| Noel Snow (formerly Terrell) | Email |
11/02/07
Where do you live now? San Francisco, CA
How many years were you in the desert? 4 (birth - 4)
Are you willing to help with pictures? I might be able to find a few
Are you willing to help with stories? I'll leave this to my mother
Comments:
My grandparents were 1 of the first 3 families to be located in China Lake - part of some work just before the war. Grandfather Weldon Sparrow built Grandmother Deanna Sparrow a tiny white house on the edge of town. He had a real estate building in town and she taught music to Ridgecrest's children. My mother Valyrie was born there in 1946, as was her younger sister Kathleen. I was born there in 1968 along with two siblings. I'm sure we have many photos to share. Or rather, my mother would. I'll send her your way...
Best wishes, Noel
10/23/07
Where do you live now? Paradise, California
How many years were you in the desert? 13
Are you willing to help with pictures? yes
Are you willing to help with stories? yes
Comments:
Nice to see pictures of Big Pine, where I grew up and graduated High School in 1970. A beautiful place to return to visit. Big Pine has changed very little, Welch's cafe changed, Big Pine General Store now Rossi's Steak House, Lane's Liquors?? Lots of nice memories!
| Maurice "Sike" Saicon | Email |
10/15/07
Where do you live now? Fresno, California
How many years were you in the desert? 3 years
Are you willing to help with pictures? I'll have to look & dig
Are you willing to help with stories? Once they're available
Comments:
I was assigned to the "Vampires" of VX-9, Test & Evaluation Squardron, at NAWS China Lake from May 1995 to April 1998. During my assignment there I worked on F/A-18C Hornets, EA-6B Prowlers, AH-1W Cobras, and AV-8B Harriers...and of course the occassional F-14 Tomcat from Point Mugu. The work was hard. But I really learned a lot and enjoyed the comradery with the crew at the old AO Shack! (Especially, had fun during the dets). Ahh, nightcheck! Great shipmates who worked hard and played even harder. Made a friends with a lot of the civies who worked on base too. I also enjoyed my time off and got to know quite a number really nice people in the community of Ridgecrest, like Charlie Rogers, Henry Blecha, Rollin Subblett, Derdra Dyson, and of course the people and Mom's and Lindsey's furniture, Just Imagine, TJ Frisbee, and the members of HDSM Club. I'm sure a lot changes in Ridgecrest when I left. But I tell you, it's folks who've really made my time and experiences there very memorable. I look forward to coming back and visiting. Great site by the way!
| B. Baxter Matheny ("B.B.") | Email |
10/13/07
Where do you live now? Box 101, Mayer AZ 86333
How many years were you in the desert? Four years, 1954-58. More years still in desert.
Are you willing to help with pictures? When I get a scanner.
Are you willing to help with stories? To some extent, mainly about Little Lake.
Comments:
My parents Burl Sr and Isabel Matheny owned and operated Little Lake Hotel & Cafe in Inyo county in the mid-1950s, creating the real glory days for this century-old place and developing the business to a level it had never seen before. At that time my sister Charlotte and I attended the schools James Monroe, Burroughs High and Seventh Day Adventist in Ridgecrest. My parents, my sister (all deceased now) and I loved Little Lake so much we considered it to have defined us as a family! We lost it, however, when Highway 395 was diverted in 1958, taking away the business's lifeblood. Nothing exists there anymore. They even tore up the railroad tracks. We were never able to forget. Charlotte cried when passing the site years later, and I have been homesick for it my whole life and have collected photos and mementos of those happiest times we ever knew.
Would like to hear from persons who remember Little Lake and the Mathenys.
10/07/07
Where do you live now? Ridgecrest
How many years were you in the desert? I'm still here!
Are you willing to help with pictures? Yes
Are you willing to help with stories? Yes
Comments:
I've had this site bookmarked for several years now...and I've now returned after having left it for more than a year...very nice to read the comments of others, including some classmates I recognize, like Richard Davis...I bought his Olds from him back in the day....sure had fun with that old car...wish I had it now!
I've lived here most all of my life. I have a business here and have successfully raised a family...and now am and have been for some time; an empty nester.
Times have changed, to be sure. I know a few of the "old faces" I knew back then...a few are customers...and a few I see around town at the Post Office, or store, or while driving. But the freedom that we enjoyed as kids and teenagers is not as pronounced now-a-days. I'm sure that all of you know this.
But the good ole days at Burroughs back in the 60s are memories that will always be there....the after game dances, the drags, the hunting excursions around the area with friends, the old Foster's Freeze hangout, Suzie Q In-N-Outer, basketball and football games....the cars we owned ... incredible!
Thanks for sharing this site. And thanks to you who avail yourself of the opportunity to share a story or two!
Roger Dorman
BHS '62
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