Doug's California Memories

I think that my unique contribution would have to be California memories, since most of the kids were too young to have many memories of that time. My life’s first memory is of playing in our back yard pool in Fullerton, California. It was night, and there were others in the pool. There were lights in the pool, and I seem to recall staying close to the shallow area at the top of the steps, and not being able to swim yet. That house, as I remember hearing later, was a rental, an interim step between our first California home in Glendale and the first home we ever owned, in Placentia.

All of my other California memories take place while we were living on Hamer Drive in Placentia. I remember Kindergarten and first through fourth grades at Wagner Elementary School, and many teachers and fellow students, including Mrs. Mead, who I liked. I know I did well in the spelling bees. I vaguely recall hearing that JFK had been shot. I think I was in Kindergarten – we got to go home from school that day. I remember playing the “passing out game” in the schoolyard, probably in Fourth Grade. I remember thinking that it was VERY naughty and fun to tell a kid to say to a teacher or a girl “mother may I, and then spell CUP”.

I remember our ward in Fullerton, the old building with the courtyard, and chokecherry trees in the back. I remember being baptized by Dad at that building, along with other kids the same day. Before that I remember being shocked at how naughty a girl was who had just been baptized – I thought she should behave better. Then there was the newer chapel we moved to – but we must not have been there very long as I don’t have that many memories there. Some of the kids from our Ward were Bonnie Harper, Mario Herbst, and Doug Chase (and the Wysons – next paragraph). I occasionally visited Doug and his family over night. I liked Doug, but not the “horse pills” they made me take with breakfast.

I remember our good friends, the Wyson’s, who had a kid to match each of ours, and one or two to spare. Joey and Danny were around my age, Elizabeth was older, Tuffy was Kathleen’s friend, and Matty played with Brad. I remember spending all of my $5 in birthday money on a vast collection of candy and eating and sharing it all at the Wyson’s. We occasionally watched the Disneyland fireworks from the roof of the Wyson’s house – maybe on the 4th of July. I also remember singing at the Wysons, with Daddy Joe playing guitar. I remember him singing “Christmastime is coming and the goose is getting fat, please to put a penny in the old man’s hat, if you haven’t got a penny then a ha’penny will do, if you haven’t got a ha’penny then God Bless You!”

I remember the kids from our neighborhood: Kenny Wilson, Paul and Laura Bellizzi, Vincent Towels, Danny Petry, Bonnie Balducci, and others whose names I can’t remember now. Each of them has at least one story…

I remember the Fourth of July parades around our neighborhood, organized by Mom. I got to shoot off real firecrackers in the front yard, before those were forbidden to little kids (and now all kids), and numbed my fingers with one that I held too long – I was probably 7 or 8 years old.

I remember climbing onto the low roof of our home and finding many leftover nails between the wooden shingles, which I took down to use to build things. Over the years there were fewer and fewer nails left. Later I remember breaking my toes jumping off the roof, while trying to show off, which I remember as the worst pain I’ve ever felt. I had to miss baseball season. I think it was the year before that I pitched a no-hitter – then I couldn’t play the year I was hurt as I had a knee-length cast. Then we moved to Cleveland and Little League wasn’t the same.

I was registered for swimming lessons and the Swim Team – I didn’t like the water in my nose, burning eyes, cold water, tiredness, etc., so I think I only did that one year. Baseball was my favorite sport as a kid; it wasn’t ‘til later in Cleveland that I graduated to basketball. However, I didn’t like practicing baseball in the back yard with Dad, because he made me be the Catcher, and I thought he threw too hard. I don’t think it was ‘til later that we realized I needed glasses and couldn’t see the ball very well.

I remember wrestling other kids who were brought around by the neighbors. I was small, but I learned how to get a kid in a full nelson and hold on ‘til they gave up. One day I was playing with some little kids up the street and Danny Petry, who later pitched for the Detroit Tigers, came by with some older kids and they teased us. I wound up wrestling Danny and losing one of my new shoes when I had to run away after I had to let him out of my Full Nelson. We didn’t find the shoe ‘til it after had rained and the shoe was ruined.

I remember inventing things alone and with Kenny Wilson, like the electric hot dog cooker (with which I shorted out a fuse), and a boxy wooden airplane we hauled onto the roof to launch. We dug an underground “room” on the side of the house that could barely hide me when I ducked down, and which eventually filled with water when it rained. I was trying to create an underground lair like the super heroes had. I also liked to make explosions and chemical reactions with my chemical set. Grandma and Margaret Thompson visited a couple of times. Grandma was my pal – she’d write me a note to get saltpeter and sulphur from the hobby store so that I could make my own gunpowder. I remember that store as it was my favorite. They also had Hot Wheels and Big Daddy Ed Roth’s "RAT FINK" pictures and stickers.

I remember that our back yard, and our whole neighborhood had lots of lizards! The back neighbors collected them and we all tried to catch them. Once a big Alligator Lizard got into the house and caused some excitement, losing its tail in the process. Our back yard garden was built up a few inches from the rest of the yard, and I remember Dad working in the garden. I remember Ginny walking out onto the hot driveway in front of our house and burning her bare feet badly – she couldn’t figure out how to get off the driveway for some reason and just stood there and cried – she was just a toddler.

I remember playing Monstro the Whale with Kathleen in her crib. I threw everything in the room into the crib, like Pinnocchio’s boat, and yelled “Monstro’s coming!”. Then when Kathleen started to cry I would tell her I’d save her. One Christmas I remember hiding behind the love seat in the front room waiting for Santa Claus and falling asleep. I remember doing errands for Mom, which she made into quests – I enjoyed trying to please her.

Slurpees from 7-11 were new and very exotic, and I also liked candy cigarettes. But there were several months when I didn’t want to go to the 7-11. That was right after I tried to steal a flashlight there (my first attempt) and got caught. The manager made we wait on a stool while he called Mom to come and get me. I was horribly embarrassed and never tried to steal anything again. Around that same time I recall hearing “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones on our car radio – my first rock and roll song.

I remember the Ramona (Indian) Pageant, our first snow (on the way to Big Bear, as I recall), the art show along the pier at Newport Beach, and going to the Hollywood Bowl, which seemed enormous. That may not be the way it really happened, but that’s what I remember!