think it may in fact be Eddie Spring.

Don't Mr. Farrell and Corinne make a cute couple. Notice their hand postures. After leaving me behind she developed a way with the older boys. I have told her since, she just grew up way too fast for me.

Treasa Struble (Skiles)

Sharon, thanks for posting the invitation. Terry, you inspired the Reunion Committee to act. Hope you can make the festivities. Or as we used to say: Be there or be square!

Bruce Wilson

Hey Jim:

Palm it is.

I did not know you lived in IB.

Butch and I thank you for the background. I will recheck my source on that photo date.

What ever happened to Mike McCombs and Geoff Logan.

Bruce Wilson

Jim:

Source is SunnyCV

This closeup of a 1956 aerial photograph shows the old lifeguard tower at the end of Palm Avenue. The boardwalk that was built in 1909 and repaired many times runs north of this tower (to the left in this picture) past Citrus and Calla avenues to the end of Carnation Avenue. It was finally demolished after the storm in Feb. 1958. The "White House" where Dempsey Holder lived is south of the tower (to the right) between Palm and Dahlia Avenue, the middle house with six windows of the three buildings. Behind the tower, east on Palm Avenue where several cars are parked diagonally, is the Patio Cafe that became Ye Olde Plank Inn in 1968.

Purported to be 1953

Bruce Wilson

OK

Here is a Brucie (what the lovely Virginia Mc teased me with) money story.

The San Diego UT was $2.05/month when I started in the newspaper business. I had to go door to door and collect the money, generally at night. Funny, I still have the receipt book.

Knock Knock

"Collect for the Union"

How much

"Two oh five"

So by the end of the night I had a fair amount of cash in my pockets

I was always afraid that some hodads (aka hard guys in the fifties) were gonna pull over in the cars and rob me.

Here is Virginia now and ... amongst you men, you all know who you had crushes on

Bruce Wilson

Stuff you did not even know you still had

But, you did!

Note "big" floppies

I do have a USB small floppy drive somewhere - just in case, you know

Patrick Borunda

Thanks again to Terry Maple (#3459 above) for his generous remarks.  In my mind "leadership"  is a combination of vision and the art of helping others to do what they were always capable of doing but didn't realize they could.  It is a helping professsion.

But, dang, Terry!  How did you get so old?  Seventy-three on September 10?  Happy early birthday from the North Woods.

I will turn 72 at the end of November this year. I don't know how many people knew I was 16 when we graduated; we graduated in June (?) and by August '64 I was an emancipated minor in the State of Califonrnia...responsible for feeding and sheltering myself and my dependents ever since.  Pamela knew. I think JoKaren Bogart knew and probably Patty Prickett, who had also skipped a grade.

The summer of '63 was pretty good.  The one thing I missed that would have made it a perfect trifecta was winning the governorship at California Boys State. I secured my party's nomination in Sacramento and lost in the general by, as I recall, three votes (currently over a thousand boys per year participate in California). I know for sure it was single digits but it was a long time ago.

The '63 Boys State Program was an especially monumental one.  It took place in 49 states (save Hawaii), of course...the governorship (and automatic opportunity to meet the President of the United States) was won in  Arkansas by some kid named Bill Clinton.  The President Clinton got to meet was JFK the summer before his assassination in Dallas.  I'm only half-kidding when I say, "I think it may have been easier to win the governship in Arkansas than in California."

Ah well, it was just one bus-stop along the way (LOL).

Kay Kozuye Ochi

Wow, Patrick Borunda, for an impressive career of helping so many. Thanks to Terry for sharing more information about Patrick (Terry, your work has been pretty amazing also!).  I often wondered what ever became of Pat Borunda, so it's both inspiring and heartwarming to hear about your really good work. I'm reminded of hearing about another Lancer who went on to construct wells for villagers in Mexico (John Cowherd?). So, yes, Lancers have contributed mightily. . . and have tried hard to pay our parents and community back. We baby-boomers have a lot to be thankful for . . . . Hope to see more of you at the reunion on Oct. 26 (#3468).

John Carleton Cowherd

Thank you Kay Ochi for remembering my charity work.  There is no better way to get us out from under the bridge than by mentioning our names.  I am indeed, a founding board member of Living Water World Missions.  We have a website, which is livingwaterworldmissions.org.  Rather than bore you with lots of details here, check it out.  As for my involvement, before we were LWWM, we were part of the First Presbyterian Church of Visalia. We decided after a few years that our fundraising would be more effective if we stood alone, so we incorporated and became a 501(c)3 organization.  We had two CPA's in the original group, and the other one had been to law school, so he got us incorporated.  Then he turned it over to me and I got us the tax exempt status (in record time, I might add, a little over 30 days). I have been to Guatemala 15 times to help install purification systems, and my wife and I sponsored a system.  The best trips were when my wife & son were along.  My health has prevented me from going on trips since 2016, but I still keep my hand in the finances.  On paper, not in the cash register.

Two things set us apart from a lot of other do-Good groups.  We provide education to the people who will be getting the water.  This includes learning what kinds of bad things are in the water, when to use purified water, and when to use tap water, and how to recognize purified water (you can't; crush an Oreo into a glass of water & ask someone if it is safe to drink).  We also provide two years of cost free support, and support on demand after that.  We have 2 technicians in Guatemala who make contact with every site every month to see if they have any problems.  We are very proud of our organization, and are always looking for new teams to assist in installations.  The website tells you how to set up a team.

Terry Lee Maple

October 25th may be too soon for me. On September 25th I will experience knee replacement surgery in Fernandina Beach, my home in Florida. Flying is not recommended so soon after surgery, but I will look into the pros and cons and of course be mindful of my progress as I heal. Soon thereafter, I will go in for my right knee. My left knee is the one I injured both my junior and senior year of high school. The injuries kept me from completing a full season both years but I managed to play basketball and college baseball without further incident. It was only later, with the passage of time and a few too many pounds on my 5'11" frame that I began to feel the effects of osteo-arthritis. Worse yet, I tore my maniscus in both knees and this just compounded the injuries. So, the time has come for me to become bionic. I'll do my best to get to California for this important gathering of Lancers. Stay tuned.

Bruce Wilson

Kudos to Patrick, John and Kay for all their goods deeds.

Link to John's organization

https://www.livingwaterworldmissions.org/

Bruce Wilson

Wow Terry sorry to hear that, but glad you are going to be getting some relief. 

Good success with the surgeries.

Bruce Wilson

This one is gonna take a while to assemble!

Dwain "Gator" Short, Robbie Hewitt , Skeezix, Tubo, Jan Payne, Jerry Brownell, Charles "Striker" O'Hara, Brucie

Football, injuries

Basketball Jones

Torn up knees, Regenexx