08/09/07
Where do you live now? San Jose CA
How many years were you in the desert? From 8/53 to 4/56
Are you willing to help with pictures? Can't
Are you willing to help with stories? Yes
Comments:
I worked at the "indoor" theatre in Ridgecrest from age 16 to18. Loved working there but hard to get all homework done. I graduated in Jan. '
56 and worked for the Bank of America for the most boring 6 mos. of my life (not enough work to do as "loan secretary." Thought I would save money for college. I had never dated high school guys because I had dated college freshmen in Idaho. I dated only sailors and had so much (innocent) fun. In those days, you dated many different guys - not just one. It really gave you a good overview of different personalities and types of character. In February,'56 I fell in love with the only Marine I dated. We were married in April of '56 because he was going to be transferred to (Oh, God!) 29 Palms. I was married to him for 21 years and had a daughter and son with him. I later married a college professor who taught instrumental music and was also a professional musician. This was when I finally got to travel to other countries including Europe and Russia and Japan. We also lived in London for 6 months. Best times of my life! I worked for 20 years in public schools and many years in nonprofit organizations. My favorite position was as Asst. Manager and Manager of the Cabrillo Music Festival in Aptos CA. After that I moved North to the Bay area. I loved working and went into shock when I had to retire on disability. I've gotten used to it now.
My brother, Robert attended Burroughs H.S. for his Senior year only.
My younger sister, Margaret Karen was a year or 2 behind me in school.
I have to say, we did not have good dealings with Dr. Drummond. My sister fractured her leg and had a big, deep cut on her breast after a motorcycle accident. Dr. D. refused to treat her at all until my father went out a got a bank loan. This was what it was like in private hospitals, especially before employer-provided health insurance.
| Rta (Lane) Petersen | Email |
08/09/07
Where do you live now? Yuma, AZ in the winter.
How many years were you in the desert? 42 years
Are you willing to help with pictures? Yes
Are you willing to help with stories? Yes
Comments:
First of all I want to thank Pat Jones for giving us a wonderful and unique place to share memories and view scenes from our past.
My family came to the desert in July 1952, one week after the earthquake that evastated Tehachapi. They had the road cleared but the brick store fronts were laying out in the street. Coming from Los Banos CA (dairy, canteloupe and sugar-beet country) to the desert was quite a shock. We lived the first month at Wheeler's Trailor Park in Inyokern. Jim Wheeler owned the Western Auto Store in Ridgecrest. Art & helen's Cafe was on the corner where the Sierra Club is now. Flossies Variety Store was also on the main street. The telephone company employed switch-board operators and I believe that Mable Forrest (Gerald's mother) was the supervisor. I remember Anderson's Bar, the old race track, Pappalardos, Ewing's, and the El Corral Cafe along Inyokern Road.
We moved to Ridgecrest and lived at 305 Helena Street. My father laughed when I began watering the little green plants that later turned into tumbleweeds. The Dwinell family lived nearby. Jackie Dwinell married Rudy Pappas. Al Adams, the owner of the Olds/Buick dealership, and his family lived us for a short time.
Because we were on the edge of the open desert, we found an array of critters including sidewinders, horned toads, desert tortoise, scorpions and lizards in our yard.
We used to swim and have picnics at the old Trona pool. They had a black and white television outside and you could watch wrestling featuring Gorgeous George. Roller Derby was also popular at that time.
My father got us up early one morning to watch the Atom Bomb blast from Nevada Flats. We were told not to look directly at the flash but I will never forget that muchroom cloud coming up over the horizon to the East.
My seventh and eighth grade teachers were Mr. Doug Brewer and Mrs. Genevieve Wise. Some of my classmates included Clarebelle Golyer, Justine Hallett, Janet Moss, Caroline Kiehl, Joanne McClatchy, Pat Hildreth, Margaret Cotant, Judy Hill, Charlotte Menard, Micky McMillan and Lucy Orozco. The guys were JOhn Oney, Bill O'Day, Grant Wood, Bob Klavetter, Tommy Swope, John Orr, Leonard Hines and George (Tacky) Middleton. Our eighth graduation was held in the shop at Bob Smith Chevrolet which is now Bud Eyre Chevrolet.
More of my early memories in the desert included:
When we first got to the desert, you could still drive through the old towns of Isabella and Kernville.
Bauer's Burgers was a favorite place to visit on the way home from James Monroe. Regis and Tiny Bauer were wonderful people who knew just how to relate to kids. They had great "drip down your arms" hamburgers.
Who could ever forget Corny and his Shoe Store? Corny actually fit the shoes to your feet. He had a tiny repair shop near the front gate when we got here. In later years, Corny would donate shoes for us to take down to our sister city of Tepatitlan, Mexico.
The Castaneda family owned La Fiesta and it was a tiny place with a walk-up window. It was next to the Texaco Service Station on that was on the corner of Ridgecrest & China Lake Blvd's. They later built a new La Fiesta with patio seating across and down the boulevard. Weldon Sparrow had an office building next to the old La Fiesta.
I remember the awful sand storms; the sand would beat your legs until they stung. The sand wasn't much fun in your teeth either.
There used to be a cafe and service station in Red Rock Canyon. They filmed part of the movie "The Egyptian" with Edmond Purdom in Red Rock Canyon. There were lions in the movie and a couple of them got loose. It caused quite a stir but they were found in the desert toward Mojave. Part of the movie "Big Country" with Burl Ives was filmed near Jawbone Canyon.
Do you remember when the circus train came to town on the railroad spur from Inyokern? They stopped at that grove of Tamarisk trees where the water tanks are now, unloaded the animals and walked them along the railroad tracks. That was quite a sight.
San Quist Spa was a fun place to party. We also had picnics at the pool that was out past the base airfield.
The old Davis Airfield was on the corner of Upjohn and China Lake Blvd. CLOTA later used the old hanger building for their theater productions.
There used to be a Spring Fiesta held in the Station Theater parking lot on the base. I think those stopped when Ridgecrest started having their fairs. Before the fairgrounds were built, Ridgecrest held an annual Fair on Kirchmeire's property along China Lake Blvd.
Hartley and Lenna VanPelt owned the China Lake Tavern and Cafe. In the early 60's you could get a (lunch special) sandwich and cup of soup for $1.35. What a deal!!
When they were teenagers, both of my brothers worked washing dishes for Sherm at Shoaff's Cafe. I used to love going in there just to watch Rita cook and serve customers. She was poetry in motion and did not waste a move. When an order was ready, you could hear her yell "Sherm, pick it up". He was usually in the other room chatting with customers. Rita and her brother Sherm rank right up there for being some of our towns most beloved people.
During the summer of 1954, we moved to the corner of Florence and Las Flores Streets. Don and Dale Lane live there now. I rode the bus to Burroughs High which was on the base. The bus stopped at the Hospital to pick up Bonnie and Terry Drummond. John Battistone was our bus driver. He was a great guy who looked out for us.
Of the seven kids in my family, five us of went to Burroughs High School. We were in the following classes: Bonnie - '53; JoAnn - '56; Rita - '58; James - '60; and Ted - '63. The station restaurant was called the Des (for Deserteria?). You could get a hamburger and milkshake for fifty cents; fries were fifteen or twenty cents.
The summer of 1956, we moved to 428 Florence. Classmates, Ray Mann and Larry Ingle lived next to each other across the street from us. I became friends with Carolyn Jones (class of '58) who had just moved to Ridgecrest. Carolyn is married to Dee Davis (class of '57). We have stayed in touch for all of these years. Carolyn is the sister of Lt Ralph Foukes (class of '61) who was killed in Vietnam. The tennis courts near Burroughs High were dedicated in Ralph's name thanks to the efforts of Linda Miller (class of '61) and others from his high school class.
In May 1963, my mother and I were at Armitage Field when President Kennedy's Airforce One landed. We were later along Blandy when his motorcade paraded up to the O'Club for lunch. I am sure that we all remember where we were when he was assassinated the following November. I was working at Seaboard Finance on Balsam Street. I ran down the street to tell my father and the men who were constructing the buildings at the corner of Balsam and French Streets.
I remember Poncho Barnes walking into Seaboard Finance inquiring about a loan. She normally dealt with Tom Reese at Bank of America but I think she had pushed her limit with him. I hear tell she once walked over to Tom Reese at the bank, pulled her shirt open and showed him her mastectomy scar. Bank employees might be able to tell us a little more about that shocker. Poncho wore men's clothing, was very weathered, but she had the most piercing blue eyes I have ever seen. She was quite the character.
My husband Pete and I retired from the base in 1994 and moved to Pine Mountain Lake, Groveland, California. We went full-time Rving in 2001 and now winter in Yuma, AZ where we have built a southwest "casita". We see Zeke and Doris Boyack often. They live two miles from us. We see lots of Ridgecrest visitors in Yuma including Dick and Ellen Zurn, Dick & Donna Tolkmitt, Bill & Barbara Underwood, Norm & Jerry Nelson, and Larry & Jean Joners.
Pat - I told you this would be lengthy. (:
| Juanita (Goff) Herrera | Email |
08/07/07
Where do you live now? Silverton Oregon
How many years were you in the desert? 10-11
Are you willing to help with pictures? Will need to look and see what I have
Are you willing to help with stories? Not sure-what are you looking for?
Comments:
what a great site-came across it by accident on a random search. Scrolled through all the messages and loved the nostaligic memories a lot of them contained.
My dad worked on base and we lived on Stroop. Both my youngest sister Patricia and my brother Joe were born at Ridgecrest Community Hospital. My half-brother Alan graduated Burroughs. Dad briefly was co-owner of the Cue Club in Ridgecrest (my mother thought up the name) I attended all grades of Viewig and 6th grade at Murray before leaving the desert. The things I remember most are watching the Blue Angels, seeing President Kenedy and then later being sent home from school when he was assinated (and how my mom was in the livingroom watching t.v., ironing clothes and crying), the tailgait parties to watch the fireworks diplay over the dry lake bed, going into town for the free pony rides and cookie at the grocery store, traveling all the way to Trona for dental work (how I hated those braces), swimming at the base pool, seeing Fantastic Voyage at the movie theater on my first "date" and how we would buy Charms suckers and unwrap them in the store to see if we'd won a free one, duck and cover drills at school, hiking up B Mountain with the Girl Scouts, trips to Lake Isabella and the Kern River, hunting lizards and horny toads, "surfing" the green slime in the gutters, looking for Mrs. Thurm's lost contact lense outside the classroom, trick or treating in the good old days of popcorn balls, home baked cookies and hot chocolate. My worst memory is the day I closed the base pool by falling in and catching my leg on the handrail-they had to drain the pool because I bled quite a bit into the water (I still have a scar from it)-boy was on everyone's you-know-what list for quite some time.
08/03/07
Where do you live now? Heber Springs, AR
How many years were you in the desert? About 15 or so
Are you willing to help with pictures? Sure
Are you willing to help with stories? Sure
Comments:
Very Cool Site! Would love to see some stuff about the all the 'desert rats' out in the acres. Thanks for the great flash backs!
08/03/07
Where do you live now? New Castle, Colorado
How many years were you in the desert? Born there 1969, moved in 2000
Are you willing to help with pictures? Maybe, I'd have to look at what I got.
Are you willing to help with stories? Yes
Comments:
Whoever came up with the idea of this website must understand how different it was to grow up in Ridgecrest. To read all the stories really brought back memories for me. My Mother moved to Ridgecrest her senior year in high school and worked on the base after high school. My grandfather ran the CPO Club for a time and my grandmother waitressed there. I have a lot of memories of the CPO Club Pool, especially the luau they would have occasionally. My sister and I got brick wall privelages, though no kids were allowed. Also, I remember spending a lot of time at the base skating rink. Skating to the sounds of KISS, Styx, and KC and the Sunshine band. I first attended Las Flores, then Pierce, then James Monroe (which had an awesome animal behavior teacher by the name of Mr. Roberston, I think he used to catch rattlesnakes in the area, and was known to eat a few mill worm sandwiches now and then), then Murray, then graduated from Burroughs. I remember the A&W when I was a little girl, and the parade when McDonalds came to town. When I was in high school we partied at the usual spots (Wagon Wheel, Cherry Hill). Those were the days growing up in the 70's and 80's in Ridgecrest, California. I really miss all those stars in that big desert sky. Well, thanks for the memories.
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