Bruce Wilson

This is a little bit liighter

version of Frank and Bruce. Junior High and the Reunion Frank made it to.(we were both smiling)

George Bracey Gillow

Below is a video of the large waves in San Diego this January.  Reports were that some waves were 20 feet high.

Port Captain Bill Bartsch had to bring a car/RORO ship into the harbor in the dark early one morning. The swells were 20 feet and the ship was really pitching and rolling. Boarding via the pilot ladder was difficult. When he was walking down a passegway to the bridge the rolling was so bad that he had to often plant his foot on the bulkhead to keep from falling. He had a real challenge keeping the ship in the channel and not going aground. With all the skills he had he got the ship safely into calmer waters when the swell was blocked by Point Loma.  Following the large wave video is a video of a pilot boarding in rough weather:

Treasa Struble (Skiles)

Wow! George. Thanks for posting the amazing video of the surfers tackling the giant waves on Jan 6. Good to know that as disruptive the high tide and giant waves were, some people found the fun in it. 

Bruce Wilson

Thanks for the Surf Report George.

Certainly safer than Monterey Park and Alhambra, two places I used to visit along with Eagle Rock. Back in those days I was more concerned about being confronted by The Avenues who considered it their turf.

When I was in school at UCI, I used to frequent The Wedge. While I have been in waves like the one pictured, I know it is not me, because I did not have a wesuit.

George Bracey Gillow

The US Grant House in Bonita was for sale for $1.7 million but recently taken off the market. However real estate sites like Zillow have lots of pictures of the remodeled home:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8357-The-Grant-Pl-Chula-Vista-CA-91902/334264945_zpid/

James Newton Perdue

I have just learned that one of our fellow classmates, Dan Cassel has died of brain cancer yesterday. While Dan and I were never close friends, he was a neighbor and we went to school together from hilltop elementary through graduation at hilltop high school.

Kay Kozuye Ochi

I'm saddened to hear about Dan. May he rest in peace.

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Newt, thank you for letting us know.  I too am saddened to hear that we have lost another of our Lancer classmates.  

Bruce Wilson

Sad news about Danny. We were pals in Elemetary school. I am starting to feel like I am in that Back to the Future film. The world is fading... Cancer and Alzheimers are  worse than Giant Cell Arteritis for sure though.

.
Any news of Lindy?

James Newton Perdue

Lindy Cassell died in 1989 at age 44 and Dan's Sister died in 2017. Ben Cassel, his youngest brother lives in  Yucca Valley. 

Bruce Wilson

Newt:

Thanks. Lindy and my older brother Woodie died at the same age.

George Bracey Gillow

Ken Krammer of KPBS wants information about a small hill off Corte Escena in Bonita called "Gobbler's Knob." 

The location is about a mile south of Sweetwater Reservoir and near the 125-toll road.

Does anyone know how it got its name? Perhaps a turkey ranch once? Maybe Home to a Groundhog Day celebration?  Who named it and why?

Let me know if you know anything about this hill (a.k.a. Knob). Maybe one of you knows someone who lives on Corte Escena.

(There are a number of Gobbler’s Knob hills and areas in the USA including in Pennsylvania where Punxsutawney Phil shows up on Groundhog Day.)

Bruce Wilson

Hey George:

I have no idea, but I will take a look for how the name came about. It may end up in the "lost Johnny Down bucket" though I am afraid.

Frank Gregory

Hey there George; if nothing is found out thru inquiry a search of title records and filed maps might reveal something.

George Bracey Gillow

Frank, thanks for the suggestion. They have searched various documents including an EIR when the area was developed in 1993. The EIR said that the historic site of "Gobbler's Knob" was not worth saving. A USGS of 1955 shows Gobbler's Knob.

The property was acquired as part of the Rollin Dairy farm in 1945. They did not raise turkeys there. Interesting, that it was in 1945 that the Rollin's teenage son, Otto Rollin, created the Proctor Valley Monster story. Maybe he also named Gobble's Knob hill that was on his parents property. Possibly something to do with Ground Hog day??

Bruce Wilson

GEORGE

EVEN THOUGH IT HAS NOT PRODUCED THE NAME DERIVATION, THE MONSTER BACKGROUND STORY, THOUGH NOT AS INTERESTING AS THE LONG GONE JOHNNY DOWNS DANCE FOOTAGE, IS A MOST WORTHY CONTRIBUTION.TO THE CV STORY.

Jim Hawes

WHAT???? You mean the PROCTOR VALLEY MONSTER story wasn't true! Another childhood memory destroyed! BUT, watching PSYCHO at the Vogue in 1960 as a 13 year old, and seeing Norman's mother! That was real! 

Bruce Wilson

Hey JIM:

The scariest one I saw at the Vogue was The Wizard of Oz. My sister took me when I very young, but when those flyhing monkeys appeared I exited pronto in tears to the lobby.

Jerry Olivas, EdD

Hello Sharon and all the Class Reunion Team,

I didn’t think you liked me anymore , but I will always love all of you! Yep, will try to make the next get together. Johnny Moore wants to have the Reunion in Jaipur, India, which is fine with me. Be safe, have fun, and GO Hilltop Lancers.

Ciao,

Jerry

Barbara Sindelar (Seagren)

Were any of you in the audience with Gypsy and me last night to sing along with The Kingston Trio at Poway Center for the Performing Arts? What a hoot! -- Took us right back to our Hootananny nights on HHS's gym floor.

Bruce Wilson

Barbara & Gypsy:

Sounds like a great night. Gypsy's monkey would have liked it I bet.

The other Bruce is coming to San Diego in December and I have never seen a live show, so I am gonna go.

Best I could do on short notice.

Terry Lee Maple

Some news for my fellow Lancers who may want to contact us. Addie and I relocated to Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina recently and we are now closer to our four grandchildren and daughter Molly Bryant. We are quite happy with our new home and spent a hard month digging oout from the stored (some would say hoarded) belongings of our life together, now 56 years and counting. Our new address is 1821 Palmetto Isle Dr., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466. We live in a suburb of Charleston. I have joined the faculty of College of Charleston so I can continue writing and mentoring young people. Hopefully, I can talk some of them out of their "woke" ways. I do prefer life in the conservative south where no one makes fun of you if you attend church on Sunday. We'll celebrate Easter with gratitude this weekend and thank God for the good fortune of our life together. One of the high points of spring is the preparation and consumption of Addie's famous potato salad. The best I've ever sampled. The President of CofC is mainland Chinese, educated at Georgia Tech at the same time I was on the faculty there. He seems to be quite loyal to his adopted American home and I am looking forward to getting to know him. Most of you know, I spent a decade negotiating with the Chinese government to bring giant pandas to the zoo in Atlanta. You can find out more about that period of my career by purchasing my book Saving the Giant Panda on Amazon. I do hope some of your will find yourselves in Charleston in the near future, as we would love to see you. All the best from Addie and me and our little pug, Maisie. She's happy too. 

Bruce Wilson

Speaking of the the colonies:

The colony of Georgia, for example, was first founded by James Oglethorpe who originally intended to use prisoners taken largely from debtors' prisons, creating a "Debtor's Colony," where the prisoners could learn trades and work off their debts. Even though this largely failed, the idea that the state was founded as a penal colony has persisted, both in popular history and local folklore.

As Gregor Samsa woke one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. He was lying on his back as hard as armor plate, and when he lifted his head a little, he saw his vaulted brown belly, sectioned by arch-shaped ribs, to whose dome the cover, about to slide off completely, could barely cling. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, were waving helplessly before his eyes.

Michele Ruth Walter

Terry... so happy for you making the move to live closer to your children and grandchildren.  
wish you and your wife many happy new memories with your family.  Wow!  50+ years ...how romantic...:)

Jerry Olivas, EdD

Hello All,

Thought you might enjoy this Waterbeds – from my La Jolla garage studio to Paris, And other risky schemes cover story in the current S.D. Reader, from a product (me) of Hilltop/Chula Vista1960s. One of the connections here is our old buddy, Billy Burger. If I remember correctly, he sold me the waterbeds, and I was finding old British and European cars for him. The other connection was Larry Cook, who drove and picked me up from the LAX Imperial Terminal for the charter flights.

Jerry

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2023/may/31/cover-waterbed-dreams/