Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Growing up in Santa Ana, 1960's

An anonymous reader shares his memories of growing up in Orange County during the 1960's, attending Santa Ana Valley High School, and all his favorite hangouts...

Hi Everyone

I just surfed in here and just like in the 60's I surfed most of the coastline with friends instead of going to Valley High and I think I am probably the only one to ever get kicked out of Work Experience and then had two more study halls to study nothing except the fine girls in the study hall too.

I graduated in 66 and have a lot of fond memeories of Knotts Berry Farm, and the Ballroom in Balboa with all the fine surf bands. Plus we had one of the best groups to sing at Valley, and Tony and Andy Gallo sang in the band. Plus I went to school with a great friend Bob Samuels who was killed by one off Valley's alumni and now she is the 5th woman on death row.

Does anyone remember the Bisbee's Orange Julius on Flower and Edinger? What a great place to eat. Plus on Friday and Saturday Nights we would cruise Oscars where the DMV is now and get races set up. Go to either Richey street or down on Talbert west of Bristol.

I remember too that Knotts Berry Farm was no cost to go in and Disneyland was 2.00 dollars and you didn't have to even ride anything and go to the dances there.

Does anyone remember Bob Jolly that played in the Justin Tusk? Well, he has a music store in Irvine and is still in music. Valley was great in those days and before I went to Vietnam and we lost a lot of our school mates. I guess I could go down memory lane the rest of the day and say those were the good old days.

God Bless You all and Have a Very Merry Christmas.
And a merry Christmas back to you, and a Merry Christmas to everyone!

16 comments:

  1. The Orange Julius was owned by the BYBEE family. They sold it in the 80's I believe.

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  2. I knew Bob Joly very well and stop in to see him on occasion at his store in Irvine. I was the drummer in the first band Bob was in, a surf band called "The Jeminis". The members were Bob, George Beyer, Ron Wilson, Ron Jones and later Jim Sweeney. Bob even has some old pictures of the band at his store. P.S. I grew up on Shelton St. just north of Edinger and had a burger and an Orange Julius at the Bybee's place every day after Junior High school at Smedley.

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  3. I went to Valley in late 60's,went to school with Bob Jolly and was a friend of Frank Samuels,brother of Bob Samuels.Grew up around Jerome Park area and later moved to Warner and Raitt area during high school.This has really brought back memories.Remember the smell of Lukens dairy in the morning as you walked to school up Raitt street,and when the first Macdonalds opened on Edinger,dancing at the Rendevous in Balboa etc.

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  4. Went to Valley class of 66' Had fun cruzing to Oscars and then to talbert Rd. for performance issues
    with other cars Mike Patterson-Charlie Kichner-and a whole lot more We had GOOD TIMES Hope we can some day be like class of 68' Smedley-what happened to Flanery?

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  5. Does anyone recall Shields burger stand on Greenville? Baileys Market...I lived on California St...my brother had a band called THE COUNTS(1965-1967) with Les Moore, Mark Mortensen, Harold hayes and Rick Calkins...they were popular at the talent shows at Smedley Jr High,(now Carr)I, too, recall the "aroma" of Lukens Dairy..."Strawberry Fields?"Lots of agricultural areas back then before South Coast Plaza...

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    1. I lived down the street from Mark Mortensen on Camden.

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  6. Lots of memories in these posts. I went to both Smedley and SAV, graduated from Valley in '66. Al Martinez was Student Body Pres. and I (Larry Fulcher) was VP. Seeing names here like Bob Jolly, Charlie Kirchner, Flanery, George Beyer, Bob Samuels, IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN OVER 40 YEARS AGO. The last I heard of Bill Flanery, and this was probably the 80's, someone told me he worked for a Fire Dept. in South O.C.

    Thinking back on the smell of the Lukens Dairy, I think we used to call it "10 o'clock drift", and having to go to football practice on hot afternoons when that smell was RAGING.

    Sneaking out at lunch time to go to Shield's, remembering the waitress (Yeah, THAT one) at A&W drive in that was next to Mater Dei.

    It's a little hard driving thru Santa Ana these days, and thinking back.

    WE WERE SOOOOOO LUCKY, WE GREW UP IN SO. CAL WHEN IT REALLY WAS ALMOST PARADISE.

    I joined my very first band at Valley with David Jones, Herbie Hanss, Greg Moore, Bob Santos, and later, with Jim Geyer. Dick Dale got us our first job, playing for 10,000 people at the World Teen Fair at OC Fairgrounds in '64, I was hooked. Still am.

    God Bless All of You/Us

    LF

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    1. Well, actually, I was ASB president...old man Dan here. Al was Most Popular, standing next to Melody Rains who was also. But I got to kiss her on stage as ASB Pres. Nice.

      I lived on Shelton St., too...walked by the same dairy--Lukens, and the Orange Julius shop; and A&W.

      Say, I got here surfing for Charlie (Archabald) Kirchner, class of '66; who put a rock in the back of my head as I was hanging up the Essence sign for our 1966 poetry anthology at Valley. I probably deserved that rock due to some bad poetry I wrote. But, please tell me it isn't true what I was told while hitch hiking in the early 70s near Knots Berry Farm that some fool put a pin in a doll with Charlie's name on it and cursed him; and that he died soon after with a bullet in his head. Tell me this was bad urban rumor at the time. Please. -Dan Nicholas, Scotts Valley, CA

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  7. I grew up in Santa Ana. Went to Smedley and SAV. The comments mentioned the smells. They were wonderful. That brought back memories. It was paradise and a beautiful time to be a teen. I graduated in 69. And those are some of my fondest memories. Great place.

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  8. I lived on Center and LaVerne Avenue. I went to Immaculate Heart of Mary for grade school and then on to Mater Dei. I did love the neighborhood but it weas filled with all different kinds of gangs and my dad eventually moved us out to Westminster. I was there in the 70's and I remember and was just craving the Fruit Punch from Lukens Dairy that came in the milk carton. Does anyone remember how great that tasted and Hawaiian punch cannot hold a candle to it. It used to leave you mouth and lip area red foroever!!! I have been looking for a Lukens Dairy in order to but some. I also loved driving up to the dairy with my folks and putting our order in and drive away. I used to hang out at the Salvation Army and make out in the cow fields behind the dairy. Yuk!! I graduated from Mater Dei in 1980 and by the way....the 80's were the best ever. No era can ever match then. It Rocked. Take Care and let me know if you come across the Fruit Punch.

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  9. Hi I'm looking for the first picture from Valley High School in Santa Ana, I dad it, my computer crass it and is lost, can you help me to find another one please.
    anselmo@de-ja-vu.com

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  10. I now live in Portland OR, and tell these people how awesome it was to grow up in Orange County....I can remember in the early 60's Orange County still had many Orange Groves, and in the spring there was nothing better than the smell of Orange Blossoms just as the sun was going down...I lived off Grand Ave / Fruit St, in SA. In 1961 that was a new housing tract, and we always went to the Orange Groves....We cut school in the Orange Groves...Smoke our first cigarrettes in the Groves. And you are right Santa Ana & Southern Calif was very close to Paradise back then....Finding this site, put a smile on my face this evening....Thank you

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    1. This is fun to see even 4 years later. I have such fond memrories of buying banana popsciles and ground round (for my mom) at Southside Market in Orange. The Circle I hope never changes..The balcony at the Orange Theater was so much fun. (We didn't get out much). Huntington Beach was full of tomato and pepper fields, along with lots of oil well "horses". the good ol' days. It was Mater Dei before jocks ruled the school and South Coast Plaza was brand new. Since then, have been to Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Colorado and Soon to be Tucson. Sorry bout CA economy. J

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  11. Lukens Dairy was the sponser for my baseball
    team (majors), when I was ten years old playing for Garden Grove Eastside Little League. We had three fields across the street from The Roller Dome skating rink on Garden Grove Blvd. and Haster. A Lukens Dairy Store was just up the street. Milk from the cows you guys talk about up by Raitt St. and Edinger was trucked over to our Lukens Dairy and processed into pastureized milk. You could just drive thru and pick up a gallon of milk or fruit punch and they would hand it thru the window of your car and while driving out you could look into big glass windows at the large stainless steal tanks the milk was processing in. Playing for the Lukens Dairy Franchise with our new grey with dark blue striped uniforms made us think we were pros. Well, we were in our minds. I think I thought I was Maury Wills or maybe it was Charlie Neal of the Dodgers. Milk, baseball, orange groves during summertime was sweet. Did any of you OC'ers get your milk at our store?

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  12. Yes, grad of 66, student body pres even. You mentioned Charlie Kirchner? Got a knot still on the back of my head where he tossed a rock at our poetry book (Essence) promo sign almost aloft on the cafeteria roof by balloons...until his projectile bounced off my head and broke one of three...and my head. (I later had a short career in advertising.) Was a cheerleader in 66, the entire cheer leading squad dressed in stealth black, crept onto their Catholic campus in the wee hrs & hung "Beat Mater Dei" paper signs at 2am sneaking past their guard before the big game.
    Yes, walked past the dairy w/ the pomegranate tree, the Orange Julius...indeed. -Dan Nicholas

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  13. I went to Immaculate Heart myself. I used to live in the vicinity of Warner and Bristol and still remember those long 2 mile walks to school. Now in regards to Lukens dairy, never mind the fruit punch what about the orange juice! Lukens used to deliver milk and that kick ass orange juice to our house in glass bottles. Good memories. Anyone ever hang out at the bike trail that bordered the dairy off of Raitt just across from Carr elementary or whatever it was called back then, oh say about...1975-77?

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