So many memories! While I am not devoting eight hours a day to this history project, I have spent a fair amount of time this week, and it is taking shape nicely. It has brought back many memories, a lot of questions, and some idle thoughts. Also, several people have sent in memorabilia to share with you.

Darrell Hawkins passed away last year. Patsy Hatch Patterson mentioned that Darrell began carving after retiring, focusing on Santas. At Patsy’s request, Darrell’s widow, Donna, sent along a photo of some carvings, below. I believe Darrell was a dentist (someone can correct me if I am wrong) as my younger brother. I think dentists must have a special talent working with their hands. Here is the photo of Darrell’s work:

Bob Blake sent me a program from our Senior Class Day program. Thanks, Bob. I will scan it and share it next time. The program was produced on a mimeograph machine. Remember those? Someone had to type a stencil and then ink up the machine and crank out x number of copies, being careful not to smear the ink on the copies printed out.

Who remembers? In working on the history, I have been re-keying classmate memberships, activities, and accomplishments—many of which I have no recall. These listing of activities were like an early resume, with many citing some pretty obscure activities in which they participated. Does anyone remember the Girls’ Cadet Corps show? A bunch of the Corps listed the play as an activity, so one of you GCC alumnae, please recall the program for us.

Every activity and every advisory had officers. It struck me that every single activity had a historian, parliamentarian, and a chaplain. I doubt many of those clubs exist today; and those that have survived, such as MJR and Hayne, probably no longer have chaplains. I suspect that even the Student Council and class officers no longer include a chaplain. Does anyone else care to speculate?

Many clubs and advisories had reporters. Who did they report to? And what sort of collections and money-keeping did the treasurers oversee?

Reading the histories…Classmates have done fascinating things with their lives. Even those who say they have lead boring lives have provided narratives that I have found fascinating. I am sort of surprised to see the number of divorces along the way as well as the number who have lost children and spouses. The duration of some marriages inspires. And so many have travelled extensively.

Write-ups are still arriving. Today, I heard from Dan Winder, who emigrated to Australia in 1977.

Recall: I know everyone experiences some moment that triggers a memory of long ago. The other day, I heard the radio playing “Diane.” That is a song I will remember always—not because of some long ago romance. Far from it. Back in the sophomore year, maybe, someone had a party down at La Villita in the courtyard. Kay Haller comes to mind as a possible hostess. There was a juke box to provide dance music. Sad to say, the jukebox malfunctioned and would only play two songs, one after the other, continuously for several hours. One was, you guessed it, “Diane.” The other was Tony Bennett’s rendition of “Blue Velvet.” To this day, whenever I hear either of those songs, I am transported to La Villita. Surely someone else must remember, as there were a bunch of classmates there.

And does anyone remember the old “Five-Day Deodorant Pads”? I became acquainted with them when I was in the Navy. To get a mirror shine on a pair of shoes, you had to apply polish and then rub them with the five-day pads. The chemicals in the pads melted the wax and gave the high-gloss shine. I never knew how they were supposed to work as a deodorant though. They were circular pads. Maybe you swiped your armpits. It sort of made me wonder if it could melt shoe polish, what did it do to your skin? Well, they faded off the shelf long ago. And who polishes shoes anymore?

Memories of Coolcrest The banana trees and all the lush greenery are still at Coolcrest, which re-opened for business in the past year.  A group from the reunion went out and played a round.  There were a few holes in one and some remarkable shots. 

Jack and Marsha Davis tally their score.

Jay and Barbara Weidenfeld peering through the banana trees, clubs in hand.

Patsy Patterson lines up a shot. Where is the ball? Tom Patterson records the score.