12/22/03
Where do you live now? Hodgenville KY
How many years were you in the desert? three
Are you willing to help with pictures? I don't really have anything
Are you willing to help with stories? Not much to tell
Comments:
My husband was the Army Recruiter in Ridgecrest in the early 80's.
We lived in base housing (which is now demolished) and raised a set of pre-school twins and a daughter that attend junior high school on China Lake.
From Ridgecrest, we PCS'd to Germany, but we still have friends and very fond memories of the desert!
02/14/04
Where do you live now? Pasadena, CA
How many years were you in the desert? l950-1964
Are you willing to help with pictures? Have some 8x10s of building the repeater on Laurel Mountain and a 1950's summer at the club pool watching Carolyn Barker and her friends enjoying the high desert sun.
Are you willing to help with stories? I remember several; the nite security arrested Sam Gregory and I shooting 27 jackrabbits on the Infirmary lawn and some early radio days in Ridgecrest. I met Joe Fox at Tiny's, He seemed grumpy to me. Maybe it was the burger.
Comments:
Dad moved the family to Ridgecrest and Kirk's Trailer Park in August l950 from Glendale CA. He didn't like Lockeed. Mom wasn't thrilled to sleep outside in the desert air on a matress. Once she saw a rattlesnake my sister Donna and I slept outside. We had youth on our side. The Navy moved us on the base to the Hawthorne's that winter and eventually to Wasp Rd and the New Duplexes. Grove Elementary School was still in tin buildings across from the bowling alley. I always wanted a job there but the pin setters were a rough bunch. Richmond School was still being built in '54
I opted to sack groceries at the Commissary for tips in l955; the best kept secret for a while. Mr. Rush, the store manager said I made more money in quarters in a week than his GS7 salary. He liked Roy Tan Cigars and I bought him a few boxes at the Navy X. Mr. Lipp, in charge of Public Works, built the All Faith Chapel across the street from the market. During my break one day I asked him why the cement beams didn't fit at the apex once the crane put them up. He muttered something about curing cement in the hot sun. My Dad was an Usher at the chapel and while listening to Rev. Reed every Sunday over the years, I admired how Mr. Lipp had patched the ceiling joints up to look good. We're all glad the All Faith Chapel never fell down.
I was the only kid to ride a bike to Burroughs Jr. High. I had to hide the bike behind the Enlisted Mens club so not to be laughed at. Bicycling became acceptable only in the 80's. My Consitution teacher was Mrs. Martin in Jr. High. I wasn't one her favorite students having broken two of her nice typewriters and the picture frame glass covering the portrait of Washington. She retired that year in '54. I always wondered in Hi School why Dr. Murry didn't step aside and let Mr. Wescott become Principal. We only knew Ken as students. That went on for twenty years. The only other hi school high point I remember was Deloris Burke asking me to go to the Susie Q one evening for a coke...in a car. Maybe it was the Yucca Inn...who knows. I wasn't even a Ridgecrest kid as they owned all the neat cars. I was Thespian of the year in l957, maybe Deloris had seen me in a school play.
In either case, I rode that fireball to KRCK in '58. We were the "famous Tri-county Station" and I eventually wrote the memorable "K-Rocket" radio jingle. The call letters came from the owner Vic Ferrell who worked at RCA. KRCK was located next to the Water Co. and Tiny's Burgers. The three buildings became my focus for the summer of 1959. Helen Pennington worked for the water co and she was my age and a Ridgecrest girl too. She was very sweet. I used to sneak her into the 10cent base movies using my sister's NOTS pass. That is if Sargent Kelly at the main entrance wouldn't catch us. And to this day I've never eaten a better burger. Tiny's husband Rege used to do an hour daily of big band music just before my show. Mr. Edwards, who owned The Hobby Shop, was my best sponsor. I sold some time to the K&R Market. One morning I referred to them as the "Killers and Robbers Market". Bob complained to Vic and my days were numbered eventhough sales increased at the market. I played Rock of the day and was famous for my Mother Michael's Household Hints. Most phone calls received was when I told listeners on one Saturday morning how to remove blood from the living room rug. Vic didn't understand me either and said I'd better start looking.
Luckly, Lee Spence hired me in l960 to work at KRKS out at the Bowman Ranch. It sold that year to three guys from Capitol Records. They finally brought some money into the operation. I met Peggy Lee, Tenn. E. Ford, Nat King Cole and Les Paul as they wandered through Ridgcrest checking out the station. They were very nice people. I was known as Cousin Doug and played lots of Country and Western till midnight. Lee fired me late one night for playing the Everly Bros' Cathy's Clown. Guess Lee didn't like to sleep or like good music. Bowman Ranch was in horse country. I hit a horse and rider one afternoon going to do the 6PM news. Had to shoot the horse. We all carried 22's in our cars in those days. My '54 Chev Bel Air I had just bought for $700 at Bud Eyre's. didn't fare well either. Horse and rider were gate busting onto Bowman road. I still did a good job with the news that night; tried to date the rider later that summer but her parents had other ideas and Helen might have found out. And my radio days were over and SD State U. was waiting.
Returned the following years working for NOTS as a Documentary Film cameraman under Eve Baker. Good Job. I shot and edited a wild flower film for the Captain's wife and finished a secret film about a country I had never heard of, Viet Nam. Thanks Pres. Johnson for making those internships available. Seemed like half of Burroughs Hi was employed by the US Navy. I signed up for the Coast Guard Reserve after that film figuring that would keep me home out of the upcomming war. Also in l964 and a few months before the Beatles, it was time to move on to KOGO-TV in San Diego to work with a weather man named Regis Philbin who was starting a live Saturday Night TV gig. The 14 years gave me the wisdom and knowledge to succeed outside the valley. I had aged considerably by the time I arrived in SD. I still have all my 45's from my Ridgecrest radio days. My kids think they look like CD's and want to sell them on eBay. Sure wish this format had spell check.
Doug Huse
Class of '59
10/21/03
Where do you live now? Ridgecrest
How many years were you in the desert? 59
Are you willing to help with pictures? If I had some, I would
Are you willing to help with stories? Sure
Comments:
Enjoyable site and nostalgic for me. Don't know that the various pictures of buildings are fully representative of present-day Ridgecrest...but perhaps all those old, desserted buildings are what you wanted to put in. Nice color, nice comments. Good visit!..thanks!
10/21/03
Where do you live now? Martins Ferry, Ohio
How many years were you in the desert? never lived thee, have been visiting there several times
Are you willing to help with pictures? don't really have any
Are you willing to help with stories? no
Comments:
This is really a beautiful place. I have a cousin who lives there, and works at China Lake.
10/20/03
Where do you live now? Acampo Ca.
How many years were you in the desert? 13
Are you willing to help with pictures? Sure
Are you willing to help with stories? Its been a long time
Comments:
Hello Pat, Darn you, you have sure taken up a lot of my time reading High Desert Memories. And I LOVE IT. I will look for some pictures of China Lake and Ridcecrest. My Mother and Dad moved away from there in the late 60's and I left there 10 days after graduation in 1957.
Mike Ross[EMAIL][/EMAIL]
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